Category Archives: Transhuman News

I found my dad and a roommate: Larecia Buford, 36, security officer

I used to go by Larecia Whitehead, I changed my second name to Buford my real fathers name when a DNA test led us to each other after decades apart. For most of my childhood, Mum told me another guy was my father, a man I never knew and who left us when I could barely walk or talk. I was never convinced. Then, at 15, a girl in school recognised my then surname and introduced me to the man my mother always said was my dad. We looked nothing alike. He didnt think I was his daughter either. Fastforward to me being 31, and I needed certainty. Once again I tracked down the man my mum said was my dad and asked him to do a DNA test. The results came back: there was a 0% chance we were related. Id been right all along.

A year later I turned to online DNA tests, unsurprisingly not matching with the Whitehead family. There were random third and fourth cousins, but I was at a loss. Thankfully, a friend connected me with a search angel volunteers who help people like me find their lost relatives. It wasnt an easy task turns out my dad was one of 12 siblings. But 21 days later, my search angel had found my father.

I showed him a picture of my mum and he recognised her instantly. The DNA tests matched. Its strange; to this day my mum is adamant theyve never met. Dad says they were only together three times. I reckon Mum is just in denial. Now she accepts him; we do things as a family. Still, she has no memory of him at all.

And heres the craziest bit: there had always been question marks over whether my dad had been a father. Not to me, but to a boy. Hed raised a son, when in fact he was the child of another man. Dad needed me as much as I needed him. Being his only child, meanwhile, worked out perfectly for me; after 35 years apart, selfishly, I didnt want to share him.

We live together now. Hes more than just a father, hes a best friend. In a matter of months he went from total stranger to being one of the most important people in my life; the same for my children.

Im going to write a book, not just to tell this story but to try to reach teenagers who also have missing parents. If Id found him sooner, I could have had so many more years of loving and being loved by my father. I want to encourage others to not waste any time.

My mum had me when she was 17, super young. I lived with her for a few years as a baby, but I ended up being raised by my grandma. I never knew who my father was, and my mum didnt either; lets say back then she was living young, wild and free in Las Vegas. Its a city where plenty of men come and go. Right after I was born, we took a bunch of paternity tests. None of the potential candidates that Mum identified matched my genetics. Well into high school, I just accepted it would never be figured out.

And then in 2016, out of the blue, my grandma bought us both DNA tests online. Our intention was to learn about my ethnic makeup, that was all. Mum had mentioned previously shed been dating among others a Puerto Rican guy at the time of my conception. I have a different complexion to the rest of our family. I didnt intend to find my father, but my roots. Opening the results was one the most shocking moments of my life apparently Im exactly half Afghan. Lower down the page was a long list of cousins: once you spit in the tube and send it in, you receive a list of relatives who have also signed up. Some of them from names alone I just knew would have to be related to my dad. For the first time, my father felt real.

I called Mum and suddenly a memory of a man was triggered. Maybe there was this one Middle Eastern guy, she said, but theyd only met once. Shed never considered him a possibility.

I messaged one of these newfound cousins and explained my situation. All I knew is that this man would have been in town nine months before I was born. Our exchanges were sporadic. Finally, last November, they sent me a list of names. I asked my mum: he could, she recalled, be an Alex? The final name on the list. Alex lived in Afghanistan with his wife and kids, but his mother my prospective grandmother lived a short drive from me. Our DNA matched. A few weeks ago, I had my first video call with my dad.

He wasnt a visitor, but local. Lots of his family are still here in Vegas; with open arms theyve welcomed me. I still face an identity crisis, only a different type. Does this new information change me? I want to embrace my heritage, but I wasnt raised with it; would that make me an impostor? With their support, Im soaking up Afghan culture. At parties, they all speak Farsi I want to learn the familial language. I know next to nothing about their customs, food or reference points. Im excited to embrace it all, and to one day meet my father. Because being Afghan, it turns out, is a huge part of who I am.

I was always interested in genealogy and when I did a DNA test in 2012 I didnt think much of it. I knew, or so I thought, all about my family history I was doing it for fun. My parents were Irish American Catholics; all my ancestors were originally from the British Isles. Instead, the results showed I was only half Irish, Scottish or English. The rest of me was European Jewish. Of course, one can be Jewish and British, but DNA testing identifies people of Jewish heritage as a distinct group. It made no sense. At first I thought it was a mistake; maybe one side of our family had hidden their background.

My sister and I went into detective mode and asked two cousins to take DNA tests: one on Mums side, and one on my fathers. That way, I hoped, wed decipher where the Jewish genes were from and work from there. The results took an age, but finally came back: both were Irish; none of our cousins shared our Jewish heritage. Even stranger was the fact that while my sister and I matched as relatives with my mothers side of the family, genetically speaking my cousin on Dads side was a total stranger. My fathers sister was not his sister. Somehow, my father had Jewish genes, but his parents my grandparents had not. It was a mystery.

Dad was the son of Irish immigrants. We had his birth certificate, showing hed been born on 23 September 1913. We knew he was raised in a New York orphanage. At this point, we questioned whether something had gone wrong in the system and two children in the home had been confused for each other. But the sole picture I had of my father as a young child matched the man I knew.

Within two weeks of receiving our cousins DNA results, we settled on a new theory: that our father was switched with an Irish baby while the two were newborns in the hospital. It was the only scenario that made sense. It was the only way Dad could somehow have not been related to his own parents. We then spent two and a half years searching for a close Jewish relative who had taken a DNA test to confirm what we thought.

I periodically checked my Irish cousins DNA results online to see if he had acquired any unexpected relatives. Amazingly, he was contacted by a new cousin, a generation below me, whod expected to be genetically Jewish, but discovered she was Irish instead. And yes, this womans grandfather was also born on 23 September 1913. The babies had been sent home with the wrong parents: an Irish boy had been sent home with a Jewish family. My Jewish father Jim Collins had been raised Irish instead.

We tracked down the other family the news to them was also shocking. As soon as we looked at pictures of Jim it all clicked into place. The strangest part is all the coincidences we later discovered: how my dad, Jim, was a gambler just like his biological father; how he loved gefilte fish and didnt eat pork, despite never knowing he was Jewish. Whoever his parents were, my dad was still my dad.

When I was two years old, one of my two younger brothers passed away. I grew older and started my own family, and I too lost a child of my own.

Two and half months ago, I saw a message when I logged into Facebook from a stranger: Im pretty sure we are brother and sister, it said. Id done a DNA test a few years earlier, but got nothing. Suddenly, here was this sister out the blue. Shed been searching for us for 35 years.

Weve basically been neighbours our whole lives shes only 10 miles down the road; Ive known her husband for 25 years, and we have an unbelievable number of mutual friends.

My parents are both dead; after my first younger brother died, my father struggled with alcoholism. He was running around doing whatever, clearly getting someone pregnant in between the births of me and my living brother. As far as I know, he never knew, and neither did we. I ordered a special test which can identify siblings, and drove to her house.

As soon as she answered the door taking a further test seemed pointless. The woman standing in front of me was the spitting image of my dad. When the results came back, lo and behold, shed been right.

The next day, our families met. We all went for dinner, then returned to my place. It was only when I sat down in my house that I realised: my sister was six years younger than me; my father had died exactly six years ago to the day.

Today shes a huge part of my life. We talk every day, shes a missing piece of my lifes puzzle.

Im so happy about it all: after losing a kid, family becomes even more precious. And here I am, with a new sister, niece and nephew. Theyre a blessing and who knows how many more of us there are still to find?

Mum was only 18 when she got pregnant. The father? They werent together and lets just say he wasnt around. Her family were devout Catholics. Back then, lots of young, single expectant mothers were sent to these awful institutions, where theyd give birth and have their babies given away. Six weeks before I was born, Mum was sent to Brettargh Holt in Kendal a convent staffed by Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary. After giving birth, Mum upped and left with me in tow. She never spoke to her parents again. Life was tough, and she did it all on her own. Unsurprisingly, she wasnt keen on talking about everything that had happened. Growing up, I had no idea who my father was.

During the summer, my skin naturally tanned quicker than most of the other kids, which saw me get bullied. When I was six or seven, Mum sat me down and explained why. My dad, she told me, was Italian. That was the only piece of information she ever wanted to share. And so there was always a sense of guilt attached to me trying to find him. On and off since my 20s, I tried to track him down. Many years later, my estranged maternal grandma sent me a letter. His name was Antonio, she told us; this is the street where he was lodging at the time. I knocked on every single door and found his old landlady. She remembered the young Italian lads name.

I found him on Facebook, and sent him a message. Right away, he knew who I was. Soon he had a DNA kit in his hands. He was on a Zanzibar beach when in his 80s Dad discovered he was a father, grandfather and great-grandfather for the very first time.

Today we have a great relationship; he calls me his little miracle. Weve still not talked much about all that happened between Mum and him; why for so long he wasnt a present parent. Hes an elderly man now. One day, maybe I will. Mum died in 2003. Im not sure how shed have felt about me and him connecting. At times I feel guilty, but hes a wonderful man, a special addition to my life. We may have missed out on memories, but theres still time for us to make plenty more.

My sister and I are close. We were both adopted by my parents, but the two of us are not biologically related. When my mum gave birth to our younger brother a few years after we arrived, it was a real surprise for all. Mum and Dad were always open about our adoption; theyd read us a book called The Chosen Baby. Ive also always had admiration for the woman who gave me up. It must have been so hard to do.

Ive always been super-curious about my genetics. Ive been married five years, but dont have children. That means Ive never met anyone my age, older or younger who shares my DNA. Still, I was cautious about digging around; not wanting to upset my parents; aware that appearing in other peoples lives can, of course, cause upset and drama. So little was known about my biological parents the name my birth mother gave on the adoption papers was a decoy that I decided I simply needed to know more.

It was Christmas 2018 when I finally took a DNA test. I got the results on St Patricks day. I remember because it said I have some Irish blood. Through the site, I connected with a half-uncle my first ever blood relation. He knew a little about my mother, Barbara: a bit of a troublemaker, in and out of prison. When she was pregnant with me, she stole her brothers car and drove across the country to secretly give birth. Shed been married at that point; I was the child of her extramarital affair. And, he informed me I had a half-sister an actor in Hollywood. I reached out to her; DNA tests confirmed we shared a birth mother.

I was overwhelmed. As a child, Id watched her play the sassy middle sister on television in a popular television sitcom I loved. To find out we were related was heartwarming. Id spent a lifetime thinking Id never know any blood relatives, when shed been there all along.

She and I still havent talked talked; were yet to meet in person. She was kind when we wrote to each other, but overwhelmed and unsure how to feel. I understand; we all feel different emotions about the past and where were from.

And Im so lucky to have an amazing family who I love more than anything in the world. In time, I hope she and I will connect properly. For now, Im just comforted by knowing she was, and is, part of my world.

Continue reading here:
I took a DNA test and found a new family: the drama and joy of meeting long-lost relatives - The Guardian

Thiruvananthapuram: Based on a court order to conduct a DNA test in the controversial adoption case, experts from the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology here collected samples from Anupama S Chandran, her partner Ajith Kumar, and the baby. The test results arrived positive on Tuesday.

The case pertains to the alleged handing over of the baby to foster parents without the knowledge of his biological mother.

The test was conducted after separating the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid), a molecule composed of two polynucleotide chains, from the cells in the collected samples.

Method of testing

A buccal or cheek swab is taken for the DNA test. Accordingly, buccal (cheek) cells found on the inside of a person's cheek are collected. These swabs have wooden or plastic stick handles with a cotton on synthetic tip.

Genes, DNA, chromosomes

Genes determine the colour of hair, eyes, skin and even individual traits. These genes are found in each cell, where DNA is arranged in chromosomes. Each DNA has two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix, or chromosome, carrying genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of all known organisms.

Each chromosome has two strands of DNA in a double helix. The chromosome, depending on whether it is 'X' or 'Y' , determines the gender* of living organisms. DNA is made up of four basic building blocks called nucleotides, which form the double helix.

The coding area of the gene codes proteins for the DNA. Though the primary function of the DNA is to encode a functional protein, a major portion of the genome is made of non-coding DNA or 'junk DNA.' The non-coding region will have short-tandem repeats of microsatellites, repetitive DNA sequences usually several base pairs in length. Each microsatellite may have two to seven nucleotides, the genetic markers to follow the inheritance of genes in families. These are used for testing DNA.

Genetic changes in short-tandem repeats will not affect the body. Hence, it undergoes massive changes that remain across generations, and it differs from person to person.

The DNA test comprises four major parts:

1. DNA is separated from samples collected.

2. Thousands of copies of short-tandem repeats are made using PCR (Polymerase chain reaction) technology. PCR is a widely used technology to rapidly make millions of copies of a specific DNA sample.

3. DNA fragments are separated from the copies using gel electrophoresis technique.

4. The size and distance between these DNA fragments, or bands, are given specific numbers and compared.

If half of the bands of the child's DNA matches with that of his mother and the remaining with those from the father, it could be ascertained that the child is the biological offspring of the couple.

*[Two X chromosomes (XX) make a girl, whereas an 'X' and 'a Y' (XY) make a boy].

Go here to see the original:
Adoption row | All you need to know about DNA test - Onmanorama

Long ago, during a hot, sweaty, daylong recording session that now feels like a fever dream, Cliffs made its new album, DNA. Plenty of memories linger from that day in June 2018 at Jeremy Eberts home studio (aka Jerbil House), but none more than the oppressive heat that defined the sessions as singer/guitarist Aaron Cottrell, singer/bassist Adam Hardy and then-drummer Jason Winner tracked eight songs with engineer/producer Alex Douglas.

With no fans or air conditioning, Winners bare foot kept slipping off the bass drum during recording. Later, the drummers sweat soaked through his jeans and infiltrated the cracks of his phone, frying it. At one point, Cottrell and Hardy said they had to take Douglas to Grandview Caf for a food and water break to keep him from passing out. We looked like we had just played a basketball game, Hardy said.

In the end, after adding some overdubs and a couple of lo-fi acoustic tracks, Cliffs walked away with DNA, which the scuzz-pop band will celebrate with a release show at Ace of Cups on Saturday, Nov. 27, with new drummer Chris Mengerink and local openers Tetnis and Mukiss. (As is the band's Cliffsgiving custom, entry to the show will be discounted with acanned good.) In addition to cassette copies of DNA, the band will also have a new B-sides and rarities tape for sale.

We have all these recordings from right before [2015 album] Self Portrait, where it's just Adam and I in our old living room on Fourth Street, and I'm playing an acoustic and Adam is playing a cardboard box for the drums with various other percussion, bells and whistles, quite literally, Cottrell said in a recent video call with Hardy, who also lamented the gone-but-not-forgotten Val Keyboard, i.e. an old keyboard with a playing card of Val Kilmer as Batman glued to the top. There are all these recordings that we used to do that are very much rooted in acoustic and weird, lo-fi recording with avant-garde noises and stuff. That sort of vibe has always been a part of Cliffs.

Thatvibe carries through to DNA, which features two acoustic tracks with copious tape hiss and found sounds: Hardys IDK and Cottrell's instrumental pastiche, Inland.

I would be working at the Idea Foundry just staring at my computer all day, Cottrell said of the genesis of Inland. I found this guitar thing that I had done a while ago and just started finding different samples that I had recorded on my phone from when I went to Europe and other times of my life and started stringing them together while I was at work.

IDK, on the other hand, resulted from late-night inspiration. I was going through some weird shit at 3 a.m., and something struck me, Hardy said. I was like, you know what? I'm going to try to record a song on my phone that sounds like it's not on a phone, but sounds more like it's early Elephant Six or early Elliott Smith those old lo-fi recordings where nowadays you can do that on a phone because your phone is more powerful than any of the recording equipment they had back in the early 90s.

The rest of DNA features the loud guitars, big drums, shout-along choruses and rumpled pop melodies for which Cliffs is known. Some of the songs, such as leadoff track Block out the Sun/City Life and Radio, are several years old, which prompted the bandmates to reflect on previous eras of their lives.

I see a person whose life was kind of chaotic. Their mind was a lot more chaotic and directionless. What I think of now when I hear Block Out the Sun is, like, you're blocking out something that could be potentially useful to yourself in order to stay in a more stagnant position, Cottrell said. Maybe I didn't even see that when I wrote it.

Radio dates back to Hardys college days, when he wrote the song after a frustrating philosophy class. There was this person in class I just didn't like, so I kind of wrote it in spite of that person, pretty much calling them nothing, Hardy said, quoting the first line of the song: So being something is nothing/Or it's just how you perceive it/Because if something was nothing/Well that'll make something out of you.

It's a nice little pat on the back, but at the same timea jab with a knife, Hardy said, noting how the song has slowed and become more pensive and Tweedy-esque over the years. "The pace that we play it now and the way that we do it, it's a lot more Wilco-ian. Papa Jeff would be proud about this version.

Cliffsloquialisms like "Papa Jeff," "Cliffsgiving," "Val Keyboard" and other amalgams all fit nicely into Cliffs weirdos making art aesthetic, which has grown even more varied on DNA (including a 90s-throwback hidden track that incorporates both Satan and Lou Barlow). This record is a lot more eclectic than past things, Hardy said.

I think there are elements of both Adam and I that are undeniable in this recording, but then there are also very Cliffs moments that are the two of us ... working in cohesion and figuring it out together, Cottrell said. Calling it DNA just made sense. The double helix.

Visit link:
Cliffs figures it out together on new album 'DNA' - Columbus Alive

The Duchess of Sussex in 2019.Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

A British journalist said she didn't realize she was being racist by calling Meghan Markle "exotic."

Rachel Johnson reflected on her 2016 article about the duchess in a new BBC documentary.

She said she would be "canceled" if she used the same language today.

Rachel Johnson, a British journalist who called Meghan Markle's DNA "exotic" five years ago, said she wouldn't use the same language today because she would be "canceled."

Johnson is a columnist, author, and sister to Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Writing in her column for the Mail on Sunday in 2016, titled "Sorry Harry, but your beautiful bolter has failed my Mum Test," Johnson described Markle as genetically "blessed." She wrote that the then-actress' "rich and exotic DNA" would thicken the royal family's "watery, thin blue blood."

"Miss Markle's mother is a dreadlocked African-American lady from the wrong side of the tracks who lives in LA, and even the sourest spinster has to admit that the 35-year-old actress is extremely easy on the eye," she wrote.

Speaking in the BBC documentary "The Princes and the Press," which aired in the UK on Monday, Johnson said she didn't realize that the language she used was racist at the time.

"I contrasted the ethnic heritage of Meghan Markle with the ethnic heritage of Prince Harry," Johnson said.

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot in 2018.WPA Pool/Getty Images

"Of course, that was a few years ago, we wouldn't go anywhere near that now because we would be canceled for making anything about somebody's ethnic background the color of their skin, it would be completely off-limits."

She added that she wouldn't use the words "exotic DNA" if she were to write the same article today.

"Because now I know, and now I've been educated and I've educated myself that 'exotic' is a euphemism for Black, which you don't dare say," she said.

Story continues

"I agree it was a misfire, because either way you read it, it sounds eugenicist or racist. So let's just forget it," she added.

Racism in the British press is something the duchess has dealt with ever since the news broke that she was dating Prince Harry in 2016, Insider previously reported.

Harry was the first and only member of the British royal family to publicly acknowledge the racism Markle faced when he released an official statement on the subject in November 2016.

"His girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been subject to a wave of abuse and harassment," a representative for Harry said at the time. "Some of this has been very public the smear on the front page of a national newspaper; the racial undertones of comment pieces; and the outright sexism and racism of social media trolls and web article comments."

Representatives for the Duchess of Sussex and Rachel Johnson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Read the original article on Insider

View post:
A British journalist who wrote that Meghan Markle had 'exotic DNA' in 2016 says she would be 'canceled' if she wrote the same article today - Yahoo...

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Nov. 23, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vipergen, a leading provider of small-molecule drug discovery services based on DNA-encoded library (DEL) technologies, announced today the signing of a multi-target drug discovery agreement with Aligos Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALGS). Under the terms of the agreement, Vipergen will apply its high-fidelity DEL technology platforms to identify novel small-molecule compounds that bind to selected Aligos protein targets. Aligos will select hits for development into novel therapeutics for viral and liver diseases. Aligos will retain exclusive rights to globally commercialize any products resulting from the collaboration. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

"We are delighted to collaborate with Aligos' highly experienced team in its mission to develop best-in-class therapies that improve treatment outcomes in chronic hepatitis B, NASH, and coronavirus," said Nils Hansen, PhD, Chief Executive Officer of Vipergen. "We look forward to applying our suite of DEL technologies to discover novel leads that help expand Aligos' portfolio of differentiated drug candidates that target these significant unmet medical needs."

About Vipergen ApSVipergen is a world-leading provider of small-molecule drug discovery services based on DNA-encoded library (DEL) technologies and is the first and only company capable of screening DELs inside a living cell. Vipergen provides its proprietary suite of leading-edge DEL technologies through funded discovery partnerships with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including top pharmaceutical companies in the U.S., EU, and Japan. For more details about Vipergen and the YoctoReactor (yR), Binder Trap Enrichment (BTE), and Cellular Binder Trap Enrichment (cBTE) drug discovery technology platforms, please visit http://www.vipergen.com.

Contact:Mary MoynihanM2Friend Biocommunications+1 (802) 951-9600[emailprotected]

SOURCE Vipergen

View original post here:
Vipergen Establishes Research Partnership with Aligos Therapeutics Focused on DNA Encoded Library (DEL)-Based Drug Discovery for Viral Infections and...