February 11, 2009 4:06 PM
- Text
Rebuilding The Family Tree
Kittles' company sent Vy what they call a certificate of ancestry.
"It says … that you share maternal genetic ancestry with people from the Mende tribe in Sierra Leone. Do you know anything about Sierra Leone or … the Mende people?" Stahl asks.
"No," Vy says, tearing up. "Nothing."
"People have been waiting a lifetime for something like this. Now this is just a tiny bit of information now," Kittles says.
"But they take it as huge," Stahl remarks.
"Right. Because it's cracking open the door that was closed for centuries," Kittles tells Stahl.
"There's a place in Africa you could say that I'm from?" Vy asks.
"A tribe," Stahl says.
"A tribe? I'm thrilled," Vy says. "It puts a name, a place, a location, a people. It opens up such possibilities."
But the problem is Sierra Leone wasn't the only answer Vy got. A company called Relative Genetics found a match to a single person in the Wobe tribe in the Ivory Coast.
"Different? Now, I got all excited about that and this is different?" Vy asks. "Now, how could that happen?"
Then a third company, Trace Genetics, found that Vy's sequence matched sequences reported among multiple Mendenka individuals in Senegal.
And Family Tree DNA, the company that linked Vy with Marion in the first place, came up with a whole list of matches.
So what do we know about Vy's ancestry? The DNA does indicate that she has distant relatives in the Mende tribe, but she also has relatives in all those other tribes. So no one can say for sure where Vy's maternal ancestor actually came from.
"When I handed Vy the certificate, she got extremely emotional about it. She wept. And it meant so very much to her," Stahl tells Hank Greely.
"People want to believe," Greely says. "And it's not fair of us to let them believe that we're giving 'em certain answers because scientifically we just can't."
"Hank Greely is concerned that the science isn't really there yet for you to be giving them the name of a tribe," Stahl tells Kittles.
"I think for most companies, I would be concerned too," Kittles says.
"But what about your own company?" Stahl asks. "He didn't exclude you."
"He included you," Stahl points out.
"But we have the largest set of sequences from Africa. And so with that … we're able to provide some level of probability in terms of frequency," Kittles says.
"But he would say that even though you have the largest database, it's still small on the scope of things," Stahl remarks.
"As I said, I share those concerns," Kittles replies.
"About yourself," Stahl says.
"About the field," Kittles tells Stahl.
Asked if he thinks there is any fraud involved here, Greely tells Stahl, "I don't think there's fraud. I think there is hype."
"You know, beer commercials imply that drinking their beer will make beautiful women fall all over you. I think the genetic genealogy companies don't go below the normal standards of the marketplace. But they don't go above it either," Greely says. "Some do a better job than others, but there's not one that couldn't improve. And that bothers me because they're using science to sell their product. And science is about the whole truth."
In Vy and Marion's case, the truth is that they are related -- no doubt there -- even if it's not apparent on the surface.
"You know, Marion, you told me that the first time you looked at Vy, you said, 'She's a West,'" Stahl remarks. "I'm looking at the two of you, and I have to be honest … you don't look anything alike. Nothing. You don't look anything alike."
"Look at the eyes," Vy says.
"I'm looking at the eyes," Stahl says.
"You look at my eyes…," Marion tells Stahl. "Then you look at her eyes."
"Sorry, sorry, Marion," Stahl says.
But to them, it doesn't matter a bit.
Their genetic connection, however small, has made each of their worlds larger. Vy says she's actually come to enjoy hearing about how the hay is growing on Marion's ranch, and Marion is on his second trip to Harlem.
And the circle keeps on widening: remember all those other men whose Y chromosomes matched Vy's cousin James? Last month, Vy and Marion traveled to Nashville to meet a whole new batch of genetic cousins, a family reunion, courtesy of DNA.
Produced By Shari Finkelstein
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. "It says … that you share maternal genetic ancestry with people from the Mende tribe in Sierra Leone. Do you know anything about Sierra Leone or … the Mende people?" Stahl asks.
"No," Vy says, tearing up. "Nothing."
"People have been waiting a lifetime for something like this. Now this is just a tiny bit of information now," Kittles says.
"But they take it as huge," Stahl remarks.
"Right. Because it's cracking open the door that was closed for centuries," Kittles tells Stahl.
"There's a place in Africa you could say that I'm from?" Vy asks.
"A tribe," Stahl says.
"A tribe? I'm thrilled," Vy says. "It puts a name, a place, a location, a people. It opens up such possibilities."
But the problem is Sierra Leone wasn't the only answer Vy got. A company called Relative Genetics found a match to a single person in the Wobe tribe in the Ivory Coast.
"Different? Now, I got all excited about that and this is different?" Vy asks. "Now, how could that happen?"
Then a third company, Trace Genetics, found that Vy's sequence matched sequences reported among multiple Mendenka individuals in Senegal.
And Family Tree DNA, the company that linked Vy with Marion in the first place, came up with a whole list of matches.
So what do we know about Vy's ancestry? The DNA does indicate that she has distant relatives in the Mende tribe, but she also has relatives in all those other tribes. So no one can say for sure where Vy's maternal ancestor actually came from.
"When I handed Vy the certificate, she got extremely emotional about it. She wept. And it meant so very much to her," Stahl tells Hank Greely.
"People want to believe," Greely says. "And it's not fair of us to let them believe that we're giving 'em certain answers because scientifically we just can't."
"Hank Greely is concerned that the science isn't really there yet for you to be giving them the name of a tribe," Stahl tells Kittles.
"I think for most companies, I would be concerned too," Kittles says.
"But what about your own company?" Stahl asks. "He didn't exclude you."
"He included you," Stahl points out.
"But we have the largest set of sequences from Africa. And so with that … we're able to provide some level of probability in terms of frequency," Kittles says.
"But he would say that even though you have the largest database, it's still small on the scope of things," Stahl remarks.
"As I said, I share those concerns," Kittles replies.
"About yourself," Stahl says.
"About the field," Kittles tells Stahl.
Asked if he thinks there is any fraud involved here, Greely tells Stahl, "I don't think there's fraud. I think there is hype."
"You know, beer commercials imply that drinking their beer will make beautiful women fall all over you. I think the genetic genealogy companies don't go below the normal standards of the marketplace. But they don't go above it either," Greely says. "Some do a better job than others, but there's not one that couldn't improve. And that bothers me because they're using science to sell their product. And science is about the whole truth."
In Vy and Marion's case, the truth is that they are related -- no doubt there -- even if it's not apparent on the surface.
"You know, Marion, you told me that the first time you looked at Vy, you said, 'She's a West,'" Stahl remarks. "I'm looking at the two of you, and I have to be honest … you don't look anything alike. Nothing. You don't look anything alike."
"Look at the eyes," Vy says.
"I'm looking at the eyes," Stahl says.
"You look at my eyes…," Marion tells Stahl. "Then you look at her eyes."
"Sorry, sorry, Marion," Stahl says.
But to them, it doesn't matter a bit.
Their genetic connection, however small, has made each of their worlds larger. Vy says she's actually come to enjoy hearing about how the hay is growing on Marion's ranch, and Marion is on his second trip to Harlem.
And the circle keeps on widening: remember all those other men whose Y chromosomes matched Vy's cousin James? Last month, Vy and Marion traveled to Nashville to meet a whole new batch of genetic cousins, a family reunion, courtesy of DNA.
Produced By Shari Finkelstein
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