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Personal DNA Testing

Started by Jack89, July 19, 2013, 12:38:30 PM

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Jack89

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.

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.

SGOS

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.

Jack89

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.

supergenius

"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...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zrw_yTsh1o4
somebody help me
add me on facebook, my name is Chris Vos, i am the guy with the white shirt against the wall thaqt says super genius on the picture

Shiranu

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?
"A little science distances you from God, but a lot of science brings you nearer to Him." - Louis Pasteur

Skaði

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

Colanth

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.
Afflicting the comfortable for 70 years.
Science builds skyscrapers, faith flies planes into them.