DNA and me

Want to know who you really are? Take an at-home DNA test, just like over 26 million others have around the globe. But the question is: why?

For many, it’s just a bit of fun; for others it might be for medical insight. But for everyone, it promises to tell you who you really are – and for many, those results might come as a surprise. For BBC reporter Sophia Smith Galer and her father, an innocent at-home kit led to a series of shocking discoveries about their family.

From discovering her true biological grandfather to a superstar relative, understanding their family background won’t ever be the same again. With so many stories like theirs emerging around the globe, are at-home DNA test kits now the ultimate palm-reader, setting the paths for our future and sense of sef? Do we assume too much of what is still early science – and how much is our identity, really, controlled by our genes anyway?

Sophia explores what this new scientific determination offers, and what other stories that are emerging around the world like her and her father’s tell us about how we build a sense of identity today in 2020.

Presenter/producer: Sophia Smith-Galer

(Photo: Sophia Smith-Galer. Credit: Lai Jones)