‘Deleted’ DNA Data Just Reappeared on a Popular Database

The incident raises questions about how much control people have over their genetic data

Emily Mullin
Future Human
Published in
5 min readJan 22, 2021

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Red chromosome exhibit surrounding the ‘Live Science’ area of the ‘Who Am I?’ Gallery at the Science Museum in London.
Photo: SSPL/Getty Images

Over the past few years, the online DNA database GEDmatch has become a powerful tool for solving cold cases. Founded in 2010 to help adoptees and genealogy enthusiasts find biological relatives, the site shot to prominence…

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Emily Mullin
Future Human

Former staff writer at Medium, where I covered biotech, genetics, and Covid-19 for OneZero, Future Human, Elemental, and the Coronavirus Blog.