After examining professional codes from 23 other organizations, including the American Anthropological Association, the American Historical Association, and the American College of Forensic Examiners, Lori Andrews and colleagues from the Chicago Historical Society and the Illinois Institute of Technology review the state of biohistory research and suggest that ethical guidelines may benefit researchers as well as relatives and descendants of the celebrated figures under scrutiny. Andrews’ group found that none of these organizations contained guidelines for conducting biohistorical research and analysis.

The curious are applying DNA testing and related lab tools to the study of historical figures without guidelines specific to this kind of analysis--"Biohistory". As medical technology reveals more about the intimate details of our lives, those who would uncover them grapple with increasingly complex ethical issues.

Should technologies of bioanalysis, such as DNA testing, be used to try to answer questions about historical figures? If so, what social, legal, and scientific standards should be used? Currently there are no professional guidelines specifically addressing biohistorical analysis. Often, investigators fail to pose an investigative question capable of resolution by genetic testing. For example, Eugene Foster's 1998 comparative Y-chromosomal study of the descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings was intended to establish whether Thomas Jefferson had fathered Sally Hemings' children. Yet the study protocol was inappropriate for determining the paternity of Hemings' children--the only possible conclusion was that some of Jefferson and Hemings male-line descendants had common relatives.

Genetic samples can place descendants of slavery in a tribe or region of their homeland.

Julia Jefferson has long said that "she did now know she was descended directly from Thomas Jefferson, particularly in view of the family story that they were related to Jefferson's uncle." But when Fawn Brodie's book captioned "Thomas Jefferson, An Intimate History", came out on Sept 21, 1976, Julia's "oral history" suddenly became corrected, and she now says she is a lineal descendant of Thomas Jefferson.

The DNA tests indicated that any one of two dozen Jeffersons , 8 of whom were within a day’s drive of Monticello, could have been the father of one of Sally Heming’s children, and there was nothing to indicate it was Thomas. The same Y-chromosome existed in Mr. Jefferson's brother Randolph, who lived 20 miles from Monticello , and in 5 of Randolph 's sons, who were in their teens or 20s when Sally Hemings was having children.

The current members of The Monticello Association were acknowledged by Thomas Jefferson as his offspring (and by their subsequent offspring) as descendants of Thomas Jefferson so no acknowledged descendant of Thomas Jefferson need be tested for a DNA match under currently acknowledged paternity standards. If the acknowledged descendants of Thomas Jefferson submitted to DNA testing the test would be futile because the only genetic test would be of the Y-chromosome. The acknowledged descendants of Thomas Jefferson are all descended through Thomas Jefferson's daughters, not the male line. Thus they would have the Y-chromosome from their male lines, not the same Y-chromosome as any Jefferson . Since all of the descendants of Thomas Jefferson's daughters had Y-chromosomes from male lines other than the Jeffersons , nothing could be more futile than to test the acknowledged descendants of Thomas Jefferson.

If Thomas Jefferson were exhumed for Y chromosome DNA testing it would only confirm that he carried the same Y chromosome as the other 8 Jeffersons in question. The only way this would not be true is if Thomas Jefferson were illegitimate. Besides being futile, it is very unlikely that there would be usable DNA that could be tested after so many years.