One of my hobbies is genealogy and I've traced my family history back pretty far, to the early 1600's for several lines. A few month ago I decided to have my DNA tested to check and see of the family history matched.
I went with the company 23andme because they also test for predisposition for health risks, inherited conditions, traits and drug responses.
I got the result a little over a week ago and have been sifting through information they sent. It's pretty interesting. My ethnic background was as expected; 100% Northern European with Primarily French, German, Scandinavian, British, Irish and Finnish ancestry. The percentage are surprisingly close to what I expected. I didn't have any surprises on the medical side. The highlights were a higher chance of getting Rheumatoid Arthritis and a lower chance of heart disease.
They do autosomal dna testing only. I eventually want to get my y-dna tested because there is a Project for my surname out there and I'd like to match it up and see where it goes.
Fun stuff. Anyone else ever try this?
It sounds like interesting stuff. How much did it cost you?
I had this test done last time I was in the hospital unknown to me. I was told I have a great chance of having blood diseases, tumors, and would probably get cancer of the pancreas that my mother died from. I've already had deep vein thrombosis three times that went to my lungs causing multiple embolisms, an adenoma (tumor) of my pituitary gland, and prostate cancer. Even if these tests show a possibility a lot can be done to prevent them and cure them now. All men will get prostate cancer sooner or later, but a simple blood test can show you have it before it's too late. After 40 years of age get the test done, it could save your life, but your sex life won't be the same. :shock: :cry: Solitary
Quote from: "Jason78"It sounds like interesting stuff. How much did it cost you?
$100 plus tax. Just so you know, there are a couple of states that don't allow people to order personal DNA tests. New York is one, I can't remember the other.
Quote from: "Jack89"Quote from: "Jason78"It sounds like interesting stuff. How much did it cost you?
$100 plus tax. Just so you know, there are a couple of states that don't allow people to order personal DNA tests. New York is one, I can't remember the other.
I wonder what the reasoning behind not allowing you have a personal DNA test is? Sounds kind of strange on the surface.
I've been thinking about doing it as well.
Quote from: "SGOS"Quote from: "Jack89"Quote from: "Jason78"It sounds like interesting stuff. How much did it cost you?
$100 plus tax. Just so you know, there are a couple of states that don't allow people to order personal DNA tests. New York is one, I can't remember the other.
I wonder what the reasoning behind not allowing you have a personal DNA test is? Sounds kind of strange on the surface.
Here's what it said on 23andme's website: "While 23andMe is authorized to ship sample collection kits to the state of New York, 23andMe is currently unable to process saliva samples collected in or mailed from the state of New York. The New York Department of Health considers our Personal Genome Service a test requiring a lab license and direct physician involvement."
I read elsewhere that New York State feels that a physician needs to be involved to explain the results of the test because while a person may have a genetic predisposition to a particular disease or condition, it doesn't mean they're going to get it. There are other factors to consider as well.
In other words it's typical New York paternalism.
Quote from: "Solitary"I had this test done last time I was in the hospital unknown to me. I was told I have a great chance of having blood diseases, tumors, and would probably get cancer of the pancreas that my mother died from. I've already had deep vein thrombosis three times that went to my lungs causing multiple embolisms, an adenoma (tumor) of my pituitary gland, and prostate cancer. Even if these tests show a possibility a lot can be done to prevent them and cure them now. All men will get prostate cancer sooner or later, but a simple blood test can show you have it before it's too late. After 40 years of age get the test done, it could save your life, but your sex life won't be the same. :shock: :cry: Solitary
Yep, even if you're at higher risk it doesn't mean you're gonna get the disease, especially if you're aware and take what action you can.
Quote from: "Jack89"$100 plus tax.
That's a damn good deal for all the information you get out of it.
excellent... we can find information on DNA about genetic problems that might occur. Beautiful... soo
Right now I am researching methods on how to talk on message boards efficiently. I will do some research on DNA testing. Account for other posts that I want to type in... and so on
So ye I did some searching. I am also trying to improve my English. I found at that United States has the biggest DNA database for DNA matching. I found about two more pages of information that is not really relative to this subject. It is similiar, but has to do with forensics. My first trial has produced unfavorable results. I will try again later. Time to do some Math
QuoteRight now I am researching methods on how to talk on message boards efficiently.
Step one in efficient use of message boards: don't tell the subjects on those message boards what you're doing, they won't like being treated like that and will frustrate your efforts to get useful information out of the boards.
Consider it a free tip. Next one will cost ya :roll:
Being a Mediterranean mutt I am interested, but not particularly $100 interested.
Quote from: "drunkenshoe"I really don't get why would anyone feel a need to do something like this other than looking for something 'marketable' in their back ground in terms of primitive human culture and tell other people.
Other than health and medicinal reasons, I find chasing one's genes to find out 'ancestry', pretty primitive and don't believe it's just curiosity to find out roots.
I'm not surprised that the same kind of people who think that it's a personal victory when their local football team wins think it's a personal victory when one of their ancestors accomplished something.
Any farther back than my grandparents, who I knew very well, I have at most, a mild curiosity about my unknown relatives. My sister devotes much time to researching and exchanging information with other members of the family who also have a keen interest in the subject.
Whoever my ancestors were, they don't mean that much to me. I'm grateful that they supplied the eggs and sperm that led to my existence, but I don't give them any credit for me being who I am. In fact, at least one set of my grandparents were plumb whacky, and many of my living relatives today, would be the last people in the world I would choose as close friends. Rather than owe them for me being who I am, I tend to think I've had to spend a great deal of energy overcoming much of the bullshit that makes up my family tree.
Now follow that family history back two, three, or four hundred years, and you're probably dealing with some horribly unenlightened members of the human species that lived in filth and ignorance. As a matter of archeological interest, I'd be more interested in knowing about the environment they lived in than who these long dead lost souls were.
Quote from: "Plu"Quote from: "drunkenshoe"I really don't get why would anyone feel a need to do something like this other than looking for something 'marketable' in their back ground in terms of primitive human culture and tell other people.
Other than health and medicinal reasons, I find chasing one's genes to find out 'ancestry', pretty primitive and don't believe it's just curiosity to find out roots.
I'm not surprised that the same kind of people who think that it's a personal victory when their local football team wins think it's a personal victory when one of their ancestors accomplished something.
I suppose some people are looking for what you're talking about, but I think I like it for the challenge of finding connections. Occasionally I'll find a gem of a story that'll give me a peek into one of my ancestors lives, which is a real treat. I haven't found any famous ancestors, but I've found quite a few who were early settlers in America, and nearly all were farmers or tradesmen. A farmer in New France who married one of les filles du roi, a nurse maid for a military commander's wife in newly established Detroit, a Quaker seeking religious freedom in Rhode Island, and an Irish-American scout in the French and Indian wars. These are just a few examples of what I've found so far.
My ancestors were determined, hard working people and I enjoy finding out who they were.
I also like looking at the genetic side of it. I now know my maternal and paternal haplogroups and can get a rough idea of where my ancestors came from, and how they migrated from different parts of the world. Is there a practical application for this aside from the medical aspect? I don't know, but I certainly enjoy learning about it.
I'm leery of dna testing. Not that I think there is anything intrinsically wrong with it. I worry about how the results can be used. Prosecutors can use "partials" to identify the suspect they want. Insurance companies can use them to deny health coverage or maybe even payments. Racists can use the results to "prove" their point of view. Eugenicists could use them to try to make their idea of what people should be.
Personally, I would like to get it done, for health and to satisfy my curiosity. But, I won't until I am pretty damn satisfied the results won't be used by anyone else. In other words, the company I might get the test done by, would be able to show that once the results are sent to me, that they are destroyed. Also, they would have to satisfy me that they only employ people shown to be of good character who wouldn't sell or leak the results to anyone.
There is just too much of a temptation for too many to misuse the information.
I have a friend who did some family research when he visited the Mormon archives in Utah. I suppose you don't have to go to Utah to do this anymore, but this was 30 years ago. He did manage to find an interesting reference to a family member that listed some great 'something or other' of his as "an able bodied seaman who was last seen going aloft to tend the sails during a storm at sea." At least he was fairly sure it was a relative. The luckless seaman was named Percy. I have no idea why I should remember such a detail about someone else's relative. I just thought it was interesting.
Quote from: "LikelyToBreak"I'm leery of dna testing. Not that I think there is anything intrinsically wrong with it. I worry about how the results can be used. Prosecutors can use "partials" to identify the suspect they want. Insurance companies can use them to deny health coverage or maybe even payments. Racists can use the results to "prove" their point of view. Eugenicists could use them to try to make their idea of what people should be.
Personally, I would like to get it done, for health and to satisfy my curiosity. But, I won't until I am pretty damn satisfied the results won't be used by anyone else. In other words, the company I might get the test done by, would be able to show that once the results are sent to me, that they are destroyed. Also, they would have to satisfy me that they only employ people shown to be of good character who wouldn't sell or leak the results to anyone.
There is just too much of a temptation for too many to misuse the information.
You make some good points, and I won't argue that the data could and probably will be misused, but there's a good side of it too. Some of these companies not only satisfy curiosities, they're also conducting valuable research. The company I went through was founded, in part, to conduct research on Parkinson's disease. You have the option of filling out questionnaires online to go along with your DNA sample if you want to participate in the research they doing for not only Parkinson's, but a bunch of other diseases as well. They could conceivably get much faster results that other research projects.
"Step one in efficient use of message boards: don't tell the subjects on those message boards what you're doing, they won't like being treated like that and will frustrate your efforts to get useful information out of the boards."
I sort of disagree with you. You are talking as though you are some kind of test subject. I would prefer to tell people what I am doing so that I do not deceive anybody. I have been abused before when i went on chat lines to speak waht is on my mind. Is this some kind of psychological twist because.... . I am not very good on chatting on message boards and I want to improve so I can communicate better with others...
Quote...I could also add the people trying to attach themselves to some aristocracy...
But... I do come from an ex-aristocratic family...
And now they are broke and live pretty low-middle class life. Go figure, I was born 300 years too late :P.
Edit: Re-reading, I guess you meant modern day aristocracy/royalty?
I'm getting DNA testing done too with 23andme.
I have an interest in genetics and the such. I'm not as interested in ancestors or finding relatives with the test though; I just like to see how families move around and make their way about the world. I think it'd be interesting to find out my maternal haplogroup(paternal is too much of a hassle for me) and see what populations my DNA matches up most with.
For health it'd be cool to see how my chances could be raised for certain diseases- I'm especially curious about cancers since my mom had breast cancer and her mother had ovarian cancer. Perhaps this isn't the best idea for me because I have a tendency to be a bit of a hypochondriac- and on top of that I have poor health in general, so I should probably expect a lot of increased risks. :P
Quote from: "Skaði"I'm especially curious about cancers since my mom had breast cancer and her mother had ovarian cancer. Perhaps this isn't the best idea for me because I have a tendency to be a bit of a hypochondriac
Those are both BRCA-1 and BRCA-2 (and to a lesser extent, TP53, PTEN, STK11/LKB1, CDH1, CHEK2, ATM, MLH1, and MSH2) mutation-related. So if you find out that you don't have those alleles, your hypochondria should be quieted a little. And if you do have one or more, you'll know what paths are available to you.