Family Reunion

Today's video story in The New York Times , "Perfect Strangers, Genetic Kin," has a somewhat deceptive title in that this "kinship" is constituted by rare genetic mutations from their parents. As computer technology makes it possible to identify extremely rare variations in a person's chromosomal blueprint, distributed computer networks on the Internet also bring geographically remote parents together so they can benefit from some social economies of scale. Sites like the 22q13 Deletion Foundation potential connect families to support groups and nonprofit medical research advocacy organizations, although their "resources" page is currently "under construction." Unlike many websites that are illustrated with images from stock photo banks, these sites are intended to show specific symptoms and humanize real patients with the disorder. More on the Times continuing coverage of this issue is here.