Has anyone tried DNA tests?

I'm thinking of trying one of those dna tests that tell you about your origins and also about any health markers.

I was wondering what people's experiences are.

I'm based on the UK and there are 2 or 3 main competitors who provide these services.

I'm leaning towards one of them but I'm not tryting to make this into an advert or which one is the best service.

Rather from the ones you have tried or seen other people use, how interesting were the results and do you think it's something you'd recommend other people did?


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I did DNA through ancestry. They seem decent but I have no point of comparison either.

My results:
England & Northwestern Europe 45%
Scotland 34%
Sweden 14%
Ireland 4%
Norway 3%

Its about what I expected. I did the kit and waited for about two months and then got the results. My family is big into family history and both parents have published books so they were pushing me into it.

Now I can tell why I'm always at war with myself while simultaneously being quite chill lol.

From a slightly different perspective, I considered genetic testing after I had breast cancer. I don't have children so it was purely about my own future risks. One of the conversations I had was around what would I do with the information and would/could it cast shadows.
Perhaps people on ancestry websites & forums might have an interest and be able to give you some views.

Originally Posted by Qayto
From a slightly different perspective, I considered genetic testing after I had breast cancer. I don't have children so it was purely about my own future risks. One of the conversations I had was around what would I do with the information and would/could it cast shadows.
Perhaps people on ancestry websites & forums might have an interest and be able to give you some views.

Did you end up doing a test?

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Originally Posted by Silver
I did DNA through ancestry. They seem decent but I have no point of comparison either.

My results:
England & Northwestern Europe 45%
Scotland 34%
Sweden 14%
Ireland 4%
Norway 3%

Its about what I expected. I did the kit and waited for about two months and then got the results. My family is big into family history and both parents have published books so they were pushing me into it.

Now I can tell why I'm always at war with myself while simultaneously being quite chill lol.

Haha, did it show any. Indicators on disease like Qayto mentions ?

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Originally Posted by Pladio
Haha, did it show any. Indicators on disease like Qayto mentions ?

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I think thats something I could request them to look at but I'm not interested personally.

Originally Posted by Pladio
Did you end up doing a test?

I decided against it as it wasn't going to give me an absolute answer just increase or decrease the chance dice rolls. Having said that, I quite understand why families with a condition such as Huntingtons Chorea or younger women with genetic breast cancer would like the information so that they can plan their lives. Do you have children Pladio?

My family tree is fairly easy to trace and lacks any mystery (Welsh, villages) but I think if I couldn't see further back then I would be intrigued.

Originally Posted by Qayto
I decided against it as it wasn't going to give me an absolute answer just increase or decrease the chance dice rolls. Having said that, I quite understand why families with a condition such as Huntingtons Chorea or younger women with genetic breast cancer would like the information so that they can plan their lives. Do you have children Pladio?



My family tree is fairly easy to trace and lacks any mystery (Welsh, villages) but I think if I couldn't see further back then I would be intrigued.

I've got one kid just a year and a half.

Its just curiosity more than anything else.

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There is another downside to doing DNA tests, which is that they have your DNA material and can to a large extent do with it what they want. Most of these commercial companies are located in the USA and don’t have the strict laws we have in Europe when it comes down to how to handle personal identifiable information and material. Also governmental access to that information, or access from third parties, is not restricted that well.
But even if they are located in Europe, you should take notice what it is you are giving consent for. In many cases it is much broader than you would expect.
They don’t make much money from doing that test for you. The real money is in whatever else they can do with your DNA material.

If you don’t care about any of that, I guess it is not a problem.

Originally Posted by Myrthos
There is another downside to doing DNA tests, which is that they have your DNA material and can to a large extent do with it what they want. Most of these commercial companies are located in the USA and don’t have the strict laws we have in Europe when it comes down to how to handle personal identifiable information and material. Also governmental access to that information, or access from third parties, is not restricted that well.
But even if they are located in Europe, you should take notice what it is you are giving consent for. In many cases it is much broader than you would expect.
They don’t make much money from doing that test for you. The real money is in whatever else they can do with your DNA material.

If you don’t care about any of that, I guess it is not a problem.

What they can do with it right now might appear harmless, but you have to consider what they might be able to do with it in the future as well.

In China for example they have started to collect DNA from a large part of the population, it makes it very easy to for example find criminals, but it can also be used for their advanced research, for example preventive crime, it could mean for example, if together with a lot of other parameters you have relatives who have committed crime, the algorithms could indicate you might as well.

If you trust your country won't ever go eugenics route, do it.
I don't trust politicians and without a worldwide consensus DNA data won't ever be used to exterminate or sterilize people with certain gene at some point in time, I'm not doing it.
The humanity is rotten enough to declare gray eyes a capital offense where DNA data would be used to "punish" potential mothers and fathers. And that's my eyecolor.

I've traced my history back to the days of King Brian, so I'm pretty happy with what knowledge of have of my family and extended tree. Thanks goes mostly to my grandfolks for keeping stellar track of the family, so much of the legwork was already done for us. I'd be quite leery of simply giving my biological materials out these days, but that's just me.

The reason I asked about children Pladio is whether it might affect your decision to have more if the test suggested a predisposition to a health issue. People can be fine about their own risk but can feel differently about their children. Mothers carrying the breast cancer gene who have children can feel haunted, wish they had known/didn't know. Though I dont think the commercially available tests are particularly targetted to specific health risks unless requested.

We also did the AncestryDNA one - only the basic one, not the health one. For me, I really didn’t learn much of anything (knew I was Irish/Polish/Swedish/Welch … but learned there was nothing else whereas there was speculation of other stuff as Welch folks migrated through French Canada). Wife confirmed English & Dutch heritage.

More interesting was doing it for the dogs (all rescues) - one just confirmed Schnauzer - Yorkie mix, but the other two have more complex backgrounds which do impact potential health issues.

23andme has added a Neanderthal DNA check -- I am sentimental about Neanderthals and so was disappointed to find that 80% of subjects have more of their genetic markers than me.