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I'm glad I did it, and the results didn't freak me out/scare me or lead to any massive revelations. For the $100 I paid, it was worth it. For the $500 that they

by tibbon 16y ago

I'm glad I did it, and the results didn't freak me out/scare me or lead to any massive revelations. For the $100 I paid, it was worth it. For the $500 that they normally charge, I felt it was too much. The stuff about family origin/history was pretty boring for me and just confirmed that I'm as white/boring as they come. Both lines from Europe? You don't say... But for someone who doesn't know that they are 100% European, it could be interesting to see what else is in your background.

Maciek416 16y ago
The health results didn't freak me out either (for the most part, I got lucky with nothing unexpected or terrible). On the other hand, I like yourself also thought I had a "boring white Polish as far back as anyone can remember" background. Instead, I got some rather awesome results on the ancestry front that changed a lot of what I know about my background. The results in both haplogroups are interesting (if a bit broad) in their own right, but what really blew my mind was the sheer numbers of very close cousins I have amongst "neighboring" or not-so-neighboring ethnicities/religions/countries. There's a definite history in my family of "running away from the Russians", and so it's fascinating to find out just how much of those Russians (and other people round the 'Bloc) are in fact directly related to me by only a couple generations.
rflrob 16y ago
> For the $500 that they normally charge, I felt it was too much. Some time this year, they seem to have put their prices at $199, down from $499. Personally, I'm waiting until whole-genome resequencing is down to about $300 from a commercial outlet. I don't anticipate this being the case in the next 5 years, at least, but it's not like my DNA will be changing any time soon.
CWuestefeld 16y ago
just confirmed that I'm as white/boring as they come What's boring about being white? Sorry, but this attitude strikes me as being nonsense political correctness. I'm quite sure that whatever race or culture your ancestors come from, there's plenty to be interested in on a personal level at the very least.
- prawn 16y ago
  Perhaps that they feel white/boring and that their lineage traces to more of the same. An Asian person might not be particularly excited to learn that their ancestors trace back through China. Candidate one, however, might be more intrigued to find ancestry tracing through Northern Africa, or candidate through India - just guessing.
  - Sticker 16y ago
    correct, I believe that was the obvious point he was trying to make. The political correctness that is a problem is that you can't say 'white/boring' without offending someone like the person you responded to.
    - tibbon 16y ago
      Right on. When I got those results it just confirmed, "hmm, looks like my 5th grade genealogy project was right. I am from Germany and England afterall!" It isn't to say that us white people are boring, but just that there was nothing novel in that part of the results. It was about as exciting as the genetic test in there that confirmed I have brown eyes. If it said I had blue eyes, it would have been interesting news to me.

by tibbon 16y ago

Maciek416 16y ago

The health results didn't freak me out either (for the most part, I got lucky with nothing unexpected or terrible). On the other hand, I like yourself also thought I had a "boring white Polish as far back as anyone can remember" background. Instead, I got some rather awesome results on the ancestry front that changed a lot of what I know about my background. The results in both haplogroups are interesting (if a bit broad) in their own right, but what really blew my mind was the sheer numbers of very close cousins I have amongst "neighboring" or not-so-neighboring ethnicities/religions/countries. There's a definite history in my family of "running away from the Russians", and so it's fascinating to find out just how much of those Russians (and other people round the 'Bloc) are in fact directly related to me by only a couple generations.

rflrob 16y ago

> For the $500 that they normally charge, I felt it was too much. Some time this year, they seem to have put their prices at $199, down from $499. Personally, I'm waiting until whole-genome resequencing is down to about $300 from a commercial outlet. I don't anticipate this being the case in the next 5 years, at least, but it's not like my DNA will be changing any time soon.

CWuestefeld 16y ago

just confirmed that I'm as white/boring as they come What's boring about being white? Sorry, but this attitude strikes me as being nonsense political correctness. I'm quite sure that whatever race or culture your ancestors come from, there's plenty to be interested in on a personal level at the very least.

prawn 16y ago
Perhaps that they feel white/boring and that their lineage traces to more of the same. An Asian person might not be particularly excited to learn that their ancestors trace back through China. Candidate one, however, might be more intrigued to find ancestry tracing through Northern Africa, or candidate through India - just guessing.
- Sticker 16y ago
  correct, I believe that was the obvious point he was trying to make. The political correctness that is a problem is that you can't say 'white/boring' without offending someone like the person you responded to.
  - tibbon 16y ago
    Right on. When I got those results it just confirmed, "hmm, looks like my 5th grade genealogy project was right. I am from Germany and England afterall!" It isn't to say that us white people are boring, but just that there was nothing novel in that part of the results. It was about as exciting as the genetic test in there that confirmed I have brown eyes. If it said I had blue eyes, it would have been interesting news to me.