How to Deal With Disturbing DNA Test Revelation

[BNB 100]

My mother just gave us all Ancestry tests for Easter.  It should be interesting.

My 98 year old grandmother had hers done a few years ago, as  my cousin has been working on genealogy.

My Aunt pulled me aside a couple of years ago and said she looked at it and my grandmother was some small percent bleck.  She didn't have the heart to tell her.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2018 by BNB

[thrillhammer 684]

tiptoe through the tulips

[RDCanecutter 26,446]

On 4/11/2018 at 1:52 PM, RD3 said:

I'm thinking about doing this...

You're either already 7.4% Dutch, or you're not. It's not something you can suddenly decide to do.

[RDCanecutter 26,446]

On 4/11/2018 at 7:48 PM, BNB said:

My mother just gave us all Ancestry tests for Easter.  It should be interesting.

My 98 year old grandmother had hers done a few years ago, as  my cousin has been working on genealogy.

My Aunt pulled me aside a couple of years ago and said she looked at it and my grandmother was some small percent bleck.  She didn't have the heart to tell her.

On 4/11/2018 at 7:48 PM, BNB said:

My mother just gave us all Ancestry tests for Easter.  It should be interesting.

My 98 year old grandmother had hers done a few years ago, as  my cousin has been working on genealogy.

My Aunt pulled me aside a couple of years ago and said she looked at it and my grandmother was some small percent bleck.  She didn't have the heart to tell her.

 

 

 

 

Mine came back as about 1/1000 Sub-Saharan African. So like maybe 1 ancestor out of all of them back in the 1700s who was black, or more likely, several mixed people on both sides farther back than that, maybe while still in Europe. 1/1000 is on the low side for a US white person. But there you go.

Anyway. I had told my mom that, and when I saw her last week, she said "Didn't you say I was between 11 and 15% black?" She was happy about it. No mom, sorry-- 1/1000th.

Guess which version will get passed on to future generations. Probably have some damn day-glo Dutch descendants booking trips to Nigeria to get in touch with their lost 3/4 African heritage.

Edited April 14, 2018 by RDCanecutter

[DoobieWah 1,445]

My mom did this about a year ago and hers came back 98.9% Northwestern European, (and 65.5% British/Irish, 10.9% French/German, 4% Scandinavian and 18.5% Broadly Northwestern European). Less than 0.1% East Asian/Native American and less than 0.1% SubSaharan African. I tease her that she is literally the whitest woman in America.

What's more, her haplogroup, (and hence "mine"),  is very rare (U4b1a3). It's especially rare in Northwestern Europe and probably rode into England with the Vikings.

Interesting stuff. I spent a few months doing genealogy research and found the same.

Oh, and our ancestors have been in America a long time to be so lily white. In fact, all the way back to Jamestown, (Rev. Robert Hunt).

Regarding the Neanderthal question, she has 330 (+/-) of the 375 (+/-) Neanderthal markers.

I find this shit fascinating.

 

 

[El Diablo 4,232]

I had lunch with my sister over the weekend and I don't recall how exactly but I brought up this thread and the OP's dilemma. The conversation continued for a bit about how families frequently don't know their origins and a lot of what is passed along is incorrect.

Then we were talking about the Vikings and how we're learning more and more that they had great influence over much of Europe at one time and their genetics are spread around a bit. I brought up Neanderthals and the conversation died there because she's a religious nutjob and according to her there were no Neanderthals. Nope. No mention in the bible so the science is just wrong.

[DoobieWah 1,445]

Did you hold hands when she said Grace?

[El Diablo 4,232]

8 minutes ago, DoobieWah said:

Did you hold hands when she said Grace?

No, didn't even take my hat off.

[SKJ 1,311]

What you have to remember is that you're 7% more a badass since the Dutch are known to be badass fighters.

Here's a small intro into the group you have just entered:

https://sports.vice.com/en_us/article/ywz99v/the-legend-of-the-fighting-dutchmen

[Player 4,575]

You can take the (trailer park) boy out of Holland...

Start keeping a diary RDC.

[Murfdogg21 4,412]

My Ancestry DNA tests gave 97% of what I expected, a mix of Irish, British, Scandinavian, and German. There was a 3% +/- 1% error of Mideast-Mediterranean (Lebanese, Syrian, Jordanian?) and 1% +/- 1% error of Indian (dot not feather). Neither of these showed up in a few uncles, aunts, great uncles, 2nd cousins that took tests from various sites. I assume it is error in the test but waiting on my siblings to confirm. 

 

Which testing site gives you Neanderthal data?

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

On 4/14/2018 at 1:42 PM, RDCanecutter said:

You're either already 7.4% Dutch, or you're not. It's not something you can suddenly decide to do.

I dunno, I decided to be a duck once. Might have stayed that way, too, but I got tired of having people throw stale bread at me.

[RDCanecutter 26,446]

1 hour ago, Walden Ponderer said:

I dunno, I decided to be a duck once. Might have stayed that way, too, but I got tired of having people throw stale bread at me.

Acid wears off.

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

1 minute ago, RDCanecutter said:

Acid wears off.

That's why I get the patch version.

[Whitman 694]

8 hours ago, Murfdogg21 said:

Which testing site gives you Neanderthal data?

22andme.com

Edited April 17, 2018 by Whitman

[RDCanecutter 26,446]

21 minutes ago, Whitman said:

22andme.com

ISWYD.

[KYHorn 17,076]

I recommend all of you who have gotten your DNA tests download the raw data. This is your raw DNA info base pair by base pair. You can then upload it to a number of really useful sites that can give you info beyond your ethnic makeup. GEDMatch and Promethease are 2 of my favorites. GEDMatch is free and allows you to find relatives and see the exact locations on each chromosome where you and your matches have the same DNA. This can be helpful if you're looking to trace exactly how you're related to various people, and if you have your family members' raw data, you can compare yourself with them and figure out exactly what traits you share with them (depending on if they are siblings, cousins, parents, grandparents, etc). With Promethease, you pay a very small one-time fee ($5 or $10- I can't remember) and upload your raw DNA and it will compare your DNA to a huge database of existing DNA research that will tell you what your genotypes are associated with, including health risks, rare traits, personality types, and other random findings (for example, I have a trait where I taste bitter strongly, which explains why I don't like coffee and other bitter things). 

[Jkwellborn 6,704]

Sounds like something the .gov would want us to do.

[SKJ 1,311]

Yeah, I'm not gonna upload my DNA to a random website.

Sounds like something Google and Amazon would like to use.

[KYHorn 17,076]

You realize it's already online, right? I get not trying to share it with everyone, but they are provide pretty useful health info with a small bit more of exposure.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,515]

On 4/11/2018 at 7:48 PM, BNB said:

My mother just gave us all Ancestry tests for Easter.  It should be interesting.

My 98 year old grandmother had hers done a few years ago, as  my cousin has been working on genealogy.

My Aunt pulled me aside a couple of years ago and said she looked at it and my grandmother was some small percent bleck.  She didn't have the heart to tell her.

 

 

Shouldn’t only 1 person in the family need to take the test?   

[CooterBrown 18,014]

Shouldn’t only 1 person in the family need to take the test?   

Look here. The one guy that doesn’t know his mom regularly cheated on dad.

[Buzzrock 14,921]

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,515]

1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:

 

Look here. The one guy that doesn’t know his mom regularly cheated on dad.

 

In seriousness, these tests may point out info that doesn’t mean really need to be known.  I’ve read that when it comes to finding transplant matches, it’s not uncommon to find siblings who incorrectly believe they are full siblings.  

[77horn 216]

6 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Shouldn’t only 1 person in the family need to take the test?   

My shitty understanding is that 23 and me routinely does an AutoSomal test which should get all chromosomes, but females won't get any Ys and males one Xs.  While this may not make a difference for health, for ancestry, it might.

 

 

[Sandman 3,403]

On ‎4‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 8:54 PM, fattyflattie said:

I work with about 50 of them. 

They don't mince words, at all. 

They are tall af. 

Ive yet to find a good looking Dutch woman. 

If you aren't Dutch, you aren't much. 

And as they will tell you, on the 8th day, God created the Dutch. 

They are also tremendously smarter than Americans, legends in their own minds. 

"If you aren't Dutch, you aren't much" - Bas Rutten

[Walden Ponderer 12,639]

17 hours ago, KYHorn said:

You realize it's already online, right? I get not trying to share it with everyone, but they are provide pretty useful health info with a small bit more of exposure.

I laugh at privacy concerns these days. There's no longer such a thing as private data. If Big Brother actually cares one way or the other, then you're already done for. One online decision here or there ain't gonna make much difference.

[RDCanecutter 26,446]

2 hours ago, Walden Ponderer said:

I laugh at privacy concerns these days. There's no longer such a thing as private data. If Big Brother actually cares one way or the other, then you're already done for. One online decision here or there ain't gonna make much difference.

[thunderlounge 7,851]

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,515]

I’m not a conspiracy minded person but I don’t see the benefit outside of some minor entertainment to give your dna to these companies.  

[KYHorn 17,076]

10 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I’m not a conspiracy minded person but I don’t see the benefit outside of some minor entertainment to give your dna to these companies.  

I get where you're coming from, but I've gotten quite helpful medical information about my predispositions to various medical conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, macular degeneration, baldness, possible ineffective medications,etc) and interesting stats on positive health aspects of my DNA (whether I have a greater chance of living longer, personality traits including the infamous worrier/warrior gene, and the fact that I taste bitter more strongly than most people). It could be even more helpful if you happen to have even more serious genetic predispositions (alzheimers, early heart attack, etc). That's just promethease. Sure it's been entertaining and you do have to understand the context of the results you get (they aren't death sentences or certainties- just averages), but they can have practical and important consequences in your everyday life (I know I HAVE to be on top of my cholesterol, eat heart-healthy foods, and focus on cardio exercise). 

The ethnicity, genealogy aspect is a bit more under the minor entertainment side, though I have really enjoyed seeing exactly where each strand of my DNA came from (mom/dad, grandmother/grandfather) and having this info will be helpful for future generations, who will likely be able to do even more with it. Not saying everyone has to do these things, just that for me they have been more beneficial than just a little entertainment.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,515]

3 hours ago, KYHorn said:

I get where you're coming from, but I've gotten quite helpful medical information about my predispositions to various medical conditions (rheumatoid arthritis, heart disease, diabetes, macular degeneration, baldness, possible ineffective medications,etc) and interesting stats on positive health aspects of my DNA (whether I have a greater chance of living longer, personality traits including the infamous worrier/warrior gene, and the fact that I taste bitter more strongly than most people). It could be even more helpful if you happen to have even more serious genetic predispositions (alzheimers, early heart attack, etc). That's just promethease. Sure it's been entertaining and you do have to understand the context of the results you get (they aren't death sentences or certainties- just averages), but they can have practical and important consequences in your everyday life (I know I HAVE to be on top of my cholesterol, eat heart-healthy foods, and focus on cardio exercise). 

The ethnicity, genealogy aspect is a bit more under the minor entertainment side, though I have really enjoyed seeing exactly where each strand of my DNA came from (mom/dad, grandmother/grandfather) and having this info will be helpful for future generations, who will likely be able to do even more with it. Not saying everyone has to do these things, just that for me they have been more beneficial than just a little entertainment.

Good feedback. I was being a jackass with my comment but you raise some valid points. 

[KYHorn 17,076]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Good feedback. I was being a jackass with my comment but you raise some valid points. 

Username checks out

[Stella Link 534]

On 4/18/2018 at 8:21 AM, KYHorn said:

I recommend all of you who have gotten your DNA tests download the raw data. This is your raw DNA info base pair by base pair. You can then upload it to a number of really useful sites that can give you info beyond your ethnic makeup. GEDMatch and Promethease are 2 of my favorites. GEDMatch is free and allows you to find relatives and see the exact locations on each chromosome where you and your matches have the same DNA. This can be helpful if you're looking to trace exactly how you're related to various people, and if you have your family members' raw data, you can compare yourself with them and figure out exactly what traits you share with them (depending on if they are siblings, cousins, parents, grandparents, etc). With Promethease, you pay a very small one-time fee ($5 or $10- I can't remember) and upload your raw DNA and it will compare your DNA to a huge database of existing DNA research that will tell you what your genotypes are associated with, including health risks, rare traits, personality types, and other random findings (for example, I have a trait where I taste bitter strongly, which explains why I don't like coffee and other bitter things). 

What is a good website to initially get the DNA test...23andme.com as mentioned above?

[B00M 6,416]

I assumed OP discovered they were a little downsy

http://gifimage.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/im-retarded-gif-1.gif

 

[B00M 6,416]

5 minute edit window can eat a dick. 

[KYHorn 17,076]

3 hours ago, Stella Link said:

What is a good website to initially get the DNA test...23andme.com as mentioned above?

I found this article to be helpful when I was making my decision. http://www.legalgenealogist.com/2015/02/02/2015-most-bang-for-the-dna-buck/ 

It's a few years old but I think still pretty relevant. The section that influenced my decision the most was "If you want to fish in all the ponds for the lowest price ".  This, plus the fact that I have a pretty extensive tree on ancestry, made me decide to use it, though there are definitely some benefits to 23andme, particularly if you end up wanting to do more sophisticated (and expensive) DNA tests, and I believe they might include some medical info as well (not sure on this- there have been some legal issues in the USA about this). Ancestry has done some pretty cool improvements on the digital results they have, which use the locations of your ancestors on your tree, and areas around the world and specific areas within the USA where your DNA correlates with other AncestryDNA members to create customized "Ancestry Stories" for you. They have pretty extensive historical information about migration patterns and why your ancestors, might've migrated to a certain area from a certain area in that particular time in history. Ancestry also has their biggest sale of the year right now on AncestryDNA ($59 for 3 more days), so that's another benefit for using them now. 

[KYHorn 17,076]

It also just so happens that I received an email from Promethease today and they're allowing free reports for DNA day unit May 10th (they are usually $10). Here are the instructions:

To upload DNA data for free, follow the simple steps below:

1. Go to https://www.promethease.com
2. If it's your first time, you will see a disclaimer. Check all the checkboxes and click "I agree".
3. Click "Upload raw data" or "Import from 23andMe.com".
4. When prompted, click the "Create free report" button.
5. If you want to get free updates in the future, keep the storage option enabled. This will allow us to save your data and generate updated reports for you.
6. Pick a password for your account, then click "Begin Analysis".
7. Wait about 5 minutes to receive your first report.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3,868]

On 4/18/2018 at 9:21 AM, KYHorn said:

I recommend all of you who have gotten your DNA tests download the raw data. This is your raw DNA info base pair by base pair. You can then upload it to a number of really useful sites that can give you info beyond your ethnic makeup. GEDMatch and Promethease are 2 of my favorites. GEDMatch is free and allows you to find relatives and see the exact locations on each chromosome where you and your matches have the same DNA. This can be helpful if you're looking to trace exactly how you're related to various people, and if you have your family members' raw data, you can compare yourself with them and figure out exactly what traits you share with them (depending on if they are siblings, cousins, parents, grandparents, etc). With Promethease, you pay a very small one-time fee ($5 or $10- I can't remember) and upload your raw DNA and it will compare your DNA to a huge database of existing DNA research that will tell you what your genotypes are associated with, including health risks, rare traits, personality types, and other random findings (for example, I have a trait where I taste bitter strongly, which explains why I don't like coffee and other bitter things). 

Wonder which of these sites were what LEOs used to find the Golden State serial killer? They took his DNA and matched it to similar DNA on one of these sites.

Edited April 27, 2018 by ShaggyBevo RIP

[KYHorn 17,076]

14 minutes ago, ShaggyBevo RIP said:

Wonder which of these sites were what LEOs used to find the Golden State serial killer? They took his DNA and matched it to similar DNA on one of these sites.

I actually just saw that on the news. It was GEDMatch. You can choose how public you make your info, but I don't know if the investigators approached GEDMatch and asked for his actual info or if he was supremely dumb and put his name and email on there. I actually have my email on there but not my name for anyone who is a match. Obviously it's probably not a good idea to use this or any DNA site if you're worried your DNA results might implicate you in a crime.

[Stella Link 534]

As #KYHorn and #ShaggyBevoRIP were discussing, if you are a serial killer or rapist, or plan to be one in the future, you may want to think twice about using a DNA website.

https://www.khou.com/video/news/crime/are-you-a-dna-informant/285-8110261

 

 

 

Edited April 27, 2018 by Stella Link

[KYHorn 17,076]

18 hours ago, Stella Link said:

As #KYHorn and #ShaggyBevoRIP were discussing, if you are a serial killer or rapist, or plan to be one in the future, you may want to think twice about using a DNA website.

https://www.khou.com/video/news/crime/are-you-a-dna-informant/285-8110261

 

 

 

Just saw a more detailed description of what the investigators did. They only used publicly available info and did not contact GEDMatch. Instead, they found matches to their DNA who were distant cousins of the match and used the cousins' trees, and other genealogy resources, to figure out who the match was, then retrieved some of his DNA from his trash to confirm it was him. So, if you've done something wrong, make sure your distant cousins don't upload their DNA either.

[ShaggyBevo RIP 3,868]

On 4/27/2018 at 7:02 PM, Stella Link said:

As #KYHorn and #ShaggyBevoRIP were discussing, if you are a serial killer or rapist, or plan to be one in the future, you may want to think twice about using a DNA website.

https://www.khou.com/video/news/crime/are-you-a-dna-informant/285-8110261

 

 

 

It wasn't the rapist it was his relatives which narrowed down the pool of suspect. Then they looked at who was where when to narrow further and followed the suspect until they were able to collect 'discarded DNA' which was a complete match.

[relapse98 634]

Jumping onto this thread because I didn't want to start a new one.

 

I think I revealed on that other site that I was adopted and my wife purchased us some 23andme kits for Christmas last year. And it ended up finding my biological paternal Grandma. Since then, my half brother has done a test and my aunt had already done a test. Its pretty much confirmed that I've found my biological paternal family. I talk to her every now and then via facebook and sometimes via the phone. I really need to get up to see her as an 85 year old woman doesn't have long left on this earth and I'm sure it would make her more than happy to meet me and maybe her new great grandkids.

 

I Think I found a 1st cousin on my maternal side, I'm waiting on them to respond. I have her ancestry username and it only pulls up one page when googling. I did some very basic facebook searching but haven't found her on there yet.

My adoptive parents are coming down for a visit next weekend.. I think the wife and I decided that I would tell them about grams. Fun times!

[Guest]

On 4/17/2018 at 10:15 AM, Murfdogg21 said:

Which testing site gives you Neanderthal data?

This.

As an adoptee, I don't really give a fuck.  Life is about going forward.  You cannot change or react your life to your geneology...well, not reasonably so, IMHO.

In the end, just tell me I didn't come from Oklahoma...or Arkansas.

[relapse98 634]

1 hour ago, slorch said:

just tell me I didn't come from Oklahoma...or Arkansas.

Its ok if you came from there, its not okay if your parents were already kin.

[pacman 7,357]

Fuck yes, i love that scene from True Romance.

[Apep 645]

My half-sister used 23andme and found a potential half-brother with a 26% DNA match. To the best of my knowledge, I've never used 23andme. (I even asked my ex-wife if we did way back when.) Even though my mom raised my sister and me on stories of dad cheating and I have corroborating memories from my early childhood, Dad says this guy would have to date from his touring musician days in the early 1970s. My sister was conceived with IVF almost thirty years ago, so it's possible there was a mix-up. Now I kinda have to take 23andme to rule out some things, unless this other guy responds and clears up things.

[Jkwellborn 6,704]

The FBI thanks you.

[Apep 645]

My younger half-sister cleared up the mystery by getting in touch with our unknown half-brother. He was born in 1974 in Fort Worth and was adopted out-of-state via a closed adoption. A 17 year-old mother. My dad would have been 18 when he got her pregnant, though he has no idea who she is. This guy shares about as much of my father's looks as I do, though not so much as my younger half-brother. And that's about all I know. The weirdest part is that he and my older sister share the same name, though with different spelling. We'll see if he wants to get in touch with me once my 23andme results are processed.