People have always told stories about their ancestral origins. But now millions of people are looking at their DNA to see if those stories hold up. While genetic tests can indeed reveal some secrets about our family past, we can also jump to the wrong conclusions from their results.

The reception of Senator Elizabeth Warren’s DNA results is a textbook case in this confusion.

On Monday morning, Senator Warren released an analysis on her DNA showing that six to 10 generations back she had a Native American ancestor.

Continue reading “Before Arguing About DNA Tests, Learn the Science Behind Them” →

Cancer is a disease of mutations. Tumor cells are riddled with genetic mutations not found in healthy cells. Scientists estimate that it takes five to 10 key mutations for a healthy cell to become cancerous.

Some of these mutations can be caused by assaults from the environment, such as ultraviolet rays and cigarette smoke. Others arise from harmful molecules produced by the cells themselves. In recent years, researchers have begun taking a closer look at these mutations, to try to understand how they arise in healthy cells, and what causes these cells to later erupt into full-blown cancer.

Continue reading “Researchers Explore a Cancer Paradox” →

In a rare political riposte, Senator Elizabeth Warren on Monday released an analysis of her DNA indicating that she has a Native American ancestor, likely between six and 10 generations back in her family history.

President Trump has mocked Ms. Warren’s claims of Native American ancestry, often calling her Pocahontas. The new analysis appeared to be scientifically rigorous, researchers said, but it cannot give someone a cultural identity as Native American.

The research on Ms. Warren’s DNA was led by Carlos Bustamante, a Stanford University geneticist who has written a number of studies on the genetic ancestry of people in the Americas. The results were first reported by the Boston Globe.

Continue reading “Elizabeth Warren Has a Native American Ancestor. Does That Make Her Native American?” →