OT: Has any of you ordered a DNA test in the past?
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I didn't, but the prosecution fid.
Yes. Mine came back and said I was human. Thats why Im a Humanist.
Clearly a flawed test.
Yes. Mine came back and said I was human. Thats why Im a Humanist.
Did you get a second opinion?
DONT EVER DO IT!
The results are digital and can (and will be) electronically shared with health insurers.....government and/or private....and forever held against you.
Read the fine print when you agree...you'll be amazed at the ability of the tester to disseminate information that you don't really want shared with others.
I chuckle at the commercials targeted at goofballs who "wonder about their heredity" and agree to a DNA test.
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I did the DNA test from Ancestry.com. It was interesting, but was disappointment that it wasn't more difinitive. I remember seeing a show on PBS where they traced famous black American's to where their slave ancestors were from in Africa. The Ancestry.com DNA test just showed you that you were (for example) 5% jewish, 15% Eastern Europe, 25% Irish/Scottish, 50% Western Europe, and less than 1% from Scandinavia.
Even if the 23 and me doesn't get more precise in defining where your ancestors were from, I really like that it provides family health analysis. Being adopted, this would be especially useful. I may do it again with 23 and me, just to have the health info.
Even if the 23 and me doesn't get more precise in defining where your ancestors were from, I really like that it provides family health analysis. Being adopted, this would be especially useful. I may do it again with 23 and me, just to have the health info.
I am curious to know how much Neanderthal I've got.
My wife thinks more than average.
My wife thinks more than average.
Strange timing. I just got off the phone and my sister asked me to do it. Apparently there are some hereditary factors that only males carry (yes, I realize that I just set myself up for some wisecracks here). My cousin has been researching the family tree for over 30 years, leading back mostly to County Donegal and Count Cork. I'll have to check with my cousin to see which tests she used.
Reviews seem to hold that kit out as the best. BTW, thanks for a serious response even though I could predict incoming with such a question!
I believe that PBS show used historical documentation that exists for the slave trade either exclusively or in conjunction with DNA. Unfortunately, I'm not aware of family tree documentation for myself that goes back more than a couple generations or so. I don't have the wherewithal to do the research, which would have to take me to Germany. Genealogy DNA is my best alternative.
If you haven't checked out Ancestry.com yet, you should do it. You start by putting in whatever family tree that you know of, and Ancestry will match it against other/existing records that other Ancestry members have entered. They call these "hints" and you can compare the name, birth/death dates, spouse and children, etc. If its a fit, then you can accept the hint and this portion of your tree (as far back as the other person has researched) will be added to your tree. Doing this, I was able to go back quite far on both of my parents trees. Of course there were/are some gaps and some of the hints seem pretty bogus, but the amount of good info with little to no actual research on my part was amazing.
One has to be careful with the stuff added to ancestry by other users though--sometimes you get a person who is his own mother's father if you are not careful.
I did the DNA in hopes that it could confirm the Sir Humphrey Gilbert connection. No dice--there is no one from the English side of the family who submitted.
I did the DNA in hopes that it could confirm the Sir Humphrey Gilbert connection. No dice--there is no one from the English side of the family who submitted.
My two elderly aunts, while watching a documentary on the history of the LDS church:
Aunt Sylvia: "Don't those Normans take two wives?"
Aunt Nancy: "Don't be silly. It's not the Normans, its the morons."
Archaeological research finds you have fingers predisposed to pinching pirogies.
What do you want to learn about yourself through a DNA test?
Different tests yield different results.
Paternity?
Ancestry?
Body's base capacity to do critical work, via optimal or suboptimal responses.
Genetic disease conditions or carrier status?
For example - Your doctor may determine that you should be tested for the condition below, if you meet the guidelines. There are different genetic variations.
Treatment for your safety can vary depending on the results of the test and the variation a particular person carries. A mild variation may mean little treatment and a more intense variation may require more strict protocols... that sort of thing.
======
Factor V Leiden thrombophilia is a genetic disorder of blood clotting.
Factor V Leiden is a variant of human factor V that causes an increase in blood clotting.
With this mutation, the anticoagulant protein secreted is inhibited, leading to an increased tendency to form dangerous, abnormal blood clots.
Factor V Leiden is the most common hereditary hypercoagulability disorder amongst ethnic Europeans.
Factor V Leiden is a variant of human factor V that causes an increase in blood clotting.
With this mutation, the anticoagulant protein secreted is inhibited, leading to an increased tendency to form dangerous, abnormal blood clots.
Factor V Leiden is the most common hereditary hypercoagulability disorder amongst ethnic Europeans.
Thanks. I used Ancestry.com through my local library a few years and got some useful information. I don't recall seeing the option you describe. I'll have to look into that.
I think LDS started it, and they traditionally have had the most extensive genealogical database in this country. However, I'm pretty sure it was bought out by investors since.
The family lineage tests are only as good as the database they are compared against, and each company tends to use their proprietary database and not one common one.
I think for the PBS shows, they compared it against some databases outside of the testing company's normal databases, looking at African specific databases. Even then, for some people it's not cut and dried, and a lot depends on how "pure" your bloodline is. Which is why the tests tend to be broad in their reported results (Western European, for example). That and the limitations of the databases used and how many samples they have from various areas.
Let's say your ancestors came from Italy, and immigrated to the US a few generations ago, and during that time they married others of pure Italian ancestry. It would be fairly easy, assuming a detailed database of Italian DNA to compare to, to identify you as being primarily of Italian ancestry. If your ancestors didn't move around much, and the database was detailed enough, they may be able to tell you what region in Italy most of your relatives came from.
However, let's say your ancestors came to this country from England in the 1600s or 1700s. You should have a strong amount of English DNA in you. However, let's say in the past 300-400 years here in America that your ancestors frequently married people of German, French, Italian, Dutch, and Scandinavian ancestry. That's going to "dilute" your DNA and make it much more difficult to determine your ancestry.
Descendants of slaves have similar issues, as their ancestors may have married African Americans with roots in a variety of African and other countries. Even using African databases, while they may be able to say you're primarily from one country, for matters of simplification, it's possible that say, 65% of your DNA comes from that one country, but the other 35% could come from other countries in and out of Africa.
As societies become much more mobile, and interracial marriages become more common, it will be more difficult to determine. The US in particular already has this issue. Even people who only marry within their own race, frequently no longer only marry others with relatives who came from the same country. Which is different than it was even 50+ years ago. So, it's important that geneticists collect as much DNA info as possible into databases in countries where the bloodlines are still more pure, or we risk losing that information to history.
And when I say "marry" we all know I really mean "reproduce with." LOL
I'm not suggesting a conspiracy theory here, but I have major reservations of contributing to some DNA collection project, especially one that Google has backed
To sum up, the main issue is that the databases are too small at this point in time for an accurate reading.
That depends on how detailed you want to get. To say you're X% Western European and X% Native American, for example, they're fine. Deeper than that may vary depending on the tester--and there are niche testers that specialize in specific areas, not the large, broad companies mentioned here.
One large, comprehensive database would be ideal, but I don't believe the for-profit industry participates in one.
This is something that I have considered doing just out of curiosity. I was also adopted and have no idea if my background, health or country of origin.
The presumption is scandanavian of some sort. So more out of curiosity for me.
If you were part of this, you shouldn't have to order anything. I remember being totally appalled upon hearing the report.
https://nworeport.me/tag/pennsylvania-citizen-sues-over-voluntary-cheek-swabs/
https://nworeport.me/tag/pennsylvania-citizen-sues-over-voluntary-cheek-swabs/
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