Genealogy and DNA

After watching Who Do You Think You Are? and Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s Finding Your Roots series, I thought it might be fun to have my DNA analyzed for ethnic background. I wasn't expecting much, and that's what I got, but I'm dying to have my SO's done, as I suspect Jewish Converso on one or both sides of his family. A lot of Spanish Jews fled to the New World with the Inquisition hot on their heels and then had to go underground once they arrived. There are lots of "crypto-Jews" among Mexican-Americans living in New Mexico who are just now discovering their heritage. http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs...0/12/ferry.htm

I will say I was puzzled to find myself more Scandinavian http://www.kolobok.us/smiles/rpg/dwarf.gif than Western European and with nary a sign of the UK strain my family tree clearly shows. Perhaps as more people are tested, that will fill in the 5% "unknown." Or perhaps "unknown" is my Neanderthal strain...

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Originally Posted by JaneV2.0

After watching Who Do You Think You Are? and Henry Louis Gates Jr.'s Finding Your Roots series, I thought it might be fun to have my DNA analyzed for ethnic background

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How does one go about getting their DNA analyzed for ethnic background? There is a lot unknown about my ancestry (in fact you can't find it, poor immigrants from nowhere, it's nearly impossible to trace their ancestry). I suspect some black Irish at least and who knows what else! I also have weird theories about my dad being adopted just because the age of his mom of his date of birth is pushing the upper limits of possible fertility - mid 40s, then again the track they kept of ages may not have been very good back then.

Ancestry.com offered a $99 deal. 23 and Me is another resource, but not the only one.

For someone who--all their life--has been mistaken for Middle Eastern (Jewish), Middle Eastern (generic), Italian, Native American...anything but Western European, it was a real letdown to find that I was WASPier even than I suspected from my genealogical investigations. I guess I was hoping to find Genghis Khan in there somewhere...

I knew you could do this for your dog--never knew there were commercial places to get your own DNA tested.

If you were going to do this for practical reasons, I've wondered about the possible health consequences of straying far from "home." I remember talking to a woman, clearly Celtic with blond hair, blue eyes, very fair skin who had lived her life in Dallas. She had just gotten her second skin cancer diagnosis, and she said that she and her friends sit around and talk about the first time they were diagnosed, almost as if it's a rite of passage among Anglos who live in the South. It's one of the many reasons I would never consider retiring to the Sun Belt

I'm pretty certain my DNA is up in that area--Scotland, England, Ireland, maybe some French, and I know some Jewish because that's where my ancestry goes back as far as I can tell. I'd be curious to find out

And I'm pretty certain my dog is part border collie, part Lab and part terrier ;)

A friend of mine had her dog tested. He was, indeed, a melange--but most notably Catahoula.

My great hobby is genealogy. I think that the DNA tests can be rather generalised but I must admit I need to look into it in more detail.

I was interested in your Scandinavian finds JaneV2.0 My DH in very British but comes from a German/French/Irish/Welsh mix. He developed a condition known as Dupritrens (sp) Contractions where the fingers turn into the palm of the hand. When he went for surgery the surgeon told him that he had a great interest in the condition as it is used as a DNA marker showing up only in people of Viking and Northern European decent. He says that he is awaiting the day when someone of Asian descent turns up with it and blows all the theories out of the water!

Also a great deal of research has been done into the worldwide distribution of blood groups. For example mine is AB and it was always quite unusual here in the UK. However it is widespread in Asia and Eastern Europe and as more folk move to the UK from those areas the distribution of the AB blood group has become more widespread .

I'm not surprised that someone of UK descent would have some Scandinavian DNA.

England and Ireland were invaded by Scandinavians multiple times from 500 to around 1066.

England was invaded by the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes. The Angles and Saxons were Germanic peoples; the Jutes came from southern Scandinavia.

Ireland was invaded by the Vikings and the Vikings had several strongholds in Ireland for decades.

And the Normans who invaded England in 1066, conquering the Saxons, were of partly Scandinavian descent, as well.

I've read that the stereotypical red hair of the Irish and Scottish is from the Vikings. The original Celtic peoples were mostly dark-haired, i.e. the black Irish.

23 and Me makes DNA-related medical conditions part of their research, according to their site. (And it will disclose Neanderthal genes, if any.)

I had run across Norse names in some unverified family trees that connected with mine way back in time, but it never occurred to me I'd end up with such a high percentage. It's a mystery to me, as I have a strong aversion to seafood and Ingmar Bergman films and I'm anything but a tall blonde...

I love this stuff--my tree, your tree, whatever. All fascinating.

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If you were going to do this for practical reasons, I've wondered about the possible health consequences of straying far from "home." I remember talking to a woman, clearly Celtic with blond hair, blue eyes, very fair skin who had lived her life in Dallas. She had just gotten her second skin cancer diagnosis, and she said that she and her friends sit around and talk about the first time they were diagnosed, almost as if it's a rite of passage among Anglos who live in the South. It's one of the many reasons I would never consider retiring to the Sun Belt

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I love being outside but don't fully have the skin for it, mind you I will tan and have turned a nice tan color every summer since I was a kid (it's the real WASPy types that won't even tan - I'm darker). Still the sun here is brutal. I realized a few days ago when I read about a bunch of farmers in the pacific northwest, it was like duh that's what I need to do! Become a farmer in the pacific northwest :) Then I can fulfill my dream of working outside and not become a total raisin in the sun! :)

My dad's side of the family, the surname namesake, has been in a DNA database for that name for years now and while there has been some near matches and lots of analysis and speculation, in the end, there's been no real match of relatives. That part of the DNA game is a little heavy on hype. But as the database grows we may find a match, or so they say.

I haven't had my own DNA analyzed because it won't be interesting. It will be the typical Western European background I'm sure.

DH has his mother's dark coloring (northen European mountain people who are close to the sun) and he is tan by March 15 every year. All of those little mountain people in Appenzell,, Switzerland, look alike: small, dark, with big brown eyes and full heads of beautiful white hair when they are old. At a pub filled with townsfolk, it's like being in an episode of Snow White and the Dwarves 'though Snow White is missing and all of the Dwarves are snowy white.