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Best DNA Test Kit

#2
I would guess it depends on what kind of result you're looking for...? :whistle:

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:D
 
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#4
Michael Jewels said:
Hello, all.

Which DNA test kit do you think is the best, and why?

I’m open to any and all comments.

I’ve wanted to do this for a while, and now, I’m going to do it.

You’re on the air! :thumbsup:

Mike
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It really depends on what you're looking for.

"Family Ancestry" kits are cheap, but don't offer much more than "is X related to Y." Same with the "Who's Your Baby-daddy?" kits.

Anything more advanced starts running into big bucks. Very big.

If you're looking for CRISPR, well,... good luck. You're in the wrong store.
 
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#5
Michael Jewels said:
Oh, you silly goose, you!
How have you been, Winslow?
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Haha! Thanks for being a sport. Yesterday was just a goofy day, and I couldn't resist. :D

(They're pretty much all goofy days now, anyway.) :wacky:

I know nothing specific of these DNA things, as there's no telling - and some questions about - who gets the data on the back end. We had a relative who tried one of them some years ago, but it didn't really tell us anything we didn't already know about our ancestry from talking to prior generations. For us, it wound up a big "meh." Even if it had come back with big, bold type proclaiming us to be Upper East-Middle Bongostonian royalty, it still wouldn't have changed anything about day-to-day life. ("You can't fire me! I'm the Fourteenth-thrice-removed Archduke of Whacka-Hooby-Donk!") :cigar: :roflmao:

Granted, the info could be interesting for someone in a situation where parentage or ancestry was not quite as clear, and/or who needs to get some kind of medical history they couldn't otherwise learn, so I don't knock them out of hand. We just couldn't really come up with an answer to, "Is this something we really need to do?"

Anyway, good luck getting good info from non-goofballs! :thumbsup:
 
#8
TB does have its share of comedians!

And such that it brings joy! :roflmao:

I didn’t know about the insurance rate aspect, thank you, Winslow.

And, thank you for your post, Volker.

If I do buy a kit, $200 is the limit.

As far as I know, I am not of any Eastern European descent, but in the last few years, strangers have been coming up to me and asking if I am of Hungarian, Romanian or Russian descent.

The research continues.

Please let the info, and jokes continue.

And thanks, MJ5150. :D
Mike
 
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#10
Michael Jewels said:
TB does have its share of comedians!

And such that it brings joy! :roflmao:

I didn’t know about the insurance rate aspect, thank you, Winslow.

And, thank you for your post, Volker.

If I do buy a kit, $200 is the limit.

As far as I know, I am not of any Eastern European descent, but in the last few years, strangers have been coming up to me and asking if I am of Hungarian, Romanian or Russian descent.

The research continues.

Please let the info, and jokes continue.

And thanks, MJ5150. :D
Mike
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It might be worth using a free genealogy site like WikiTree to actually start some research into your roots too.
Amazing what you can find.
I had one DNA test rejected (not enough spit, apparently), and will be putting one in soon (23andMe).

Great story - which I may have shared on TB already:
My genealogical research so far...

My family: Back as far as the mid/late 18th century - coal miners, labourers, seamstresses, domestic servants, families of 12 of which half died as wee ones, spread around Britain a bit, but not too far.

'er indoors' family: Back to the 500s CE, direct bloodline to the emperor Charlemagne, the House of Anjou, The Plantagenets, American Civil War heroes, American War of Independence heroes, Massachusetts Bay Colony founders, and closely linked to just about anyone notable (of course, 'er indoors came from humble beginnings as did I). Some clever marrying on her ancestors' parts.
She always told me she was "German and Irish." Nonsense. She's mostly English in heritage, very American in birth and upbringing, but I did find the one German, and one Irish lass in a far reaching branch of her tree.

Told this story to a neighbor the other night. "Oh," says she, "I'm a direct descendent of Miles Standish.."

Thrubbada-thrubbada-thrubbada...My name is Mud.
 
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#13
We've done both 23 and Me and Ancestry.com. I'm happy with both, and the result has actually been used by my doctor to identify the cause of a medical issue. They also had a surprise; my wife's family has long thought they were Russian/German, but it turns out their ancestry is nearly 100% British isles.

The only weird thing is that I get notices of new relatives who have about 1% shared genetics. Not something I'm interested in, but the delete key works.
 
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#14
Pilgrim said:
They also had a surprise; my wife's family has long thought they were Russian/German, but it turns out their ancestry is nearly 100% British isles.
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That was something that happened to me as well. My mom's family is part of a group of Austrian settlers that were exiled in 1750. It's a somewhat big deal in local history. So, all of those families genealogy has been well documented for a long time. So it's 100% verifiable that she (and I as her son) came from those settlers.

When I got my results, it was largely English, Scottish, Irish and about 3% German/Austrian. And my mom was like "How can that be". I said "Mom, it was a group of about 20 families that settled in an area entirely populated by English, Scottish, and Irish. It was also 270 years ago. If after all that time we still had a high percentage of German/Austrian it would have been because of a LOT of inbreeding. The low percentage is a good thing"
 
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#15
From some reading, and the recomendations here, I think I will start with 23 and me.

Has anyone used this company?
About Us | CRI Genetics™

They look very good, but they seem to focus a little more on the medical history, and I’m not really interested in that.

Thank you, Jugglingfreak, ThudThudThud, viribus, turf3 and Pilgrim. :thumbsup:
Mike
 
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#16
My sister did 23&me and found out she was 1/4 Jewish. We figured maybe my father had some in his line as my mother is 50% Irish and 50% English/Other European. Or so we had always thought…
My Mother did one and found out she was 50% Jewish, not Irish, and her siblings were only 1/2 siblings. Both her parents are passed so the mystery goes on.
 
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#18
furym said:
My sister did 23&me and found out she was 1/4 Jewish. We figured maybe my father had some in his line as my mother is 50% Irish and 50% English/Other European. Or so we had always thought…
My Mother did one and found out she was 50% Jewish, not Irish, and her siblings were only 1/2 siblings. Both her parents are passed so the mystery goes on.
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I’m curious how they come up with “Jewish”, because of that whole rabbit-hole of whether being Jewish is a religion or a trait…

My wife is curious because she believes her father’s family was Jewish before WWII (in Poland). Poland is a very Catholic country and everyone in her father’s immediate family did not practice Catholicism not one iota. They didn’t practice any religion. It’s almost like they’ve stricken religion from their lives. My wife also has very dark features - very unlike your typical “Polish girl” (so much so that strangers would start speaking Spanish to her). She’d like to find out if she is half-Jewish…Her mother will not talk about it…very weird situation…

In my family, there has been a rumor that there is some French Aristocrat in our Polish bloodline - story goes that My great-great-great grandmother (my grandmother’s grandmother….I think I got that right…) married some sort of French archduke of some type, but since HE was marrying below his title, he was stripped of his….he did it for love…lol.
I’d be curious if there is any French in my 99.99% East European blood…
 
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