Direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTC-GT) has rapidly become available and affordable throughout developed countries. However, comparative research on DTC-GT services beyond Western countries has remained scarce, particularly in East Asian countries such as Japan and China. Hence, this study’s hypothesis is that although DTC-GT services in three languages might utilize the same underlying testing technology, such services are likely to represent the social, economic, and political characteristics of each country. For the study, a total of 267 websites (182 English, 32 Japanese, and 53 Chinese) were analyzed and coded reflexively into five categories for content analysis before interpretation using cluster and factor analyses. The results demonstrated variation between the three languages that reflected their respective consumer cultures: English, Chinese, and Japanese genetic testing websites focused on empowerment and ancestry; cultural values, especially familism; and health and beauty, respectively.

Over the last two decades, home DNA testing has reshaped popular narratives around identity, descent, kinship, and modes of ethnic and racial affiliation. The ability to pair oral histories and family lore with scientific data seems to have totally upended the formerly ‘quaint’ hobby of genealogical research. But genealogies have been serious business for thousands of years, and DNA is far from an objective witness to the past. Genetic data create visceral connections between past and present, self and other, here and there. As such, genetic genealogies, or ‘gene-ealogies,’ have proved to be a potent arena for the negotiation of identity, belonging, and authority—over both the past and the future. In this paper, we review diverse DNA-driven genealogical practices in Europe, the Americas, and beyond, developing a discussion about how genetic approaches are intersecting with traditional ideas of identity and descent, as well as new developments in ethnoracial politics in different parts of the world. In particular, we explore the genetic narratives and agendas of care that drive direct-to-consumer companies and communities of gene-ealogists, seeking not just to explain to what extent DNA tests might shift or reinforce conceptions of ‘who we are,’ but to contextualize this with regard to wider political and social forces.

Applications with genetic technologies are now present in numerous health science contexts. This review article summarizes the implementation of these applications from a critical social perspective, examining how public uptake creates complex social issues and regulatory challenges. Focused primarily on English-speaking North America (Canada and the United States), this review summarizes some recent public perception research on YouTube and Reddit on the topics of DNA ancestry testing and non-invasive prenatal testing/screening. More broadly, it highlights how public use, social media, commercial marketing discourse, and regulatory bodies convene around genetic technologies and the tensions and challenges that ensue.

In the latter half of the nineteenth century, knowledge about human beings, which had previously been sought in a variety of fields, was articulated with the theory of evolution, and a new civilized worldview was formed. Notably, through these interdisciplinary studies and controversies, the perception that human qualities are determined by heredity became widespread and accepted as a basis for eugenic restructuring of modern society. Even in Japan at the same time, knowledge about heredity was widely introduced through criminology and psychiatry, and eventually became an important reference framework when discussing national institutions and policies. Toyohiko Kagawa (1888–1960) is one of the intellectuals who worked on many social projects while taking in such scientific knowledge and influenced the field. In this study, taking Kagawa’s social work and his discourse as an example, it is clarified that the interpretation frame that links heredity with poverty, crime, and illness has permeated Japanese society.

The Spatio-temporal distribution of prehistoric sites and the response of human activities to climate change are important considerations in studies of human–Earth relationships. The Jiaodong Peninsula in Shandong Province is an ideal place to study the relationship between Holocene environmental evolution and human adaptability. In this study, GIS software was used to study the elevation, slope, and riverside adjacency of Holocene settlement sites in the Jiaodong Peninsula. By analyzing trends in the spatiotemporal distribution of settlements in combination with climate and sea-level changes in the Jiaodong Peninsula we were able to explore the relationship between the spatiotemporal distribution and environmental evolution of the sites. The results showed that the prehistoric sites were mainly located in low-altitude areas with elevations of 0–60 m and sun-facing (i.e. south-, southeast-, and southwest-facing) slopes of 0°–5°. The number of Houli-Beixin sites (8500–6300 a BP) were relatively fewer than the number in other areas in China due to the impact of the early Holocene transgression. Continental sites in the Jiaodong Peninsula were substantially affected by climate change and began to increase during the Dawenkou stage (6300–4600 a BP) and reached a maximum during the Longshan stage (4600–4000 a BP). With the advent of the dry and cold 4.2 ka event, the number of continental sites decreased during the Yueshi stage (4000–3500 a BP). The number of coastal sites fluctuated slightly from the Longshan to the Yueshi stage (4000–3500 a BP) because of climate change. Compared with other areas in China, the reduction rate of sites from the Longshan (4000–3500 a BP) to the Yueshi culture (4000–3500 a BP) was relatively low, likely because fishing was the main livelihood. These results could help improve our understanding of the relationship between climate change and human activities.

The Xiongnu empire was a dominating nomadic tribe in the east of southern Siberia between the third century BC and first century AD. Archeological sites and artifacts of the Xiongu have been found primarily in Mongolia and scattered in Russia and the northern part of China. The historical sites are mainly tombs. Rectangular terrace tombs with satellite graves—small circular tombs around the main large terrace tombs—have been found throughout Xiongnu cemeteries. This is the first study to report a genetic analysis of the relationship among individuals in these satellite tombs. The ancient DNA samples were extracted following a strict decontamination protocol in a dedicated laboratory using a silica-based method. The mitochondrial DNA segments required for haplogrouping were assessed using multiplex and nested real-time polymerase chain reaction-based methods to amplify multiple target segments simultaneously. This reduced the consumption of valuable samples, labor, and time. Mitochondrial DNA haplotypes were analyzed from the skeletons excavated from six satellite tombs found in a 2000-year-old Xiongnu elite cemetery at Duurlig nars, Mongolia. Interestingly, the different mitochondrial haplotypes (A, C4, D4, G1, G2, W) of six satellite tombs did not reveal any maternal kinship among the six individuals in the tombs. Two sacrifice tombs had two females in their twenties within them. Future studies should assess Y haplotypes, Y chromosomal short tandem repeats, autosomal short tandem repeats, and phenotype and biogeography ancestry-informative DNA.