Text2Itisawisefatherthatknowshisownchild,buttodayamancanboosthispaternal(fatherly)wisdom–oratleastconfirmthathe’sthekid’sdad.Allheneedstodoisshellour$30forpaternitytestingkit(PTK)athislocaldrugstore–andanother$120togettheresults.
Morethan60,000peoplehavepurchasedthePTKssincetheyfirstbecomeavailablewithoutprescriptionslastyears,accordingtoDougFog,chiefoperatingofficerofIdentigene,whichmakestheover-the-counterkits.MorethantwodozencompaniessellDNAtestsDirectlytothepublic,ranginginpricefromafewhundreddollarstomorethan$2500.
Amongthemostpopular:paternityandkinshiptesting,whichadoptedchildrencanusetofindtheirbiologicalrelativesandlatestr ageamanypassionategenealogists-andsupportsbusinessesthatoffertosearchforafamily’sgeographicroots.
Mosttestsrequirecollectingcellsbywebbingsalivainthemouthandsendingittothecompanyfortesting.AlltestsrequireapotentialcandidatewithwhomtocompareDNA.
Butsomeobserversareskeptical,“Thereisakindoffalseprecisionbeinghawkedbypeopleclaimingtheyaredoingancestr ytesting,”saysTreyDuster,aNewYorkUniversitysociologist.Henotesthateachindividualhasmanyancestors-numberinginthehundredsjustafewcenturiesback.Yetmostancestr ytestingonlyconsidersasinglelineage,eithertheYchromosomeinheritedthroughmeninafather’slineormitochondrialDNA,whichapasseddownonlyfrommothers.ThisDNAcanrevealgeneticinformationaboutonlyoneortwoancestors,eventhough,forexample,justthreegenerationsbackpeoplealsohavesixothergreat-grandparentsor,fourgenerationsback,14othergreat-great-grandparents.
Criticsalsoarguethatcommercialgenetictestingisonlyasgoodasthereferencecollectionstowhichasampleiscompared.Databasesusedbysomecompaniesdon’tr elyondatacollectedsystematicallybutr atherlumptogetherinformationfromdifferentr esearchprojects.ThismeansthataDNAdatabasemaydifferdependingonthecompanythatprocessestheresults.Inaddition,thecomputerprogramsacompanyusestoestimaterelationshipsmaybepatentedandnotsubjecttopeerrevieworoutsideevaluation.
26.Inparagraphs1and2,thetextshowsPTK’s___________.
[A]easyavailability
[B]flexibilityinpricing
[C]successfulpromotion
[D]popularitywithhouseholds
正确答案:A


