Using 23andMe to Reunite Families at the Border Comes With Serious Privacy Risks
By Tonya Riley,
Mother Jones [Cites CGS' Marcy Darnovsky]
| 06. 22. 2018
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump announced an end to administration’s policy of separating families at the border. But the administration hasn’t figured out how to reunite the parents and children that have already been split apart. A day after Trump’s announcement, Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) suggested a novel idea: recruit 23andMe, the DNA-testing company, to help separated families find missing relatives. The company itself quickly volunteered its services for the cause. But legal and genetic experts say that the solution might cause more harm than good.
Speier told Buzzfeed News on Thursday that she spoke with executives at 23andMe, which is headquartered in the congresswoman’s district, about providing testing assistance to reunite families at the border. By Thursday evening, 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki said that the company “would welcome any opportunity to help” and was “waiting to see the best way to follow up and make it happen.” (23andMe donated $5,000 to Speier’s 2016 campaign.)
“I implore the President, Attorney General Sessions, and HHS Secretary Azar to accept this generous and altruistic offer, particularly in light of the fact that...
Related Articles
By Annika Inampudi, Science | 08.01.2025
In June, Sara* received a message asking whether she wanted to continue to participate in a massive, multicenter research project led by scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark. The iPsych study, the message said, had sequenced her genetic data from...
The Center for Genetics and Society is delighted to recommend the current edition of GMWatch Review – Number 589. UK-based GMWatch, a long-standing ally, was founded in 1998 by Jonathan Matthews as an independent organization seeking to counter the enormous corporate political power and propaganda of the GMO industry and its supporters. Matthews and Claire Robinson are its directors and managing editors.
CGS works to ensure that social justice, equity, human rights, and democratic governance are front...
By Katherine Drabiak, Journal of Medical Ethics Forum | 08.07.2025
Adapted from Mitochondrial DNA at
National Human Genome Research Institute
Recently, media outlets around the world have been reporting on children born from pronuclear genome transfer (sometimes called “3-parent IVF,” “mitochondrial donation” or “mitochondrial replacement therapy”) at Newcastle Fertility Center...
By Annika Inampudi, Science | 07.10.2025
Before a baby in the United States reaches a few days old, doctors will run biochemical tests on a few drops of their blood to catch certain genetic diseases that need immediate care to prevent brain damage or other serious...
