Sorry that's right - i forgot that after a night out at the local bars in Bangkok you woke up in a dodgy hotel and discovered you were missing one...
Have you ever tried Ancestry DNA? If so, what were YOUR results?
- Thread starter Kadie Lux
- Start date
Could still be. A sizeable chunk of the British East coast has significant Norse heritage.
That ship sailed long ago.
For in fact, it is each individual on Facebook who compiles a whole lot of information about themselves for the purposes of just about anyone who really takes any interest in them.
And the DNA thing will make individuals nearly irrelevant in that soon so many family members will have offered their DNA to such websites, that interested parties will be able to work their way back to those few who never bother.
There seems to be some misunderstanding about how this works.
Police have been collecting samples (fingerprints, or perhaps more relevantly blood, semen, etc.) at crime scenes to be investigated for many decades, long before the science of DNA developed to its present state. Some samples collected maybe 40 years ago and stored since then may now be able to give them a DNA profile of the otherwise unknown murderer. They can use this profile to form an autosomal DNA raw data file that can be uploaded to GedMatch. GedMatch results give them a list of potential relatives of the murderer from among the million or more people who have already also uploaded their raw data info to GedMatch. Most of them are probably too distantly related to be of much practical use, but they may be able figure out something from a third cousin or closer match. The closer the relative connection, the easier it becomes for the police to narrow down a list of possible suspects from family trees, and find him (or her) and get an undercover cop to trail the person to eventually get a coffee cup they discard (or tissue or some such thing like that) to test if the suspect is indeed a direct match for the murderer's DNA.
The only thing the police get from using GedMatch is names of the murderer's relatives. This does not involve GedMatch and the consumer DNA testing companies voluntarily or involuntarily giving away anyone's actual DNA or DNA data (the A, C, G, and T's) to police. The police don't get, don't want, and don't need access to it, and therefore don't need a court order because they're only using GedMatch in the same way as anyone else does -- to trace out exactly how some likely second cousin once removed on another continent is related to you through a common ancestor. I have done that myself. It takes some work, but you certainly don't have to be some kind of highly educated expert in the field. The closest relative will probably never have any idea they unknowingly helped catch a murderer.
It doesn't involve any surreptitious "hacking" or "data breaches" perpetrated by the police investigators, because it doesn't have to, and they don't want or need it. I'm not sure how or why you think this can or would have been stopped. I seriously doubt police are ever going to be told they're not allowed to investigate crimes by collecting samples at crime scenes.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/genetic-genealogy-tracing-family-trees-to-catch-killers-60-minutes/
Last edited:
Good info on GedMatch. This is also a possible source for those adopted to find relatives etc.
In my case, I was adopted shortly after birth. Never any huge need to find roots but was encouraged by parents and they have very basic information. Since I am old birth parents would both be dead, but curious if maybe brothers or sisters etc so may explore DNA testing.
I am not paranoid about data security. Never murdered anyone to be found - in fact never been arrested for anything. The only risk I see if if get social security number or bank access but that is almost impossible.
In my case, I was adopted shortly after birth. Never any huge need to find roots but was encouraged by parents and they have very basic information. Since I am old birth parents would both be dead, but curious if maybe brothers or sisters etc so may explore DNA testing.
I am not paranoid about data security. Never murdered anyone to be found - in fact never been arrested for anything. The only risk I see if if get social security number or bank access but that is almost impossible.
GedMatch is free to use, but it does not do the actual DNA testing. You first have to get a test done by AncestryDNA, 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, or LivingDNA, and then upload the raw data to GedMatch.
As far as I know AncestryDNA has the largest database by far, now over 14 million people, so that would probably be the first one to try if the main purpose was hoping to find closer relative matches. You can then use the raw data from AncestryDNA for GedMatch and I think two or three of the other companies may still accept free raw data uploads instead of making you pay for their tests.
I found this to be a good neutral site explaining how the major consumer DNA testing companies work and their prices.
http://genie1.com.au/blog/58-which-dna-testing-company
http://genie1.com.au/blog/78-tips-for-using-gedmatch
Most of the people doing these tests have been from the major English-speaking countries (USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and Britain), so someone who is from a largely British/Irish ethnic background is the most likely to find closer matches.
Just remember, some people aren't necessarily thrilled to find out from some stranger that their late grandfather (even if he's been dead for 30 years) may have fathered a child with someone who wasn't their grandmother.
Last edited:
Lol yes I’ve heard a lot of people say this and then maybe they clone people LOL.
But honestly I’ve wanted to do the DNA test for so long!! It was so fun.
But honestly I’ve wanted to do the DNA test for so long!! It was so fun.
Wow that’s awesome! Did you do the 23 and me test or ancestry?
I wish my test had more info... only Sicilian and Albanian/Greek was a bit boring lol
Some commercials on TV show all these celebrities saying how the test showed when they’re family came over to the states but mine never did. Awesome results
That's not something that a DNA test can reveal, at least not by itself. The TV shows with celebrities involve expensive professional genealogists looking through all kinds of records for information about the celebrity's ancestors.
Nowadays with the internet, the average person on their own can probably find out something useful (and it doesn't require a DNA test) online as long as they know the names of their parents and hopefully some other relatives like uncles, aunts, or grandparents. You can get a free 14-day trial membership on Ancestry.ca and start a family tree with the information you know, and they give you hints with stuff like census data that might lead to you finding out the names of other ancestors and more distant relatives you've never heard of, or you can do searches yourself on their website. But you have to remember to quit two days before the free trial ends, otherwise they will start charging you every month.
Apart from the novelty of them, DNA tests probably don't provide much help to the average person, unless some unknown second or third cousin appears on your list of DNA matches and you want to trace the actual family tree connection to them.
18% North African
55% French
16% Irish/great britain
5% eastern european/ashkenazi jewish
Give or take the .5% percentage type . By my grand parents/great grand parents that I know of them most of it really does make sense. Except the one eastern european, I have both family tree , and one that goes up to the 1400 on my mother side, so someone probably cheated since its like deep in rural France and Ireland
I did it with ancestry
55% French
16% Irish/great britain
5% eastern european/ashkenazi jewish
Give or take the .5% percentage type . By my grand parents/great grand parents that I know of them most of it really does make sense. Except the one eastern european, I have both family tree , and one that goes up to the 1400 on my mother side, so someone probably cheated since its like deep in rural France and Ireland
I did it with ancestry
Except for maybe at the continental level (you're __ percent Asian or European, etc.), the ethnicity results are kind of silly and pointless.
You will get different results from the different companies, as they use their own reference studies. One might have you as 35% Scandinavian and another will show zero. People have been moving around Europe for centuries, and it's difficult to differentiate unless it involves certain groups that have remained largely isolated.
You will get different results from the different companies, as they use their own reference studies. One might have you as 35% Scandinavian and another will show zero. People have been moving around Europe for centuries, and it's difficult to differentiate unless it involves certain groups that have remained largely isolated.
So important to keep this perspective in mind. These tests are more of a party favor than anything else.
KK
I did the 23andme test, and I have since uploaded my results to ancestry etc. Some sites are legit were as sites like genomelink seemed off in a lot of areas. mediterranean women are hawt as hell. so you have a cool mix.
The five major companies (AncestryDNA, 23andMe, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, and LivingDNA) are certainly legit, and are very likely to closely agree on what they display for your degree of connection to a second or third cousin, etc.
But I wouldn't pay much attention to the ethnicity estimates. These are the ethnicity results one person received from AncestryDNA and MyHeritage.
AncestryDNA (The "England, Wales, and Northwestern Europe" region is shown on their map overlapping into part of France, Belgium, and Holland, but not Scandinavia.)
MyHeritage
MyHeritage shows a total of 45.7% Scandinavian, Greek, and Italian ethnicity that AncestryDNA apparently says does not exist.
FWIW, 23andMe uses more weasel words, like "Broadly European".
