Dna surprise

[derek stitt]

Had my dna tested and actually found out who my long lost grandfather was and where he came from. Also, I am a quarter American now and have a load of  relatives in Richmond, Virginia. Not getting in contact cos I can't be fucked.

Am very much a product of these islands though with more Irish than I thought. Suspect the Irish is either from way back when or Welsh dna being lumped in with Irish because my now literal American cousins have fetishised 'Irishness' and demand to be Irish even though they are not, all about marketing innit. Incidentally and perhaps countering my above argument, the American relatives have more, south central England dna than me. Grandads ancestors being indentured servants originally from the West Country in all probability but, who can tell for sure.

Anyway, this dna checking fad, it can have nasty consequences can't it?

[metaltax]

I'm surprised commercial DNA services could be so specific with the results. I thought they were always deliberately vague (e.g. "you are 13% of Eastern European origin going back up to 8 generations", or something similar).

[Buelligan]

This made me laugh.  Why have you done it if you believe it can "have nasty consequences" and you're cigs about connecting with long lost rellies or knowing whether you're Welsh or Irish or not really?

[DistressedArea]

The DNA man said he couldn't do anything with my DNA because it was too rusted.

[alan nagsworth]

I heard that DNA goes right back to dinosaur times and you can get fucked if you think I want anything to do with them

[derek stitt]

Just did the test on a whim and simply rambling on about initial thoughts about results etc. Don't care if I am Irish or Welsh or whatever really. Have been stuck on whether to tell my mum she has two half sisters she never knew she had (looked at that Mormon genealogy website after seeing a name and a close dna match living in America. All we knew about grandad was a name not, where he was born or what he did etc. ). How will mum  react? Also, if I did get in contact with these new relatives how will they react? The potential for a lot of unpleasantness is sizeable. That's just one example. It does not take much of an imagination to think of other scenarios where a home dna test could cause mayhem in a family.

This is all very Take a Break and Mumsnet  but, it's  also real life and ripe too for conspiracy theories. Paranoid about dna being modified to stop you voting labour or making you a bummer.

[Buelligan]

Heheh yes, so what motivated your decision?  It seems odd to potentially cause mayhem in your own family on a whim.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

I had DNA SURPRISE at China Palace in Brighouse and now I have spongiform encephalitis brains disease.

[derek stitt]

Heheh yes, so what motivated your decision?  It seems odd to potentially cause mayhem in your own family on a whim.

Simply, never really thought it through and a selfish desire to sate curiosity about how much of a bumpkin I am. Since a kiddy have been nagged by a question about whether or not I would exist if it were not for the industrial revolution, extra population to feed factories etc. The answer is no I would not be here if it were not for the industrial revolution. Could well add the agricultural revolution to that as well.

[Inspector Norse]

I had my DNA done recently and found out I'm 21% Loyd Grossman.

[GMTV]

Now 100% inhereted risk of your medical data being sold on future.

[Neville Chamberlain]

I had my DNA tested a few years ago. I was hoping for some exotic, foreign flavours in my blood, but it turns out I'm basically a poster boy for the English Defence league. :-(

I might try again in a few years. Maybe they can dig up some fiery Mongolian spirit in me or something.

[Cuellar]

They've got your DNA now, they've got it.

Prepare to be fitted up for murders

[Blumf]

Had my dna tested and actually found out who my long lost grandfather was and where he came from. Also, I am a quarter American now and have a load of  relatives in Richmond, Virginia.

Are you going to be going on about 'the old country' now? Getting drunk on Coors and singing Springsteen?

[SteveDave]

I just took a DNA test, turns out I'm 100% that dick

[SteK]

I did mine, said I was basically 54% Irish, 46% English, and that was it.

[steveh]

Worth noting that the where you come from results are based solely on a comparison with DNA from people who *currently* live at that place. They cannot account for the past and where people might have migrated from. There are also places where the testing companies have very little data to go on because so few people have taken tests there, so if you have non-Caucasian heritage the results are likely to be especially poor.

[Chollis]

How much does it cost? Vaguely curious but also pretty sure I'll just end up with this:

I did mine, said I was basically 54% Irish, 46% English, and that was it.

[MojoJojo]

I enjoy reading about all the fucked up family secrets these ancestry tests reveal on reddit.

Think this one is the best/worst:
https://www.reddit.com/r/23andme/comments/a84k78/what_could_this_mean/
https://www.reddit.com/r/23andme/comments/a8g1vl/disappointment/

[Beagle 2]

DNA data from these kinds of services is sold to drug and cosmetic companies and the FBI, so I don't think it's for me to find out I'm theoretically 0.03% Inuit. 

[Better Midlands]

DNA data from these kinds of services is sold to drug and cosmetic companies

Expect to find medication adverts for diseases you are genetically likely to suffer from pop up in your feed in the future.

[Chollis]

I say get the information out there, if drug companies want to help me with my phimosis and male pattern baldness then more power to them

[Buelligan]

Yeah but what if you wake up to discover that there's no healthcare free at the point of delivery, you need insurance and your insurer is worried about the potential cost of your phimosis so you're going to have to die in a ditch if anything bad ever happens to you (unless you're a millionaire many times over).  How do you like those curiously fascinating fragments of data?

Put it another way, I literally moved my life, risked absolutely everything and moved to Europe.  I thought it would be absolutely fine.

[imitationleather]

I will be gutted if what brings my serial killer career to an end is a close relative sending their DNA off to the database in order to find out that our ancestors did nothing, went nowhere and are only notable because of how boring they were.

[Buelligan]

Yeah, I didn't want to mention it but indeed.  Rather concerning.

[derek stitt]

Are you going to be going on about 'the old country' now? Getting drunk on Coors and singing Springsteen?

I had two days with just the word Virginia typed into google and filled my head with some considerable amount of trivia about the state as a consequence of my internet searching marathon, even watched some Walton's on YouTube. That'll do pig. May call myself a rube/ bumpkin hybrid though. Won't drink any American lager though, cos that's just piss yellow fizzy water.

[Blue Jam]

I bet Michael Winner was served up quite a few DNA surprises in his lifetime.

[SteK]

How much does it cost? Vaguely curious but also pretty sure I'll just end up with this:

£49 at the moment

[Buelligan]

I believe they do a two-for-one in some places.  If you perpetrate a criminal act, they give you a free one plus you get to lamp someone you hate.

Boris Becker is 108.

[thenoise]

American is not a race, you silly sausage.

Also, iheard these companies lump in 'Cornish' with Welsh/Irish. And a lot of  Americans are from SW England originally.

Sounds like you are a bog brain Cornishman.