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DNA company traces ancestry

Critics say genetic info could be misused by police, mafia

By Kimberly Ashton
Staff Writer, The Prague Post
June 20th, 2007 issue

KURT VINION/THE PRAGUE POST
Genomac's Minárik says testing is popular regardless of the issues.
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In a nondescript office building on the outskirts of Prague, Marek Minárik and his staff at Genomac are helping people reach back across the centuries to trace their ancestry. To date, they’ve tested about 5,000 DNA samples from volunteers and are using some of that information to create a database of national heritage.
With high-tech DNA sequencers, which Minárik helped develop in the United States, a sample of saliva can dig deep into a person’s roots and create a general picture of where his or her ancestors may have dwelled 50 or 60 generations ago.
But the endeavor is not without its critics, who say this DNA database could be misused if in the wrong hands.
Daniel Vaněk, whose firm, Forensic DNA Service, offers a similar service, says that the “potential for misuse [of this information] is huge.” Vaněk says that such data, kept on the Internet, could be misused by police looking to connect someone to a crime, or by the mafia or a foreign intelligence service.
Vaněk says he wants to see all such data strictly under the control of the state.
His company offers some of the same DNA services as Genomac, notably paternity testing, but returns all the DNA samples to the owner and does not maintain a database, he says.
“How can you be sure that a private company making a profit will protect those samples?” Vaněk asks. Furthermore, Vaněk says Genomac broke the law by not registering with the Office of Personal Data Protection.
Minárik is quick to fire back, and says Vaněk is manipulating the facts.
“I want to make everything clear and transparent,” he says.
He says he was aware of no requirement to register with the office. “It was probably a mistake on our side not to register, even if we didn’t have to.”  
According to Jan Folda from the Office of Personal Data Protection, the “basic rule” of registering sensitive data is that “the company does so before starting a database.”
Companies must also provide concrete data about what the database will contain, what it will be used for and how they will secure them.
Genomac is now undergoing registration and may face fines.
Minárik didn’t believe registration was necessary because the voluntary online database — which is now on hold pending clearance with the personal data office — contains no personal data. In other words, all the samples have randomized ID numbers, not names, attached to them.
“How could this be exploited?” he asks.
Vaněk, a forensic geneticist and former police officer who formed a group called the Czechoslovak Society for Forensic Genetics, answers by saying that DNA information in itself identifies a person and that Genomac’s labs could be easily penetrated to connect ID numbers with names, or that the company could be bribed for such information.
Minárik bristles at this suggestion and points out that to do so would be illegal. Besides, he says, there are many ways a crooked cop can put someone’s DNA at a crime scene if he wants to.
Independent scientist Jana Židovská of the Society for Medical Genetics and the Society of Medical Ethics says she considers Genomac to be a reputable firm and that “if it is a voluntary database, then it is hard to attack it.”
Growing demand
Regardless of ethical issues, DNA testing is already in high demand here, according to Minárik, who has been conducting paternity tests for years.
Minárik created Genomac in 2001 with his sister Lucie Mináriková (now Benešová), a molecular biologist, while he was still living in the United States. They started by doing genetic tests for hospitals, which he says still makes up the majority of their work.
“The research part of what we do allows us to keep the lab running,” he says. The following year, he opened the commercial end of his business when he began offering paternity testing, which he says has a large market. As opposed to paternity testing done by the state, Genomac’s testing does not require the mother’s consent since none of her DNA is being tested. It only requires the consent of the father. This system, Minárik argues, is the better way since in 80 percent of cases the child is the father’s offspring and he can put his mind to rest without upsetting the mother.
Genomac started ancestry testing last year, after Minárik tested his own DNA and was interested to see from where he descended. He thought others might also like to know.
Genomac received few orders until a September 2006 article appeared in Lidové noviny. Then the requests, hundreds a day, came pouring in.
The test costs 1,200 Kč ($55.80) and uses an international database based on 10 genetic markers to see where others who have similar genetic combinations have been tested.
So far, Genomac has done about 5,000 of these tests, and 3,000 of those customers have agreed to have their DNA profile posted online so that others with similar profiles can contact them through a mailbox marked only by a number, not a name.
— Naďa Černá contributed to this report.

Kimberly Ashton can be reached at kashton@praguepost.com


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