Mildly surprised by Ancestry DNA results...

[disneychrista]

It has certainly caused huge issues in some families.

If a relative committed a crime and is caught because of a DNA test I did, how is that my problem?

 

[tvguy]

If a relative committed a crime and is caught because of a DNA test I did, how is that my problem?

Families in that situation have said it tore their family apart. That is how it would be your problem.

 

[disneychrista]

Families in that situation have said it tore their family apart. That is how it would be your problem.

Still not my problem. If you rape, murder, etc someone that’s YOUR problem.

I’ve told my kids that I’d you’re arrested don’t call me because I won’t be bailing you out.

 

[Welsh_Dragon]

I used 23&me and was contacted by a gentleman in his 80s who was adopted in 1939. He is the biological son of my Grandmother’s younger brother. The gentleman had been searching for years for his Father who was not named in his birth certificate. He just wanted a name, which he now has. Sadly his Father died in 1945.

 

[Melissa55]

Still not my problem. If you rape, murder, etc someone that’s YOUR problem.

I’ve told my kids that I’d you’re arrested don’t call me because I won’t be bailing you out.

I agree to a point. People can be arrested under pretty flimsy circumstances.

But certainly if a family member committed a crime and was caught via my DNA, I would be happy to write off any relative that got mad at me because of it.

 

[Moliphino]

When I first got my 23andMe results it showed some Native American ancestry, which I was 99.99% sure I didn't have. Sure enough, it went away when they updated it a few months later. Everything else is exactly as expected.

 

[Deb]

One of the difficulties for women is that you only get the maternal geneology because you don't have the dreaded Y chromosome.

Incorrect.

You are correct that women don't have a y chromosome. Bit incorrect that their tests only show their mother's side. Ydna testing is a specialized test. By far the most common dna tests out there are not even looking at the y chromosome. If you are female and test with Ancestry for instance you will get results on both parents lines.

 

[Colleen27]

I haven't gotten my results yet, but my daughter's were pretty much as expected. Irish and English on one side, Eastern European on the other. Tiny bits of other northern European groups. The breakdown between Irish and English was a bit of a surprise but there was so much intermingling and travel between the two places way back when that I suppose it really shouldn't have been - I'm sure my family is far from the only one who lived in Ireland and identified as Irish but had a lot of Anglo-Saxon blood.

So, I have to ask, none of you were concerned that submitting your DNA could expose a family member as a criminal? We have several major cases here where police linked DNA information from the testing sites to relatives of those who submitted the DNA who committed crimes and left DNA behind.

Not worried about it at all. But I have reason to know that other relatives are in criminal DNA databases so I doubt my sample would matter one way or the other anyway.

 

[disneychrista]

I agree to a point. People can be arrested under pretty flimsy circumstances.

True enough. But if the circumstances are flimsy they are going to get released without charges or OR'd at the arrangement. I'm not wasting money on bail.

 

[DisneyDebbie]

So, I have to ask, none of you were concerned that submitting your DNA could expose a family member as a criminal? We have several major cases here where police linked DNA information from the testing sites to relatives of those who submitted the DNA who committed crimes and left DNA behind.

I could be wrong, but I’m under the impression that the police have access to one DNA site that you have to upload your data to. It’s called Gedmatch Genesis.

The other sites - Ancestry, 23andme, MyHeritage, Familytreedna- do not allow access to their info.

I’m adopted so I was thrilled to get some insight into my heritage even if the ethnicity part is not an exact science yet. My biggest chunk is Jewish and I had no idea! Then I’m Italian, Greek, German, even a little Middle Eastern. What I don’t have is Polish and I was raised in a very Polish family, lol

 

[Chuck S]

I used 23&me and was contacted by a gentleman in his 80s who was adopted in 1939. He is the biological son of my Grandmother’s younger brother. The gentleman had been searching for years for his Father who was not named in his birth certificate. He just wanted a name, which he now has. Sadly his Father died in 1945.

Well, mine was sort of that way. I'd been searching for years for info on my older half-brother (my dad had a previous marriage) I met him once before my Dad died, but I was unable to go to my Dad's funeral as I had the chicken pox or measles or something. So I didn't get to see my half-brother there. The trail I was following ended in 1975, and I assumed he has died in an accident or in the service. The cousin that I found through the DNA test told me he died in 2002, in Nevada, in his 50s, but that he had changed his name in 1975...which is why my trail went cold. So I was sad I didn't get to know him, but happy to actually know what happened.

 

[Kennywood]

Can someone explain to me how geography affects DNA? I understand how DNA from China, Africa, and Europe would be different, as we're talking about different races. But how in the world does DNA differ between England and France, or Germany and Austria?

Racial differences I obviously understand. But how can DNA be identified by an arbitrary line on a map between neighboring countries? Is American DNA that much different than Canadian DNA?

 

[Turn the Page]

Can someone explain to me how geography affects DNA? I understand how DNA from China, Africa, and Europe would be different, as we're talking about different races. But how in the world does DNA differ between England and France, or Germany and Austria?

Racial differences I obviously understand. But how can DNA be identified by an arbitrary line on a map between neighboring countries? Is American DNA that much different than Canadian DNA?

It doesn’t. At least not with the scientific technology we have now. What people don’t tell you is you have to select the percentage of accuracy you want. To get results like the op had you have to opt for 50% accuracy or less. If you want a higher percentage of accuracy your results will have categories like European, Asian, etc.

From what I understand what they do is look at the markers for say eye color. If you have red hair the computer looks at what country has the most people with red hair and says you must be from that place. Problem being red hair occurs in more than one place and they are comparing to the modern genetic make up in those areas not historical genetic frequencies. That is why the make up changes every time the company updates its database. They don’t really know, you might as well throw darts at a map of the world and use that.

 

[Moliphino]

It doesn’t. At least not with the scientific technology we have now. What people don’t tell you is you have to select the percentage of accuracy you want. To get results like the op had you have to opt for 50% accuracy or less. If you want a higher percentage of accuracy your results will have categories like European, Asian, etc.

From what I understand what they do is look at the markers for say eye color. If you have red hair the computer looks at what country has the most people with red hair and says you must be from that place. Problem being red hair occurs in more than one place and they are comparing to the modern genetic make up in those areas not historical genetic frequencies. That is why the make up changes every time the company updates its database. They don’t really know, you might as well throw darts at a map of the world and use that.

Not on 23andMe you don't. They even provide maps showing the area of a country your ancestors were most likely from, which were very accurate based on what I know (county Kerry in Ireland, southern Poland, southern Germany).
Basically, when you've had a population living in the same area for a long period of time things get more and more inbred, so to speak, and less genetically diverse. So when they start looking at genetics they can pinpoint that these genes are most common in one area, those genes are most common in another area.

 

[Searc]

So, I have to ask, none of you were concerned that submitting your DNA could expose a family member as a criminal? We have several major cases here where police linked DNA information from the testing sites to relatives of those who submitted the DNA who committed crimes and left DNA behind.

Why would I be concerned about a criminal being caught for a crime they committed? It isn't my problem.

 

[Searc]

My results were as expected. I've never found anyone closer to me than 3rd-5th cousin, which aren't worth mentioning.

 

[tvguy]

Why would I be concerned about a criminal being caught for a crime they committed? It isn't my problem.

Well, I guess all families are different. I can say that in the two court cases here it has DEVASTATED the families. I think it would devastate my family.

 

[Melissa55]

Can someone explain to me how geography affects DNA? I understand how DNA from China, Africa, and Europe would be different, as we're talking about different races. But how in the world does DNA differ between England and France, or Germany and Austria?

Racial differences I obviously understand. But how can DNA be identified by an arbitrary line on a map between neighboring countries? Is American DNA that much different than Canadian DNA?

Geography does not affect DNA. Geography helps explain DNA’s origin. If you have certain genetic markers they can say “the people with this combination of genes came from here.” The red hair thing above is oversimplified. There are several different ways to arrive at red hair, genetically. There is not one single gene for hair color or eye color (sorry 7th grade science teachers). The combination of patterns is how they assess your genetic background. They were accurate down to the county level of where my great-grandmother was from in Ireland, and that’s not information that I put into my family tree anywhere (so they’re not just aggregating my own data which has been a statement I’ve seen made in the past in other places). And “race” isn’t really much more genetically significant than hair or eye color honestly. It’s more of a social difference than a genetic one. People love to be able to categorize each other into “same” and “other.”

Well, I guess all families are different. I can say that in the two court cases here it has DEVASTATED the families. I think it would devastate my family.

If my family member committed a crime, I would be more concerned with how devastated the victim’s family would be not knowing the perpetrator.

 

[Turn the Page]

Not on 23andMe you don't. They even provide maps showing the area of a country your ancestors were most likely from, which were very accurate based on what I know (county Kerry in Ireland, southern Poland, southern Germany).
Basically, when you've had a population living in the same area for a long period of time things get more and more inbred, so to speak, and less genetically diverse. So when they start looking at genetics they can pinpoint that these genes are most common in one area, those genes are most common in another area.

It's really not that simple. There are very, VERY few groups who have distinctive genetic markers. For the life of me I cannot figure out how to paste links on DH's tablet but there was an article in Scientific American in October 2018 by Adam Rutherford and another in Popular Science in December 2019 by Jack Herrera that talks more about these issues.

 

[bcla]

We each get half our DNA from our father and half from our mother -- but the DNA we get is random. In other words, you got different DNA from the same parents than your brother did. That's why siblings, even twins, look different.I believe that is caused by the databases the company is comparing against. As the databases grow, the results theoretically get more accurate, and will change over time.

There’s really only a tiny, tiny portion of anyones’s DNA that is different than even a complete stranger. But of course those tiny difference are enough to make people unique.

Much of these results come from guesswork at one point or another.