Posted on 01/05/2019 5:26:20 PM PST by bboop
Gathering info here on DNA tests. Good ones/ those to avoid? Feedback? thanks. I've been doing genealogy for some time; cousin got the test and I am curious.
I had my big beautiful. Russian wolfhound tested and the laboratory said he’s a Mexican chiwahwah. I keep teyibg yo feed him some delicious burritos but he’s still refusing to eat them. Right now, he’s pouting behind the sofa
But first, you might want to go to ancestry dot com or gen web dot com who started the whole thing and see if any of your direct line relatives are on file in their database with setting set to public. You may have cousins you don't know about that are genealogists. They have ‘free’ days a couple times a year so you don't have to register. You may find out all you need to know without spending more money for a test.
Why not just send a cotton swab to CODIS?
The info I found in genealogical research was much more interesting to me than anything that could come out of a DNA test.
I had relatives that did the test and I thought of it as kind of cute, but sort of a dead end in that what information do you really have?
I went to the website of the test they used (I forget which one) and they had a white paper describing how their test works and how results are analyzed.
You should look for similar info for any tests you consider. For the one I saw they admitted that even though they gave results by country, that that info was not particularly reliable, but what was reliable was a more regional description, e.g., they could pin down northern vs southern europe pretty well, but to name a county was moving in the direction of dicey territory.
That makes sense as there is no such thing as a genetic marker for a particular country.
Also, they indicate that results with lower percentages (e.g., you’re 2% martian) are much more likely to actually be a false positive.
How it ultimately shakes out for me is this - with a DNA test, I could have a 15 second conversation at tops. I can say “Yeah, the test said this and that..”
But with my research, I can go on for hours about my relatives, even though I never met them.
Much more satisfying to me.
Finally - money - almost all of my overseas migrating relatives came in through NYC which is pretty johnny on the spot with providing records. $15 gets you a death certificate etc.. So when I see $60 for a DNA test, I think “That’s 4 death certs” from which I get much more interesting info and new leads for research or, even better, confirmation that I’ve got the right family.
“In a SHTF scenario, they will hunt you down with it. Just sayn’.”
Lol...too true. Ancestry.com==NSA.com
They will sellyour dna profiles. I would not do this for personal privacy reasons plus dna dayabase matching does produce false positives.
38 minutes and 26 replies later, you have not responded to anyone for your own vanity.
Ancestry is a good one in that it has a huge user base. The biggest benefit of DNA testing is to find matches with distant cousins, network and share info.
I also used MyHeritage in order to get a 2nd test and compare. But I would start with Ancestry.
gedmatch is also a good site for analysis of your DNA and sort your distant cousin matches and identify those who you are closest to.
Good stuff. I just would not get too sidetracked by the so-called ethnicity analysis of these DNA sites as I don’t find them that accurate.
You couldn’t pay me to get one of those tests. With network security as bad as it is these days, I’d just assume that my genetic code would be in the public domain.
Did your ancestry.com result actually use the term Spanish? My result had some Spanish, but it was termed "Iberian Peninsula".
“You ARE the father.”
You are all wrong!
One day you will disappear. No one will know - except your clone.
lolol...and we see from your DNA that you have too much ‘white privilege’, comrade
>>One day you will disappear. No one will know - except your clone.<
Good grief man. You’re posting this and you don’t think they know exactly who you are and where you live? You’ve just left a digital fingerprint and I suspect you post quite often your disdain.
Wake up bro. I will see you in the camp. hahahaha
Islam is a war plan.
Thank you all for the interesting feedback. I’ve read it all, but may not comment on each and every one. Nice to find some genealogists among us, too.
I suspect, too, that different tests might report differently, and how odd that would be. Had a friend who got 96% Askenazy Jew (which he knew about) and 4% Neanderthal, which is a hoot.
I think I’ll stick with research at this point, too. I have vats of papers I need to write up and then get rid of bc nobody else will be able to read them anyway.
I use FTDNA.
Don’t believe they can tell you where you are from. Y chromosomes have a way of getting around (Any port in a storm).
That is probably the biggest concern of all, huh?
That's OK. I'll be hunting with slightly heavier projectiles than chromosomes. :)
It originally used the term “Iberian Peninsula” back when it still called me things it now says I am not. Now it says “Spain”, listed as an ethnicity.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.