Latest / Beyond The Horizon / Murder In Moscow: Transcripts From The Closed IGG Hearing (Part 12)
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: What's up everyone, and welcome back to the program. In
- 0:03Speaker 1: this episode, we're getting right back to that IgG transcript
- 0:06Speaker 1: information and we have mister Hellwig now being questioned on
- 0:10Speaker 1: the readdirect by Miss Taylor. Question, full genome sequencing is
- 0:16Speaker 1: the whole genome everything? Is that? What that means? Answer? Yes,
- 0:20Speaker 1: the whole genome sequence is the attempt to sequence the
- 0:23Speaker 1: entire genome if possible. Question Now, I heard you talking
- 0:27Speaker 1: about the prosecutor about what you didn't look at with
- 0:30Speaker 1: medical information. But I thought I heard you talk about
- 0:33Speaker 1: when you got down to the SNP those SNPs weren't
- 0:37Speaker 1: called from the whole genome? Did I hear that right? Answer?
- 0:40Speaker 1: I would have to rephrase that a little bit. Question,
- 0:43Speaker 1: Please do answer. When we're dealing with whole genome sequencing,
- 0:47Speaker 1: we're attempting to sequence the entire genome and it turns
- 0:50Speaker 1: into the raw file, that FASTQ file that I mentioned before. Now,
- 0:56Speaker 1: the next step is to bioinformatic pathways. The bioinformation pathway
- 1:01Speaker 1: is going to be targeting specific SNPs in question that
- 1:04Speaker 1: we want to solve the question for. We want to
- 1:07Speaker 1: answer the question for. In our case, these are genetic
- 1:11Speaker 1: genealogy or ancestry informative markers, those SNPs that provide information
- 1:17Speaker 1: for genealogy and ancestry. The bioinformatics that we would use
- 1:21Speaker 1: at IMF would be specifically targeting those particular SNPs, but
- 1:26Speaker 1: the raw data, the sequence data, still has the entire
- 1:29Speaker 1: list of SNPs. We just aren't pulling that piece of
- 1:32Speaker 1: information out. Question. So if you handed me a case
- 1:36Speaker 1: with your notes, protocols, and procedures, I could look at
- 1:40Speaker 1: what you did at whole Genome Sequencing and know you
- 1:43Speaker 1: were targeting only genealogy SNPs. Would that be fair to say? Answer?
- 1:48Speaker 1: With the right knowledge base, Yes, the list of snips
- 1:51Speaker 1: are included where they are and the name on the
- 1:53Speaker 1: upload file are all there. You can do the research
- 1:56Speaker 1: to look at that and say, okay, these are genealogy
- 1:59Speaker 1: or ancestry informative markers. Question. If I had a file
- 2:03Speaker 1: with notes that talked about how bioinformatics were used, what
- 2:08Speaker 1: to produce, what kind of SNPs to produce, and handle
- 2:11Speaker 1: it to somebody like you, would you tell me these
- 2:13Speaker 1: are the ones that go to ancestry issues, that go
- 2:17Speaker 1: to genealogy issues. If I had the notes from somebody else, answer,
- 2:22Speaker 1: I would have to do some research to be honest
- 2:24Speaker 1: with you, The SNPs in question that are that we're
- 2:27Speaker 1: using or all derived from these genealogy databases. So it's
- 2:31Speaker 1: the ged match pro, family Tree, DNA, ancestry dot Com.
- 2:36Speaker 1: Those are the ones who have decided which SNPs to use,
- 2:40Speaker 1: and we just use them as a tool. So what
- 2:42Speaker 1: is the SNPs that best upload into the family Tree,
- 2:45Speaker 1: DNA law Enforcement database or ged match pro. And so
- 2:49Speaker 1: when we are bioinformatically pulling out the SNPs, we're doing
- 2:54Speaker 1: so under the direction of what they want from us.
- 2:57Speaker 1: Could I determine if there's a medical information within those
- 3:00Speaker 1: SNPs or SNP's with medical information, Yes, but it would
- 3:04Speaker 1: take a lot of research. Question. I just have a
- 3:07Speaker 1: couple of questions for you about what the prosecutor talked about.
- 3:10Speaker 1: Besides that, he asked about the chicken and egg problem
- 3:13Speaker 1: and different cases you've done and the hundreds of cases
- 3:15Speaker 1: that you've done before. You told us that it's important
- 3:20Speaker 1: to have protocols and procedures and keep your information, keep
- 3:23Speaker 1: your notes. Did you do that in those cases? Answer? Oh, yes, yes,
- 3:27Speaker 1: within the quality management system as a whole and adhering
- 3:30Speaker 1: to our procedures and protocols and the accreditation standard that
- 3:34Speaker 1: we derive to. It's all that. It's case documentation, laboratory report,
- 3:39Speaker 1: and then the foundation behind it, validation, summaries, competency testing
- 3:43Speaker 1: for personnel, their educational requirements. All of that has been
- 3:47Speaker 1: done in those cases and adhere to in our own
- 3:50Speaker 1: internal policies. Question. Thank you, that's it for me, the court,
- 3:55Speaker 1: Thank you. You can step down. Does defense have other
- 3:58Speaker 1: Witnessess Taylor, your honor for the IgG. I have one
- 4:02Speaker 1: other witness this morning, the court. How long is that one,
- 4:07Speaker 1: Miss Taylor? I think she's a little bit longer the court.
- 4:10Speaker 1: Let's take thirty minutes for lunch. So they come back
- 4:12Speaker 1: from all of that, and now Leia Larkin is on
- 4:16Speaker 1: the stand, Miss Taylor. Good afternoon. Answer, good afternoon. Question
- 4:21Speaker 1: will you say your whole name? Answer? My name is
- 4:24Speaker 1: Lea Larkin. Question what do you do for work? Answer?
- 4:28Speaker 1: I'm a genetic genealogist. Question what kind of background in
- 4:31Speaker 1: training do you have? Answer? I have an undergraduate degree
- 4:34Speaker 1: in biology from Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania, and I have
- 4:39Speaker 1: a PhD in biology, specifically in the field of botany
- 4:43Speaker 1: from the University of Texas aut Austin. Question how long
- 4:46Speaker 1: have you worked in genetic genealogy? Answer? I started doing
- 4:50Speaker 1: it as an amateur in I believe twenty thirteen, and
- 4:53Speaker 1: I started taking professional clients in twenty sixteen. Question what
- 4:57Speaker 1: does that mean you take professional clients? Answer? Most of
- 5:00Speaker 1: my clients are people like an adoptee or someone with
- 5:04Speaker 1: an unknown father who is trying to identify that particular relative,
- 5:08Speaker 1: so I can use their direct to consumer genealogy DNA test,
- 5:12Speaker 1: build family trees, and work to identify their biological family.
- 5:16Speaker 1: Question so your work happens after the SNP is produced? Answer? Yes,
- 5:21Speaker 1: question do I understand that? Right? Answer yes? Question do
- 5:25Speaker 1: you know what whole genome sequencing is? Answer? I do.
- 5:30Speaker 1: I have not done it myself, but my training in biology,
- 5:33Speaker 1: I understand what it is. Question based on your work
- 5:36Speaker 1: in genealogy, are you aware of what kinds of things
- 5:38Speaker 1: are contained in the whole genome sequencing file? Answer right.
- 5:43Speaker 1: A few of the earlier witnesses have said the genome
- 5:45Speaker 1: is basically the blueprint. It's the instruction manual for your body.
- 5:49Speaker 1: So it first of all, it makes you human, but
- 5:52Speaker 1: it also can determine your hair color, your physical traits,
- 5:56Speaker 1: your eye color, and there are a lot of genes
- 5:58Speaker 1: that are going to be associated with other things like
- 6:01Speaker 1: whether you have a propensity for Alzheimer's or your height,
- 6:04Speaker 1: your weight. Basically, all of these traits make us unique
- 6:08Speaker 1: for the most part, are coded in our genes, our
- 6:11Speaker 1: DNA in one or more of our genes. Question is
- 6:15Speaker 1: there any aspect in your field where medical information can
- 6:18Speaker 1: be known? Answer? Yes, So the DNA tests that are
- 6:21Speaker 1: used for genetic genealogy are called microarrays. So when you
- 6:26Speaker 1: spit in a tube and send it off to one
- 6:28Speaker 1: of these companies, they're going to do what's called a
- 6:31Speaker 1: micro array. A micro array test was designed for biomedical research,
- 6:35Speaker 1: they weren't designed for genealogy. Genealogy was like an afterthought.
- 6:40Speaker 1: These are tests that were created specifically to target physical
- 6:43Speaker 1: traits health traits, and it just happens to be useful
- 6:46Speaker 1: for genealogy as well. So even if I do a
- 6:49Speaker 1: test and I don't look at those traits, they're still
- 6:52Speaker 1: in that data file. Question when you get the work,
- 6:55Speaker 1: do you have to make a choice as to what
- 6:57Speaker 1: kind of database you're going to do your research? In? Answer? Yes,
- 7:01Speaker 1: So if I'm taking a client who, for example, is
- 7:04Speaker 1: an adoptee, I will have them test at Ancestry in
- 7:06Speaker 1: twenty three in meter dot com. So those are two
- 7:09Speaker 1: companies where you actually have to send in spit sample
- 7:12Speaker 1: to get into their databases. They don't take data files
- 7:16Speaker 1: from other sources. The most cost effective way to do
- 7:20Speaker 1: this for an adoptee is to test at those two
- 7:22Speaker 1: companies and then take one of the data files you
- 7:25Speaker 1: get from say Ancestry, and upload it into the smaller databases.
- 7:30Speaker 1: That way, you don't have to pay for the whole
- 7:31Speaker 1: new test. You don't have to wait to mail it
- 7:34Speaker 1: off and have the lab run it and get the
- 7:36Speaker 1: results back. You can normally get your results in a
- 7:39Speaker 1: day or two after you do the upload. As for
- 7:41Speaker 1: an adoptee, there aren't really restrictions on which databases you
- 7:45Speaker 1: can use because they were all generally created for amateur genealogists. Question.
- 7:51Speaker 1: We've talked a little bit today about databases that have
- 7:54Speaker 1: restricted use. Answer yes, question what does that mean? Answer
- 7:58Speaker 1: so forensic genetic genie, which is also sometimes called investigative
- 8:03Speaker 1: genetic genealogy. And then there's the combination fig just because
- 8:08Speaker 1: we can't decide that is restricted to two main databases
- 8:12Speaker 1: there's Family Tree DNA, which we call ft DNA for short,
- 8:17Speaker 1: and then there's ged match, and those are the only
- 8:20Speaker 1: two databases of any significant size that allow fig searching
- 8:24Speaker 1: Ancestry forbids IT twenty three and meter forbids it my
- 8:27Speaker 1: Heritage forbids IT question, does ged match have two sides
- 8:31Speaker 1: to it? Answer? Yeah, Actually both ged match and Family
- 8:36Speaker 1: Tree DNA have specific upload process for forensic kits. We
- 8:40Speaker 1: call these test kits. So if you're normal, regular adoptee,
- 8:44Speaker 1: you can upload through the main layperson portal, but if
- 8:47Speaker 1: it's a forensic kit, it's supposed to go through a
- 8:49Speaker 1: special upload process at ged match. They call that ged
- 8:54Speaker 1: match Pro. Family Tree DNA does not have a special
- 8:57Speaker 1: name for it to my knowledge, but there's a special
- 9:00Speaker 1: process you're supposed to go through, and those kits that
- 9:02Speaker 1: are uploaded through the forensic portal are restricted in which
- 9:06Speaker 1: other kits they can use. The idea is that if
- 9:10Speaker 1: you don't want to participate in a forensic search, if
- 9:12Speaker 1: you're a lay person and you don't want to participate,
- 9:14Speaker 1: you can opt out. And so a kit that is
- 9:16Speaker 1: uploaded through the forensic portal should not be able to
- 9:19Speaker 1: see a lay person kit that is opted out. Question
- 9:23Speaker 1: do you know why these databases have these different I
- 9:25Speaker 1: guess abilities or rules? Answer? Yeah, so, I'm sure we're
- 9:29Speaker 1: all familiar with the Golden State killer case, at least
- 9:32Speaker 1: we've heard about it. That was the first big criminal
- 9:35Speaker 1: case that was solved using this type of genetic genealogy.
- 9:38Speaker 1: There had previously been one though unknown remains that had
- 9:42Speaker 1: been identified a few weeks earlier, but the Golden State
- 9:45Speaker 1: killer case is the one that got all the media attention.
- 9:48Speaker 1: On the one hand, there were people who were really
- 9:50Speaker 1: excited about the prospect of capturing violent criminals using this method.
- 9:54Speaker 1: At the flip side, there were a lot of genealogists
- 9:57Speaker 1: who were really concerned that there might be drawn into
- 10:00Speaker 1: criminal investigations without their knowledge or consent, and so the
- 10:04Speaker 1: community split. There were a lot of Facebook groups, A
- 10:06Speaker 1: lot of genetic genealogy is just done through Facebook groups,
- 10:10Speaker 1: and some of these Facebook groups just basically forbid it.
- 10:13Speaker 1: You can't talk about this at all because it was
- 10:15Speaker 1: causing too much conflict within the community. I went to
- 10:19Speaker 1: a conference shortly after the Golden State killer case was announced,
- 10:23Speaker 1: and I was a speaker, and they pulled all the
- 10:25Speaker 1: speakers aside and said don't talk about it at all.
- 10:28Speaker 1: You're not even allowed to mention it at all. This
- 10:31Speaker 1: is how contentious it was in the community. So the
- 10:34Speaker 1: databases realizing that this was a problem, so Ancestry twenty
- 10:38Speaker 1: three and meters and my Heritage all very quickly changed
- 10:41Speaker 1: their terms of service to say, no, you can't do
- 10:43Speaker 1: this on our database. Gd Match and family Tree DNA
- 10:48Speaker 1: over the course of the past few years have kind
- 10:50Speaker 1: of evolved these systems in response to public outcry about
- 10:53Speaker 1: privacy and consent, and also in response to some branches
- 10:57Speaker 1: and some missteps on the part of companies themselves and
- 11:00Speaker 1: on the part of some of the genetic genealogists. So
- 11:03Speaker 1: they evolved these systems to allow the users to opt
- 11:06Speaker 1: out if they don't want to participate. Question saw the
- 11:09Speaker 1: public outcry that was people that didn't want their profiles
- 11:13Speaker 1: searched by law enforcement answer right. Prior to this, there
- 11:17Speaker 1: had been occasional discussions in the genealogy community, people saying, oh,
- 11:21Speaker 1: the cops are going to get our data, and other
- 11:23Speaker 1: people were like, no, they only use codis, so they're
- 11:26Speaker 1: not going to use our databases. And it turns out
- 11:29Speaker 1: they were the golden State Killer case was being investigated.
- 11:32Speaker 1: I'm not sure exactly when it started. I think twenty seventeen,
- 11:36Speaker 1: and he was arrested in April of twenty eighteen. So
- 11:39Speaker 1: law enforcement or law enforcement or genealogies working on behalf
- 11:43Speaker 1: of law enforcement were in fact using the databases without
- 11:47Speaker 1: the knowledge or consent of the regular person genealogists who
- 11:50Speaker 1: were in the databases question. So it was twenty eighteen
- 11:55Speaker 1: when the terms of service used in people's privacy rights
- 11:58Speaker 1: were recognized. So there's been a series of there's a
- 12:01Speaker 1: whole series of changes to the terms of service, so
- 12:04Speaker 1: I can't speak to precisely which dates and which databases
- 12:08Speaker 1: and which changes. I recall that my Heritage, within a
- 12:11Speaker 1: few weeks of the Golden State Killer being arrested, change
- 12:14Speaker 1: their terms of service to explicitly say not in our database.
- 12:19Speaker 1: All right, we're going to wrap up right here, and
- 12:21Speaker 1: in the next episode dealing with the topic, we're gonna
- 12:23Speaker 1: pick up with question. All right, let's talk about this case.
- 12:28Speaker 1: If you'd like to contact me, you can do that
- 12:29Speaker 1: at Bobby Kapuchi at protonmeil dot com. That's bo b
- 12:33Speaker 1: b Y c ap u Cci at Protonmeil dot com,
- 12:37Speaker 1: or if you prefer, you can find me on x
- 12:39Speaker 1: at Bobby Underscore c apu Cci. All of the links
- 12:44Speaker 1: that go of this episode can be found in the
- 12:47Speaker 1: description box