Where to get DNA test done?

[PA2UK]

Originally Posted by Natalliesfmuniz

So does the 23andme break it down into specific ethnicity? For example Polish, German, Cuban ect...

No DNA test breaks it down to specific nationalities like that. They are broken down into regions, for example Germany is usually within a west/Central Europe region along with France and other neighboring nations. There's also a lot of overlapping of regions. It is simply not possible to get anymore specific than that because there's no DNA that is totally unique to one region, let alone a nation.

[in_newengland]

I just thought I'd add this to the thread. I had my DNA tested two years ago by 23andMe. My sister just had hers tested by Ancestry and got her results yesterday:

--56% Europe West (like France, Germany, the Netherlands, etc) and only 19% from Great Britain. 13% Ireland, 7% Scandinavia, and the last 5% is broken down as being 3% Europe East and 2% Iberian Peninsula.

Very similar to what I got from 23andMe except I may have had a little more from Great Britain and I think it said something about Turkish (this must have been very long ago, back in the days of migrating tribes? and may correspond to her 3% Europe East.) We have been surprised both times because my dad's parents CAME from England. They were ENGLISH going way back. My mother's family goes back in most lines to the Puritans who were ENGLISH.

However, two years later, after more lineage tracing, I can see that some of my maternal side really does go back to France if you go waaaay back. Germany? Haven't found any yet. Netherlands--found one couple who came from Holland in the 18th C. Ireland? Scandinavia?

I think the results go back father than most of us can ever trace. I think my Scandinavian part must be Vikings who raided the north of England.

My sister also mentioned that Ancestry is giving her comparisons to other Ancestry trees that have our names and ALSO is giving her DNA hints to people in other trees. She found someone by DNA match who is related to us.

But I got things from 23andMe that my sister didn't get from Ancestry. I got % Neanderthal , my haplogroup, and the ability to download raw data. I guess it depends what you want. I also got my medical information.

[elan]

Another Personal Genetics Company Is Sharing Client Data | WIRED

Food for thought.

[AndersFL]

The big advantage of an "Ancestry.com" DNA test is the ability to link your tree with those of other members. Ancestry has a few other useful tools but you really need to have a detailed tree posted to take full advantage of their test. I found a number of DNA matches with whom I share common ancestors.

I take Ancestry.com's "Ethnicity Estimate" with a grain of salt. My estimate is Eastern Europe 38%, Ireland 18%, Scandinavia 13%, European Jewish 11%, Great Britain 9%, Western Europe 9% with trace regions in Finland and Iberia. My father's parents were both Polish born with some German ancestry. It was a big surprise that one of them had a grandparent of Jewish origin. My mother's ancestry is mostly colonial New England with a Yorkshire born grandparent. Yorkshire no doubt accounts for the high Scandinavian percentage. I believe Ancestry.com's "Ireland" category includes Celtic and the pre-Celtic inhabitants of the British Isles. I am 1/32 Irish on paper but have several colonial New England lines that trace back to Scotland, Wales and south west England.

My wife's Ancestry.com's "Ethnicity" is Great Britain 55%, Eastern Europe 27% and Ireland 13% with trace regions in Western Europe, Scandinavia and Finland. Her father was roughly 1/4 Polish, 1/4 German, 1/4 English and 1/4 Scottish. All of his grandparents were either born in Europe or born to parents recently arrived in North America. All of my wife's maternal lines trace to the colonial U.S. South and while she does not have the Scots-Irish ancestry so common in the American South she has several German, Scottish, Welsh and French Huguenot lines. All these groups seem to have combined to make my wife's DNA test result show over half British. If you read Ancestry's detailed explanation you will find that the average native of Great Britain tested at only 60% British.

[Tracy Plummer]

Why do it DNA test cost

[bigbear99]

Without knowing much more about their methodology, you can't put much value in their ancestry percentages. We don't know, for example, what exactly they're looking at. It is certainly not a whole genome sequence at these prices. We also don't know what they used to establish their baselines - how do they define "jewish" for example? How do they define "Scandanavia"? That is to say, what do they see in your genome that says "jewish" and how do they know that?

[PA2UK]

Originally Posted by bigbear99

Without knowing much more about their methodology, you can't put much value in their ancestry percentages. We don't know, for example, what exactly they're looking at. It is certainly not a whole genome sequence at these prices. We also don't know what they used to establish their baselines - how do they define "jewish" for example? How do they define "Scandanavia"? That is to say, what do they see in your genome that says "jewish" and how do they know that?

We do know how they do it. They look at combinations of SNPs that match those of their sample groups. The sample groups come from people who say all four of their grandparents were from the same country/region. At Ancestry.com (and I imagine the others are the same), they run 40 different analyses of comparisons like this and then average out the results. As I've been saying, it's very much an estimate, to be taken with a grain a salt.

[Labonte18]

I just got 23andme results back the other day.. My personal opinion.. Not really worth the money. Go with Ancestry.. Which is cheaper, and while the Ancestry reports aren't as detailed, they have a bigger database to match relatives.

The BEST thing about either.. Isn't with the sites themselves.. Take your raw data and pay $5 to Promethease for an ungodly amount of data.

For 23andme.. I'll give you my results.. (Ancestry report is attached at the bottom here)

My dad's ancestors are from Scotland.. Mom is adopted and we know nothing.. So, that basically matches up. Dad's moms parents were from Finland (I got 0% Finnish) and Sweden..

You get a Haplogroup report.. Mine comes back as I2b1 from paternal and H5b from maternal. Tells you the following..

Origin: Haplogroup H5 originated in the Caucasus region during the Ice Age as small communities sought refuge in this more temperate area. H5 began to spread in several directions after the climate began to warm about 13,000 years ago. Today the haplogroup is common in Lebanon and many parts of Europe.
Highlight: Unlike most H haplogroup H5 is common in both Europe and the Near East, particularly Lebanon.
Example Populations: Lebanese, Polish, Irish

and

Haplogroup I2 Migration

Origin: The haplogroup's two main branches, I1 and I2, divided about 28,000 years ago. Today Haplogroup I2 is most abundant in eastern Europe and on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia, where it is found in 40% of the male population. Like its brother haplogroup, I1, I2 expanded northward at the end of the Ice Age about 12,000 to 14,000 years ago. But unlike I1, which expanded from the Iberian peninsula into northwestern Europe, I2 radiated outward from the Balkans into the eastern half of the continent.
Highlight: Scientists speculate that I2 is associated with the ancient civilization of Doggerland. Doggerland, coined a real-life Atlantis, was a civilization in an area that is now covered by the North Sea.
Example Populations: Balkans, Sardinians

Last is Neanderthal ancestry.. I have 305 Neanderthal variants, more than 88% of 23andme users.

Traits reports that they give.. Yeah.. Not that impressed with this..

68% chance I do not have a cleft chin. Correct.
62% chance I do not have cheek dimples. Correct.
89% chance I do not have a unibrow. Correct.
58% chance I do not have a widows peak. Correct.
65% chance I have dark colored eyes. Correct. (Interestingly, the Promethease report thought I'd have blue eyes)
84% chance I have detached earlobes. Incorrect.
66% chance I have light colored hair (Light brown or blond). Incorrect.
94% chance I do NOT have red hair. Incorrect.
92% chance I have straight or wavy hair. Correct.
69% chance I was born with little or no hair. Unknown.
54% chance I started losing my hair before 40. Correct.
71% chance of no bald spot. Does the entire head count as a 'spot'? I call this one Incorrect.
82% chance of little to no back hair. well, choices are little or alot. I'm moderate.. So.. I'll give them Correct. By default.
78% chance that index finger is longer than ring finger. Correct.
65% chance that big toe is longer than second toe. Correct.
93% chance of wet earwax. Correct.
80% chance I don't sneeze when suddenly exposed to sunlight. Correct.
96% chance I have lighter skin. Correct.
61% chance I have little freckling. Incorrect
56% chance broccoli and brussel sprouts taste bitter. Incorrect.
66% chance I prefer salty/savory snacks over sweet. Unknown/Depends on mood.
75% chance I can smell asparagus metabolites in urine. Correct.



Now.. With all that.. They also have a DNA Relatives match.. Which matched 1574 people for me. The highest match was a presumed 2nd cousin at 2.5% of DNA matching. This is probably the most valuable feature to me. Supposedly Ancestry has far more people to compare to. Interestingly, not ONE of the 1574 people 'matched' shares my surname.

[bigbear99]

Labonte, hard to make sense out of either report.As PA2UK pointed out, these percentages are just percent matches with their control groups. But what does that mean?

More interestingly, I would have little faith in "four ... grandparents were from the same country/region. ", given chain migration. For example, my grandparents are all from the US. But their ancestors are not. I can go further back and know that some of my ancestors spent several generations in one area overseas, but did not start there. They had moved many generations ago.

Improvements in DNA sequencing now allow sequence recovery from ancient genomes. That's why we see so much Neanderthal news these days. As this work gets extended and validated (i.e multiple specimens), we'll have better quality information. But we're not there yet.

[jiminnm]

This gives a good comparison:
Autosomal DNA testing comparison chart - ISOGG Wiki