Hi all, I'm curious about my ancestry. Anyone used these DNA checking places before? Anyone have any recommendations? I wonder if I use more than one if I'll get the same results?
As I understand it, DNA checking has two components. The first is sequencing which will be the same, the second is access to a database for comparison which will be different.
DNA services are a bit of a double edged sword. they can provide some insight in to immediate lost family etc but the further you go back it becomes massviely inaccurate. Anyone who tells you they were related to vikings kings etc is agood exmaple of nonesense. you dont have to go that far back in human history for everyone to have a releative ! its scary https://www.nbcnews.com/sciencemain/all-europeans-are-related-if-you-go-back-just-1-6C9826523 (not the best link but you will get the jist) https://www.sciencenews.org/article/family-dna-ancestry-tests-review-comparison
1986 was when DNA was first used in a UK criminal investigation by Dr Alec Jeffreys for example - to be using DNA ancestry services seems to be rather pointless as databases are still in their infancy. Old school family tree research seems to yield far more accurate and conclusive findings
Sure, give away the base information of your very being to a corporate entity. I'm sure they will be completely ethical in their dealings with your info. [Sarcasam]
Hmm. Much to ponder. Yeah, seems the case. I think a while ago, my aunt did some series family research. I know one side of my family can be traced back to the Normans coming over in 1066.I'll give her a call. Hehe. True true. I imagine a scenario where one day I get a knock on the door and open it to find my clone pointing a gun at me.
I imagine a time when you I get a knock on the door and its the policy because I had a cup of coffee at the scene of a crime. Police used free genealogy database to track Golden State Killer suspect, investigator says Police can now use millions more people’s DNA to find criminals Your DNA Is Out There. Do You Want Law Enforcement Using It?
DNA ancestry is not just based on database comparisons to previously sequenced DNA. There's Mitochondrial DNA (mDNA) which traces maternally, and with known markers can trace routes back through tens to hundreds of generations. There is also Y-DNA (Y chromasome) which functions similarly for paternal lines.
My mother in law is interested in genealogy so she paid about £80 for DNA analysis; what they 'sold' her was not what was delivered. The conclusions were so vague as to be laughable - I think they concluded she was human, which was reassuring, and that her ancestors were likely from some part of Western/Northern Europe - no **** sherlock, she's caucasian. There was no linking back to Mavis from Basingstoke and Harold from New Zealand who have DNA records that indicate they might be related. This might be because the whole thing was a con, or it might be that so few people have used the service that there are no DNA records to check against. But as others have suggested, the whole idea is a privacy and security time bomb... How long before DNA records can be used nefariously against you by bad actors? You can change your passwords if they get hacked, and you can get cards cancelled and re-issued, but you cannot change your DNA (without the help of lethal amounts of radiation), so why offering it up to some unknown organisation?
It's the modern day gypsy/crystal ball scenario. People hear or read into it what they want to believe. It's often incredibly vague and generic at best. At worst, it's a stab in the dark and thanks for your cash, chump. Some services also offer to identify likely weakness to particular conditions or diseases, which medical professionals have vehemently contradicted. I'd spend my money on enjoying life now, not on a gimmick in the vain hope of linking me to billions of people resigned to the annals of history.
