Are you going to use a company like 23 & Me, Ancestry DNA, Living DNA, Family Tree DNA or My Heritage DNA to find out who your ancestors were?
Before you do that, you really should watch this video by Marketplace, Canadian Broadcasting Corp, that throws the whole "science" of what these companies are doing into question.
If you have already done it, they have a survey about it on their FB page.
Here are the responses from the 5 companies.
These identical twins used their identical DNA to test the 5 companies above. The results should be identical between twins, and between companies, right?
Nope. Neither held true, although there were definitely strong similarities. Even Yale experts were shocked by the variances. It is NOT terribly accurate - it is an estimate and these companies are misleading consumers into thinking the results are highly accurate.
You will also learn about the confidence level of the results. Make sure that you hike that up to the highest level to see which results they truly believe are accurate!
Here are some reasons for the inconsistencies:
- Each company may have their own unique database of DNA from different populations.
- They may not have the same number of samples in their databases, and certainly not from the same people.
- Machine contamination.
- The companies may not look at all the same chromosomes.
- Different computational and statistical models.
- Sample contamination (e.g. you french-kissed your lover before taking a sample).
- Different protocols & methodologies.
- Different machinery.
- Sample variance, like as a result of migration, empire-building, and intermarriage contamination.
Ultimately, samples of people from any given region will not all reflect the same DNA background, and it would be almost impossible to get pure samples that truly represent a particular country or ethnicity. There is almost NEVER such a thing as a genetically unique population base to draw samples from.
In the end, it's more of a novelty that will most accurately show you what LARGE region or continent you come from. If you want to know more accurately, you'll have to do old-fashioned genealogical research and hope it doesn't end up giving you the wrong info like Alex Haley's did that produced the book & movie "Roots".
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I'll never have a DNA test. It's our most private information and people are paying to give it away to these organizations.
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I understand why you feel that way. Of course, these companies promise that the data they collect is anonymized and, based on the video done by Smarter Every Day (YouTube) with 23 & Me, they anonymize during the sample collection and also by doing a kind of double-blind analysis. In other words, tubes are labeled with a unique identifier that doesn't contain anything revealing, so scientists can't bias results if they like to discriminate for whatever reason.
That said, data breaches are possible, from within or without. But, they only collect SOME information - a TINY percentage of your DNA, rather than looking at it all...
Personally, I see no reason to use the DNA test to determine my ancestry. I know a fair amount about my ancestors from genealogical research, but it really isn't that important - it certainly doesn't give me a sense of belonging or happiness, nor do I understand why people derive pleasure from such knowledge.
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My adopted Chinese nephew had it done, because he has a genetic disease. It was laughable. They told him he had main ancestry from Mexico! My sister and family flew to central China 15 years ago and adopted him from an orphanage. No chance in hell he has blood from Mexico.
Just like Facebook, they will convince everyone of the benefits of giving them your DNA sample. One day everyone will realize they have no control over what it's used for. Imagine one day your kid goes to jail because his DNA indicated he could be a serial killer... Would you accept that? Companies are in bed with the government when it comes to our data. I wouldn't trust any of them to respect me or my family. It's all about monetizing your data and any hack would completely expose your most precious information you have as a human being. No thanks under any condition or amount of money.
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Yeah, I get where you're coming from. We certainly can't trust the governments - they're constantly spying on us - license plates, regular mail, email, phone calls, cameras. It's very Orwellian and has been going on for decades. Google is one of the big partners with the government...
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