Transcript for How this DNA detective went from finding families to fighting crime

I’ve grown very accustomed to you exposing. People superstar secrets dreams in Beijing how much. I’m totally different genetic genealogy community and co chair of the genetics in house standards. I don’t have a science degree in all I already had a full scholarship for music. Single. And so I ended up going in that your action. Pilots an arts and entertainment. For all of my adult life. I was always interest in genetics and separately interest in genetic genealogy on my on him. I tested about forty of my family members hasn’t wanted to do. Worked with real data someone at 23 means just one thing consumer DNA testing companies. So we should start to block right about this is really interest him. I barely knew with a wild ones when some block OK well blogger makes it really easy to start so I did. And I was just amazed at the interest that I received for my blog articles I was right that ministers. That was kind of anything. I do most of my work at home when I’m not traveling sitting on my very comfortable couch with my laptop you may be my father. My work it’s always been focused. On helping people find families expand famines. Discover there Harry Toews they’re trees and working with sound has been incredibly. Fulfilling. Because there was no other way to get these people answers lifelong question then through genetics and challenges. There are no records that could be opened even in states that I laughed adoptees access to their records now. There was no original birth certificate with the names birth parents on these people find. I know your father’s very excited. When I first worked with unknown parentage was adopting these things don’t see he was extremely challenging and but over the years I have refined my methodologies and toxins and not mean people and the databases have grown to such an extent. That it’s fairly easy for most people kind of violence. Around you it Boudreau. Most people can learn to do it themselves which is what I want running average. It’s why I started my FaceBook DNA detectives so people could learn to do it themselves. Because it’s such a fulfilling journey when people solve their own pace you know it’s so meaningful to them and they know so much about their family history. They almost always no more than the family find they can tell all about their ancestry. I have. Known that genetic genealogy and methodologies that way developed for unknown parentage could be applied to law enforcement. For a number of years but I only started where she law enforcement very recently. I have been approached dozens of times over the last fifteen years I really felt that. Using genetic genealogy help. Catch these criminals and make society safer was the right thing to do you. But I needed to be in a position like felt it was ethical and responsible at this time. It wasn’t until after the Homestake children rest that I felt that I could do it. They use the genealogy web site to help connect Joseph DeAngelis DNA to pass crime scenes very PP. Oh aware of the fact that law enforcement could use. Jet match database that they used used genetic genealogy. To help arrest some big became almost impossible for a person not to be aware that jet mattress being used by law enforcement. So that changed everything. Also Chad match changed their terms of service and made it very clear that law enforcement could and was used in case. And so that gave people the opportunity to remove their data are privatize it was something more comfortable if and that’s exactly what I want I just want people to be able to have that personal choice of whether this was something that they wanted to data used for. Check out just relatively small dated case there’s about a million people. As opposed to the consumer DNA testing companies have much more were only using jet crash. And it’s another reason that law enforcement really couldn’t use genetic genealogy and tell more recently. Police are using traditional forensic. DNA match. And that consists of only between thirteen and to want me genetic markers. So they use the federal law enforcement database called Curtis has about seventeen million genetic profiles and it’s a very lives. But it’s a limited with what they can do because they’re using so few miles. They can really don’t look for an exact match. Or the state allows it they can do listen DNA surged but that’s only going to find immediate relatives of the suspect. Genetic genealogy uses between 1300000. Genetic markers. So because of that there’s the power to predict second cousins third cousins. Very confident we are able to use these large amount of genetic markers in a much more comprehensive way that they can use the code its database. I heard that paragon eating geologists to participate and study. We decided we should just start talking and seeing if there is ways that we can work together we have started a pilot project she used genetic genealogy to help identify deceased people that are unidentified after the Golden State killer arrests and we discussed from working. With law enforcement. And perpetrators. Which was something that we had not intended to do I decided to work with them because I had no experience in law enforcement. And I wanted to do this in the most responsible way possible. Look for the foreseeable 1992. Level picture they have for over 600 mammogram I could never imagine that twists and turns this journey take. I think when you do this work you have to learn to have some emotional experience. So they’re my friends care very up and care about all the fans involved. But I can’t get to pull it and really focused on the methodologies. The DNA building a family trees and finding that answer I hope that if people are. Supportive of this. That it RD tested Atlanta big companies that they’ll go through the process of downloading data quality to jet match. And if they have tested how they’ll consider testing just for this purpose. It’s really inexpensive now it’s not a big commitment we’ve already had cases where it didn’t look hopeful and all. I’m getting a match and suddenly the status of the case has changed can clean it really is a different way of applying science to different way of thinking. And it made me my creative background it was actually. Beneficial.

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