U.K. Border Agency Nationality Testing by DNA Flawed?

I received an interesting email this morning from John Travis. It seems that he’s written an article for the next Science Magazine takes on the idea of using DNA and isotope analysis to evaluate nationality, which the Brits, through their U.K. Border Agency, are favoring at the moment.

Alec Jeffreys, University of Leicester states the following, “Nationality is not genetic, and by the UK Border Agency’s logic, huge numbers of people in the US and UK would fail a DNA-based nationality test (there is no defined US ethnic population unless you use indigenous North Americans in which case virtually everyone fails, and much the same is true for the UK). ”

Following are links to several blogs at Science Insider that might be of interest.

• Sept. 29, 2009: Decry “Flawed” and “Horrifying” Nationality Tests
• Sept. 29, 2009: Key Questions on Nationality Testing
• Sept. 29, 2009: U.K. Border Agency Docs and Expanded Reactions