Gojomo: First they came for a small swab of cells in my cheek...


Gojomo

2005-04-23

«Posted 4/23/2005 05:02:00 PM»

First they came for a small swab of cells in my cheek...

SFGate: DNA study of human migration / National Geographic and IBM investigate spread of prehistoric peoples around world

In an unusual move, scientists are allowing anyone to join the study by buying a 'Participation Kit.' Participants will use a plastic stick to scrape mucous membrane cells from the inside of a cheek and mail the tissue to National Geographic. The kit costs $99.95 plus shipping and handling.

Perhaps the "informed consent" portion of the kit could also include a copy of Edwin Black's IBM and the Holocaust, as a reminder that having your ethnic identity uploaded into IBM's computers hasn't always been a good omen.

(Which is not to say that I buy most of Edwin Black's critique of IBM or its Nazi-era German affiliates. Just providing fodder for thought.)

Technorati Tags: ibm, nazis, genome, genocide, eugenics

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Comments:

IBM, your final solution provider.

# posted by

Sean : 4/25/2005 2:57 PM

Ooh, that's wicked. (And, Google finds no similar digs directed at IBM or others! Score for novelty!)

There's a rare-records store in San Mateo (and also apparently an Australian music retailer) called "Vinyl Solution", which I always thought kind of a bad name. Puns on genocidal euphemisms should rate really really low on commercial appeal. Now, if you were not a general music retailer but rather a record-scratching neo-Nazi DJ, "Vinyl Solution" might be a great trade name. Market for your audience, is all I'm saying.

# posted by

Gordon Mohr : 4/25/2005 5:21 PM