anyone paid for DNA testing?

[Creeping Death]

I'm on a quest to uncover my ancestry and genetic details. I'm generally aware of my background, especially on my mother's side, since the family tree is well documented on her side and my great aunt has traced it as far back as 12th century England. Still, there are plenty of missing pieces.
Then there's my dad's side, who I don't really know, and apparently they don't know each other too well. All I know is that there is mostly Amerindian, maybe a hint of Spanish. Whether this native is primarily north or south of the border, I'm not sure, and have had no luck searching. I've tried singling out certain traits by tribe or region, which is like looking for a needle in a hay stack.

I've seen brief results from certain mail in DNA tests that give an accurate ancestral mapping going far back. The main two I'm looking at are:

NatGeo
23andme

I know 23andme got spanked by the FDA a while back and now have to acknowledge that their results shouldn't be considered a health diagnosis, but the test seems pretty accurate and detailed according to many. Has anyone used either of the two or another test? Were you satisfied and was it a revealing experience?

 

[Jennywocky]

I'm on a quest to uncover my ancestry and genetic details. I'm generally aware of my background, especially on my mother's side, since the family tree is well documented on her side and my great aunt has traced it as far back as 12th century England. Still, there are plenty of missing pieces.
Then there's my dad's side, who I don't really know, and apparently they don't know each other too well. All I know is that there is mostly Amerindian, maybe a hint of Spanish. Whether this native is primarily north or south of the border, I'm not sure, and have had no luck searching. I've tried singling out certain traits by tribe or region, which is like looking for a needle in a hay stack.

I've seen brief results from certain mail in DNA tests that give an accurate ancestral mapping going far back. The main two I'm looking at are:

NatGeo
23andme

I know 23andme got spanked by the FDA a while back and now have to acknowledge that their results shouldn't be considered a health diagnosis, but the test seems pretty accurate and detailed according to many. Has anyone used either of the two or another test? Were you satisfied and was it a revealing experience?

I used 23andme last winter.

I think maybe the ancestry related test might offer more. But yeah, it was really interesting just to finally nail down where both sides of my family likely originated from. (Turns out, I am 99.9% european... and 0.1% Asian. Hmmm.) And haplogroups -- there are some online groups for certain haplogroups to share ancestry information and identifiers unique that pool. (Note that females need to have a male relative tested to get the Y side of haplogroups.)

More interesting was buying a month of access (for $5) on one of the sites that will parse your genetic file for you. 23andme only breaks out certain data they can confirm that doesn't violate whatever they agreed to legally, but you can download the genetic info file and then parse through it -- it's huge and does have some search/filtering to it which is helpful -- and see what increased/decreased chances for certain things that those populations with those gene markers have. ("If you have an A-C combo here, you are 1.5x more likely to experience clinical depression" for example, based on studies.) Of course you can't read too much into it because there are many markers that might increase or decrease the same trait, and it's not clear on how the gene and the condition are related per se.

23andme will also match you up with other folks who might be related to you, who have used their service, and project what level of connection they might have (2nd cousin? 4th cousin?) based on genetic similarity. You can choose to release your name publicly or you can remain anonymous -- so you'll see folks in your list regardless but might or might not be able to see their name and more info about them. it's interesting to me to see WHERE folks are from who might be my 3rd cousin, for example, since my parents raised me about three hours drive from where they grew up.

 

[Architect]

23andme many years ago, before they partially gimped it. Recently did a full genome, waiting for the results.

Not so interested in ancestry, it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. If the full genome says I'm related to Catherine the Great or somebody that might be slightly amusing.

 

[Reluctantly]

^ How much did you pay for the full genome? And does that tell you everything about your genes or just what they currently know about specific genetic markers? Like, could it tell you if you have autistic traits or genetic mutations and such? I know there are genetic mutations too that protect against certain viruses like HIV and such as well. So it could tell you what kind of immune system you have? And maybe even tell you if certain parts of your body chemistry are imbalanced and recommend a nutritional plan? Or predict certain cancers and diseases and recommend nutrition to slow it down or stop it? etc.

Lot's of questions, but it seems like there is a lot of potential in knowing your whole genome. Just curious, if you have any idea.

 

[Ex-User (13503)]

23&me isn't bad. If you want continuous updates/more testing from them though, you have to answer a ton of survey questions. Ain't nobody got time for that.

 

[Architect]

^ How much did you pay for the full genome?

$1k - the first sub 1k full genome test (startup co-founded by George Church.) I've been waiting until the $1k genome came around.

And does that tell you everything about your genes or just what they currently know about specific genetic markers?

Everything.

Like, could it tell you if you have autistic traits or genetic mutations and such? I know there are genetic mutations too that protect against certain viruses like HIV and such as well. So it could tell you what kind of immune system you have? And maybe even tell you if certain parts of your body chemistry are imbalanced and recommend a nutritional plan? Or predict certain cancers and diseases and recommend nutrition to slow it down or stop it? etc.

Lot's of questions, but it seems like there is a lot of potential in knowing your whole genome. Just curious, if you have any idea.

It tells me every base pair with an online system (app basically) which relates all known information about each one.

Frankly though I think genes are a poor encoding. The problem is that you aren't determined by your genes, even more you are determined by your gene expression. For example, Darwin's finches have beaks of different lengths to get at the different seeds on their respective islands. You know how those beaks achieve the different lengths? Basically an application of a particular hormone in the womb, one beak has that hormone applied for something like 20 minutes compared to the other. But they have the same genes for the beak, the difference is in the expression.

Some indications that the so called 'junk DNA' is involved in expression, but my point is I'm not sure it's a deterministic system from your genes to who you are. Environmental factors seem to play a bigger role.

As far as I understand, it's a rapidly evolving field.

 

[Reluctantly]

Cool. Thanks for answering my questions. Sounds worth it then for a grand.

 

[stoopid]

Does a paternity does count? If it does, the answer is yes. Maurie told me "I WAS NOT the father."
I asked them if i could have the cotton swabs back as memento's... they hung up on me.

 

[baccheion]

I did mine last year. I uploaded the raw data file to SelfDecode for further/deeper analysis, which resulted in better information than provided by 23andme. Another option is to look through SNPedia to see what various mutations mean.