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This Independence Day, Ditch the DNA Test and Learn More About Your American Ancestors

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In recent years, Americans have become obsessed with learning about their ancient heritage. Only a few years ago, companies such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA celebrated their tens of millions of customers, whom they encouraged, in ridiculous commercials, to travel the world to find and develop deep connections with their far-flung roots. Then 23andMe — possessing all manner of private genetic and medical information — went bankrupt and was sold on July 1 to a nonprofit organization run by the company’s former CEO.

Nothing is inherently wrong with wanting to know about one’s ancestors — everyone should want to know from where and from whom they come. But the excessive interest in “the mother country” (or countries) often comes at the expense of learning about, and taking pride in, one’s American lineage. This Fourth of July, Americans should rekindle a knowledge and appreciation for how their family story plays into the greater American narrative of freedom and opportunity.

Remember, Your Ancestors Came to America

One irony of Americans’ interest in their roots from Europe, Asia, or Africa is that it tends to elide the fact that our ancestors chose to come here. Many immigrants came to America not because they hated their home country, but because they were fleeing something, such as religious persecution, political oppression, or poverty. However, many also believed the United States (or her predecessors — the colonies) offered something uniquely exciting and promising: freedom, opportunity, advancement. (Read more from “This Independence Day, Ditch the DNA Test and Learn More About Your American Ancestors” HERE)

Photo credit: Flickr

Florida Surgeon General Notes ‘DNA Fragments Detected in mRNA COVID Shots’

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Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo, who notes that DNA fragments have been detected in mRNA COVID-19 vaccines, has issued a letter asking questions related to the issue.

“On today’s episode of: What the FDA… I asked @DrCaliff_FDA to address the DNA fragments detected in mRNA COVID shots & how they are hitchhiking into human cells. DNA integration into the human genome & oncogenesis are known risks, even acknowledged by @US_FDA in ’07,” Ladapo tweeted when sharing his letter to FDA Commisoner Robert Califf. CDC Director Mandy Cohen is also included on the letter.

In a letter earlier this year, Ladapo accused Califf and then-CDC Director Rochelle Walensky of ignoring many of the risks related to mRNA COVID-19 vaccines. In his new letter dated December 6, 2023, he noted that “no response has been received.” (Read more from “Florida Surgeon General Notes ‘Dna Fragments Detected in mRNA COVID Shots'” HERE)

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Study: DNA Could Predict Happy Marriage

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. . .A variation in DNA could determine a person’s ability to experience high levels of gratitude, trust and satisfaction during the first few years of a marriage, a recent study suggests. . .

However, as Makhanova’s study found: “Some people might have a genetic predisposition to intuitively feel more grateful for their partner, be more trusting of their partner and enjoy more long-term satisfaction in their marriage than others.” . . .

Her research team analyzed 142 newlyweds, or 71 couples, during the first three years of marriage.

They found that individuals with a “CC variation” to the CD38 gene — which has been linked to positive behaviors and perceptions in romantic relationships — enjoyed higher levels of marital satisfaction than men and women with an “AC” or “AA” variation of the gene.

In this study, the “A” and the “C” represented the different alleles that determined the variant forms of the CD38 gene. (Read more from “Study: DNA Could Predict Happy Marriage” HERE)

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U.S. Begins Collecting DNA Information From Detained Migrants

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The U.S. government has launched a small-scale pilot program that collects DNA samples from detained migrants, and plans to dramatically expand its reach in the near future.

Beginning Monday, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will begin collecting DNA information from migrants who are detained near Detroit, as well as individuals detained at the Eagle Pass, Texas port of entry, which sits across the U.S.-Mexico border. The announcement was made by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the parent department of CBP, and is part of a 90-day pilot program.

The DHS directive calls on CBP agents to take saliva swabs of those detained at the Detroit and Eagle Pass locations, and then to send that DNA information to the FBI.

“During the 90-day pilot program, CBP will collect DNA samples from certain individuals held at both locations. For the U.S. Border Patrol, this will include individuals between the ages of 14-79 who are apprehended and processed within the Detroit Sector. For the Office of Field Operations [in southern Texas], this will include individuals who present at the Eagle Pass Port of Entry for consideration of admissibility and are subject to further detention or proceedings,” read a portion of the memo.

The DNA testing can apply to nearly anyone who has been detained by CBP, including foreign nationals, permanent residents, and U.S. citizens. Refusal to comply could lead to a misdemeanor criminal charge, and DNA will be collected indefinitely at a criminal database run by the FBI. (Read more from “U.S. Begins Collecting DNA Information From Detained Migrants” HERE)

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The Trump Administration Will Expand DNA Collection of Migrants

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The Trump administration is moving forward with its plan to dramatically expand DNA testing of illegal migrants at the southern border, a move intended to help control the immigration crisis.

Border Patrol agents will soon have the ability to collect DNA samples of migrants apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announcement Wednesday. DHS had already implemented a pilot program that tested family relations; however, the new, broad program will be able to identify migrants.

The announcement confirms a Justice Department draft regulation BuzzFeed News obtained in August.

DNA testing is intended to prevent fraudulent claims by migrants who attempt to claim to be part of a family unit when they arrive at the southern border. Authorities cannot detain migrant families for longer than 20 days because of U.S. immigration laws, resulting in migrants’ release before their asylum claims can be adjudicated. This practice, which is typically referred to as “catch and release,” has prompted many migrants to bring unrelated children and infants along with them on the dangerous journey to the border.

When DHS rolled out its pilot program, known as Operation Double Helix 1.0, authorities determined that 16 out of 84 families were fraudulent, meaning that they weren’t actually families, according to DHS. Authorities found 79 out of 522 families to be fraudulent in Operation Double Helix 2.0, CNN reported. (Read more from “The Trump Administration Will Expand DNA Collection of Migrants” HERE)

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Health-Care Worker Arrested After DNA Matches Baby Born to ​Incapacitated Patient​

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By The Blaze. A licensed practical nurse has been arrested in Phoenix after his DNA was found to match with that of a baby born to an incapacitated woman previously in his care. . .

On Dec. 29, the victim gave birth to a healthy baby boy at the Hacienda Healthcare, where she had been a resident for nearly a decade following a near-drowning incident that left her disabled.

Her caretakers were unaware of the woman’s pregnancy until she went into labor, shocking authorities and the victim’s family. Investigators obtained court-ordered DNA samples from the male staff at the facility in order to find a DNA link to the infant in order to identify who allegedly raped the patient.

On Tuesday, authorities obtained a sample from 36-year-old Nathan Sutherland, an LPN who had access to the woman during the time she fell pregnant. Sutherland’s DNA was found to match the baby’s, and he was arrested the same day by Phoenix police on charges of sexual assault and vulnerable adult abuse. . .

Days after news broke of the incapacitated patient giving birth, Hacienda Healthcare CEO Bill Timmons tendered his resignation to the board. Earlier this week, KPHO-TV reported that two physicians who had been responsible for the woman’s care were no longer at the facility, with one resigning and another being suspended by the company. (Read more from “Health-Care Worker Arrested After DNA Matches Baby Born to ​Incapacitated Patient​” HERE)

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Phoenix Nursing Facility Executive Resigns After Incapacitated Patient Gives Birth

By AZ Central. A longtime top executive with Hacienda HealthCare in Phoenix resigned Monday following a report that a patient in a Hacienda center for people with intellectual disabilities became pregnant and gave birth.

Bill Timmons, Hacienda HealthCare’s longtime CEO, terminated his employment from the company immediately, said a statement from the company provided by spokesman David Leibowitz.

“Timmons’ resignation was accepted unanimously by the Hacienda Board of Directors,” the statement said.

Azfamily.com first reported the storThe Arizona Department of Health Services on Friday confirmed that the patient who gave birth was a resident at Hacienda de Los Angeles, 1402 E. South Mountain Ave. State licensing records describe the facility as a 60-bed intermediate care facility for people with intellectual disabilities.

In the statement Leibowitz provided, Hacienda HealthCare board member Gary Orman said the facility will accept “nothing less than a full accounting of this absolutely horrifying situation, an unprecedented case that has devastated everyone involved, from the victim and her family to Hacienda staff at every level of our organization.” (Read more from “Phoenix Nursing Facility Executive Resigns After Incapacitated Patient Gives Birth” HERE)

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Here’s What Elizabeth Warren Is Really Doing With Her Dumb DNA Test

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Elizabeth Warren doesn’t need to prove she’s Native American, and that’s not why she released the results of a DNA test to the Boston Globe. The Globe reports, quoting the DNA report, “Warren’s pure Native American ancestor appears in her family tree ‘in the range of 6-10 generations ago.’” This gives a range of 1/64 to 1/1024 Native American (the other 1023/1024 is straight cis white woman privilege). Warren herself claimed it was her great-great-grandmother who was Native American; that would give a fraction of 1/32. The Boston Globe had to correct its story because it initially got the math wrong and misreported the range of her possible ancestry. That’s hardly going to silence her critics, least of all President Donald Trump, who takes delight in derisively calling her “Pocahontas” at his rallies.

Questions about Warren’s claimed Native American heritage have doggedly followed her since her 2012 campaign for U.S. Senate, when GOP opposition research discovered a Fordham Law Review article touting her as Harvard Law School’s “first woman of color” on the faculty. Years earlier, Warren was listed as a minority faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. Warren is the butt of many jokes in conservative media, often referred to as Fauxcahontas or Chief Spreading Bull, but Warren is not trying to make the jokes go away. She’s only added fuel to the fire. No, the point, as she explains in a video that was released in conjunction with the DNA report, is pure identity politics.

“Trump can say whatever he wants about me, but mocking Native Americans or any group in order to try and get at me, that’s not what America stands for,” Warren narrates in, let’s face it, the opening ad of her 2020 presidential campaign about her family’s story.

“[My parents] were real people. The love they shared, the struggles they endured, the family they built, the story they lived will always be etched on my heart. And no one — not even the president of the United States — will ever take it away from me,” she says.

The facts of the DNA test, which is inconclusive, do not matter. This is all about feelings. This is all about mean old President Trump using racial “slurs” to demean a woman who’s fighting for “change” in Washington D.C. If Warren identifies as a Native American, who is Donald Trump or anyone else to tell her she’s wrong? A bigot, that’s who, and that’s all that matters, and that’s why minorities can vote for Elizabeth Warren in 2020.

Now notice what’s not being discussed. The kind of change Elizabeth Warren’s progressivism advocates is the soft tyranny of a ubiquitous federal government that reaches out and nationalizes American businesses, but it’s more fun to mock her claimed heritage. Her plan to double down on Obamacare’s failures with more subsidies, more price controls, and more regulations as a prelude to a single-payer Medicare for All scheme is ignored. Her open-borders zealotry and demands to abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to appease to her far-Left base? Forgotten.

And what alternatives are conservatives offering to these demands from the Left?

It may be great for clicks and views to follow the mainstream media’s narrative on Warren’s ancestry, but it doesn’t do a thing to advance conservatism. Former Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., tried to make Warren’s lies about her ancestry a campaign issue, and do you know what happened to him? We call him former senator.

Why don’t we stop the clickbait and challenge Warren and the Democrats on the issues that will actually matter when Americans go to vote, before we lose? (For more from the author of “Here’s What Elizabeth Warren Is Really Doing With Her Dumb DNA Test” please click HERE)

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Sen. Mocks Elizabeth Warren’s DNA Test Results With an Epic Tweet

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By Townhall. Politicos on both sides of the aisle have talked about Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) DNA test results throughout the day. After all, the fact that she might be 1/1,024th Native American is mind-blowing. But, remember, she really touts herself as a “minority.”

Republicans saw through her act right from the beginning. Everyone wanted to see DNA test results for how long? Months? Years, even?

Once it was finally released, everyone harped on her, including Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT). He took to Twitter to mock her DNA test. All I can say is… Well played, Senator. Well played.

(Read more from “Sen. Mocks Elizabeth Warren’s DNA Test Results With an Epic Tweet” HERE)

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Obama Campaign Manager Says Warren’s DNA Results Hurt Democrats in 2018

By The Daily Caller. Former Obama campaign strategist Jim Messina questioned the timing of Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren releasing a DNA test Monday.

Warren released the results Monday after being mocked and attacked by Republicans for claiming Native American heritage with no verification for decades. Warren’s results showed that she may have between 1/64th and 1/1,024th Indian DNA, though the test that did not use Native American DNA.

Messina, who served as President Barack Obama’s White House deputy chief of staff for operations and 2012 campaign manager, was not happy about the media storm that Warren created by releasing the results into the contentious 2018 election cycle. (Read more from “Obama Campaign Manager Says Warren’s DNA Results Hurt Democrats in 2018” HERE)

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Man Sues to Obtain Minority-Owned Business Status After DNA Test Claims He’s 4 Percent Black

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Ralph Taylor of Lynwood, Washington, looks white. But after taking a DNA test showing that he is 6 percent indigenous American and 4 percent sub-Saharan African, he began to identify as multiracial and applied for minority-owned business status to win more business from state and federal government contractors.

Taylor’s application was denied, and now he’s suing. . .

The test concluded that Taylor was 90 percent Caucasian, but Taylor considers the results showing his multiracial heritage to be proof that he is a minority. In 2013, he applied for his business, Orion Insurance Group, to be recognized by the state of Washington as being minority-owned.

His application was first rejected by the state’s Office of Minority & Women’s Business Enterprises on the grounds that he was not “visibly identifiable” as a minority. But after he appealed, the Office eventually approved his application before reversing its decision again and ultimately denied him the certification in 2014.

In issuing its decision, the state of Washington dismissed the DNA test, questioning its accuracy. The OMWBE wrote, “The documentation that Mr. Taylor provided was insufficient to prove that he has held himself out to be a member of either [the Black American or Native American] group(s) over a long period of time.” (Read more from “Man Sues to Obtain Minority-Owned Business Status After DNA Test Claims He’s 4 Percent Black” HERE)

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Report: Scientists Experiment With DNA Editing on Human Embryos

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Imagine a world where scientists experiment with the genes of human embryos, turning them on and off to see what happens.

It sounds like something straight out of a science-fiction movie, but that’s exactly what scientists are doing right now. Using a “genome editing tool” called CRISPR/Cas9, British researchers have successfully changed the DNA of human embryos to study the effects of certain genes on human development.

“One way to find out what a gene does in the developing embryo is to see what happens when it isn’t working,” said Kathy Niakan, a stem cell scientist who led the research at Britain’s Francis Crick Institute.

Reuters reports:

Niakan’s team decided to use it to stop a key gene from producing a protein called OCT4, which normally becomes active in the first few days of human embryo development.

They spent more than a year optimizing their various techniques using mouse embryos and human embryonic stem cells in lab dishes, before starting work on human embryos.

To inactivate OCT4, they used CRISPR/Cas9 to change the DNA of 41 human embryos. After seven days, embryo development was stopped and the embryos were analyzed.

To be clear, for those that believe life begins at conception, “embryo development was stopped” means a life was ended. The scientists discovered that the gene that produces the OCT4 protein is necessary to the embryo’s growth.

After an egg is fertilized, it divides until at about seven days it forms a ball of around 200 cells called a blastocyst, Niakan explained in a briefing about her work.

Her results, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, found that human embryos need OCT4 to form a blastocyst. Without it, the blastocyst cannot form or develop normally.

The scientists involved in this research believe their technique could be used to cure genetic mutations in embryo development and help improve IVF treatments for infertile couples. Weeks ago, another team of scientists reportedly edited the DNA in human embryos to cure a genetic defect that caused a heart disorder.

But critics argue it is an immoral practice and fear this new technology could be used to create babies to market-order.

Marcy Darnovsky, the head of the Center for Genetics and Society, a genetics watchdog group, told NPR, “The concerns are that we would be opening the door to fertility clinics vying to offer gene-editing to make future children taller or stronger or whatever they wanted to market.”

“That could put us into a situation where some children were perceived to be biologically superior to other children,” she said.

The stem cell scientists, however, say that genes of animal embryos operate differently from those of human embryos, and are thus insufficient.

“This is opening up the possibility of using a really powerful, precise genetics tool to understand gene function,” Niakan said. “We would have never gained this insight had we not really studied the function of this gene in human embryos.”

While there are benefits to this research, there are profound ethical questions surrounding the morality of “editing” human embryos. If life begins at conception (as many believe), these scientists are experimenting with human lives. Each embryo that fails to develop — or is discarded after the experiment — dies. If life doesn’t begin at conception, where is the line drawn?

Why is an embryo that’s a few days old not a life, but a fetus at six months is? Is it moral or ethical then to experiment on a human fetus that is further along in development before birth?

It is difficult to see how this radical development in science can be consistent with the wide understanding and belief that the subjects of these experiments are precious human life. (For more from the author of “Report: Scientists Experiment With DNA Editing on Human Embryos” please click HERE)

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