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Comment by ada1981 | Hacker News Reader

ada1981

I was disappointed the only example they gave for misusing data was that celebrity dead beat dads might be exposed.

>> As DNA databases grow, so too does the potential for abuse. “Misuse of surreptitious DNA is potentially a big problem,” says Debbie Kennett, genealogist and author. “You can imagine celebrities and politicians being stalked to get illicit DNA samples for paternity testing without consent.” <<

Certainly, there must be worse outcomes than some powerful men running the risk of being shown to be someone’s dad?

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It's a great example if they want regulation in the industry. Showing how something can threaten powerful men's positions is a great way to get it buried in regulation or downright outlawed. In the US, we're lucky not enough of them understood the potential power of the internet until it was too late.

Not a biologist, but I'd imagine that's because we currently can answer "is this DNA likely the same as that other DNA" with some degree of reliability, but anything more (except for some very specific diseases) is still not quite here yet. I'd also imagine all this is changing very quickly.

Happy to be corrected by someone with actual knowledge of course.

It's along the same lines but DNA sequencing has very serious consequences in countries that have a history of strict filial piety such as China.

In these countries a family is not just the basis for raising children - families can often act as a sort of "corporation" where everyone is cooperating to enhance the wealth and future prospects of the group.

There was a lot of confusion around family relationships during WWII with the occupation of the Japanese and again after WWII with the Chinese Communist Revolution as children were adopted when their parents went missing or were killed in the war.

If people inside a family are found not to be related to one another there's a serious potential for the social fabric to start breaking down.

Widespread paternity testing will destroy the social fabric of China?

That's quite a stretch.

"destroy" might be an overstatement, but reproduction is _very_ important to people and changes in its dynamics have large ripple effects

look at birth control for an example

AFAIK, the family unit there is not so strictly around genetic lineage. I could adopt a child in with the intention of having him be my successor. He is my son then, without the genetic lineage.

Hell, in Japan at least they even do that adopting adults.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_adult_adoption

Yes, this is a very strange example in deed, feels like there are no better arguments (I'd go for the insurance or the Hitler cards personally.)

possibly celebrity (or otherwise) children being found to have been from the wrong father

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