Name: Secrets in our DNA
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Nova

Some 30 million Americans have sent their DNA to be analyzed by companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA. But what happens once the sample is in the hands of testing companies, and how accurate are their results? NOVA explores the power of genetic data to reveal family connections, ancestry, and health risks—and even solve criminal cold cases.

What can DNA testing companies reveal about our ancestry and health, and at what risk?

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Secrets in our DNA

Because of the Eurocentric bias of genetic reference databases, DNA ancestry test results for individuals of African and Asian descent are often less detailed than results for individuals of European descent.

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How—and why—DNA Testing Uses Biased Reference Databases

Half-sisters share their unlikely story of finding one another through genetic testing, and what they learned about their family history along the way.

In 2018, June Smith takes a consumer DNA test, hoping to solve a longstanding mystery.

Half Sisters Unite Thanks to DNA Testing

the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

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Some 30 million people have sent their DNA to be analyzed by companies like 23andMe and AncestryDNA. But what happens once the sample is in the hands of testing companies, and how accurate are their results? NOVA explores the power of genetic data to reveal family connections, ancestry, and health risks—and even solve criminal cold cases. But alongside the benefits of these rapidly growing genetic databases are serious unintended consequences.

Brigham and Women's/Harvard Med.

What can DNA testing companies reveal about our ancestry and health, and at what risk?

Body & Brain

Colossal explosions shake a remote corner of the Siberian tundra, leaving behind massive craters. In Alaska, a huge lake erupts with bubbles of inflammable gas. Scientists are discovering that these mystifying phenomena add up to a ticking time bomb, as long-frozen permafrost melts and releases vast amounts of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. What are the implications of these dramatic developments in the Arctic? Scientists and local communities alike are struggling to grasp the scale of the methane threat and what it means for our climate future. (Premiered February 2, 2022)

In the Arctic, enormous releases of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, threaten the climate.

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A composite image of Jupiter using images captured by the James Webb Space Telescope. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, Jupiter ERS Team; image processing by Judy Schmidt.

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Four bright orange loops brand off of a dark blue blob

A transmission electron micrograph of HIV-1 virus particles (orange) replicating from the plasma membrane of an infected H9 T cell. Credit: NIAID, Flickr

Scientists have cured a handful of people of HIV by piggybacking on treatments they received for blood cancer. But does that bring a widespread cure any closer?

Secrets in our DNA

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Secrets in our DNA

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Funded By

Explore More

An Indigenous bioethicist on CRISPR and decolonizing DNA

Forget Fingerprints: Law Enforcement DNA Databases Poised To Expand

Not your mom’s genes: Mitochondrial DNA can come from Dad

Personal DNA Testing

Extract Your Own DNA

Identifying Lost Crew with Forensics and DNA Analysis

With new DNA analysis, the Neanderthal story gets even more complex

Ancient DNA hints at the genetic lineage of today’s Native Americans

How—and why—DNA Testing Uses Biased Reference Databases

Half Sisters Unite Thanks to DNA Testing

DNA Origamists Folded These Nanobots to Snuff Out Cancer

Mitochondrial DNA Proves Women Were Instrumental Viking Colonizers

Secrets in our DNA