Ancestry DNA

[dewaltdisney]

I was talking to a chap who has had the Ancestry DNA check done https://www.ancestry.co.uk/dna/

He was telling me that it breaks down your DNA into your own ethnic pathway which makes you up and also matches your DNA to close matches on their database.

Of course everyone will have origins in Africa from the ascent of man but it has interested me in getting mine done. Has anyone on here had a go and is it worthwhile?

DWD

[Grendel]

There was a radio 4 programme on a couple of weeks ago that looked at this and the experts on there were pretty dismissive of the process. If you consider that everyone has four grandparents and each of those our grandparents and so on the family tree gets wider and wider in a relatively short space of time plus factor in that humans tend to move around a lot and the results are a guess at best. They did say the common ancestor of all Europeans seems to be a person from southern Germany going back only as far as the fifteenth century . By that they mean that the ever widening tree of everyone would all have that one person iff it were possible to acccurately trace it all backwards . I wasn't 100% sure of that argument but then I'm not a genealogy expert . I do know my wife has done some reasearch into her family and reached an impass around the early nineteenth century when she found another three people with the same name as her ancestor in one little village with no real idea which one was her anvcestor.

[dewaltdisney]

Hmm.... I have just watched a few YouTube vids on some folk talking about their results. It all seems a bit vague from what they show. It is not what I thought it would be so I will give it a miss I think.

I know that I have a fair old mix in my DNA pool. My father was German but we think that way back the family was in the Carpathian mountains area which was populated by the Visigoths and Romans who in turn had integrated with the Dacians. So it is possible that as well as German we have Italian links as well. On my mothers side we have Welsh mixed with Lincolnshire where the Viking link comes in for my Viking finger.

The test might prove some of this to be true but I doubt it.

DWD

DWD

[kellys_eye]

Rumor has it that the DNA results are shared with national security sources.....

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-02- ... g-data-fbi

[Nos]

I suppose its what you are looking for, I have traced my late father in laws tree back to 1560, have traced my dogs tree back to 1850. I thought that I would give it a go, I never knew my mother or father, I was a "b*stard" born into a wealthy Yorkshire family, my mother was sixteen, at the time, she was sent away to relatives and gave birth to me in a private nursing home, I was adopted from birth, so I managed to find out about my mothers side, but didnt have a name for a father, so last year our daughter persuaded me to have a full DNA test. The result was a surprise, as it appears that I am 56% Scandinavian when I though I was a full grown Tyke, so for me it was worth it, no matches as yet.

[Someone-Else]

I cannot help but wonder, how accurate is what they tell you? if its only 50% that is pretty much a waste of time. I look at it like palm readers, they tell you what you want to hear.

[kellys_eye]

s-e has a point. If you had two (or more) tests with different companies and they all sjowed the same results then ok. But 'all your eggs in one basket'? Where's the guarantee?

[Bob225]

Well it takes more and more data to build a fuller picture I think its now at a point that it is usable, GSK has bought into 23 and me for genetic profiling so it must be of some use

https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/behind-the-sc ... -genetics/

[Nos]

s-e has a point. If you had two (or more) tests with different companies and they all sjowed the same results then ok. But 'all your eggs in one basket'? Where's the guarantee?

My daughters friend is a geneticist, so its fairly accurate, however as more peoples DNA is collected then more information is available and more accurate data is collected, I have nothing to hide so not bothered about my DNA being shared, to me It was a bit of a laugh, I dont really care about my past, its the future that's more important, you can do something about it

[dewaltdisney]

Some interesting points raised there. My thoughts have now changed from a harmless bit of fun into something that could be more sinister. Whilst I would be willing to help research it poses the question how safe is this data? Just think if the Nazi's had access to this technology back in 1930's there would have been a lot more people that could have be persecuted. With that in mind you are also exposing your family to some future risk perhaps where they trace someone for a motoring offence using familial DNA. Okay, a bit of a stretch there but you get my drift.

I do not think I will be doing £80 on this folly now.

Thanks for all who commented

DWD

[Someone-Else]

s-e has a point. If you had two (or more) tests with different companies and they all sjowed the same results then ok. But 'all your eggs in one basket'? Where's the guarantee?

My daughters friend is a geneticist, so its fairly accurate

But to that I have to ask, "does your daughters friend work for any company that provides information to companies like Ancestry" and if they do, how does the friend know what actually happens to it.

On the same lines, I could say "I have met a bloke whos mate bungee jumped off a bridge.......in his wheelchair" but you have no idea if I am telling the truth or not. Just because I said it does not mean its true.




It's not actually true. The bloke I met was the bloke in the wheelchair, I saw the picture first. (its in his hallway)

[kellys_eye]

Your DNA is useful to an awful lot of other businesses - insurance for one as they could (potentially) discover future illnesses they would adjust their policy charges for. Some people have DNA that is actually useful - natural imminuties etc - that possessors of the DNA could sell on. You, of course, would get nothing.

There seems to be a plethora of methods to get people to voluntarily hand over every private aspect of their lives to some other entity (Google, Facebook etc) and God alone knows what they will do with that information. We have seen how intrusive Governments can be and anything that you can keep from them is surely to your own advantage?

I'd declare myself to be paranoid over such issues but when you add up all the 1984-esque things that have actually come to pass you find that it's less paranoia than simple self preservation.

[54aardvark]

My concern is not so much the DNA profiling for police etc, it is the the capability nowadays to detect those at risk of specific medical conditions. I wonder how long it will be before you have to take a DNA test when applying for life insurance/loan/mortgage/job.........

[Nos]

s-e has a point. If you had two (or more) tests with different companies and they all sjowed the same results then ok. But 'all your eggs in one basket'? Where's the guarantee?

My daughters friend is a geneticist, so its fairly accurate

But to that I have to ask, "does your daughters friend work for any company that provides information to companies like Ancestry" and if they do, how does the friend know what actually happens to it.

On the same lines, I could say "I have met a bloke whos mate bungee jumped off a bridge.......in his wheelchair" but you have no idea if I am telling the truth or not. Just because I said it does not mean its true.




It's not actually true. The bloke I met was the bloke in the wheelchair, I saw the picture first. (its in his hallway)

No she doesn't work for Ancestry, she works for the NHS, giving lectures on this subject.

I understand the other comments, but DNA has eliminated suspects from criminal acts, as well as convict, you are worried about insurance policy's, going up, they already profile you now so no change there then, I explained why I did it, and I can live with it, its a free country, or is it, you commit a serious criminal offence your DNA will be taken, you all, I assume live in the uk, its got more cameras than "Kodak" , yes Orwells vision is not too far off, just thirty +years later.

[Dave54]

I always ask, "What's in it for them?"
Maybe it is just ancestry research, but it gives them a database of DNA results which could be used in aggregate for all sorts of things without any individuals details being disclosed.
Interesting though it sounds I won't be included on any database that I absolutely don't have to be, or where the advantages to me of being on there outweigh any possible concerns.