Credit: Robert PayneIn my earlier post on Prince William's mtDNA lineage, and its possible Indian provenance, I didn't address the issue of genetic privacy in much detail. The discussion is relevant in this case because BritainsDNA inferred his lineage by looking at distant relatives. Assuming that the biological pedigree we have for William is correct, he must share the mtDNA of his relatives who descend in an unbroken line from a common female ancestor. A concern about the breach of privacy emerged almost immediately. Though I have serious reservations about the sensationalism which BritainsDNA has engaged in, I think it is totally legitimate of them to infer William's ancestry in the fashion they did. First, Prince William is a public person, and in direct line to the throne of the United Kingdom. Though some of the spin may be distasteful,
remember that this is a person who is where he ...
