Genetic Tests

[crazyforkate]

I wasn't sure where to put this, but it does at least have something to do with genealogy so for now it will go here. Has anyone done a genetic test (for non-urgent reasons)? Several sites now offer these options for as little as a hundred dollars. I asked for a test for my twentieth birthday from 23andMe (they do both health and ancestry testing) and found some fascinating things. We have more Norwegian background than previously suspected, and there is some South Asian and North African ancestry we would never have guessed, as well as some French and German that had not been previously known. My mom is taking the test as well so we have some idea of where this might come from, though it's small enough that it will probably never be specifically traceable. The service also links you up with relatives all over the world - I have found distant cousins from Iceland to Saudi Arabia, with a strangely high number in Texas. As for health, I found out that I carry cystic fibrosis, and once my mother gets her testing done we'll have a better idea of who to warn - thus preventing any inheritance of the illness. Overall, I found it an incredibly valuable service. Anyone else done it? Answer if you feel comfortable sharing.

[keen23]

Years ago, I had one done, because a cousin was trying to prove that he was a member of a specific Native American tribe, via mitochondrial DNA. He has no sisters. Our mothers are sisters, so it should be the same mitochondrial DNA right? (I think I'm talking about the right thing). Supposedly our Great, Great Grandmother was Native American. Well, my DNA lineage shows no markers that would be congruent with a Native American background, busting a family myth that this cousin specifically was very proud of.

[crazyforkate]

23andMe says that they can only trace Native American ancestry if it's five generations back or less; since my family wasn't in North American five generations ago, a negative result effectively reduced the chances of Native American ancestry to nil. Maybe you have some further back than that? That probably wouldn't help your cousin, though.

[keen23]

I would have been the 5th generation down from someone who was supposedly 100% Native American. GG G'Mom (100% NA), G G'Mom, G'Mom, Mom, Me, right? Whatever it was, only this branch of the family thought they were Native American, the rest of us thought she was French.

[polabear]

Years ago I did a fairly basic test. It was enough to know that mk y haplogroup is U2e, which is pretty rare. Its an old group so its pretty spread out.

[Joan of Snarc]

I did the ancestryDNA test, which matches you with cousins. It said my genetic ancestry was British Isles, Central European and Scandanavian. Nothing too earth-shattering there. I guess I did the wrong test to tell me if I'm a Neanderthal. I think my mom is going to have a mitochondrial DNA test done, so I guess there's no reason for me to have that one done.

[Minerva]

One day I'll scrape together the money to get my dad and I done. I know he'd find it really fascinating because he's into genealogy, and I know very little about my origins on my mother's side. Maybe it'll be his birthday present one of these years.

I'm just afraid that if I do the health test, I'll find out something I didn't want to know.

[crazyforkate]

You definitely have to be prepared for bad news on a test. They lock some of the more upsetting genes (like BRCA) so you have the option of not knowing. Even knowing I was just a carrier for CF, it made me feel awful because it was just one more complication for the future. Easy to overcome with today's modern testing, but still, not nice.

My mom's DNA came back and it turns out the South Asian is from her side, along with some previously unknown Iberian and Finnish. We're still confused as to where some of this comes from, but no matter. The big news is that the CF is on my dad's side, not hers - and since my dad's relatives are borderline eugenicists who think having blood from our family is the greatest thing ever (basically, they'd fit in well with the Malfoys), they're all scrambling. Surely our blood cannot have the impurity of an inherited recessive illness! The shock! The horror! We have two babies coming this year so it does bring up some questions, but apart from that, it is kind of funny to see the whole family realize they are not speshul snowflakes after all. Does that make me a terrible person?

[Just Not Good]

My father did this... and then got SO insufferable about the results.

It made me realize I don't really care where my ancestors came from, and I hate the sound of my father's voice going on about his Very Important (Probably) Ancestors.

[GeoBQn]

You definitely have to be prepared for bad news on a test. They lock some of the more upsetting genes (like BRCA) so you have the option of not knowing. Even knowing I was just a carrier for CF, it made me feel awful because it was just one more complication for the future. Easy to overcome with today's modern testing, but still, not nice.

My mom's DNA came back and it turns out the South Asian is from her side, along with some previously unknown Iberian and Finnish. We're still confused as to where some of this comes from, but no matter. The big news is that the CF is on my dad's side, not hers - and since my dad's relatives are borderline eugenicists who think having blood from our family is the greatest thing ever (basically, they'd fit in well with the Malfoys), they're all scrambling. Surely our blood cannot have the impurity of an inherited recessive illness! The shock! The horror! We have two babies coming this year so it does bring up some questions, but apart from that, it is kind of funny to see the whole family realize they are not speshul snowflakes after all. Does that make me a terrible person?

My husband and I are getting the Jewish genetic disease testing soon. It tests for 18 different diseases, none of which are covered by our insurance. There's an organization that does the testing for $180/person (it would be $4000 for the entire panel otherwise). My brother had it done and found out he's a carrier for Gaucher's, so it's important that we get this taken care of.

The reaction of your father's family reminds me of a Dear Prudence letter from a couple of years ago. The letter writer's husband came from a family of blond-haired, blue eyed Caucasians, and many members of the older generation were racists. Her husband was doing genealogy and found out one of their ancestors was a slave who was freed after the Civil War. The family was divided between the people who were interested in learning more and the people who did NOT want to hear about it.

[miffy]

I haven't had the test but my dad did, he is R1a1 aka vikings.

Weirdly his paternal line goes back a long long time, although its very iffy as we are not part of the royal family & even then... But we were supposedly norman, one of william the conquerers cronies.

[treemom]

I am doing the DNA genotypying through 23andme. Not really true genetic testing, but it will give me a lot of screening sort of information.

I have gone back and forth about it simply because I wasn't thrilled with the TOS but decided yesterday to do it. Totally excited.

[crazyforkate]

That's what I did! It's been pretty good for my family. Best of luck, Treemom, it's really fascinating.

[Anxious Girl]

This may be an odd/stupid question; but do any of you have any tips for companies that do good genetic testing? I think my dad might be part French because his great-grandfathers name which was French was translated literally into English. His great-grandfather was born in Canada. I want to go about it; I simply just don't know how.

[crazyforkate]

I only did 23andme. It gives you some detail and could help you determine whether you have French (they characterize it as French/German) ancestry, but other services might help you more. Thoughts, others?

[LadyBlue]

As an adoptee, I'd really like to get this done at some point. It seems pretty pricey though and I have no idea which company I'd use. This is the second time I've heard good things about 23andme.

[Val78]

I'm intrigued by all if this,

Reviews on amazon were iffy though. Everyone here felt it was worth it for most part?

[longskirtlotsakids]

A tad off topic, but beware these tests can open a can o worms.

A science teacher here got raked over the coals-royally- because he let some students test their blood types.

Not a big deal, except a girl with O blood went home and asked her parents their types. They were both A.

That is how she had to find out she was adopted.

[Megan]

Couldn't she have O blood if they were both A/Os?

Though these things can certainly bring up problems... some of those ancestry tv shows ("Who Do You Think You Are?" on BBC) can bring up less-than-appealing historical figures and I imagine DNA can do the same.

[treemom]

My family is so trainwrecky I am sure I will find something ridiculous out they were hiding.

I am still waiting for it though :) My dna is in the queue to be processed, but I am sure I will have 6 more weeks :)

[dawbs]

Couldn't she have O blood if they were both A/Os?

Though these things can certainly bring up problems... some of those ancestry tv shows ("Who Do You Think You Are?" on BBC) can bring up less-than-appealing historical figures and I imagine DNA can do the same.

Yup, A parents could have an O child...couldn't be the reverse though--O parents couldn't have an A child.

Although, really, I do think in school, they should use care w/ these things (I've watched foster-cousins be stuck in a bad spot when, instead of "lets look at genetics" and "lets look at history and what has changed int he last 60 years--talk to old people!" it's done from a "lets look at your family tree" angle)

[Lainey]

Oooh, I should check this board more often! I got genetic testing done for myself and my dad (his was his Christmas present from me), and I found it fascinating. I love to talk about it. I used 23andme. My favourite part was finding out that I'm 2.9% Neanderthal. I also enjoyed finding out that some of my ancestors were speculated to come from Sub-Saharan Africa. I had no idea. This is no longer showing in my results. :( Sadness.

I would consider maybe doing the Ancestry.com one in the future, only because my relatives from 23andme aren't very responsive. It depends what it costs; I have no idea.

All I remember about my health results is that I have an increased risk of lung cancer, and I don't have the gene for CF. I was curious about that because my cousin's daughter has CF, and I wondered which side of the family it came from. I don't have the variants for any of the inherited conditions.

On my dad's side, I have 0.1% Ashkenazi. I find this rather interesting, because for one thing, I would have expected it to be on my mother's side. I'm not entirely sure what it means, though.

[treemom]

I have my 23andme health results back and nothing insanely surprising. I don't have full ancestry yet, but so far I think it isn't going to be what the family mythology has been. I am pretty sure I am going to have my dad do it too.

[Lainey]

I have my 23andme health results back and nothing insanely surprising. I don't have full ancestry yet, but so far I think it isn't going to be what the family mythology has been. I am pretty sure I am going to have my dad do it too.

Shouldn't be long now...what's the family mythology?

[treemom]

Shouldn't be long now...what's the family mythology?

Just the narrative of where and when of our family. I have my AC back, still waiting on RF and as I expected the genes tell a different story than what the lips have told. Nothing huge, and I can take an educated guess as to what happened. But our ancestry is not really what my parents thought it was.