Are you who you think you are? When a group of Penn State sociology students took DNA tests, they were quite surprised at some of the results.

When Don R. Harrison Jr. was growing up in Philadelphia, other kids would tease him and call him "white boy," because his skin was lighter than theirs. But Harrison, a "proud black man," was still unprepared for the results of a DNA test, taken as part of a class at Pennsylvania State University, to determine his genetic ancestry.

Harrison, a 20-year-old sociology major, was shocked by results showing his ancestry to be 52 percent African and 48 percent European. "I had no clue about [it], considering both my parents are black," says Harrison. "So I'm half white."

Scientists say such unexpected results can be explained by family history. Harrison, for instance, recalls a great-grandfather who "would cross for white, he was so fair.... He looked white in a black-and-white photo."

Samuel M. Richards, who teaches Sociology 119, Race and Ethnic Relations, to 500 students each semester, says the DNA tests, which were conducted last year for the first time, were very popular with the class.

Mark D. Shriver, associate professor of anthropology and genetics at Penn State, developed the test with DNAPrint Genomics Inc. To gather DNA samples, Shriver took cheek swabs from about 100 student volunteers in Richards's class. The test compares an individual's DNA with that of four parent populations: Western European, West African, East Asian, and Native American.

COMPLEX IDENTITIES

"Everyone wants to take the test, even students who think they are 100 percent one race or another, and almost every one of them wants to discover something, that they're 1 percent Asian or something," says Richards. "People want to identify with this pop multiracial culture .... They want to be part of it. It's cool."

Richards says the tests also help to deepen conversations about race. "When I teach, I try to demonstrate to students how complex race and ethnicity are," he says. "My secondary goal is to improve race relations, and when people discover that what they thought about themselves is not true--'I thought I was black, but I'm also Asian and white'--it leads them to have a different kind of conversation about race. It leads them to be less bigoted, to ask the deeper questions, to be more open to differences."

Natasha Best, a 21-year-old public-relations major, has always thought of herself as half black and half white, because her mother is Irish-Lithuanian and her father West Indian. But the test showed that she is 58 percent European and 42 percent African.

FAMILY LINEAGE

"I was surprised at how much European I was, because though my father's family knows there is a great-great-grandfather who was Scottish, no one remembered him," says Best, who grew up in Yonkers, N.Y. "I knew it was true, because I have dark relatives with blue eyes, but to bring it up a whole 8 percent, that was shocking to me."

But Shriver explains that although a great-great-grandparent would contribute on average 6.25 percent of a person's genes, any one ancestor might be represented at a higher or lower level in today's generation.

Best and Harrison are part of the fastest-growing ethnic grouping in the United States, one that was acknowledged in the 2000 census for the first time: mixed race. Yet the two students identify themselves in very different ways.

GENETICS VS. CULTURE

"I am 48 percent white--genetically I am, at least, but not culturally," says Harrison. "And the fact that I'm black is more important, because it's something I know. It's who I'm comfortable with."

Best says, "Some people think it's funny that I consider myself Irish and celebrate St. Patrick's Day--because no matter how you cut it, when you look at me you don't think, there goes a white girl."

Harrison, who says that as a child he molded himself to be more black, does not want this new information to change his identity.

"Just because I found out I'm white, I'm not going to act white," he says. "I'm very proud of my black side."

But whatever Best's or Harrison's genes say, they will most likely be seen as black--at least by white Americans--for the rest of their lives.

"I think the test is really interesting; I had to know," says Best. "But it makes me question: Why are we doing this? Why do people, especially in this country, want to know? Why are we, as a people, so caught up in race? Maybe we haven't progressed as much as we thought we had."

BACKGROUND

The discovery of DNA in the early 1950s has had profound effects on medicine and criminal justice. The FBI started DNA testing in 1988, the same year a British man was the first in the world to be convicted using DNA evidence. With a single hair or cell, scientists can now differentiate a person from anyone who has ever lived.

BEFORE READING

* Ask students if they know who their ancestors were. How many students' ancestors came from Europe, Africa, Asia, or Latin America?

* Tell students that they are going to learn about a group of young people who, after taking DNA tests, found that they were more of an ethnic mix than they had imagined.

WRITING PROMPT

* Have students write a five-paragraph essay in which they address Natasha Best's question: "Why are we, as a people, so caught up in race?"

* Explain why you would--or would not--want to take a DNA test to more completely identify your genetic heritage.

* If you did take the test, would you be disappointed to learn that you are exactly who you thought you were?

* How do you think Prof. Richards views cultural differences--as a product of the environment in which one is raised, or as a product of genetic makeup?

* Do you think most people would take DNA tests if they were made widely available to the general population?

* Can you envision any legal problems from such testing?

FAST FACT

DNA was discovered by British scientist James Watson and graduate student Francis Crick in 1953. In 1962, they received the Nobel Prize in physiology/medicine.

Another scientist, Rosalind Franklin, contributed much to their understanding of DNA. She died before the Prize was awarded.

WEB WATCH

www.scientific.org/tutorials/articles/riley/riley.html "DNA Testing: An Introduction for Non-Scientists" provides an introduction to DNA. The first two pages should provide sufficient background for most non-scientists.

1. Penn State's DNA tests compare students' DNA with that of members of all the following populations except

a Western Europeans.

b South Americans.

c West Africans.

d Native Americans.

2. Penn State professor Samuel Richards says his students are eager to take the DNA tests because they want to identify with

a others in the class,

b people who lived long ago.

c Africans.

d America's multiracial culture.

3. Richards says his primary goat in giving the tests is to

a demonstrate that everyone in the world is mixed race.

b show students how many races there are.

c show the complexity of race and ethnicity.

d help students in their other courses.

4. Richards says his secondary goal is to

a catalogue the races of his students.

b identify the majority races among students.

c improve race relations.

d enhance Penn State's reputation.

5. Don R. Harrison says he is 48 percent white genetically, but not--

6. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the fastest-growing ethnic group in the United States is

a African-Americans.

b Latinos.

c Western Europeans.

d people of mixed race.

7. Scientists say unexpected DNA results can be explained by

a parents' blood types.

b differing laboratory techniques.

c family history.

d one's past illnesses.

IN-DEPTH QUESTIONS

1. The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from conducting unreasonable searches. Explain why you agree or disagree that criminal suspects should be required to give samples of their DNA.

2. What are the pros and cons of administering DNA tests to every newborn for future reference in medical treatment or criminal cases?

1. [b] South Americans.

2. [d] America's multiracial, culture.

3. [c] show the complexity of race and ethnicity.

4. [c] improve race relations.

5. culturally.

6. [d] people of mixed race.

7. [c] family history.

Emma Daly writes about education for The New York Times.

Emma Daly in State College, Pa.