Long-range familial searches in recreational DNA databases: expansion of affected populations, the participatory turn, and the co-production of biovalue

Abstract

Long-range familial searches in recreational DNA databases have been the subject of intense interest since the high-profile case of the Golden State Killer. This technique has raised considerable media attention and has sparked immediate criticism from forensic geneticists and other professionals, regulators, policy advisors, and ethicists. However, the literature on this topic does not capture the complexities resulting from the commodification of genetic data and the marketization of science.

In this article, I explore how long-range familial searches conducted in recreational DNA databases reframe the trajectory of forensic genetics. Arguing that the advent and consolidation of long-range familial searches in recreational DNA databases represent the fourth wave of forensic genetics, I detail its implications, namely, the expansion of affected populations, the participatory turn, and the co-production of biovalue.