{"id":3464,"date":"2025-12-18T13:10:37","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T21:10:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/?p=3464"},"modified":"2026-01-20T11:53:40","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T19:53:40","slug":"who-do-you-think-you-are","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dornsife.usc.edu\/magazine\/who-do-you-think-you-are\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Do You Think You Are? What DNA Tests Reveal \u2014 And What They Don\u2019t"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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Who Do You Think You Are? What DNA Tests Reveal \u2014 And What They Don\u2019t<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n
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\n\n \n Consumer DNA testing is reshaping notions of family, identity and risk. But what it reveals \u2014 and what it doesn\u2019t \u2014 may surprise you. \n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n By<\/span>Tomas Weber<\/a><\/strong>\n \n December 18, 2025<\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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For more than 40 years, the Golden State Killer haunted California. A serial rapist and murderer active in the 1970s and \u201980s, he eluded detectives for decades. By 2018, hope of identifying him was fading, until a woman \u2014 curious about her ancestry \u2014 spat into a plastic tube and mailed it to a genealogy company.<\/p>\n

Her DNA became the key. Using the publicly available GEDmatch database, investigators discovered she was a distant relative of the killer. They built a sprawling family tree and followed it to Joseph James DeAngelo Jr., a former police officer living in Sacramento. A tissue he discarded confirmed the match, and in 2020, DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 murders and 13 kidnappings.<\/p>\n

The case was the first high-profile crime solved using consumer genetic testing. Since then, millions have sent in their own samples \u2014 to companies such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA \u2014 to explore ancestry, uncover health risks or trace long-lost relatives. As people turn to DNA to unlock the stories of their past and future, the science often reveals something messier \u2014 and far less certain \u2014 than they imagined. In the process, our understanding of family and identity can be upended.<\/p>\n

When DNA Reshapes Identity<\/h2>\n

In fact, the revelations can be shattering: a parent who isn\u2019t biological, or siblings who, suddenly, aren\u2019t your own. Yet, DNA also shows just how closely we\u2019re all connected. The most recent common ancestor of all humans alive today lived only a few thousand years ago \u2014 a point USC Dornsife geneticist Michael \u201cDoc\u201d Edge<\/a> emphasizes in his genetics class.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got bad news for all of you,\u201d Edge, assistant professor of quantitative and computational biology<\/a>, tells his students on the first day of class. \u201cYou\u2019re related to me. We\u2019re all related.\u201d<\/p>\n

But if we\u2019re all connected, why can uncovering ancestry sometimes be so destabilizing? Why can it unravel cherished family stories or shake a person\u2019s sense of self?<\/p>\n

Police Windfall, Privacy Minefield<\/h2>\n

Genetic data has proliferated at an unprecedented scale \u2014 and some of it is now searchable online. This development happened quickly, with almost no public debate.<\/p>\n

Americans have long opposed the idea of a national DNA database, citing privacy concerns. But under the radar, consumer genetics has created something close to one. Only about 7% of Americans have taken a home DNA test, yet thanks to the mathematics of shared DNA, nearly everyone is now traceable.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnly around 1% of the population needs to upload their DNA into a database searchable by law enforcement for virtually everyone to be findable,\u201d says Edge. \u201cSo, a small group of participants has created a de facto national DNA database.\u201d<\/p>\n

For police, it\u2019s a windfall. But it\u2019s also a privacy minefield. When one person shares their DNA, they\u2019re effectively making decisions on behalf of their entire extended family. Edge\u2019s research has shown how bad actors could manipulate these databases, potentially exposing users \u2014 and their relatives \u2014 to phishing attacks or other malicious actions.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, forensic genealogists \u2014 the specialists who build family trees to identify suspects \u2014 have been caught dodging database rules. In 2023, a whistleblower revealed that some investigators routinely searched data from people who had explicitly opted out of law enforcement use.<\/p>\n

And life insurance companies could, in theory, sift through DNA data to assess medical risks.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no evidence this has happened \u2014 yet. But there is no law to prevent it. \u201cI think society still doesn\u2019t understand the risk landscape,\u201d says Edge. \u201cAnd we\u2019re definitely underprepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

A small group of participants has created a de facto national DNA database.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Genes Are Not A Crystal Ball<\/h2>\n

Even as genetic databases expand and researchers find new uses for them, the information DNA can reveal remains limited. Many people imagine genes as a crystal ball, predicting everything from disease risk to intelligence. But the reality is far murkier.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re learning that genes don\u2019t matter as much as people thought,\u201d says Patrick Turley<\/a>, associate professor (research) of economics<\/a>, who studies how genes influence health, behavior and social outcomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe used to believe there might be individual genes that have major effects on diabetes, or even IQ. What we know now is very different: Traits are shaped by all our genes working in concert. Millions of genetic markers nudge us in subtle ways, shaping probabilities rather than certainties,\u201d says Turley, who directs the Behavioral and Health Genomics Center<\/a> at USC Dornsife.<\/p>\n

Consider our health. Some conditions, such as Huntington\u2019s disease, stem from a single faulty gene. But most hereditary illnesses involve vast networks of genes, each exerting only the faintest influence. In this chaotic landscape, predicting an individual\u2019s risk becomes extraordinarily difficult.<\/p>\n

Still, knowing you carry a higher risk than average can be helpful. Doctors already ask about family history; genetic testing can complement that by flagging patients who might benefit from earlier screenings or more frequent monitoring.<\/p>\n

But having a genetic risk factor is not a prediction. DNA, Turley says firmly, is not \u201csome mythical force.\u201d Tell someone their diabetes risk is 25% instead of 20%, and that small bump can feel like destiny. \u201cPeople tell themselves, \u2018I\u2019m a person who is at high-risk for diabetes,\u2019\u201d he says. But in fact, it\u2019s a tiny difference that will have a negligible effect.<\/p>\n

Even height \u2014 often cited as a success story of genetic prediction \u2014 reveals the limits of science. Researchers analyzed 5.5 million genomes tied to measured heights, yet their best model could explain less than half of the variation. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge effort to obtain predictions that, in the end, are simply not that good,\u201d says Turley.<\/p>\n

The challenge goes deeper: Most genetic datasets come from people of European descent, making predictions less accurate when applied to other populations. The gap widens further for complex traits like intelligence or educational attainment. Using genetics to predict whether someone will graduate high school, Turley explains, \u201ctends not to be useful for predicting a person\u2019s individual outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turley has also studied a new and often controversial frontier: embryo selection. Companies such as San Francisco-based Orchid Health now offer to test and rank embryos according to genetic risk factors. The potential benefit, Turley says, is modest. In the best-case scenario, choosing the \u201cbest\u201d embryo from 10 might, for instance, reduce the risk of diabetes from 35% to 30%. Yet companies rarely communicate such caveats to their clients, leading to confusion and overconfidence. \"dna<\/p>\n

When DNA Rewrites Family<\/h2>\n

DNA\u2019s influence \u2014 real or imagined \u2014 extends beyond health, touching identity, ancestry and the stories we tell about family.<\/p>\n

Turley points to a familiar pattern: People raised to believe they had Native American ancestry discover they have no trace of it in their genome. For someone whose supposed Cherokee heritage shaped their identity \u2014 or who suddenly learns the father they love isn\u2019t biological \u2014 the fallout can be profound.<\/p>\n

Genetic testing companies know this. They recognize that what genetic genealogists diplomatically call \u201cnonpaternity events\u201d can be emotionally impactful, and some provide referrals to support services when results upend families.<\/p>\n

In his genetics class, Edge offers a different frame for family \u2014 one meant to soften the authority we sometimes grant to DNA. \u201cWhen I talk about somebody\u2019s mom or dad or their cousin in this class, I\u2019m using it as a shorthand for sources of gametes: sperm and eggs,\u201d he says. \u201cIn reality, there are many other ways to define a family, and those other definitions are sometimes more meaningful.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the bonds that truly make a family \u2014 the shared experiences, the chosen commitments, the lives lived together \u2014 DNA is silent, Edge notes. And while genetic testing promises to reveal who we truly are, it also shows how little of our ancestors we carry.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t share any more DNA with your ancestors 10 generations back than you do with a random stranger,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Even as genetic databases grow, the ties that bind remain the ones we weave ourselves, strand by strand, across a lifetime.<\/p>\n

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\n DNA Mythbusters\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n \n
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\n USC Dornsife Magazine\n <\/h2>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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Fall 2025 \/ Winter 2026<\/h2>\n

The Family Issue<\/h1>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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Consumer DNA testing is reshaping notions of family, identity and risk. But what it reveals \u2014 and what it doesn\u2019t \u2014 may surprise you. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":970,"featured_media":3465,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWho Do You Think You Are? 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