A DNA kind of day

It's been a DNA kind of day for GeniAus at Rootstech.

I slept in to nurse my cold so missed the first session I had hoped to attend this morning but I hear that the queue was really long and that I may not have got a seat anyway.

For the second session of the day I listened to Paul Woodbury's talk How close are we really? Evaluating shared DNA. This session was billed as a Beginner session but I am sure that Paul lost many DNA newbies as he packed so much information into his talk. I was pleased that I went as I have a reasonable understanding of the things Paul was discussing. I really liked some of his analogies and the way he explained various aspects of DNA but think the talk should have had an Intermediate label.

The next talk I attended, The Emotional side of DNA testing, was from the vivacious and effervescent Bernice Bennett. While I was waiting for the talk to commence I recorded a quick DNA story from the gentleman sitting beside me.

In her presentation Bernice discussed the various emotions we who undergo DNA tests for various reasons experience before and after we get our results and then as we start to communicate with our matches. Bernice offered advice on the best way to approach our matches.

Bernice Bennett at the podium

After a comprehensive talk Bernice invited members of the audience to join her and tell their DNA stories. Now I am a hard nut to crack but I found myself tearing up as these folk came forward and shared the stories and the emotions they experienced as the results of their DNA tests were revealed. This was a spinetingling, tearjerker of a session.

Next on my program was Introduction to Chromosome Mapping with Tim Janzen. It was obvious that Dr Janzen knew his topic intimately and he was generous in providing a URL to his large powerpoint slide. Unfortunately I did not gain much from this presentation.

DNA figured largely in the 4:00pm General Session. I was intrigued when I heard Hannah Morden, Marketing Director, from Living DNA speak as she had a distinctive Aussie accent.

The Living DNA team 

Jill with Hannah Morden

Later in the evening I was able to interview Hannah and discovered that she, like me, was a native of Sydney and a fellow proud Australian.