Professor Turi King

Professor Turi King discusses the results of a scientific paper about the evolution of hearing, which explores the combined impact of biological and environmental factors on how our ears respond to sound. The study was the brainchild of Dr. Patricia Balaresque who got really interested in the different factors, such as our sex or environment, that might have shaped our hearing sensitivity. This groundbreaking study, ‘Sex, and Environment Shape Cochlear Sensitivity in Human Populations Worldwide,' is published in Scientific reports. It was led by Dr Patricia Balaresque at the Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Research (CRBE) in Toulouse, supported by the Eco-Anthropology unit (EA-CNRS Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle / University of Paris) and the Toulouse Institute of Research in Computer Science (IRIT-CNRS / University of Toulouse) and others.

In Ireland during the 1940s, the stigma meant that most unmarried mothers had no option but to place their babies for adoption. 72-year-old Viv came on DNA Family Secrets hoping to find her older sister, who was taken from her mum as the baby. In this podcast Turi catches up with Viv a year after her episode was broadcast.

In the last 50 years, the number of single parent households in the UK has almost quadrupled to 23%. 43-year-old Sarah never met here dad and came to DNA Family Secrets to see if he could be found.

The mystery of Kaspar Hauser and whether he was the hereditary Prince of Baden is considered to be one of the greatest historical mysteries of the 19th century. Previous genetic research trying to answer the question gave conflicting results. Professor Turi King discusses her work and the work carried out by the team, led by Walther Parson, which brought new genetic techniques to bear on the question and which shows that Kaspar Hauser was not the hereditary Prince of Baden.

91-year-old Jean was evacuated in World War II. She never saw her mother again and was told that she died before the war ended. She appeared on series three of DNA Family Secrets to try and find out if the stories about her mother's death were true. In this podcast Turi catches up with Jean a year after her episode was broadcast.

Sir Paul Nurse was in his 50s when he discovered that the person he thought was his sister was his mum and the couple he thought were his parents were really his grandparents. With all of them now passed away, there was no one he could ask as to the identity of his father. Years later, he took a DNA test and Professor Turi King traced his father for him.

Professor Daniel Panne discusses his work looking at the structure of chromosomes.

Nearly a 100,000 people in Britain were brought up in foster care in the 1970s, 50-year-old Matthew was one of them. Although he knew his birth mother was English, he didn't know his father's identity. Matthew appeared on the second series of DNA Family Secrets to try and find out where his father was from.

Jackie is one of over three million children orphaned during World War II, for nearly 60 years, he and his wife Lita have been searching for any information about his past.

Over 6000 sperm donor babies were born in the UK in the 1970s. 47-year-old Mel, only found out as a teenager that she is one of them. Mel appeared on DNA Family Secrets to discover if testing her DNA might reveal her donor's identity and find any potential family.

Geneticist Professor Turi King shares her views on donor anonymity in response to the HFEA (Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority) opening a consultation on UK fertility law.

As well as having the ability to reveal our ancestry, one of the biggest surprises that comes from DNA testing, is the discovery of unknown family members. 62-year-old Janet had always wondered if analysing her DNA might reveal a mystery from her father's past.

Nearly 1 in 12 children, in the 1970s, were raised by a single parent. 52-year-old Richard has always wanted to know the identity of his father and wondered if testing his DNA could finally give him some answers. He appeared on series two of DNA Family Secrets and in this podcast Professor Turi King catches up with him, a year after the programme was broadcast, to see what's happened since.

Like over a million of us in the UK, 38-year-old Clare had never met her father. She was told he was a British soldier stationed in Northern Ireland, during the troubles. She featured on series 2 of DNA Family Secrets, hoping to find out if this story her mother told her was true.

Triplets, David, Philip, and Peter were adopted when they were four years old and had never known the identity of their birth father. They hoped appearing on DNA Family Secrets and having their DNA analysed could solve the mystery of their ethnicity. Professor Turi King catches up with Peter, 2 years after they filmed the episode, to see what happen after the show aired.

Janine has lived her entire life never knowing the identity or heritage of her birth father. Her white British mum always kept her true parentage a secret. Professor Turi King catches up on what happened after Janine appeared on the first series of DNA Family Secrets.

Professor Turi King discusses the history of Sudeley Castle with it's archivist, Derek Maddock. Sudeley Castle remains the only private castle in England to have a queen buried within the grounds - Queen Katherine Parr, the last and surviving wife of King Henry VIII – who lived and died in the castle.

Over 45,000 people in the UK are conceived through sperm donors. 25-year-old Tink, only found out as a teenager that she is one of them. Tink came to DNA Family Secrets because she wanted to test her DNA to learn about her ancestry and find out if she might have any half brothers or sisters.

A UK law, passed on April 1 2005, means anyone conceived from a donated sperm, egg, or embryo, can find out the identity of their donor parent once they reach adulthood. But thanks to at-home DNA testing, many donor-conceived people are already uncovering their biological origins, in what can be an emotionally difficult process.

Professor Turi King speaking with Detective Chief Superintendent David Baker (retired), about tracking down double child-murderer Colin Pitchfork. A case that made history for being the first criminal case, in which someone was proven to be innocent, on the basis of genetic evidence. Also, the first time that genetic evidence was used to convict somebody.

Around three-quarters of a million people in the UK are adopted, but before the law changed in 1975, most adoptees never knew the identity of their birth parents. Margaret was adopted when she was just six months old.

Around a million of us in the UK grow up without any contact with our fathers. 75-year-old Bill has never met his dad. During World War II 240,000 African American GIs were stationed in the UK, many had relationships with local women, which resulted in the birth of two thousand mixed-race babies. Bill is one of them.

Hands up who likes brussel sprouts? How are you with broccoli? I ask because we know that our genetic make-up goes some way to explaining whether you'll be fine eating some foods, such as broccoli and brussel sprouts, that others find too bitter to nibble on.

On an episode of 'Who Do You Think You Are?' the comedian, Josh Widdicombe, found out he was descended from King Edward I. Just how common is this being related to royalty. Is it some sort of celebrity thing or are we all related to royalty? Basically, the answer is yes. We're all related to royalty, it's simply a matter of degree. The stumbling block to proving it is finding the documentary evidence.

Around 1 in 50 people do not have the biological father they think they have. 53-year-old Richard discovered he wasn't blood related to the man who raised him and came to DNA Family Secrets seeking answers.

Are the remains in the urn in Westminster Abbey really those of the Princes in the Tower? And how could scientific analysis help answer this question?

Professor Turi King discusses the implications of wide spread use of DNA matching services and being a sperm donor or a sperm donor child.

On the morning of Monday September 10th, 1984, Alec Jeffreys, an as yet little-known scientist was looking at a result of an experiment, he'd set running the week previous. He was trying to look at genetic variation between individuals as a way of looking at how diseases might run in families. But what he was about to discover, was a technique that would change the world. Professor Turi King speaks with those involved in the discovery and its first use in a criminal investigation.

Professor Turi King discusses how 3 different parts of our DNA are inherited from our mothers and fathers.

Professor Turi King discusses the findings of the genetic and genealogical analysis in the King Richard III case. This includes the genealogical research, and the results of the mitochondrial and Y chromosome analysis. It also includes the genetically-predicted hair and eye colour of Richard III as well as the results of the Bayesian analysis, of all the evidence in the case, to come to a conclusion about the identity of Skeleton 1 found at the Greyfriars in Leicester.