23andMe,
For starters, I want to discuss my presumed ancestry before the test. My father believes he is 100% Irish. My mother believes she is 75% African American and 25% Native American.
So naturally my understanding would be I am 50% Irish, 37.5% African American, and 12.5% Native American.
Although my father is right he is predominately Northwestern European, it ain't all leprechauns and rainbows. There is a quite a bit of French in there, which totally explains my obsession with French culture, be it art, fashion, wine or macaroons! I'm ecstatic about finding out that this has been apart of who I am all along. Generally speaking I am 59% European.
As for my mother's side, The Sub-Saharan African (mostly West African) is the most dominate making up about 36% of my DNA.
The remaining is made up of Iberian (Spanish) and Asian decent. Again something I never expected.
I would like to point out that there was 0.2% "unassigned". I'm pretty sure that's my part mermaid. I mean technically I believe I'm much more mermaid than that, but hey at least no one can dispute 0.2% of it, where's the proof?
It's so exciting discovering parts of myself I never would of guessed were there, even more fulfilling is validating the connection I've felt all along to a certain culture.
Overall my parents had a basic understanding of who they were, but this test bought about a lot of pleasant surprises.
As I mentioned in my initial ancestry post there was also some health reports that accompanied the ancestry results.
Carrier status reports
The Carrier reports explore genetic tests specific to your ethnicity, to conclude if you are a carrier for certain rare genetic conditions, that could possibly be passed down to future generations.
I was tested for over 40 rare disorders including things like cystic fibrosis, Bloom syndrome, and sickle cell anemia.
Thankfully, no variants for these were detected.
Wellness reports
These reports make a connection between DNA and how it effects your lifestyle. For example there is a gene that produces the lactose enzyme. If your DNA does not produce it, you are extremely likely to be lactose intolerant. (Guess what, I don't produce it. So cover your nose when I eat cereal, because I'm likely to let one rip!)
Other reports included were saturated fat and weight, Alcohol flush reaction (how your body breaks down alcohol), caffeine consumption (how fast or slow your body compared to others consumes caffeine), deep sleep, muscle conditions, and sleep movement.
Traits
The traits included taste and smell, facial features, hair, physical characteristics, physical responses and skin. This is basically a prediction of how likely you are to have certain traits based on your DNA. I think these were off for me quite a bit. So apparently I defy many odds. For instance, I was only 2% likely to have blue eyes, but I do. Genetically I should have straight hair, but my hair is actually pretty curly (though I usually comb it out). It was predicted I would have no dimples, but I have a pretty deep one in my left cheek.
I was a little disappointed in this part of the reports. I will say that traits go by 1000's of people with the same genotype, but many seemed to be purely European and perhaps my African heritage played a big part as to why some of the traits are off.
Here are the Pros and Cons of the test:
Pros
Fast turn around time: Usually take 6-8 weeks (came back in 3 weeks)
Good peek into your health lifestyle
Worth the price if you have a high concern about being a carrier for certain genetic disorders
Learn about Ancestry that other family members may not be aware of.
Cons
Traits can be pretty inaccurate
Health reports are down based on others with your genotype and not solely on your DNA.
Pricey test for the results. (If you do not have concerns about rare conditions etc, I would only opt for the ancestry part of the test.
Did I leave questions unanswered? Leave a comment I'll happily answer them!
The Results Are In!
That was super duper quick! The 23andMe results were to take 6-8 weeks but impressively were ready in only 3. Wow!For starters, I want to discuss my presumed ancestry before the test. My father believes he is 100% Irish. My mother believes she is 75% African American and 25% Native American.
So naturally my understanding would be I am 50% Irish, 37.5% African American, and 12.5% Native American.
Although my father is right he is predominately Northwestern European, it ain't all leprechauns and rainbows. There is a quite a bit of French in there, which totally explains my obsession with French culture, be it art, fashion, wine or macaroons! I'm ecstatic about finding out that this has been apart of who I am all along. Generally speaking I am 59% European.
As for my mother's side, The Sub-Saharan African (mostly West African) is the most dominate making up about 36% of my DNA.
The remaining is made up of Iberian (Spanish) and Asian decent. Again something I never expected.
I would like to point out that there was 0.2% "unassigned". I'm pretty sure that's my part mermaid. I mean technically I believe I'm much more mermaid than that, but hey at least no one can dispute 0.2% of it, where's the proof?
It's so exciting discovering parts of myself I never would of guessed were there, even more fulfilling is validating the connection I've felt all along to a certain culture.
Overall my parents had a basic understanding of who they were, but this test bought about a lot of pleasant surprises.
As I mentioned in my initial ancestry post there was also some health reports that accompanied the ancestry results.
Carrier status reports
The Carrier reports explore genetic tests specific to your ethnicity, to conclude if you are a carrier for certain rare genetic conditions, that could possibly be passed down to future generations.
I was tested for over 40 rare disorders including things like cystic fibrosis, Bloom syndrome, and sickle cell anemia.
Thankfully, no variants for these were detected.
Wellness reports
These reports make a connection between DNA and how it effects your lifestyle. For example there is a gene that produces the lactose enzyme. If your DNA does not produce it, you are extremely likely to be lactose intolerant. (Guess what, I don't produce it. So cover your nose when I eat cereal, because I'm likely to let one rip!)
Other reports included were saturated fat and weight, Alcohol flush reaction (how your body breaks down alcohol), caffeine consumption (how fast or slow your body compared to others consumes caffeine), deep sleep, muscle conditions, and sleep movement.
Traits
The traits included taste and smell, facial features, hair, physical characteristics, physical responses and skin. This is basically a prediction of how likely you are to have certain traits based on your DNA. I think these were off for me quite a bit. So apparently I defy many odds. For instance, I was only 2% likely to have blue eyes, but I do. Genetically I should have straight hair, but my hair is actually pretty curly (though I usually comb it out). It was predicted I would have no dimples, but I have a pretty deep one in my left cheek.
I was a little disappointed in this part of the reports. I will say that traits go by 1000's of people with the same genotype, but many seemed to be purely European and perhaps my African heritage played a big part as to why some of the traits are off.
Here are the Pros and Cons of the test:
Pros
Fast turn around time: Usually take 6-8 weeks (came back in 3 weeks)
Good peek into your health lifestyle
Worth the price if you have a high concern about being a carrier for certain genetic disorders
Learn about Ancestry that other family members may not be aware of.
Cons
Traits can be pretty inaccurate
Health reports are down based on others with your genotype and not solely on your DNA.
Pricey test for the results. (If you do not have concerns about rare conditions etc, I would only opt for the ancestry part of the test.
Did I leave questions unanswered? Leave a comment I'll happily answer them!
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