Popular Mechanics (South Africa)

Book review:

The Lost Family by Libby Copeland.

- / BY TIANA CLINE /

‘The landscape is confusing for the average consumer, and it can be hard to tell which genetic tests to take seriously.’

– Libby Copeland,

TIME

MILLIONS of people around the world are turning to DNA testing. From gaining health insights to tracing family origins, our genetic identity can answer questions such as ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Where do I come from?’, and it’s slowly changing everything. But what happens when what you know, or rather what you thought you knew, is different to the results you get back? And what happens when we can track down anonymous sperm donors or help orphans uncover where they come from, their culture and of course their medical genealogy?

Libby Copeland’s new book entitled The Lost Family: How DNA Testing Is Upending Who We Are looks at exactly this. Spitting into a vial to obtain genetic answers might be on trend right now, but do we fully understand the ramificati­ons behind our inherent need for answers? Where does this personal data go? Copeland goes into the science of DNA and the companies that are doing recreation­al testing, and shares stories of those who’ve had their lives turned upside down by what they thought, at first, was just going to be a simple home test.

In some ways, the book reads almost like a modern genetics detective story… There are those who discover long-lost siblings, and others who are left with even more questions than before, baffled by new informatio­n about their race and ethnicity. Our genes have a lot to tell us, but Copeland questions whether our newly discovered genetic essentiali­sm should play such a big role in how we define ancestry going forward (and the medical choices we make).

With genetic testing, the past and present collide, dark family secrets surface, and sometimes you’ll even get a DNA surprise you simply weren’t expecting.

Both exciting and terrifying, Copeland’s The Lost Family is a spectacula­r non-fiction read, and one you won’t want to miss.

 ??  ?? The Lost Family:
How DNA Testing Is Upending Who We
Are (Abrams Press) is available at select bookstores nationwide, and online.
popularmec­hanics.co.za
The Lost Family: How DNA Testing Is Upending Who We Are (Abrams Press) is available at select bookstores nationwide, and online. popularmec­hanics.co.za

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from South Africa