Community Chat

[Moonchilde]

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@Daisy wrote:

We did the Genographic Project by National Geographic when it was started back in 2005.

We hardly get any info anymore...Nowadays, there are better choices that offer more details.

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I believe Family Tree DNA is the company Nat Geo used for their original testing, FYI. Anyone who chooses to do FTDNA testing can transfer their Nat Geo info for free.

[Moonchilde]

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@goldensrbest wrote:

I did the ancestry dna, i did not realize that it just does the female side of your dna,if you are female, i thought it did both the male and female side,i was wanting to know my dads side,native american.

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You will get information about the half of your father's DNA that you inherited, and half of your mother's DNA. The rest, as I understand it, is your mother's ancestors DNA going back in time. If you want more info about your father's DNA, your father, grandfather, a brother, uncle or nephew would need to test.

[Moonchilde]

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@cosmic1 wrote:
Also, what I like about ancestry is that when I find DNA relatives who share ancestors with me in our family trees, I feel that helps prove that my tree is accurate.

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I had already done a lot of research on Ancestrydotcom, and had found a second cousin and through her, three first cousins I was unaware of (through Ancestry forums). When I later did the DNA testing, those people came up first as being closely related to me, so that was definitely my verification.

[Moonchilde]

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@Brinklii wrote:

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@Moonchilde wrote:

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@HiLo wrote:

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@MaggieMack wrote:

I did 23andMe and the results were in line with what I expected. Mostly. I expected more "Native Amercan," but understand that NA is hard to determine due to the roots of the tribes who migrated from Asia. There are tests out there to determine actual NA ancestry, but I didn't follow through. The percentages I received were enough to confirm the family stories about the actual parentage of one of my grandparents.

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We can't understand why ours showed no Native American.  It's not as much as some but then a woman I know who is actually 1/4 Native American, didn't have any of hers show.

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From the 23andme forums, I learned that the only way there is to define Native American DNA is by compiling data and making comparisons with living Native Americans. All DNA testing companies are only as good as their data base. The three top companies have data bases in the millions of people.

When you test with 23and me, for example, they ask if you are Native American, among other questions. The companies then compare the DNA of everyone who identifies as NA, and they start to see similarities. Carry the process on with enough people and you have your data base. Person 37,327 comes along, and they can see that his or her DNA matches closely with certain markers present in the majority of NA DNA, ergo there is a varying percent likelihood (depending on how many markers correlate) of that person being NA.

It's not precise to amount, tribe, etc. also - each of us carries half the DNA of each parent, meaning if we are tested, ALL of mom's or dad's DNA did not make it to us; half didn't.  Divide that by grandparents and great-grandparents, and the NA DNA might not have "made it" to you. Mine did not. I have a NA maternal great-grandmother, but her DNA didn't make it to me; not surprising, since she was my only NA relative, and three generations back.

Also - depends on which side of the family the NA is in and what sex you are. Females can only have certain DNA testing, males have additional testing available. If you don't have a brother, father, grandfather or uncle to test, you aren't getting the *entire* picture.

DNA testing has limitations, and people have misconceptions of what it can tell you. I would suggest people go to the 23andme site and read all their FAQ about testing, how it works and what you can/can't find out, male and female.  For ethnicity, as opposed to medicine, there are limits; the two areas of science are looking for different things. One can be tested for precisely and the other can't.

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@Moonchilde, the site I am having do my testing is 23andme. As mentioned earlier, one of my sisters did the $50 Ancestry site. All she got was our ethnicity broken down into 4 ethnic groups...which is why I am biting the bullet and using 23and me. However, we were literally shocked by our Ancestry.

As the sites tell you, sometimes there are surprises because there were adoptions along the way. Some of these "adoptions" were not even legal adoptions...people just fostered children who lost their parents. Those children often took the name of the family who fostered them. My paternal grandmother was one of those children.

Also, as everyone knows, there might have been illegitimate children in the mix and nobody knew it. Generations ago, men were known to have intimate relationships with slaves...and nobody knew it.  Who knows what other ways other people's genes might have got into the family mix?

At this point, genetics is a young science. However, it is fascinating. If we were to repeat the test in five or ten years, we might come up with a lot of new information. I probably won't do it again; however, the cost will probably go down over the years as more companies start up. Right now (for me), it is fun and also fascinating to learn something about my ethnicity.

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That's how I feel, @Yardlie.  And as genetic testing advances, at least some of the companies will use your stored DNA in new tests, so there is the potential to learn more.

I hope that some day a test will be developed so that those of us who have no living male relatives to test can learn more about their ancestry on their father's father's (etc) side.

[Bird mama]

What if I have no brothers?  I'm from a matriarchal bunch.

[wakefield64]

Since there is nothing more personal than your DNA,. My question to any company analyzing it would be,what do you do with my sample , is it kept or destroyed and if kept how long is it kept and is privacy promised. These are questions that I don't think are out of the question. I have not seen any answers to these on FAQ on their websites. I would like to do it but I have reservations. 

[Moonchilde]

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@Bird mama wrote:

What if I have no brothers?  I'm from a matriarchal bunch.

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Then your testing is limited to the mtDNA testing. It will tell you quite a bit, but not "everything there is to know" genetically-speaking. Fathers, grandfathers, uncles and probably even male first cousins could also test, it doesn't have to be a brother.

[Financialgrl]

Did mine last winter. Just like on commercials - was surprised at some of results.

[Moonchilde]

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@wakefield64 wrote:

Since there is nothing more personal than your DNA,. My question to any company analyzing it would be,what do you do with my sample , is it kept or destroyed and if kept how long is it kept and is privacy promised. These are questions that I don't think are out of the question. I have not seen any answers to these on FAQ on their websites. I would like to do it but I have reservations. 

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All of those questions are answered on the companies websites. It's up to you to read the FAQs and the fine print at each site, as a proactive consumer. There are also Permissions you will be asked to sign, or verify that you *do not wish to sign.* Each company's protocols are different, but you do have choices.

As with any information provided to any physician, lab, clinical trial, etc., your data is not attached to personally identifying information - not your name, age, address, etc. You are assigned a number and that's your ID, period.

I have zero problem with my raw, unattached-to-me data being used to advance medical science. I don't even care if it's "sold", although that's not precisely the way it works. 

Any website anywhere can be hacked. I personally refuse to live with paranoia about what "could" happen. The planet *could* be hit by a giant asteroid tomorrow and we'd all go poof, but I think the odds are pretty good that won't happen.

[Bird mama]

@Moonchilde

Looks like I am going to go through life not knowing.  My dad, paternal grandfather, paternal uncles are dead.  I think I might have a couple of male cousins in Utah, but their father was from my grandmother's first marriage (different Dad).

That's okay. I'm okay not knowing, lol.