DNA Kits

[Bronn]

Anyone had any experience with the commercial DNA test kits like 23andMe, MyHeritageDNA, and Ancestry?

I've always been a little wary of them for security reasons, but I'm looking into getting one for someone as a gift and wanted to get others' opinions of them if they have any.

TYIA

[Arroz con Panther]

My wife's grandmother used 23andMe and we felt like it was complete scam. They basically compare your DNA with other similar DNA around the world. I know that sounds like what it's supposed to do, but something felt off. Nana (a short, white, Jewish lady from Chicago) was matched to Asian DNA/heritage. We had some fun with her and told her it was accurate because she's short  We had more luck going with Ancestry. It's more expensive, but more accurate.

[Still Brooklyn]

Wife and I are doing MyHeritage. Waiting for results. We don't expect anything shocking.

[Porn Shop Clerk]

[frash.exe]

took one a few years back. i knew where my family was from as far as ethnicity was concerned, but i was looking for more detailed information as to exactly where and if these ancestors had records.

so it turned out that i had a third cousin who also took the 23andme test that i matched with. i never met her, but she ended up being my great grandfather’s sister’s granddaughter. she told me a lot about her grandmother’s background and sent me a bunch of pics including the house my great grandfather grew up in and a picture of her grandmother with my great grandmother. oddly enough, i look a lot like my great grandmother. same eyes and lips lol. it’s freaky but awesome at the same time.

she also told me what village he was from and from there i kept doing research. it ended up being razed during world war II and it was rebuilt afterward. there’s a church with a memorial on the wall with all these names on it of civilians and soldiers that died in WWII and a lot of them have my last name. there’s also another memorial for residents who were lost during WWI, but that one takes up a lot less space. overall the information about that village is the most intriguing and i hope to visit it someday, but it’s kind of off the beaten path and not a destination attraction, so i’m going to have to figure out how i’m going to get around.

then i got an ancestry membership for a short while and started looking at documented records of some of my ancestors. the men were bricklayers, carpenters, tailors, and the women went to work as seamtresses or cigar makers on an assembly line if they weren’t casalingas (homemakers).

it’s my belief that ancestry is something that everybody should look into to get a better grasp of their family’s history and some of the history of the united states and wherever other country they are from. i mean one of my great great grandparents couldn’t read or write and here i am with a university degree 100 years later bc she decided to come over here.

[Bronn]

8 hours ago, frash.exe said:

took one a few years back. i knew where my family was from as far as ethnicity was concerned, but i was looking for more detailed information as to exactly where and if these ancestors had records.

so it turned out that i had a third cousin who also took the 23andme test that i matched with. i never met her, but she ended up being my great grandfather’s sister’s granddaughter. she told me a lot about her grandmother’s background and sent me a bunch of pics including the one my great grandfather grew up in and a picture of her grandmother with my great grandmother. oddly enough, i look a lot like my great grandmother. same eyes and lips lol. it’s freaky but awesome at the same time.

she also told me what village he was from and from there i kept doing research. it ended up being razed during world war II and it was rebuilt afterward. there’s a church with a memorial on the wall with all these names on it of civilians and soldiers that died in WWII and a lot of them have my last name. there’s also another memorial for residents who were lost during WWI, but that one takes up a lot less space. overall the information about that village is the most intriguing and i hope to visit it someday, but it’s kind of off the beaten path and not a destination attraction, so i’m going to have to figure out how i’m going to get around.

then i got an ancestry membership for a short while and started looking at documented records of some of my ancestors. the men were bricklayers, carpenters, tailors, and the women went to work as seamtresses or cigar makers on an assembly line if they weren’t casalingas (homemakers).

it’s my belief that ancestry is something that everybody should look into to get a better grasp of their family’s history and some of the history of the united states and wherever other country they are from. i mean one of my great great grandparents couldn’t read or write and here i am with a university degree 100 years later bc she decided to come over here.

My family is pretty big on genealogy. I know where I come from to an extent (Pre-American Revolution, even,) but I think it'd be cool to still do one of the kits for myself too.

My 5th generation grandfather (great-great-great-great-great) was a German immigrant and early settler in Philadelphia that served directly under George Washington and crossed the Delaware with him as one of his head war-surgeons/doctors. He helped start the whole smallpox vaccination thing and, among other things, discovered/invented the first uses of cottonseed oil. His grandson was actually one of twelve people permitted at Abraham Lincoln's bedside when he died, after he served in Lincoln's cabinet.

[jasonluckydog]

I did one a few months ago I was notified that my dna came back was non human and I will need to be retested ... I said good luck if you can catch me. 

[frash.exe]

On 1/17/2018 at 8:24 AM, Bronn said:

My family is pretty big on genealogy. I know where I come from to an extent (Pre-American Revolution, even,) but I think it'd be cool to still do one of the kits for myself too.

My 5th generation grandfather (great-great-great-great-great) was a German immigrant and early settler in Philadelphia that served directly under George Washington and crossed the Delaware with him as one of his head war-surgeons/doctors. He helped start the whole smallpox vaccination thing and, among other things, discovered/invented the first uses of cottonseed oil. His grandson was actually one of twelve people permitted at Abraham Lincoln's bedside when he died, after he served in Lincoln's cabinet.

that’s really interesting. what was the guy’s name? i never looked into what spurred the migration of germans early in US history, and there’s so much german diaspora here. i know for the irish it was a potato famine and in my case southern italy was economically destitute. 

maybe philly knows more about it bc he has a german sounding surname.

[Jangler]

2 hours ago, frash.exe said:

that’s really interesting. what was the guy’s name? i never looked into what spurred the migration of germans early in US history, and there’s so much german diaspora here. i know for the irish it was a potato famine and in my case southern italy was economically destitute. 

maybe philly knows more about it bc he has a german sounding surname.

based on my last name, I thought I was Irish-Scottish. Given a free search i might be Dutch or German...

 

[arbnranger]

On 1/17/2018 at 7:24 AM, Bronn said:

My family is pretty big on genealogy. I know where I come from to an extent (Pre-American Revolution, even,) but I think it'd be cool to still do one of the kits for myself too.

My 5th generation grandfather (great-great-great-great-great) was a German immigrant and early settler in Philadelphia that served directly under George Washington and crossed the Delaware with him as one of his head war-surgeons/doctors. He helped start the whole smallpox vaccination thing and, among other things, discovered/invented the first uses of cottonseed oil. His grandson was actually one of twelve people permitted at Abraham Lincoln's bedside when he died, after he served in Lincoln's cabinet.

Bad ass.

You've got some big shoes to fill my man. 

[imminent rogaine]

I've never taken one of these but am extremely interested.   I have read some reviews on these things before and the consensus seemed to lean toward 23andme being more of a scheme to collect vast amounts of genetic data. I think Ancestry gives you more control over your sample - like its not directly tied to your name or social or anything and you can request for it to be destroyed whenever. Like I said, I haven't done one and information security is really the main factor.

[Anybodyhome]

We did one for this guy. His grandparents on his dad's side were a Rottie and Husky. Grandparents on his mom's side were a St. Bernard & Doberman.