Letter: DNA sleuthing

DNA evidence recently established Richard III as brother of Anne of York. Both were great-great-grandchildren of King Edward III. But the data also show that the Y chromosome passed to Richard III from Edward was not the same Y chromosome that males on the Lancaster/Tudor side of the family inherited from Edward. Illegitimacy is inferred.

Geneticists don't often dig into 530-year-old graves, which makes the DNA obtained from Richard III's bones a unique treasure. With much of it sequenced, the paternity issues described above may soon be resolved. But does this constitute an ethical violation, a breach of royal family privacy?

Will these high-profile paternity cases be tested? Most likely. They will require finding additional direct descendants of Edward. Alternatively, more graves could be exhumed. Newly obtained DNA would then be compared with Richard III's and with DNA already obtained from male-lineage descendants of John of Gaunt.

Is bringing to light ancient and otherwise lost-forever personal or family secrets ethical? Societies often take decades to figure out how new and transformative technologies should be used, and ethical mistakes are made. Perhaps mistakes are being made today in identifying ethical DNA technologies versus those that aren't.

John Carman

Smithfield

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Letter: DNA sleuthing