Unmasking a genome

Erlich’s team discovered the identity of genome donors by cross-referencing their genetic markers with demographic information in public databases.

1. A program called lobSTR extracts information about the haplotypes of genetic markers called short tandem repeats on the donor’s Y chromosome from his genome.
2. The haplotypes are entered into genealogical databases to find possible surnames of the donor.
3. These surnames, along with information about the age and location of a DNA donor, can be entered into demographic databases to pinpoint his identity.

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