UI students help public interpret DNA ancestry tests

Iowa Now - Research

Last fall, Hannah Ericson decided she wanted to learn more about herself and her family.So, the first-year University of Iowa student, who’s majoring in biology, decided to use a commercial DNA test that would trace her family’s ancestry and offer some insight—albeit coarse—into her genetic identity.

She was surprised by what she found out: The test revealed that she had a more pronounced Iberian identity—along with a splash of Italian heritage—“that my family had no oral history of,” she says.

Now, she’s further exploring the branches of her family tree. “The tests made me appreciate how many factors had to come together to make me who I am,” Ericson says.

Ericson and other UI students are helping the public better understand their ancestry and their DNA. The students, under the supervision of faculty adviser Bryant McAllister, participate in monthly meetings to educate those in the community interested in ordering a DNA test or interpreting results.

“You should know what you’re purchasing,” says McAllister, associate professor in the UI Department of Biology, who formed the Personal Genome Learning Center in the spring of 2016. “It’s good consumer practice to do the research knowing what you want to find out and making sure what you purchase is a good match.”

The next session, on April 25, will coincide with National DNA Day. Organizers have scheduled a host of activities, from one-on-one educational sessions for the public to hosting a guest talk by Charles “Chip” Aquadro, director of the Center for Comparative and Population Genomics at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

The events will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Iowa City Public Library, 123 N. Linn St.

A separate group, led by the Iowa Institute of Human Genetics and UI Health Care, will celebrate National DNA Day by sponsoring a ...

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