DNA / Ancestry Tests?

General Chat
1

Are they accurate in your opinion ?
Me and family are indian, however my sister just did a test and got Indian/Scandinavian and even Irish/Scottish or welsh.

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2

If we assume the data generated is accurate, then the second question that arises is on the interpretation. And this is where it gets murky.

So the answer is both ‘yes’ and ‘maybe not’.

And also:

For deeper family roots, these tests do not really tell you where your ancestors came from. They say where DNA like yours can be found on Earth today.

3

I wouldn’t be worried about how accurately they are I would be more worried about who owns the data.
Also alot of it is based off population genetics which are not well understood.

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4

“When asking strangers on the internet to Google stuff on your behalf, are the results accurate?” is the real question.

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5

Im asking what other peoples opinions are, nothing wrong with that.

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6

I didn’t say there is anything wrong with it.

7

Well your telling me to use google instead of posting here, so yes you are

8

No I wasn’t.

I was wondering how you/anybody authenticate(s) what people tell you they’ve found out.

Go back and re–read what I actually wrote Simmy.

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9

IF for example someone has a scottish great grandad or whatever, if the dna result shows it,then its accurate

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10

Not necessarily. If that Scottish ancestor has Chinese heritage, but was born in Scotland, it would be inaccurate.

11

I did a Genetics and Genomics degree as my second degree(MSc)… so maybe I don’t know anything about genetic testing.
:rofl:

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12

There’s always a battle between expertise and internet wisdom :joy:

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13

Yeah plus people have different interests.
I’m less concerned about the accuracy and more who owns the data. As I think that’s the bigger issue.
:rofl:

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14

Even if these tests were 100% accurate (and they are demonstrably not, as evidenced by this case: https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/dna-ancestry-kits-twins-marketplace-1.4980976), I struggle to understand what anyone hopes to learn from them.

As others have stated, these tests only compare your sample to others in their database, and then give you a statement that basically says “your DNA is similar to x% of people in this region, and y% in that region”. It doesn’t tell you anything about your own family history.

And if it did, how many generations do you want to go back to find out your makeup? If it determines (through some magic algorithm) that your great-grandmother was born in one country, but moved to another before giving birth to your grandmother, does your DNA match the first or the second country?

So my opinion is that you’re better off sticking the money in a pot :slight_smile:

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15

I did the 23andMe one, and found out that I’m genetically what I thought, medically pretty boring but I did connect with a 2nd cousin in Canada and we’re meeting up next month when he and his wife come to London.

So it was pretty nice to get that.

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16

There’s a huge discount on at 23andme so I thought I’d revive this topic. I’ve been Googling this for about an hour and am still unsure if I want to go for it. Partly for privacy reasons, partly because I think I’d worry too much about what the health section could say. Any experience from anyone since the topic came to be?

17

There pretty much pointless, wouldn’t waste your money on one, even if it is on sale

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18

Does 23and me do health with DNA results?

19

Yes, they do

20

I did 23andMe; got in touch with cousins in Canada that I didn’t know about, eventually met them when they came to Paris and I’ll go over to see them as soon as we are able to.

I personally don’t see that as a waste.