Main content

DNA and me

What do at-home DNA test kits tell us about our identity?

Want to know who you really are? Take an at-home DNA test, just like over 26 million others have around the globe. But the question is: why?

For many, it’s just a bit of fun; for others it might be for medical insight. But for everyone, it promises to tell you who you really are – and for many, those results might come as a surprise. For ±«Óãtv reporter Sophia Smith Galer and her father, an innocent at-home kit led to a series of shocking discoveries about their family.

From discovering her true biological grandfather to a superstar relative, understanding their family background won’t ever be the same again. With so many stories like theirs emerging around the globe, are at-home DNA test kits now the ultimate palm-reader, setting the paths for our future and sense of sef? Do we assume too much of what is still early science – and how much is our identity, really, controlled by our genes anyway?

Sophia explores what this new scientific determination offers, and what other stories that are emerging around the world like her and her father’s tell us about how we build a sense of identity today in 2020.

Presenter/producer: Sophia Smith-Galer

(Photo: Sophia Smith-Galer. Credit: Lai Jones)

Available now

27 minutes

Last on

Mon 9 Nov 2020 21:06GMT

Broadcasts

  • Tue 14 Jul 2020 01:32GMT
  • Tue 14 Jul 2020 08:06GMT
  • Tue 14 Jul 2020 12:32GMT
  • Tue 14 Jul 2020 14:06GMT
  • Tue 14 Jul 2020 19:06GMT
  • Tue 14 Jul 2020 19:32GMT
  • Sat 18 Jul 2020 10:32GMT
  • Sun 19 Jul 2020 04:32GMT
  • Sun 19 Jul 2020 17:06GMT
  • Mon 9 Nov 2020 09:06GMT
  • Mon 9 Nov 2020 13:32GMT
  • Mon 9 Nov 2020 15:06GMT
  • Mon 9 Nov 2020 20:06GMT
  • Mon 9 Nov 2020 21:06GMT

Featured in...