DNA Testing

We gave this to my mother as an 80th birthday present from the family. I think it was 123 something. She was delighted and it was very interesting - but only if things like medical traits, hair colour traits etc fascinate you. It also tells you where your ancestors came from.
You can have people get in touch with you if there is a match. It was fairly accurate. It identified that she does not carry the gene for breast and ovarian cancer which was good for me and my daughters to know. A funnier one was a gene for wet ear wax! This is actually true!
It is quite expensive though which is why it was a family gift.

I've fancied getting this for myself (or asking for it for my birthday from the family). But I really wouldn't want to know about a cancer gene.

If you have DNA testing 'for fun' and it turns up something worrying, like a high risk of developing cancer, does the company that sold you the test also provide genetic counselling? Probably not.

Genealogical testing will not give results on possible medical conditions, cancers or disorders.
It can tell you which group or 'tribe' you come from as far as I know. You can track either maternal or paternal DNA.

Of course, it would be more sensible to track your maternal line than your paternal line!

Jalima, what are you insinuating?!

And

Well, you can be fairly sure of your maternal line but not necessarily so sure of the paternal line.
A family member of mine who has researched a lot of family histories told that to a friend of hers who was most indignant!

I can't post now, this could appear not at all or 10 times!

I would like to know which 'tribe' I come from? Probably be mid European, I do have a German gt gt grandma apparently, on my paternal side,and also,have a very Welsh maiden name!! BUt have no idea who my maternal grandfather was, my mother does not know either! Would just like to see what gets thrown up!!!
Thank you Jalima1108 for your info, I don't really want to know about potential life threatening conditions. My mum is 92 and in very good health and her mother died at 90, so that's a bit comforting!!
Will think carefully about it!

The BBC did a programme about DNA testing ages ago . They were testing everyone in a village to see where they all came from. It turned out that the true blue English lady of the manor had some Romany Gypsy DNA. She went absolutely ballistic and threatened to sue because she was English through and through. I thought the Romany DNA sounded much more interesting. Perhaps an ancestor had been unable to produce an heir and his wife had found herself a substitute

I quite fancy doing this,as far as I'm aware I'm Scots/Irish ,but like someone else my Dad was illegitimate so no fathers name on his birth certificate .His mother died when he was very young so he had no way of finding out as he was "housed out" to a neighbour and his sisters and brother sent to childrens homes .I've managed to trace his mothers family back to 1760 and he would have been delighted with that ,shame the internet didn't arrive until he was long gone .

gma did you watch the news this evening?
Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, thinks that all patients who have already been diagnosed with cancer should undergo gene sequencing to enable diagnosis to be more accurate and medication tailored to the patient.

That would be for existing patients, though; whether others would wish to be screened (privately I presume in that case) would be up to them. Some may like to know, especially if they have a family history of cancer.

I've done a lot of research on DH's family tree (he's got an unusual name, so much easier to trace than mine). It was all going so well - a clear line back to the 15th century, a Catholic martyr here, a Lord of the Manor there - then his dad revealed that DH's great grandad was a foundling, left on the doorstep of this family and taken in and brought up by them. So I don't think we'll ever know the truth of his ancestry, but the DNA test might help!

DH's great grandad, God love him, was known in the family as Doorstep Dan!

I've done it - used a company called 23 & me and I thought it was really interesting. 2 of my children and my nephew have done it too, so we can see which parts of our DNA we share.
I've found a couple of 2nd cousins which I didn't know existed and I've enjoyed finding out a bit more about my extended family.
It's not as detailed as the gene sequencing used for medicine, but I think it's a worthwhile exercise and great fun to do.

I used Britain's DNA and it was pretty good. I was fascinated by the different DNA sequences of my parents

I had this done and have been in contact with second cousins through the ancestry site. I hardly knew anything about my father's side of the family. There was talk of him being illegitimate and being given his mother's married name at the time. Turns out we had the wrong birth surname. I found that out as my DNA brought up the surname (a distant cousin had his full name on the ancestry site) my grandmother had in later years when she remarried, this time to our real grandfather. So it cleared up a 90 year mystery!

I posted recently about my DNA finding a cousin in the USA. My grandmother emigrated there after WW1 and lost touch with her family. This woman and I shared that same grandmother.

Great Smurf we both cleared up,mysteries but mine was 99 years old!

My BiL did a DNA ancestry test and discovered Persian traits.

I suspect I would find Crusader genes as my Palestinian grandmother had blue eyes and red hair!