View Full Version : Ancestry DNA analysis
I have gotten caught up in a few of the PBS "Finding your Roots" program. In it they appear to use a DNA analysis tool that is from ancestry.com to determine the regions of the world when a persons ancestry originated. I checked it out and it costs $99. They send you a kit and you return a swab sample which they test and return results in a few weeks. You get a pretty cool world map showing the locations and relative percentages of you ancestors origins. You apparently also get a list of any relatives who might be related to you, even though they might be third or fourth cousins. They of course have to be in their DNA database. And they say it is secure and private. http://dna.ancestry.com/
Anyone done this or considered it? My family lines are well traced on one side, but mostly a mystery on the other. I don't know that I'm interested in finding remote relatives, but it would be interested to find the countries or regions in my heritage, though I'm not so sure it's worth $99.
You get a list of people who might be related to you? How is that secure and private? Is it an opt in policy to share your roots?
Just curious.
iris lilies
11-14-14, 7:10pm
You get a list of people who might be related to you? How is that secure and private? Is it an opt in policy to share your roots?
Just curious.
yes. Most people want to hook up with relatives. Oh, not in that way! haha.
You get a list of people who might be related to you? How is that secure and private? Is it an opt in policy to share your roots?
Just curious.
The way I get it, you can choose to be anonymous and any contact goes through Ancestry.com. Sort of like Craig's list maybe. I don't know if there is an option not to participate in this at all. I haven't figured it all out for sure yet, but privacy would be an issue.
I did the same thing at 23andme.com last year. I liked both the ancestry and the health related data.
I did it. You get the most out of it if you have your family tree downloaded to Ancestry.com. The test confirmed that the family rumor of Native Americans in the mix was pure fantasy and strongly suggested that the rumor that our first American ancestor was adopted were probably true. I'd love to have my SO's done--I suspect his antecedents fled Spain ahead of the inquisition and he may have either Moorish or Jewish roots Two of his surnames turn up on the Conversos (converts) list, and one of them was a victim of Torquemada. But he has no interest in joining Ancestry. Does anyone know if any of the other DNA services might work better for him?
iris lily
11-14-14, 10:58pm
Roger, we had this done some years ago in the hopes of identifying the village or region in Scotland from where our immigrant ancestor came. No luck so far. I can't remember which service we used. It was more than $99 but perhaps prices have come down. The service we used had a tiered cost for multiple genetic markers. The further you had them identify into the string, the more it cost.
We've been sent names of people who might be matches but we've not found the long lost cousins we hoped to find. It's fun though, no regrets. We split the cost among a few people and used my uncles cheek swab.
lessisbest
11-15-14, 5:48am
I took the $99 DNA test (LOTS of spit into a test tube) from Ancestry.com because I was curious if I had ancestors from Mongolia. Some of my Germanic ancestors look Mongolian, but there wasn't any definitive Asian line. These were my results.
57% Scandinavian
23% Eastern European
18% Central Europe
2% Unknown (but I've traced that to Scotch/Irish ancestors)
rodeosweetheart
11-15-14, 8:44pm
I did it, Rogar. It was awesome--my results were:
64 British Isles (which covered Wales, England, and Scotland)
19% Irish
16% Western Europe (a great grandfather who was German)
1% Scandanavian
They will send you matches from others who have taken test and identify level of cousinship, if you want--you can opt out of that, and they show only what members want public on their family trees.
The cool thing was it worked--I showed up as 3rd cousin to my cousin Doug, the family genealogist, and to some other cousins that I did not know I had--Atmores and other Roger Williams descendants. So it was absolutely on the mark, matching me to people I already knew that I should be related to, because of our New England genealogies, which are in books of New England history, and not just on Ancestry. So extremely cool and extremely accurate, in my experience!
Very much worth the money. It is hard to spit that much, though.
awakenedsoul
11-15-14, 8:55pm
It sounds cool. I'd like to do it. It would be a nice gift, too. My dad is the man who has everything...he would be very interested in this. He's always talking about his great grandfathers and what they did. It's fun to hear the family history.
this sounds really cool. I've wanted to check out ancestry .com for some time now. Maybe i will.
Thanks for all the help! It was good to hear that it's worked out well for others. I sent off for my kit today.
It sounds interesting, if you've got $99 to waste, and you were an orphan adopted by Gypsys, but had a suspicion you were an heir to Howard Hughes or Sam Walton. I already know what my ancestry is, so it would be redundant information. There are uncommon surnames on both sides, and it's a good bet that I am related to people with those last names. But, it really wouldn't change anything. Oh, well--I guess you could spend the money on something worse, like Pizza(sausage& pepperoni & Canadian bacon piled HIGH with ooooey-gooey mozzzarrrelllliii cheese) and beer. Have fun.
You can watch episodes of Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. at the PBS website. Much like Who Do You Think You Are, it follows three celebrities as they discover their heritage.
ETA: Just as I was typing this, I got an e-mail that my ancestry had been updated (they fine-tune it as more DNA information comes in). As they make adjustments, I become less Scandinavian and more Western European--I'm up to 4% Italian/Greek, just as much as I am British, which is surprising because my mother's surname is English. The mystery deepens.
Packy, are you really believing what you've been told about your ancestors and don't suspect a surprise or two a few generations back?:)
IshbelRobertson
11-19-14, 6:29pm
They say: Only your Mammy kens yer Daddy. Everything else is hearsay >8)
I'm lucky. My family roots are still, at worst, only a matter of a couple of hundred miles away, where I can visit and see gravestones. I have traced back to the early 1500s and have now hit a wall.
You are lucky, Ishbel--I'd love to have that much history.
Just a few generations back, I've have two divorces, infidelity, an out of wedlock birth (Surprise--she's not the same race as daddy! Explaining one of the divorces...), insanity, death on the Oregon Trail...Genealogy is so meaty.
sweetana3
11-19-14, 8:45pm
We found a relative that has a short street in Bordeaux France named after him. Found another family that came by boat from France in the very early 1800s. So interesting.
catherine
11-19-14, 8:50pm
I've been able to go back centuries with some branches of the family--and as I pretty much always knew, all my ancestry is virtually 100% from British roots (England and Scotland mainly). I've uncovered some pretty interesting family stories through ancestry.com--it's a fun hobby if you're into that. My DH doesn't get it, but I've started delving into his family anyway. I figure my kids might be interested someday.
Mine came back with 87% Neanderthal DNA.
Familysearch.org, rootsweb.com, and cyndislist.com are also helpful in getting started with genealogy.
I think my g-grandfather came from France via Hamburg by boat, but I haven't found a record of his arrival.
Bae--a tall tale? Or are you the last of your kind? :D I was hoping to close in on some Neanderthal genes, but it's not looking good.
Packy, are you really believing what you've been told about your ancestors and don't suspect a surprise or two a few generations back?:)Right, right. Ignorance is bliss; I might find out I'll need that amnesty deal Big O is decreeing.
Definitely considered this! My mom's family can trace roots from the Mayflower but my dad is from an island in the Caribbean that at times was home to Mayans, escaped slaves, and pirates. So we would both learn something I think. My brother's adopted with no idea of "sperm donor" aka birth dad so he'd be an interesting case too. I think he's part Samoan, personally. He looks like The Rock (actor) guy.
I got the SO tested (a Christmas present) and it turns out he has a significant percentage of Jewish, and also Middle Eastern (as well as Native American and Iberian) heritage. So my theory that his ancestors fled Spain for Mexico one step ahead of the Inquisitors was likely right on. Tracing his line back to actual people and places would be the icing on the cake.
PBS has been running Genealogy Roadshow, so episodes are probably available on line for that. Some of the stories are interesting.
Who Do You Think You Are? begins a new season on March 8th. As they say, check your local listings.
iris lilies
2-28-15, 1:35pm
I got the SO tested (a Christmas present) and it turns out he has a significant percentage of Jewish, and also Middle Eastern (as well as Native American and Iberian) heritage. So my theory that his ancestors fled Spain for Mexico one step ahead of the Inquisitors was likely right on. Tracing his line back to actual people and places would be the icing on the cake.
PBS has been running Genealogy Roadshow, so episodes are probably available on line for that. Some of the stories are interesting.
Who Do You Think You Are? begins a new season on March 8th. As they say, check your local listings.
Who Do You Think You Are? shot several segments at my Library in St. Louis. They aired in (I think) November, and I'm seeing them repeated often. The Library is beautiful and makes for great backdrop. People I know are in the scenes.
DH and I keep meaning to do this, but just never get around to it. DH's mother, YEARS ago, before ancestry.com, etc., went on a genealogical road-trip to find her grandsons' (our sons) heritage in the US. She found the relatives and got lots of photos and stories and compiled them all in a book she had published and donated to genealogical libraries in those areas. The stories in particular add a special layer. What a neat thing to have for our kids and grandkids. And we FINALLY found out who our #2 son looks like! I swear, I birthed him and I know who his father is, but he never looked like anybody on either side of the family, but looking through old old photos we found him! He looks like MIL's great uncle as a young man, but we only knew him as an old man so didn't see the resemblance. Yeah ... we need to do it before we die ... :D
i am pretty interested actually. My dad is danish and german, mom is pretty much german as far as we know. But my dad and i are both 'dark danes' , not that a dark dane looks anything but white to most. Basically we do not sunburn, more olive tone skin. So there is some chance that southern europeans went north and that is part of our history. i also would love a nice juicy surprise in there as well, ..
... My DH doesn't get it, but I've started delving into his family anyway. I figure my kids might be interested someday.
Most of us started way too late. I'd love to grill my mother about how much she knew about g-grandmother and the insane asylum--I always got some vague story about how she died young...Well she did, but there was lots more to it than that. Though maybe Grandmother kept that under her hat, or maybe the nuns who raised her did. If you think family history might be interesting to you, jump in before all the older relatives die off.
Finding Your Roots had a fascinating episode (the last in the series) in which they traced Henry Louis Gates' family using DNA in conjunction with detective work (a new speciality). It turned out that his genome most closely matched others with the Mayle family name. They teased out a really heartwarming history of that side of his family. The whole series is worth watching, but that episode particularly. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/episodes/
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