Its findings to date.

The general findings of the project to date have provided researchers and their thousands of subjects with some new insights into the origins of people from various parts of the world. One of the most recent findings released by the project involved 1,000 students from Chicago Public Schools who will be provided with an answer to the age-old question, "Who am I and how did I get to where I am today?" (Breen 2).

2) a discussion of the "pros" or possible beneficial outcomes of this project

Based on the findings of the project to date, it is reasonable to suggest that in time, it will be possible to determine how, and to a lesser extent why, humans migrated to different parts of the world and populated them. The results of the project can also be used to help explain physiological differences among peoples that may have arisen in response to different environmental conditions. For instance, according to Wade (2006), "The study of selected genes may help reconstruct many crucial events in the human past. It may also help physical anthropologists explain why people over the world have such a variety of distinctive appearances, even though their genes are on the whole similar" (2).

3) a discussion of the "cons" or possible negative outcomes or methodological/theoretical / social problems with this project

The project has provided a thoughtful set of informed consent precautions that are designed to protect participants from abusive practices, to prevent the misuse of the DNA samples collected and to ensure that the findings of the project are widely publicized in appropriate journals. Nevertheless, whenever people are pigeonholed into discrete categories based on genetic factors, the potential for abuse arises.

4) Present your OPINION regarding this project using the information from your research to support your view

From a personal perspective, the Genographic Project represents a timely...

Based on an informal Google search for "ancestry" and "genealogy" the 129,000,000 and 104,000,000 Web pages identified, respectively, clearly indicate that there is a growing interest in discovering one's "roots" today. The results of the project could also be useful in helping various ethnic groups establish their rights to a given piece of real estate. In reality, these goals appear to be sufficiently benign and worthwhile to overcome any potential objections. Nevertheless, it is also reasonable to suggest that if the powers-that-be wanted to misuse this type of information for social engineering purposes, the Genographic Project could become the basis for targeting specific segments of a society in much the same way the Nazis did in World War II.
Works Cited

Breen, Glynnis. (2007, January 23). "Who are You and Where Did You Come From?" The Genographic Project. [Online]. Available: https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/silk_route_announcement.html.

Ethical framework. (2008). The Genographic Project. [Online]. Available: https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/pdf/Genographic-Project-Ethics-Overview.pdf.

The Genographic Project. (2008). National Geographic Society. [Online]. Available: https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/.

Loughran, Michael. (2005, August 17). "IBM transforms the art of scientific expeditions." IBM. [Online]. Available: http://www-03.ibm.com/industries/healthcare/genographic/doc/content/news/pressrelease/1448875132.html.

Wade, Nicholas. (2006, March 7). "Still Evolving, Human Genes Tell New Story." The New York Times. [Online]. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/07/science/07evolve.html?_r=1&ex=1143867600&en=a04127a97c0b93ef&ei=5070&oref=slogin.