DNA testing - which one is best? (1 Viewer)

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

I’m ready. Having never even seen so much as a picture of my father, its always been a request by my wife and kids. I guess I owe it to them as much as to myself. I’m also concerned I’ll get a knock at the door from the feds.  “I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me.” 
 

Any suggestions? TIA.

 

[El Floppo]

My MIL gave me a 23&me lot for Christmas. Can't tell you if it's better/worse than others, and it didn't tell me anything I didn't already know about my background.

What it did do was tell me I had a cousin I didn't know existed...a woman my mom's generation who is either her first cousin or a half sister, depending on which guy from my mom's dad's side was the father (the cousin doesn't know who the dad is). That's been a pretty cool surprise and ongoing mystery in need of solving.

 

[dkp993]

I’m ready. Having never even seen so much as a picture of my father, its always been a request by my wife and kids. I guess I owe it to them as much as to myself. I’m also concerned I’ll get a knock at the door from the feds.  “I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me.” 
 

Any suggestions? TIA.

Think it all depends on what you’re looking for.  If you’re wanting it for your health profile perspective (ie what cancers you maybe be more prone to etc), from my understanding 23 and me is better. If you’re looking more for family history/ancestry etc ancestry.com is better.  I did ancestry.com a few years ago and it was pretty interesting, shows you where are your blood lines extend in the country, where they came from, when they got here, etc etc....  For me I’ll likely do the 23&me one soon as I’d like to understand my possible predispositions.  

 

[QuizGuy66]

https://mauryshow.com/be-a-guest/

-QG

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

https://mauryshow.com/be-a-guest/

-QG

That was a pretty rude answer dude. Funny, but youre punching down. 

-SM

 

[STEADYMOBBIN 22]

Think it all depends on what you’re looking for.  If you’re wanting it for your health profile perspective (ie what cancers you maybe be more prone to etc), from my understanding 23 and me is better. If you’re looking more for family history/ancestry etc ancestry.com is better.  I did ancestry.com a few years ago and it was pretty interesting, shows you where are your blood lines extend in the country, where they came from, when they got here, etc etc....  For me I’ll likely do the 23&me one soon as I’d like to understand my possible predispositions.  

Kinda both I guess. Im not looking to find family, more just interested in where Im from on my "fathers" side.  Knowing health risks also sounds like a good idea. 

 

[El Floppo]

Kinda both I guess. Im not looking to find family, more just interested in where Im from on my "fathers" side.  Knowing health risks also sounds like a good idea. 

I think both are good at that.

What I remember is that Ancestry has more direct link options to outside paperwork/research, and maybe more members with whom to compare. The former is a monthly fee though...and not cheap, iirc (>$20/month, which seems steep for something I'd probably use only a couple times...but might be worth it for you to do more digging in your dad's side).

But 23&me told me where my family is from and like I said, listed relatives (by percentage related and perceived relationship). It's been accurate about identifying my two first cousins who joined, and linked this mystery cousin to both of them...which helped my figure out she wasn't related on my dad's side.

 

[eoMMan]

Do any of them guarantee that your dna/genes won't be released to any third party no matter what (like if law enforcement tries to do that familial dna stuff)?

 

[QuizGuy66]

That was a pretty rude answer dude. Funny, but youre punching down. 

-SM

my aplogies man :(

bad form by me - I'll delete if you want or leave it and take the L for myself - your choice

 

[Penguin]

Do any of them guarantee that your dna/genes won't be released to any third party no matter what (like if law enforcement tries to do that familial dna stuff)?

nope

23 and me is how they caught the Golden State serial killer. One of his grand kids? or something like that was on there and his DNA was very close to a match that they had on file for the unsub.

 

[Sea Duck]

Do any of them guarantee that your dna/genes won't be released to any third party no matter what (like if law enforcement tries to do that familial dna stuff)?

nope

23 and me is how they caught the Golden State serial killer. One of his grand kids? or something like that was on there and his DNA was very close to a match that they had on file for the unsub.

The Golden State Killer was caught through GEDMatch, FamilyTreeDNA, and MyHeritage. The initial searches (at GEDMatch and FamilyTreeDNA) produced numerous 3rd cousins -- which could have eventually led them to the suspect, but would have taken a lot more work. The MyHeritage search produced six 2nd cousins who were male, only one of which had blue eyes like the GSK did.

 

[QuizGuy66]

On the serious question of the subject - I'm a bit leery of this stuff - especially some of the ethical concerns with things like the potential down the road for insurance companies to use it as a reason to exclude people from health or life insurance coverage or at the least charging much heftier premiums as a result.  This is balanced of course against the need for people to have awareness of their own potential health flags if they don't have any knowledge of their background at all.  The big ones that advertise I have as much faith in as your facebook or other social media sites...basically hardly any faith at all.

In terms of quality - I'm not sure the best way to go about that - if these companies have proprietary methods it may be difficult to get a real apples-to-applies comparison.  I'm more dubious of the "where you long past ancestors are from" and how you're x% from this country or that country/area/continent - given the long view of history and the changes and migrations of populations.

Good luck

-QG

 

[Tecumseh]

I did both 23andme and Ancestry. As noted above, 23 presents itself as being more health-centric. Ancestry is more heritage based. For example, Ancestry linked me to a group of settlers from Europe who settled in Northern Alabama in the early 1800's. 23 doesn't have that kind of specificity. On the other hand, it looks like Ancestry doesn't even offer their Health add-on anymore. Between the 2, you'll get a good idea of your heritage, but if health risks are of interest, go with 23 and Me.

PS- I didn't know anything about my father either. Long story, but I spent my first 20+ years or so thinking I was Irish. The next 20+ thinking I was Italian. Surprise- I'm a Russian Jew!

 

[Sea Duck]

On the serious question of the subject - I'm a bit leery of this stuff - especially some of the ethical concerns with things like the potential down the road for insurance companies to use it as a reason to exclude people from health or life insurance coverage or at the least charging much heftier premiums as a result.

I'm not sure if this can be avoided. Seems like insurance companies already have the tools to know my health history without a DNA test -- they can use public records to figure out my ancestry, then use the DNA testing companies to match that ancestry to profiles which are already on file.