DNA testing

[mistymoney]

Have you done it? Company recommendations?

Anyone do more than 1?

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-dna-test/
recommendations at this link include
ancenstrydna
23andme
familytreeDNA

Any worries about a cousin being revealed as a serial killer?? or even closer relative??

[uniwelder]

posting to follow.  I've been curious about privacy regarding these tests, however, if the police use the results to track down my serial killer cousin, I'm all for it.

[kanga1622]

I did genetic testing to look for a specific group of mutations but that is as much as I plan to do. I have no desire to find some long lost relative or if there is 3% French ancestry.

[Sibley]

What's your goal? Health insight? Genealogy? For the fun of it? Because depending on your goal, that may help narrow down companies. Also keep in mind that you run the risk of exposing long buried family secrets.

I did the breast cancer genetic testing, so that was very specific (negative results). My mom did one for genealogy purposes, I think she did familytreeDNA but am not positive. It wasn't all that helpful for her but she thought it was fun.

[mistymoney]

What's your goal? Health insight? Genealogy? For the fun of it? Because depending on your goal, that may help narrow down companies. Also keep in mind that you run the risk of exposing long buried family secrets.

I did the breast cancer genetic testing, so that was very specific (negative results). My mom did one for genealogy purposes, I think she did familytreeDNA but am not positive. It wasn't all that helpful for her but she thought it was fun.

genealogy and fun. No worries about family secrets, wouldn't care a bit about anything. related to a serial killer/rapist would be the worst. Not my mom or dad's kid? parents my grandparents? secret half siblings? surprise nationalities/races? no issues for me.

the link mentioned that familytreeDNA was useful mostly with add on, not sure what those are or what the costs.

[maizefolk]

Agreed with others that it depends what you're hoping to get out of the DNA testing.

23andme is the one I'm most familiar with. The health tests are... underwhelming. Keep in mind that the way GWAS works in humans the vast majority of genetics markers we know about have two outcomes: "no news" and "bad news" (it's very rare for there to be a "good news" option). The vast majority of your health test outcomes with be "no news".

The ancestry stuff is fun if you're into that. It'll probably be the most detailed if a significant chunk of your ancestry is from Europe, although the results for ancestors coming from South Asia are a lot better than they used to be. Sometimes you do find out about family secrets (whose this half sibling showing up in my test results?) although I didn't.

Probably the biggest thing I remember from getting 23andme DNA testing personally is that I'm above the 98th percentile for Neanderthal ancestry. Essentially* a caveperson, which will surprise no one who knows me well one bit, but is fun to be able to say.

*This is a joke and false on multiple levels: 98th percentile is still single digit proportions of neanderthal ancestry and neanderthals were clearly a lot different than pop culture depictions of cavemen would suggest.

[mistymoney]

I did genetic testing to look for a specific group of mutations but that is as much as I plan to do. I have no desire to find some long lost relative or if there is 3% French ancestry.

Supposedly my national origins is very limited. Would be interested to see if that is the truth or not!!

I have suspicions!

[joe189man]

i have done 23 and me, who partners with My Heritage for ancestry. i traced some family lines back to ~1000 ad
i took my 23 and me data and ran ran it through a found my fitness tool - did this a few years ago mostly concerned with the APoE
i also took the data and ran it through Inside tracker

its fun, some of the health stuff is cool and actionable , i would do it again

[mistymoney]

Agreed with others that it depends what you're hoping to get out of the DNA testing.

23andme is the one I'm most familiar with. The health tests are... underwhelming. Keep in mind that the way GWAS works in humans the vast majority of genetics markers we know about have two outcomes: "no news" and "bad news" (it's very rare for there to be a "good news" option). The vast majority of your health test outcomes with be "no news".

The ancestry stuff is fun if you're into that. It'll probably be the most detailed if a significant chunk of your ancestry is from Europe, although the results for ancestors coming from South Asia are a lot better than they used to be. Sometimes you do find out about family secrets (whose this half sibling showing up in my test results?) although I didn't.

Probably the biggest thing I remember from getting 23andme DNA testing personally is that I'm above the 98th percentile for Neanderthal ancestry. Essentially* a caveperson, which will surprise no one who knows me well one bit, but is fun to be able to say.

*This is a joke and false on multiple levels: 98th percentile is still single digit proportions of neanderthal ancestry and neanderthals were clearly a lot different than pop culture depictions of cavemen would suggest.

Allegedly, 100% European, so interesting they have more info on that. Just the number of people being tested there? More standardization samples? Wonder how doing DNA for archeological cases is influencing things as they develop their stuff.

I expect no surprises mainly because I would love to find surprises, lol! Unlike most people I'd be delighted to find secret half siblings, hidden racial ancestry, switched at birth, etc. Unfortunately - so old it all wouldn't matter at this point. Due to fears of a dystopian future, I had elected to forego the testing in case the info would be used against a decedend in the near or far future. Thought I would keep our genes "out of the system". But now- it is likely at some point that DNA will be tested at birth and entered into the medical record routinely, so my fastidiousness would be wasted.

There are some suspicions, which I'd like to verify or dismiss.

[ChickenStash]

A short time ago a relative went through 23&me looking for genetic disease markers and wound up locating a family member that was put up for adoption a long time ago. Everyone is happily freaking out trying to arrange get-togethers now. So there can be positive surprises, or interpreted as positive, anyway.

[Dicey]

i did 23andme and it didn't turn up anything interesting. Due to a very recent breast cancer diagnosis, I am awaiting the results of more genetics testing. Hopefully that will be boring, too.

[mistymoney]

Agreed with others that it depends what you're hoping to get out of the DNA testing.

23andme is the one I'm most familiar with. The health tests are... underwhelming. Keep in mind that the way GWAS works in humans the vast majority of genetics markers we know about have two outcomes: "no news" and "bad news" (it's very rare for there to be a "good news" option). The vast majority of your health test outcomes with be "no news".

The ancestry stuff is fun if you're into that. It'll probably be the most detailed if a significant chunk of your ancestry is from Europe, although the results for ancestors coming from South Asia are a lot better than they used to be. Sometimes you do find out about family secrets (whose this half sibling showing up in my test results?) although I didn't.

Probably the biggest thing I remember from getting 23andme DNA testing personally is that I'm above the 98th percentile for Neanderthal ancestry. Essentially* a caveperson, which will surprise no one who knows me well one bit, but is fun to be able to say.

*This is a joke and false on multiple levels: 98th percentile is still single digit proportions of neanderthal ancestry and neanderthals were clearly a lot different than pop culture depictions of cavemen would suggest.

I think the discovery of neanderthal DNA in us is facinating. My only question/concern is: was is consensual? Evidence indicates it was female neanderthals contributing to the genes in modern humans. So I have concerns!

[GuitarStv]

Always seemed kinda like a waste of time and money to me.  I don't really care where my genes came from, it has zero impact on my life.

[maisymouser]

I used 23andme about 7 years ago and was thrilled with what I got out of it. I still peek at my DNA from time to time.

I recommend that if you do it, especially for any sort of interest in your genetics with regards to health purposes, research the "chips" that are in use for your testing (they have changed over time for different companies, so you get more/less raw data depending on the chip).

Speaking of raw data, go ahead and collect that from the company (comes with the report usually). Put it into a free SNP literature retrieval site like Promethease (https://www.promethease.com/). You'll get a helluva lot more information than from a commercial company like 23andme because 23andme and other DNA sequencing companies are restricted about what they can/cannot tell you as they cannot provide medical advice and have no major impetus to toe that line. Promethease, on the other hand, can take your raw data and give you not only stats-based probabilities of certain medical outcomes, but point you at the literature those stats came from.

All in all, DNA sequencing can be a powerful tool- or at the very least, a super fun way to spend an afternoon or two.

[maizefolk]

Allegedly, 100% European, so interesting they have more info on that. Just the number of people being tested there? More standardization samples? Wonder how doing DNA for archeological cases is influencing things as they develop their stuff.

There may be a little bit of paleoDNA in the model but the vast majority of ancestral chromosome haplotype assignment comes from sequencing people in a given country/region who say that all four of their grandparents grew up in the same place. It's not perfect but with reasonably large sample sizes you can build a pretty good model of what the specific haplotypes present in different parts of the pre-industrial world were.

European ancestry assignment tends to be better/finer resolution just because there have been a lot more genotyping and resequencing studies conducted in those countries (the product of affluent societies with well funded academic and medical research establishments) that let people build better models.

Ancestry assignments should get better over time, although as people move around more and generations progress it'll be harder to reconstruct the pre-industrial patterns. Many people knew their grandparents and where their grandparents were from. The number of people who know the same info about their great grandparents is significantly smaller.

I think the discovery of neanderthal DNA in us is facinating. My only question/concern is: was is consensual? Evidence indicates it was female neanderthals contributing to the genes in modern humans. So I have concerns!

I think that tends to be the pattern with most migrations of human populations. See a similar thing with agriculture's diffusion across europe where a bunch of new y-chromosomes (inherited through male line) show up alongside agriculture, while the patterns of mitochondrial dna (inherited through female line) look more similar pre and post agriculture.

Are some of this the result of non-consensual acts? Statistically almost certainly a few. But also seems reasonable to imagine vast majority is the result of young men being more likely than young women to be pushed out of their groups and have to head out beyond the next set of hills to make a life for themselves and young humans (regardless of subspecies) doing what comes naturally.

[mistymoney]

I used 23andme about 7 years ago and was thrilled with what I got out of it. I still peek at my DNA from time to time.

I recommend that if you do it, especially for any sort of interest in your genetics with regards to health purposes, research the "chips" that are in use for your testing (they have changed over time for different companies, so you get more/less raw data depending on the chip).

Speaking of raw data, go ahead and collect that from the company (comes with the report usually). Put it into a free SNP literature retrieval site like Promethease (https://www.promethease.com/). You'll get a helluva lot more information than from a commercial company like 23andme because 23andme and other DNA sequencing companies are restricted about what they can/cannot tell you as they cannot provide medical advice and have no major impetus to toe that line. Promethease, on the other hand, can take your raw data and give you not only stats-based probabilities of certain medical outcomes, but point you at the literature those stats came from.

All in all, DNA sequencing can be a powerful tool- or at the very least, a super fun way to spend an afternoon or two.

Oooo! thanks for this info!

[geekette]

I did 23 and me a couple years ago because I was interested and it was half price (still $100, IIRC).  Mostly completely expected stuff (European), except the .3% Vietnamese.  That puts it back about the time the French occupied Vietnam, I think.

Mostly the reports are "variant not detected" with the occasional "variant detected, not likely at increased risk".  Some of the other traits were interesting, like "likely to be able to match a musical pitch", "less likely to be a deep sleeper", and "predisposed to weigh more than average" - all true.  But likely to wake up at 7:07 is both oddly specific and quite wrong.

[Michael in ABQ]

My parents used livingdna.com They claim to have a lot more detail for people from the British Isles and I was able to trace back almost every ancestor in the 1800s to England or Ireland. I recall my dad had a small amount of Norse DNA - so some ancient ancestor was probably a Viking.

Other than that, it was pretty much all English and Irish as we expected. I figured there's no reason for me to do it for ancestry purposes since I had both their results.

[Zikoris]

I did 23 and me a few years ago and found it pretty interesting. I was mostly interested in ancestry + a bit of health stuff. I was curious to see if I'd get any results from Russia because for my entire life I've been told I look obviously Russian by anyone guessing my background, but nope! Loosely half German half British with some odds and ends from other parts of Europe.

[Gremlin]

I'm very wary of these 'social' DNA companies.

It's only a matter of time before one of these businesses is subject to a data hack.  If your telco gets hacked or your bank gets hacked, it's a pain but you can ultimately get your accounts and your personal ID restored.  It can be time consuming a costly to replace, but it can be done. 

If your DNA sequence is hacked, then nope.  There's no replacing your DNA with a completely new set.  It's a massive problem for you (bearing in mind that these companies have the ability to identify a lot more than just what they send back to you), but it's also a serious, serious data issue for your parents, grandparents, kids and grandkids.  Their data and privacy and potential to be extorted is also compromised regardless of the choices they make for themselves.

[maisymouser]

I'm very wary of these 'social' DNA companies.

It's only a matter of time before one of these businesses is subject to a data hack.  If your telco gets hacked or your bank gets hacked, it's a pain but you can ultimately get your accounts and your personal ID restored.  It can be time consuming a costly to replace, but it can be done. 

If your DNA sequence is hacked, then nope.  There's no replacing your DNA with a completely new set.  It's a massive problem for you (bearing in mind that these companies have the ability to identify a lot more than just what they send back to you), but it's also a serious, serious data issue for your parents, grandparents, kids and grandkids.  Their data and privacy and potential to be extorted is also compromised regardless of the choices they make for themselves.

But you don't have to connect your personal information to get your DNA results, as far as I know. You don't even have to give them a real name. Does this oliviate those concerns?

[iris lily]

I did 23 and Me for genealogical reasons.

Our immigrant ancestor on my father’s side, the one with the name I care about, came over aroud 1870’s, not all that long ago. Yet, we can find NOTHING about him prior to his stint in the United
States. My aunts and cousins have been searching for decades. Wtf gramps!

So we have all joined the various DNA sites but the mystery has not been revealed. For one brief moment it looked like I MIGHT have a half brother, but that turned out to be a half cousin. My philandering uncle slipped up.

That really was the only interesting thing to appear, the rest of it is all 4th cousins and further, and since few of them give any location info about themselves or their family surnames, I do not know if they are on my mother’s side or my father’s side and do not really care. 

As a lark it was fine but no info of importance was revealed. DH did the same, and has had nothing of interest.

We only want the immigrant ancestor. He is forever elusive.

[iris lily]

I'm very wary of these 'social' DNA companies.

It's only a matter of time before one of these businesses is subject to a data hack.  If your telco gets hacked or your bank gets hacked, it's a pain but you can ultimately get your accounts and your personal ID restored.  It can be time consuming a costly to replace, but it can be done. 

If your DNA sequence is hacked, then nope.  There's no replacing your DNA with a completely new set.  It's a massive problem for you (bearing in mind that these companies have the ability to identify a lot more than just what they send back to you), but it's also a serious, serious data issue for your parents, grandparents, kids and grandkids.  Their data and privacy and potential to be extorted is also compromised regardless of the choices they make for themselves.

But you don't have to connect your personal information to get your DNA results, as far as I know. You don't even have to give them a real name. Does this oliviate those concerns?

You tie all results to an email so sure, any random gmail account would do. I am not sure how you can pay entirely anonymously, tho.

[Gremlin]

I'm very wary of these 'social' DNA companies.

It's only a matter of time before one of these businesses is subject to a data hack.  If your telco gets hacked or your bank gets hacked, it's a pain but you can ultimately get your accounts and your personal ID restored.  It can be time consuming a costly to replace, but it can be done. 

If your DNA sequence is hacked, then nope.  There's no replacing your DNA with a completely new set.  It's a massive problem for you (bearing in mind that these companies have the ability to identify a lot more than just what they send back to you), but it's also a serious, serious data issue for your parents, grandparents, kids and grandkids.  Their data and privacy and potential to be extorted is also compromised regardless of the choices they make for themselves.

But you don't have to connect your personal information to get your DNA results, as far as I know. You don't even have to give them a real name. Does this oliviate those concerns?

Not in the slightest.  If the company has a way of linking the results back to you, then so do the extorters.  It might be an email address or an IP address or payment method.  And the secondary source may not even come from the same hack.  (If your telco gets hacked AND your DNA results get hacked and the hacker finds a common IP address, but you've used your real name and address in registering with your telco then...)

So no.

[Ron Scott]

I don’t put a lot of faith in the ancestral results of these products but I do it so my daughter and her children will have access to my DNA info which may be helpful to them in the future for health purposes.

[monarda]

I signed up for "All of Us" https://allofus.nih.gov/ and got most of the info that I think I would have gotten from these  other companies at no cost. Not sure what else they plan to tell me over time.

[RetireOrDieTrying]

FINALLY a topic on this forum about which I have proficiency.

Which test you take depends upon your objective(s). Be advised that the "health traits" advertised are a work in progress. The same can be said for ethnicity estimates. It's still early days, and the estimates change regularly.

If you're into genealogy, then it depends upon where you are. If you're in Europe, then MyHeritage is the most-used one there. If America, then BY MILES Ancestry has the largest database for genealogical matches.

I'm going to gently try and reverse the question on a family serial killer. I *especially* want those found and rooted out. To that end, I have downloaded my raw data from Ancestry, uploaded to GEDmatch, and opted in for police matching, so that any John/Jane Does match, and killers as well. If I can help give a nameless murdered woman her identity back, or help find a murderer, then I will be pleased as punch. I'm not covering anyone's ass for something like that.

I do have one caveat - unexpected parentage is staggeringly common. You possibly have no idea. It's referred to as an "NPE" meaning "Non-Parental Event" or, colloquiallly, "Not the Parent Expected." Your sainted momma is human, too. There are a number of private support groups for these circumstances, and there are people who are absolutely wizardly at working the DNA findings to identify biological parents and relatives. They are called Search Angels and they work for free. I have done this myself, and it's very rewarding to e.g. give an adoptee the knowledge of their tribe.

With any luck, the previous paragraph will be irrelevant to you, but you should know of the resources available if it is.

I'll stop now. I can talk DNA all day long, and get you hopelessly confused. LOL

If you go with Ancestry, their kit is usually on sale on Amazon for about $59 with free shipping. If it isn't, and you can wait, then just watch it for the frequent sale price.

[mistymoney]

FINALLY a topic on this forum about which I have proficiency.

Which test you take depends upon your objective(s). Be advised that the "health traits" advertised are a work in progress. The same can be said for ethnicity estimates. It's still early days, and the estimates change regularly.

If you're into genealogy, then it depends upon where you are. If you're in Europe, then MyHeritage is the most-used one there. If America, then BY MILES Ancestry has the largest database for genealogical matches.

I'm going to gently try and reverse the question on a family serial killer. I *especially* want those found and rooted out. To that end, I have downloaded my raw data from Ancestry, uploaded to GEDmatch, and opted in for police matching, so that any John/Jane Does match, and killers as well. If I can help give a nameless murdered woman her identity back, or help find a murderer, then I will be pleased as punch. I'm not covering anyone's ass for something like that.

I do have one caveat - unexpected parentage is staggeringly common. You possibly have no idea. It's referred to as an "NPE" meaning "Non-Parental Event" or, colloquiallly, "Not the Parent Expected." Your sainted momma is human, too. There are a number of private support groups for these circumstances, and there are people who are absolutely wizardly at working the DNA findings to identify biological parents and relatives. They are called Search Angels and they work for free. I have done this myself, and it's very rewarding to e.g. give an adoptee the knowledge of their tribe.

With any luck, the previous paragraph will be irrelevant to you, but you should know of the resources available if it is.

I'll stop now. I can talk DNA all day long, and get you hopelessly confused. LOL

If you go with Ancestry, their kit is usually on sale on Amazon for about $59 with free shipping. If it isn't, and you can wait, then just watch it for the frequent sale price.

lol, keep talking! I'm interested!!

The only *surprise* parentage thing that would upset me is if I found out my father was proven as someone's rapist that resulted in a child. But garden variety infidelty? yawn. My father not my father? yawn. I can't imagine caring about such things. I see reddit posts about people saying a parent was caught cheating and then divorced and the now adult child cutting the parent out of their lives for that. forever. Like? Seriously? ok children may get upset, that is natural, but grown adults refuse to talk to a parent because they cheated on their other parent 20 years ago and no other reason? Get over yourself!

If I found out one of my children was switched at birth, that would upset me! But then that means a child of mine is out there that I need to try to connect with if they want to. I would not lose the children I have, although they may gain additional parents! So - upsetting on what was missed, but with a lot to gain.

Frankly - these scenarios are all sooo unlikely in my situation. I can see both of my parents etched in my face, I see myself and their father in my children's faces. Most of these switched at birth stories have all the.....oh they looked different from the other family but we thought is was......some ancestor from a slightly different part of the world than the rest - a grand or great grand parent.

So while I would be surprised if any of these scenarios were revealed in my DNA, what purpose is served by not finding out? Seems silly to avoid a DNA test on fears that you learn something that is truth.

[RetireOrDieTrying]

The only *surprise* parentage thing that would upset me is if I found out my father was proven as someone's rapist that resulted in a child. But garden variety infidelty? yawn. My father not my father? yawn. I can't imagine caring about such things. I see reddit posts about people saying a parent was caught cheating and then divorced and the now adult child cutting the parent out of their lives for that. forever. Like? Seriously? ok children may get upset, that is natural, but grown adults refuse to talk to a parent because they cheated on their other parent 20 years ago and no other reason? Get over yourself!

If I found out one of my children was switched at birth, that would upset me! But then that means a child of mine is out there that I need to try to connect with if they want to. I would not lose the children I have, although they may gain additional parents! So - upsetting on what was missed, but with a lot to gain.

Frankly - these scenarios are all sooo unlikely in my situation. I can see both of my parents etched in my face, I see myself and their father in my children's faces. Most of these switched at birth stories have all the.....oh they looked different from the other family but we thought is was......some ancestor from a slightly different part of the world than the rest - a grand or great grand parent.

So while I would be surprised if any of these scenarios were revealed in my DNA, what purpose is served by not finding out? Seems silly to avoid a DNA test on fears that you learn something that is truth.

This is a healthy attitude that many do not share. The ostrich impulse is strong in lots of folks, as is the shame reaction.

Any time I find an unexpected surprise new familiy member I'm always elated, but that ain't a universally-shared sentiment.

What's important to consider for anyone reading this is that people with an unexpected parent, or adoptees, are incredibly terrified of the reception. Children of NPE have just had their ever-livin' world rocked. Many societies treat such things as dirty little secrets, and that cuts deep when you're the secret. Kindness goes a long, LONG way when dealing with situations like that. When I find them (and I do) I'm always excited, and make sure they know it. Two thoughtful things are unfailingly appreciated - they wanna know what kind of person their parent was, and to see pictures of them. I offer those things right up front as a token of welcome. I tell stories about the parent which hints at their nature, sense of humor, and so on, and send a selection of photos.

One important thing I didn't mention in my earlier tome is that family health history is vitally important when considering prophylactic testing for certain things. Ignorance is never bliss when it comes to healthcare. If your biology differs from your paper trail, then that is critical to consider in the healthcare space.

As you can tell, I'm an evangelist for this, so long as the tester is clear-eyed about what can show up.

[JupiterGreen]

I don’t put a lot of faith in the ancestral results of these products but I do it so my daughter and her children will have access to my DNA info which may be helpful to them in the future for health purposes.

I guess this depends on what you mean by that statement. I know of one family who solved an ancestral mystery that genealogy alone couldn't solve and ended up learning the story and found relatives from that side of the family. Another person who found their bio parents and 1/2 siblings. It can definitely help if there are genealogical questions. Also it can be helpful for people whose ancestry includes former enslaved populations or other people whose ancestry was erased for one reason or another. With all that said, sometimes it is not a happy ending when people find out they are not related (parents to children etc).

Buying a DNA kit is a personal choice. If you are looking for genetic diseases markers or help with genealogy or trying to piece together an erased history it might be worth it.

You can usually set your profile to private if you don't want relatives reaching out to you.

[Captain FIRE]

Mmmm. Secrets. No one thinks they’ll find things out.

A friend did this and found out her dad was not her biological father. Her father found out her mom didn’t use a sperm donor as planned (apparently he had fertility issues), but used a friend instead. The friend found out he had a(nother) biological daughter.

ETA: This impacted her relationship with her parents, who both knew she was not biologically related to her dad, yet pressured her significantly growing up to achieve/succeed like him, while her adopted sibling was not pressured. Needless to say it also impacted her parents relationship.

[EvenSteven]

I'm very wary of these 'social' DNA companies.

It's only a matter of time before one of these businesses is subject to a data hack.  If your telco gets hacked or your bank gets hacked, it's a pain but you can ultimately get your accounts and your personal ID restored.  It can be time consuming a costly to replace, but it can be done. 

If your DNA sequence is hacked, then nope.  There's no replacing your DNA with a completely new set.  It's a massive problem for you (bearing in mind that these companies have the ability to identify a lot more than just what they send back to you), but it's also a serious, serious data issue for your parents, grandparents, kids and grandkids.  Their data and privacy and potential to be extorted is also compromised regardless of the choices they make for themselves.

Maybe I don't have a very industrious criminal mind, but what kind of extortion or negative outcomes are there for the release of my genome?

[uniwelder]

I signed up for "All of Us" https://allofus.nih.gov/ and got most of the info that I think I would have gotten from these  other companies at no cost. Not sure what else they plan to tell me over time.

After looking into this today, I signed up. I feel much better having my info stored with the NIH (with approved protocol and security) than a for profit company. And if companies will eventually be profiting from my information, I’d rather not have to pay.

[uniwelder]

I'm very wary of these 'social' DNA companies.

It's only a matter of time before one of these businesses is subject to a data hack.  If your telco gets hacked or your bank gets hacked, it's a pain but you can ultimately get your accounts and your personal ID restored.  It can be time consuming a costly to replace, but it can be done. 

If your DNA sequence is hacked, then nope.  There's no replacing your DNA with a completely new set.  It's a massive problem for you (bearing in mind that these companies have the ability to identify a lot more than just what they send back to you), but it's also a serious, serious data issue for your parents, grandparents, kids and grandkids.  Their data and privacy and potential to be extorted is also compromised regardless of the choices they make for themselves.

Maybe I don't have a very industrious criminal mind, but what kind of extortion or negative outcomes are there for the release of my genome?

The most obvious issue I’ve read about is that life insurance and long term disability insurance companies can ask whether you’ve taken a dna test, then accept/decline or adjust rates based on the information. Health insurance cannot.

[Cassie]

My cousin did ancestry and a woman from England found her through it. It turns out my dad hooked up with a married English woman during WW2 and she was my half sister. My parents weren’t married then and no clue if he ever knew he had a child. She was nice at first and we emailed daily for months until she had all the information to finish her genealogy and she wanted pictures of our dad. She lives in Australia and it cost me 70 to send them. Then she told me to never contact her again. My siblings had the right idea not having contact and if any other relatives ever contact me they can F*** Off. I was very hurt.

[mistymoney]

I signed up for "All of Us" https://allofus.nih.gov/ and got most of the info that I think I would have gotten from these  other companies at no cost. Not sure what else they plan to tell me over time.

After looking into this today, I signed up. I feel much better having my info stored with the NIH (with approved protocol and security) than a for profit company. And if companies will eventually be profiting from my information, I’d rather not have to pay.

I looked at the initial page, but didn't see much. What do they offer that is comparable to the paid companies?

[iris lily]

I do not see these tests as much use for health related information, for my immediate situation anyway. We have osteoporosis heavily in my family, we have Alzheimer’s pretty big on one side—oddly,  not on the other, that appears anyway.

I believe heart attack and stroke will likely get me and it may be while I have an addled brain. Yay, me!

[uniwelder]

I signed up for "All of Us" https://allofus.nih.gov/ and got most of the info that I think I would have gotten from these  other companies at no cost. Not sure what else they plan to tell me over time.

After looking into this today, I signed up. I feel much better having my info stored with the NIH (with approved protocol and security) than a for profit company. And if companies will eventually be profiting from my information, I’d rather not have to pay.

I looked at the initial page, but didn't see much. What do they offer that is comparable to the paid companies?

You need to really dig through the pages to find the information.  I'm not sure how the info compares to the paid companies, but it'll provide me with what I'm looking for.  Here it is---

https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive/hereditary-disease-risk a list of about 60 genetic diseases they test for
https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive/medicine-and-your-dna genetic differences that may affect how medications work in your body
https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive the intro page giving a general description of what you'll receive by participating

[mistymoney]

I signed up for "All of Us" https://allofus.nih.gov/ and got most of the info that I think I would have gotten from these  other companies at no cost. Not sure what else they plan to tell me over time.

After looking into this today, I signed up. I feel much better having my info stored with the NIH (with approved protocol and security) than a for profit company. And if companies will eventually be profiting from my information, I’d rather not have to pay.

I looked at the initial page, but didn't see much. What do they offer that is comparable to the paid companies?

You need to really dig through the pages to find the information.  I'm not sure how the info compares to the paid companies, but it'll provide me with what I'm looking for.  Here it is---

https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive/hereditary-disease-risk a list of about 60 genetic diseases they test for
https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive/medicine-and-your-dna genetic differences that may affect how medications work in your body
https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive the intro page giving a general description of what you'll receive by participating

Thanks! Will give a think on this one!

super interesting what they are doing.

[Villanelle]

FINALLY a topic on this forum about which I have proficiency.

Which test you take depends upon your objective(s). Be advised that the "health traits" advertised are a work in progress. The same can be said for ethnicity estimates. It's still early days, and the estimates change regularly.

If you're into genealogy, then it depends upon where you are. If you're in Europe, then MyHeritage is the most-used one there. If America, then BY MILES Ancestry has the largest database for genealogical matches.

I'm going to gently try and reverse the question on a family serial killer. I *especially* want those found and rooted out. To that end, I have downloaded my raw data from Ancestry, uploaded to GEDmatch, and opted in for police matching, so that any John/Jane Does match, and killers as well. If I can help give a nameless murdered woman her identity back, or help find a murderer, then I will be pleased as punch. I'm not covering anyone's ass for something like that.

I do have one caveat - unexpected parentage is staggeringly common. You possibly have no idea. It's referred to as an "NPE" meaning "Non-Parental Event" or, colloquiallly, "Not the Parent Expected." Your sainted momma is human, too. There are a number of private support groups for these circumstances, and there are people who are absolutely wizardly at working the DNA findings to identify biological parents and relatives. They are called Search Angels and they work for free. I have done this myself, and it's very rewarding to e.g. give an adoptee the knowledge of their tribe.

With any luck, the previous paragraph will be irrelevant to you, but you should know of the resources available if it is.

I'll stop now. I can talk DNA all day long, and get you hopelessly confused. LOL

If you go with Ancestry, their kit is usually on sale on Amazon for about $59 with free shipping. If it isn't, and you can wait, then just watch it for the frequent sale price.

On a related note, my coroner sister, who spent much time and effort on her jurisdictions Unidentified Decedents cases, is also a huge proponent of people opting in to as many things as possible, because those choices very much have led to bodies being identified and surviving NoK being finally notified about what happened to their loved one.

[Michael in ABQ]

I signed up for "All of Us" https://allofus.nih.gov/ and got most of the info that I think I would have gotten from these  other companies at no cost. Not sure what else they plan to tell me over time.

After looking into this today, I signed up. I feel much better having my info stored with the NIH (with approved protocol and security) than a for profit company. And if companies will eventually be profiting from my information, I’d rather not have to pay.

I looked at the initial page, but didn't see much. What do they offer that is comparable to the paid companies?

You need to really dig through the pages to find the information.  I'm not sure how the info compares to the paid companies, but it'll provide me with what I'm looking for.  Here it is---

https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive/hereditary-disease-risk a list of about 60 genetic diseases they test for
https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive/medicine-and-your-dna genetic differences that may affect how medications work in your body
https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive the intro page giving a general description of what you'll receive by participating

Thanks! Will give a think on this one!

super interesting what they are doing.

I already did something similar through the VA (Million Veteran's Program) and the DoD/VA already have my DNA so giving it to the NIH won't hurt.

Thanks @monarda for bringing this up. I probably never would have heard of it otherwise.

[monarda]

I signed up for "All of Us" https://allofus.nih.gov/ and got most of the info that I think I would have gotten from these  other companies at no cost. Not sure what else they plan to tell me over time.

After looking into this today, I signed up. I feel much better having my info stored with the NIH (with approved protocol and security) than a for profit company. And if companies will eventually be profiting from my information, I’d rather not have to pay.

I looked at the initial page, but didn't see much. What do they offer that is comparable to the paid companies?

You need to really dig through the pages to find the information.  I'm not sure how the info compares to the paid companies, but it'll provide me with what I'm looking for.  Here it is---

https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive/hereditary-disease-risk a list of about 60 genetic diseases they test for
https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive/medicine-and-your-dna genetic differences that may affect how medications work in your body
https://www.joinallofus.org/what-participants-receive the intro page giving a general description of what you'll receive by participating

Thanks! Will give a think on this one!

super interesting what they are doing.

I already did something similar through the VA (Million Veteran's Program) and the DoD/VA already have my DNA so giving it to the NIH won't hurt.

Thanks @monarda for bringing this up. I probably never would have heard of it otherwise.

You're welcome! @Michael in ABQ ! I think certain regions of the country are recruiting participants more than others. Not sure the logic there, but there's a really big recruitment effort here where I live.

They gave me the ancestry info so far (which I knew, but they were able to define the regions a bit better than I thought), and also something about cilantro and ear wax, and one or two other things. Disease and medical things are next to be reported, I think.

[mistymoney]

FINALLY a topic on this forum about which I have proficiency.

Which test you take depends upon your objective(s). Be advised that the "health traits" advertised are a work in progress. The same can be said for ethnicity estimates. It's still early days, and the estimates change regularly.

If you're into genealogy, then it depends upon where you are. If you're in Europe, then MyHeritage is the most-used one there. If America, then BY MILES Ancestry has the largest database for genealogical matches.

I'm going to gently try and reverse the question on a family serial killer. I *especially* want those found and rooted out. To that end, I have downloaded my raw data from Ancestry, uploaded to GEDmatch, and opted in for police matching, so that any John/Jane Does match, and killers as well. If I can help give a nameless murdered woman her identity back, or help find a murderer, then I will be pleased as punch. I'm not covering anyone's ass for something like that.

I do have one caveat - unexpected parentage is staggeringly common. You possibly have no idea. It's referred to as an "NPE" meaning "Non-Parental Event" or, colloquiallly, "Not the Parent Expected." Your sainted momma is human, too. There are a number of private support groups for these circumstances, and there are people who are absolutely wizardly at working the DNA findings to identify biological parents and relatives. They are called Search Angels and they work for free. I have done this myself, and it's very rewarding to e.g. give an adoptee the knowledge of their tribe.

With any luck, the previous paragraph will be irrelevant to you, but you should know of the resources available if it is.

I'll stop now. I can talk DNA all day long, and get you hopelessly confused. LOL

If you go with Ancestry, their kit is usually on sale on Amazon for about $59 with free shipping. If it isn't, and you can wait, then just watch it for the frequent sale price.

On a related note, my coroner sister, who spent much time and effort on her jurisdictions Unidentified Decedents cases, is also a huge proponent of people opting in to as many things as possible, because those choices very much have led to bodies being identified and surviving NoK being finally notified about what happened to their loved one.

Good points!

[Finances_With_Purpose]

Mmmm. Secrets. ...

ETA: ... Needless to say it also impacted her parents relationship.

Understatement of the year award, right here, folks. 

[Captain FIRE]

Mmmm. Secrets. ...

ETA: ... Needless to say it also impacted her parents relationship.

Understatement of the year award, right here, folks. 

Happened early pandemic. Great time to be locked down one on one for those important conversations! /s/

[LaineyAZ]

Mmmm. Secrets. ...

ETA: ... Needless to say it also impacted her parents relationship.

Understatement of the year award, right here, folks. 

Next up:  check the Inheritance Drama thread ....

[mistymoney]

Mmmm. Secrets. No one thinks they’ll find things out.

A friend did this and found out her dad was not her biological father. Her father found out her mom didn’t use a sperm donor as planned (apparently he had fertility issues), but used a friend instead. The friend found out he had a(nother) biological daughter.

ETA: This impacted her relationship with her parents, who both knew she was not biologically related to her dad, yet pressured her significantly growing up to achieve/succeed like him, while her adopted sibling was not pressured. Needless to say it also impacted her parents relationship.

sounds like friend spilled the beans here. Could have kept her mouth shut, just saying.

[Captain FIRE]

sounds like friend spilled the beans here. Could have kept her mouth shut, just saying.

I’m struggling with how to respond, I think because this seems akin to victim blaming. Yes, she did not have to say anything and thus her dad would have never known, but imho, it’s completely valid for her to want to process the fact that both parents lied to her and placed incredible pressure to succeed academically/professionally (treating her substantially different than her adopted sibling with fewer supports, less understanding and higher expectations) based on that lie. She doesn’t need to pressure to become part of the secret for her dad. Her mom is responsible for her own choices.

[mistymoney]

sounds like friend spilled the beans here. Could have kept her mouth shut, just saying.

I’m struggling with how to respond, I think because this seems akin to victim blaming. Yes, she did not have to say anything and thus her dad would have never known, but imho, it’s completely valid for her to want to process the fact that both parents lied to her and placed incredible pressure to succeed academically/professionally (treating her substantially different than her adopted sibling with fewer supports, less understanding and higher expectations) based on that lie. She doesn’t need to pressure to become part of the secret for her dad. Her mom is responsible for her own choices.

then her parents are just generally shitty? that could explain it all, too.

I just don't see blaming DNA testing for this whole thing, per se. what you do with the results is a choice. she could have also found out by reading her mom's diary or listening at a keyhole, or even via regular medical care or when someone needed a tranfusion or transplant and find out blood types don't make sense!

She found out a secret, and she went public with it. I'm not saying that that is wrong! Or that she shouldn't have confronted mom/told dad/made public, etc. But it could have come out in a number of ways, this just happened to be it, and she did with the info what she did.

[Finances_With_Purpose]

Mmmm. Secrets. ...

ETA: ... Needless to say it also impacted her parents relationship.

Understatement of the year award, right here, folks. 

Next up:  check the Inheritance Drama thread ....

Oooh - great idea!  I miss that thread - it's been a year or more since I cruised by that particular train wreck...