Has anyone used 23andme dna tests....

[83wuzme]

What does that mean, exactly?

I can see insurers being interested in this information : life, disability, long term care, etc. It doesn’t require a genius to understand how these coverages could be affected by a person’s genetic makeup. Who knows, maybe at some point in time genetic testing could be an approval condition for underwriting.
A potential mate might want to know about this information as well.

 

[PSU_sues_ncaa_big10]

This data is worth so much and people are PAYING the company to take it!

 

[NittanyLionFan]

When you guys say that Ancestry "helped identify cousins..." do you mean they actually provided names/locations of people ??

do you have to use the Ancestry pay genealogy site to take the dna test?

On AncestryDNA, anyone that takes their test is matched against others that have taken the test and, if there is sufficient shared DNA, a cousin match is estimated (i.e., 1st cousin, 4th cousin... I think the most distant it will project is 5-8th cousin). If you take their test, you can view these matches. I assume that you can opt out of having your results, to include potential matches, visible. Your match will only display a self-designated user name and other details you care to share. It will also share your public family tree, if you have one (only people that are marked as deceased will be visible and only if your tree is public, not private). If you have it linked to your tree, the site can also analyze both trees (if public) and project the common ancestor. Pretty neat. Ancestry also has a built-in user messaging system (again, you only see user name); that is typically how you first contact another user. It is a pretty basic system, so you don't know if they've read your message, etc.

I am not 100% sure of how it works for non (paying) subscribers. I think that you can view your results and potential cousins, but can only receive but not send messages (so I usually include my email address when I send a message). My father in law is in that boat, and I am pretty sure that he has received messages from potential cousins (and then he either takes the conversation to email or asks me to send a response to the other user!). That side of the family has a "baby on the porch" story from the 1880s and has been getting hits to potential cousins with the suspected biological surname (family lore), but no exact connections have yet been made...

 

[RandyL]

mucho gracias

 

[Wandering Spectator]

I use both. My main purpose is to identify the origin of my Italian surname. My Great grandfather came to the US in 1881 (pre Ellis Island) and originated the surname I have today. No other family in the world has it. Everyone with my surname tracks back to him. Through these services, I am able to ID “cousins” via the DNA, then I trace their families to help build the tree. I’m getting closer to identifying his origin but I’m not there yet.

There are definite concerns though as well. I recently was alerted to a very close cousin match that just received his results. When I reached out to him, I learned he was adopted. He’s likely a son of one of my first cousins.... This is going to get very interesting.

 

[hagberg]

I did.

Mine came back and said I was human. That's why I'm a Humanist.

Dang, those things really are a scam!

 

[RandyL]

In Yuval Noah Harari’s book “Sapiens”, he points out that even today, humans originating from the Middle East or Europe still contain a small % of neanderthal dna.
A short while ago, I mentioned to a group of women that most men still contain some neanderthal in them.
They did not seem surprised.

 

[MontereyLion]

I did.

Mine came back and said I was human. That's why I'm a Humanist.

There is some debate about that.

 

[NittanyLionFan]

Just saw this article pop up on my newsfeed:
https://www.deseretnews.com/article...-to-know-the-untold-story-of-ancestrycom.html

 

[LionDeNittany]

Plus one!

The push on agendas and certain technologies in this world are certainly strange. Along with the Seats thread here. Notice the push to get populations into urban settings. People willingly submitting their DNA. Tell me you don’t believe they are already a step ahead in this, and that higher ups will not manipulate this. You would never willingly turn in your ATM password,
But you would gladly provide your DNA!?!? I guarantee there are already reverse engineering mechanisms in place. I mean, they are solving old cases using DNA evidence. What’s to say they cannot frame someone with this same information. Now I know blood has been planted in cases , but imagine someone with a boatload of cash does something wrong, you don’t think they will have access to DNA to make them right. Let alone where this will go with further cloning, etc.

Weird places we are heading toward, and the paste is out of the tube.

Don’t even get me started in the ID chips that will be pressed in ya before too long. Injected into your hand, you can wave it and use it like a credit card or ID. . . You won’t be able to do commerce without it (read Revelations, same thing occurs - you will need a mark to do commerce). Cashless society means more tracking of your spending, your location, everything.

Yeah but the problem with this argument is like not giving away your phone number.

It doesn't matter if you keep it amongst just a few people. One of those people will allow a service to see all their contacts, and voila.

Once a few family members give up their DNA, yours is known.

LdN

 

[JWB389]

It showed me as having one of the genes linked to Celiac (gluten free diets) which my daughter has tested positive for and is on a special diet.

Centex, we had a similar experience. Both my wife and daughter had been diagnosed with celiac a few years ago. My daughter's 23 & me came back with a high probability of celiac. Of course, we already knew that, but it was a an interesting verification. You may already know this, but either you or your wife/daughter's mom are carriers. Several people on my wife's mother's side of the family have it.

Funny story, the husband of a co-worker got a call a few months ago with a surprise from a 20 something daughter in Oklahoma he didn't know he had. Not a bad story. A woman he dated prior to his wife. She found out several weeks after they drifted apart. Decided to keep the baby. The kid gets a 23 & Me that matches her to an Aunt. She contacts the aunt, yadda yadda....she connects to the dad.

 

[Nitwit97]

Yeah but the problem with this argument is like not giving away your phone number.

It doesn't matter if you keep it amongst just a few people. One of those people will allow a service to see all their contacts, and voila.

Once a few family members give up their DNA, yours is known.

LdN

Point well taken. But my parents are too old to be into it and my kids are not old enough to do it themselves. I am in the “sweet spot”

 

[CentexLion]

Centex, we had a similar experience. Both my wife and daughter had been diagnosed with celiac a few years ago. My daughter's 23 & me came back with a high probability of celiac. Of course, we already knew that, but it was a an interesting verification. You may already know this, but either you or your wife/daughter's mom are carriers. Several people on my wife's mother's side of the family have it.

Funny story, the husband of a co-worker got a call a few months ago with a surprise from a 20 something daughter in Oklahoma he didn't know he had. Not a bad story. A woman he dated prior to his wife. She found out several weeks after they drifted apart. Decided to keep the baby. The kid gets a 23 & Me that matches her to an Aunt. She contacts the aunt, yadda yadda....she connects to the dad.

Great story about the co-worker. I was hiking in Colorado a month ago a met a person with a similar situation. 50+ year guy had a call from a daughter (30) that he never knew about. His wife is cool with it, but his sister was having a hard time accepting it.

23-and-me flagged me as the having one of the two genes for celiac, so I'm certain to have past that to my daughter, who has a big reaction to gluten. When she is home with us, we all go gluten free and I certainly can feel it helping me a small bit. I believe my dad also has it a bit, but there is no way he is giving up wheat (and my mom doesn't know how to cook without wheat products). That said, we are finding a few great Gluten free places. A British place outside of Keller Texas (she is doing a medical internship there) with great GF food. Fish and Chips were awesome. Best place is north of Cypress TX. Farm to Market place. Best GF bread I ever had and ranks up with some of the best bread ever.

Biggest downfall is beer. No top of the line GF beer. I think I've tried them all. Greene is OK. Suneater is OK. Clear and Free is OK. Nothing like any of the craft beer places around though.

Good luck on your end there. Not an easy thing to deal with, especially when traveling, but it is getting easier.

 

[LionDeNittany]

Point well taken. But my parents are too old to be into it and my kids are not old enough to do it themselves. I am in the “sweet spot”

You dont have cousins neices or aunts and uncles?

They matched me with my mothers sister.

Again. Totally independent submission.

LdN

 

[JWB389]

Good luck on your end there. Not an easy thing to deal with, especially when traveling, but it is getting easier.

Thanks and good luck to you as well. Very mysterious the way it's so prevalent now. Unfortunately, my wife gets very ill too.

There are a lot of great places here in Eastern PA for GF. All the major chains make it easy to find SOMETHING you can eat. Still very difficult to deal with, particularly for a little kid that's into everything little kids are into. End of year parties, etc. Everybody has to have a cake and cookies.

Other than beer and occasional pasta (I keep a separate pot for it) for me, our house is gluten free. I've never tried anything other than Redbridge and I wasn't impressed. Some of the cider's are OK and the new spiked sparkling waters are good.

The bread is what we struggle with the most. Cannot find a good one. Maybe your TX connection could hook up with somebody in eastern PA!

 

[CentexLion]

Thanks and good luck to you as well. Very mysterious the way it's so prevalent now. Unfortunately, my wife gets very ill too.

There are a lot of great places here in Eastern PA for GF. All the major chains make it easy to find SOMETHING you can eat. Still very difficult to deal with, particularly for a little kid that's into everything little kids are into. End of year parties, etc. Everybody has to have a cake and cookies.

Other than beer and occasional pasta (I keep a separate pot for it) for me, our house is gluten free. I've never tried anything other than Redbridge and I wasn't impressed. Some of the cider's are OK and the new spiked sparkling waters are good.

The bread is what we struggle with the most. Cannot find a good one. Maybe your TX connection could hook up with somebody in eastern PA!

I'm heading back to Schnecksville and Northampton in September for a nephews wedding. You'll have to let me know the better GF places.

 

[JWB389]

I'm heading back to Schnecksville and Northampton in September for a nephews wedding. You'll have to let me know the better GF places.

Great brew pub (I think it's a small chain) BJ's Brewhouse in the west end of Allentown, just before Wescosville. They do a very good job.
https://www.bjsrestaurants.com/menu

Mesa Mexican in downtown Easton is really good too.
http://mesamexican.com/

If you head east onto Clinton, NJ another fantastic place is The Clean Plate Kitchen. Or even farther into NJ - Hackettstown has Mama's. Excellent for everybody.

Outside of that, mostly big chains.

Forgot to mention this https://nimasensor.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIi42ay6uz2wIVhouzCh38zQ4KEAAYASAAEgIFVPD_BwE

Just got one for my wife. It seems to work.

 

[83wuzme]

In Yuval Noah Harari’s book “Sapiens”, he points out that even today, humans originating from the Middle East or Europe still contain a small % of neanderthal dna.
A short while ago, I mentioned to a group of women that most men still contain some neanderthal in them.
They did not seem surprised.

The average DNA differences between present human populations and the Neanderthal sequences we have sequenced so far is something around 0.12- 0.15 %. So it’s a bit misleading when you would get a result saying you’re “ 2.5 % Neanderthal “. All out of Africa ancestral populations have some Neanderthal - derived sequences.
Neanderthals were large - brained, but they were short, stocky, ugly hairy, dangerously inbred and probably smelly. So yeah, I can see how women would recognize the Neanderthal in many men.

 

[manatree]

Is It Ethical to Use Genealogy Data to Solve Crimes?
Benjamin E. Berkman, JD, MPH; Wynter K. Miller, JD; Christine Grady, RN, PhD
Annals of Internal Medicine
Ideas and Opinions |29 May 2018

 

[lein]

or any others?

I have been thinking about having my dna checked.
Maybe by more than one company to see how the results compare.

Wasn't there a story about identical twins sending their DNA to one of these companies and the results came back different?

 

[MJG-90]

Still very difficult to deal with, particularly for a little kid that's into everything little kids are into. End of year parties, etc. Everybody has to have a cake and cookies.

For anyone near Mount Joy PA desiring gluten free baked goods, there is a fantastic little bakery on the west end of main street.

https://www.madewithlovenotgluten.com/

The bread is what we struggle with the most. Cannot find a good one.

Make your own bread. I just made a keto / collagen bread from a recipe I found on blog.bulletproof.com.

https://blog.bulletproof.com/keto-collagen-bread-recipe-3c/

Just look around. A lot of recipes are pretty simple and quite tasty.

 

[Wandering Spectator]

I not an expert in this, but it's my understanding that the "ancestry" results can be different due to how they analyze the DNA - not that the DNA is different. I didn't see the story you mentioned, but it's likely that they identified the twins as such, but each could potentially have different ancestry. Like anything, there are anomalies, and of course, the media will look for a story. For me, both 23andMe and Ancestry are helping to solve a mystery in my Italian origin. Very cool stuff.

 

[interrobang]

Thanks and good luck to you as well. Very mysterious the way it's so prevalent now. Unfortunately, my wife gets very ill too.

There are a lot of great places here in Eastern PA for GF. All the major chains make it easy to find SOMETHING you can eat. Still very difficult to deal with, particularly for a little kid that's into everything little kids are into. End of year parties, etc. Everybody has to have a cake and cookies.

Other than beer and occasional pasta (I keep a separate pot for it) for me, our house is gluten free. I've never tried anything other than Redbridge and I wasn't impressed. Some of the cider's are OK and the new spiked sparkling waters are good.

The bread is what we struggle with the most. Cannot find a good one. Maybe your TX connection could hook up with somebody in eastern PA!

Of all places, Aldi has a great gluten free bread line called liveGFree.

 

[interrobang]

This is the future of unsolved crimes with DNA evidence. Submit the DNA to one of those services.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/raymon...sty-mirack-in-lancaster-pennsylvania-in-1992/

 

[GregInPitt]

or any others?

I have been thinking about having my dna checked.
Maybe by more than one company to see how the results compare.

Do you have reason to believe your DNA is compromised?

 

[interrobang]

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/heal...end-police-or-hackers-your-door-study-n919236

 

[massimoManca II]

Since this thread was originally posted, i found out about a consequence of 23-and-me while attending a family wedding this summer, might surprise some, maybe not :

Uncle Ed tells me he submitted for a 23-and-me analysis in the spring... gets his results confirming we are a little more than 21st century gypsies from the Carpathian Mountains... then ends up being contacted by a 30yr old gal, turns out she had been given up for adoption in 1988 by my brother and his girlfriend while he was in med school.... ooopsie.

#catsouttathebag

 

[PeetzPoolBoy]

or any others?

I have been thinking about having my dna checked.
Maybe by more than one company to see how the results compare.

You’ll only have yourself to blame if you ever get denied health care coverage after doing this.

 

[Delco Lion]

These tests show I am 1/8 Lenape Indian.

 

[JJTopp99]

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/what-you-re-giving-away-those-home-dna-tests-n824776

https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1031360/online-genetic-testing-exposed-scam

Online genetic testing exposed as a scam
No lifeguard in gene pool shocka

SENDING YOUR BODILY fluids off to online DNA testing centres probably won’t bring you any closer to solving the mysteries in your family tree, according to an undercover investigation.

Computer magazine, Which? Computing, skeptically put several online DNA ancestor mapping services to the test, and to say they got some ‘genetic variations’ in the results would be putting it rather mildly.

Paying between £75 and £510 a whack, one male volunteer’s DNA sample was sent to various companies who, in return for the cash, promised to send back a scrappy piece of paper revealing all there was to know about the samplers’ ancestry and rich, cultured heritage.


One of the companies, 23andMe, a ‘personal genomics startup’ which promises personal analysis of nearly 600,000 genetic variations linked to disease and other things, like ancestry, height, and eye colour, seemed a bit reluctant to commit itself to a clear cut result, saying the DNA sample came “from somebody of Polish, Arab or Irish decent”. Narrows it down a bit, to be sure.

Two other companies DNA Solutions and Oxford Ancestors came up with different results for the same genetic sample, a great scientific feat, considering that one’s DNA is a pretty unique blueprint.

As if being a total waste of money and completely inaccurate wasn’t enough, Which? Computing also reckoned that the privacy clauses in the small print held some serious flaws. For example, the firms reserved the right to store samples of DNA for up to 20 years, share data with other organisations that conduct similar research (*cough*, pharmaceuticals, *cough*) and share results online. Since there isn’t yet a code of practice or regulatory body in place for this kind of DNA testing, its pretty much anyone’s bet what a sample could in fact be used for.


The editor of Which? Computing, Sarah Kid-you-not Kidner, warned “people need to be wary of DNA testing services. It’s unlikely that any of the information we received would help in researching a family tree. In fact, the results are so vague it’s almost the equivalent of telling someone what their star sign is.”

In short, if you’re going to cough up £510 for a little kit that asks you to kindly gob in a plastic bottle, send it off, and expect enlighteningly accurate results, then may we politely suggest you contemplate adding a healthy dose of chlorine to your gene pool?


https://www.livescience.com/2084-dna-kits-secrets-scientific-scam.html

 

[PeetzPoolBoy]

Since this thread was originally posted, i found out about a consequence of 23-and-me while attending a family wedding this summer, might surprise some, maybe not :

Uncle Ed tells me he submitted for a 23-and-me analysis in the spring... gets his results confirming we are a little more than 21st century gypsies from the Carpathian Mountains... then ends up being contacted by a 30yr old gal, turns out she had been given up for adoption in 1988 by my brother and his girlfriend while he was in med school.... ooopsie.

#catsouttathebag

So when you register for 23andme, you have to share your contact information such that complete strangers can compare their DNA to yours and then can contact you? Why would anyone ever share real contact information?

This is worse than I thought.

 

[massimoManca II]

So when you register for 23andme, you have to share your contact information such that complete strangers can compare their DNA to yours and then can contact you? Why would anyone ever share real contact information?

This is worse than I thought.

Not sure if you can opt-out of having contact info disclosed, as such I’m not so sure if my uncle elected accordingly... all I know is that a 30yr old adopted woman has gotten to know a lot about her biological family, which is actually pretty cool...

but some of you
may shudder at the possibility/likelihood of a flashlight being shined on past decisions

 

[JJTopp99]

When you guys say that Ancestry "helped identify cousins..." do you mean they actually provided names/locations of people ??

do you have to use the Ancestry pay genealogy site to take the dna test?

No, the Ancestry pay site is separate from the genetic testing. And yes, the Ancestry genetic testing part of the website does provide names of relatives assuming the other parties (your cousins) used their real names...some people want to remain anonymous. Ancestry usually gives you the option to attempt to contact a relative they ID via their website ( although I believe people can opt out of this? ). Of course, it is up to the other party to decide whether they want to respond to your inquiry.

Ancestry only provides the countries in which your cousins are located, not specific addresses. I had more than 13,000 matches of people possibly related to me (they give you a confidence level of that person being related to you using a bar graph). Several first and second cousins (people I've known for many decades) were identified correctly. And no, I did not know beforehand that any of them had had this genetic testing completed. I found it slightly humorous to learn I have a possible relative in England whose last name is Trump.

A couple of distant relatives never responded to my wife's attempt to communicate with them. Most, however, did respond to her request for additional info.

My wife and I do not pay to subscribe to the regular Ancestry account by the way.

 

[PeetzPoolBoy]

Not sure if you can opt-out of having contact info disclosed, as such I’m not so sure if my uncle elected accordingly... all I know is that a 30yr old adopted woman has gotten to know a lot about her biological family, which is actually pretty cool...

but some of you
may shudder at the possibility/likelihood of a flashlight being shined on past decisions

No kidding. Hopefully your brother informed his spouse of said former child and that crazy Uncle Ed didn’t drink too much at a family function and spill previously unknown beans.

That would be really awkward.

 

[JJTopp99]

So when you register for 23andme, you have to share your contact information such that complete strangers can compare their DNA to yours and then can contact you? Why would anyone ever share real contact information?

This is worse than I thought.

Not so, there are many "opt out" options. You can provide a picture of yourself if you want to do so. You can use a false name or remain anonymous. You do not have to reply to anyone attempting to contact you (they can only contact you through the website unless you give them additional contact INFO of course). They cannot "compare" your DNA with theirs, they are only told that you are a possible relative, with a confidence level provided (Ancestry). Ancestry provides a bar graph of the confidence level of two people being related and 23 and Me provides a percentage of DNA shared.

 

[massimoManca II]

Not so, there are many "opt out" options. You can use a false name or remain anonymous. You do not have to reply to anyone attempting to contact you (they can only contact you through the website unless you give them additional contact INFO of course). They cannot "compare" your DNA with theirs, they are only told that you are a possible relative, with a percentage confidence level provided. Ancestry provides a bar graph of the confidence level of two people being related and 23 and Me provides it as a percentage.

All it takes is a dopey relative who submits for one of these tests....

 

[JJTopp99]

All it takes is a dopey relative who submits for one of these tests....

...or finding out you are a direct descendant of Hitler. A guy my wife works with found out he is a close relative of Tito, lol.

I read somewhere that the current testing is only accurate going back seven generations. IDKW that is, or if that is actually true.

 

[massimoManca II]

...or finding out you are a direct descendant of Hitler. A guy my wife works with found out he is a close relative of Tito, lol.

I read somewhere that the current testing is only accurate going back seven generations. IDKW that is, or if that is actually true.

Tito Jackson is a little bit better than Hitler

 

[JJTopp99]

or any others?

I have been thinking about having my dna checked.
Maybe by more than one company to see how the results compare.

Well, I'm just one "data" point but in my case the results I got from Ancestry and 23 and Me matched up closely. The results were pretty much what I expected.

 

[JJTopp99]

Tito Jackson is a little bit better than Hitler

LOL, not THAT Tito, this Tito: (Link): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josip_Broz_Tito