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Does murder run in the family?Posted by admin on September 13th, 2009

Is it possible that a murderer could have inherited his thirst for blood from his family? For Diamond Blair of Baltimore, Maryland, that would seem to be the case. Blair, 33, recently implicated in the June killing of a robbery victim, is the son of a convicted murderer, the brother of an alleged murderer, and the nephew of one of the cities worst known serial killers, a man who killed six women in 2004. For Blair, this charge is only the most recent in a string of crimes which have become increasingly violent since his first arrest at age 6 for stealing.

Cases like these tend to raise questions about nature versus nurture. Does the Blair family suffer from a genetic disorder that makes them predisposed to violence? Or are their homicidal tendencies the result of their upbringing and the moral decay of their environment? If you have criminals in your family tree, does it make you more likely to go bad? We know that vices like alcoholism are passed down from generation to generation. Is murder?

What do you think? Nature or nurture? Fate or choice?
 

DNA changing the scope of genealogy researchPosted by admin on September 9th, 2009

I remember the first time I was introduced to a family history library, an intimidating mountain of filing cabinets, microfiche viewers, and ancient, DOS-based computers. It was daunting to say the least, especially to my patience. Researchers could look for hours at parish records and social security death records and come up with the tiniest of insights into your great-grandmother’s uncle’s resting place. The thought of tracing back my ancestry hundreds or thousands of years seemed nearly impossible.

Modern genomics and affordable DNA testing, however, are expanding the reach of family history research. With single DNA swab, you can trace your genetic makeup back thousands of years. You can find clues about your lineage that would be nearly impossible to find using records and gravestones. Most intriguingly, you may stumble across ancestries you never even supposed existed.

Case in point: in National Geographic’s recent special "The Human Family Tree," a man from Ghana, who had previously supposed his ancestry would be strictly African, found out he had just as much European blood. A wide number of Asians unexpectedly discovered Native American genes in their makeup.

DNA testing will likely become a way to give family history researchers a bird’s eye view of their ancestry. From there, it will be up to genealogists to track down the details.

Family history holds universal appealPosted by admin on September 4th, 2009

I am yet to find a person who, once they begin to uncover their family history, is not at least mildly interested in learning more. Interest in where one’s ancestry comes from doesn’t seem to belong to one religion, one political party, one ethnicity, or one region of the world. In fact, few topics seem to hold as universal appeal as family history. A curiosity about our past, our origins, and forebears has always been and always will be a foundation stone of human life.

Think about the cultures of the ancient world. Much of the Bible is a telling of the history of one family- that is, the family of Israel. It takes chapters and books to pass on the information of where the children of Israel came from, what their ancestors did, and what they are expected to do as their descendants. Similarly, the Egyptians felt an overwhelming urge to record, memorialize, and pass on the story of their origin. The great pyramids, the Sphinx, and the ornate tombs they left behind are testament to this.

One would be hard pressed to find a culture- or a family- that did not share this same urge. Indeed, it seems to play in central role in how we define and maintain our identity as human beings. For some families, it may be a ritual, a reunion, or a place that allows them to memorialize and transmit this information to later generations. For others, it may just be your dad telling stories about how Uncle Joey used to get his head stuck in the dishwasher. Regardless, these stories become ingrained in us and help us define who we are.

It is no surprise then that family history is one of the most searched items on the internet. It is no surprise that, with such a massive amount of information now available at our fingertips, genealogy should be the one to occupy the bulk of our curiosity. In a time when families and communities seem to be growing apart, online family history is pulling families back together.

What do you think? How does family history help you define who you are?