Americans may no longer need to look to the stars for signs of alien life – the clues may already be written into our DNA, according to a geneticist.
Dr Max Rempel is leading efforts to test the theory that alien DNA has been deliberately introduced into the human gene pool.
The scientist last year claimed to have found 11 families around the world who carried large chunks of DNA that cannot be traced back to anyone – or anything – on Earth.
The molecular geneticist, from the DNA Resonance Research Foundation in San Diego, made the purported discovery in an analysis of 23andMe data.
He found clusters of genetic fragments that appeared unnatural, almost like they had been added or injected into the person’s genome. As the subjects were born before 1990, this ruled out human gene-editing technology, which only emerged in 2013.
Rempel has theorized that the anomalies may be linked to alien interference. ‘I assume all of us are ancient alien hybrids; there’s no human who isn’t, 100 percent, without exception,’ he said.
Now, he is launching a wider study that will include people who claim to have had alien abduction experiences.
There are, of course, major concerns with all of his theories.
Rempel told the Daily Mail that he analyzed 581 complete families in the 1,000 Genomes project (Stock Image)
An alleged alien race known as the Nordics is said to have human-like features (Stock Image)
The initial study wasn’t peer reviewed, and most scientists dispute the findings and say there are other, less radical reasons for genetic anomalies.
Still, the idea is tantalizing.
And the timing could hardly be better.
With President Donald Trump promising to release thousands more UFO files, belief in extraterrestrial life is now mainstream.
YouGov polling shows 47 percent of Americans believe alien life has definitely or probably visited Earth at some point.
And an even greater 65 percent of Americans say intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe.
Alien fever is also dominating popular culture.
Steven Spielberg’s alien blockbuster, Disclosure Day, is already being tipped as one of the year’s biggest releases, while Ryan Gosling’s Project Hail Mary is the third-highest-grossing movie of 2026, a film about an astronaut who saves humanity with the help of an alien companion.
Hoping to bring his own work out of the realm of science fiction and into hard science, Rempel is launching a new phase of testing using cutting-edge genetic analysis that goes far beyond what is available through consumer DNA services such as 23andMe and Ancestry.com.
The new project, known as Starseed Genetics, which is gathering funding to do in-depth genetic testing, will conduct long-read DNA sequencing, a process that can read a person’s entire DNA code with very high accuracy.
According to Rempel, the ‘smoking gun’ of alien manipulation will be finding signs of non-parental DNA insertions – or genetic segments not present in either parent.
A former Army remote viewer has allegedly claimed that the CIA has access to popular DNA testing sites 23andMe and Ancestry, and has been hunting for alien DNA online
This would go against standard biology, as children get their DNA only from their parents.
Even one clear case would be huge, though Rempel noted it would not automatically prove the source was alien. It could be some new biological process humans were not aware of yet.
To confirm those DNA tests, it will take a comparison study of about 50 ‘abductee’ families versus 100 random families.
Dr Max Rempel (Pictured) is a geneticist who believes the human genome contains pieces of alien DNA passed down through bloodlines and implanted during alien abductions
Higher rates of unusual DNA in people who claim to be abductees would support the theory that alien-human hybrids exist, he says.
‘If we find alien DNA in a human chromosome, that is hard physical evidence of alien manipulation of human DNA. That kind of proof moves disclosure forward and brings open contact closer,’ he added in a statement on the Starseed website.
The new project has already lined up a pool of candidates, including families with well-documented histories of UFO contact, alleged encounters with extraterrestrials and memories of abductions.
In May 2025, Rempel revealed that an examination of 581 complete families from the 1,000 Genomes Project, a global sample, found DNA in 11 families that did not match the genetic makeup of either parent.
Rempel told the Daily Mail that the study analyzed DNA from both ordinary people and self-reported alien abductees.
However, the scientist cautioned that the original DNA samples used in the study came from an older collection that included cultured cells exposed to viruses, making the results unreliable and potentially filled with errors.
Still, the initial results were provocative.
To this point, there has been no conclusive evidence ever revealed which confirms the existence of extraterrestrials (Stock Image)
Rempel’s work often overlaps with fringe UFO conspiracy theories, including claims the CIA is secretly combing through consumer DNA databases in search of evidence of extraterrestrial ancestry.
One of the most prominent advocates of the theory is former Army intelligence sergeant Lyn Buchanan, who participated in the US government’s controversial Cold War-era remote-viewing program.
The project explored whether individuals could gather intelligence through alleged psychic abilities, but government reviews later concluded it lacked scientific reliability and produced little practical intelligence value, leading to its closure in the 1990s.
Buchanan has claimed that the CIA has ‘secret backdoors’ into commercial genetic databases, allowing officials to search millions of DNA profiles for people carrying what he believes to be extraterrestrial genetic markers.
He alleges the agency is particularly interested in identifying descendants of the so-called ‘Nordics’ – a race of aliens from UFO lore said to resemble exceptionally tall Scandinavians with blond hair, blue eyes and fair skin.
Of course, Buchanan has not publicly provided evidence supporting the existence of such a program, nor has he produced evidence that alien-human hybrids exist.
Ancestry strongly rejected suggestions that intelligence agencies can freely access its database.
A spokesperson said: ‘Law enforcement – or anyone working on their behalf – is not permitted to use Ancestry for investigative genetic genealogy.’
‘We disclose customer information to law enforcement only when required by valid legal process, such as a court order, and we are transparent about these practices.’
The Daily Mail reached out to the CIA and 23andMe for comment.
