Discussion
No idea where this should have gone or will end up but..
Anyone else had their DNA samples and ethnicity/ DNA links established.?
If so, were you suprised with the results and also have you recently seen a major change in your ethnicity "estimate" as a result of it becoming much more popular and the database expanding rapidly?
Reason I ask is mine recently was updated and amended massively. The wife and I took The test over a year ago if I recall and I was extremely suprised to find i was in theory 44% western European and only 30% British. Quite the eye opener also being 24% Irish/Scot. I don't have any known Irish on my dad's side, and only partial on mum's.
(The wife is of Irish descent and has traced her family tree back to 1700s in Ireland but was given as 27% Irish, 48% British, 15% Scandinavia
Not having any family tree myself and only one parent left who basically knows bugger all about where he came from I set about trying to do my own tree. Being 6ft 2, blond hair blue eyes I was quite chuffed being German perhaps and in with a shout of supporting a world cup winning team at last....
So last weekend I logged back in (first time in ages) and had my bratwurst whipped away from me. The sample database has jumped from 3k people to 17k and massively affected some results apparently.
This has resulted in me now being 89% British and 11% Irish. My dreams of Europe have gone, the traces of Scandinavian influence also dashed...
It appears they are now much more confident in separating certain trace elements from Irish/Scot/Welsh etc and pinpointing with newer techniques which for some folk has massively changed results. The wife is now apparently 30% Irish, 5% Norweigan and 60% Brit and not suprisingly thinks I'm no longer a spy...
It's been interesting and will change as the database grows no doubt, maybe not massively now. It's put me in touch with 96 potential 3rd or 4th cousins, two of whom gave already linked me on family trees they had, one of them is in Australia and one USA, we had no idea of them or their family links!
Anyone else using/used it and how has it changed if any for you?
Anyone else had their DNA samples and ethnicity/ DNA links established.?
If so, were you suprised with the results and also have you recently seen a major change in your ethnicity "estimate" as a result of it becoming much more popular and the database expanding rapidly?
Reason I ask is mine recently was updated and amended massively. The wife and I took The test over a year ago if I recall and I was extremely suprised to find i was in theory 44% western European and only 30% British. Quite the eye opener also being 24% Irish/Scot. I don't have any known Irish on my dad's side, and only partial on mum's.
(The wife is of Irish descent and has traced her family tree back to 1700s in Ireland but was given as 27% Irish, 48% British, 15% Scandinavia
Not having any family tree myself and only one parent left who basically knows bugger all about where he came from I set about trying to do my own tree. Being 6ft 2, blond hair blue eyes I was quite chuffed being German perhaps and in with a shout of supporting a world cup winning team at last....
So last weekend I logged back in (first time in ages) and had my bratwurst whipped away from me. The sample database has jumped from 3k people to 17k and massively affected some results apparently.
This has resulted in me now being 89% British and 11% Irish. My dreams of Europe have gone, the traces of Scandinavian influence also dashed...
It appears they are now much more confident in separating certain trace elements from Irish/Scot/Welsh etc and pinpointing with newer techniques which for some folk has massively changed results. The wife is now apparently 30% Irish, 5% Norweigan and 60% Brit and not suprisingly thinks I'm no longer a spy...
It's been interesting and will change as the database grows no doubt, maybe not massively now. It's put me in touch with 96 potential 3rd or 4th cousins, two of whom gave already linked me on family trees they had, one of them is in Australia and one USA, we had no idea of them or their family links!
Anyone else using/used it and how has it changed if any for you?
Edited by 200Plus Club on Thursday 21st June 07:54
keirik said:
So basically your ancestry changes based on how many people have paid them money?
Sounds like it's as accurate as I thought it would be.
No it's more specific I believe than just that basic premise. The wife's has hardly changed, done at the same time. Yes the database growing will make regionality (a word?) Easier for them to isolate but a few other people we know have had updates without such a major change, hence my question. Somewhere in mine was a large portion Irish or Scot which has now been refined dramatically to Northern England I guess ( going on what we now know about the tree)Sounds like it's as accurate as I thought it would be.
keirik said:
So basically your ancestry changes based on how many people have paid them money?
Sounds like it's as accurate as I thought it would be.
Totally agree, sounds like a total con to me. You can tell people anything and they have no way of proving otherwise.Sounds like it's as accurate as I thought it would be.
Chuck the DNA sample in the bin, print some randomly generated report and take the cash.
Joey Deacon said:
keirik said:
So basically your ancestry changes based on how many people have paid them money?
Sounds like it's as accurate as I thought it would be.
Totally agree, sounds like a total con to me. You can tell people anything and they have no way of proving otherwise.Sounds like it's as accurate as I thought it would be.
Chuck the DNA sample in the bin, print some randomly generated report and take the cash.
This has always interested me as I would love to know my genetic make up, especially as I have an Aunt (dads sister) who is very dark, she was even asked by a nurse; after my cousin was born "when are you going back?", my dad looked very similar to Mohamed al Fayed and my grandad was darker than your average Brit, plus I'm not the fairest person in the world; tanning bloody easily and always being asked "oh have you been on holiday?", when all I've done is mowed the lawn in the sun.
There have always been insinuations of an Asian connection from my dads side, but nothing conclusive.
There have always been insinuations of an Asian connection from my dads side, but nothing conclusive.
It's early days. The science is developing fast as is the understanding of it. The simple statistics of sample numbers mean that it will be continually be being refined.
You should read up on the differences between Autosomal DNA (Ancestry) and Y-DNA and MTDNA. If you are unsure about your paternal history, a Y-DNA test will tell you much more. There are surname projects that will help too.
Ageing of mutations is something that is undergoing a lot of research and debate at the moment. As more people test, the genetic branches become apparent and whilst Y-DNA was seen as only useful for 1000 year+ understanding, it is now being used to look much closer to current day.
The US is perhaps unsurprisingly leading the way in terms of numbers tested. But as more from the UK and Europe test, the picture here becomes clearer.
You should read up on the differences between Autosomal DNA (Ancestry) and Y-DNA and MTDNA. If you are unsure about your paternal history, a Y-DNA test will tell you much more. There are surname projects that will help too.
Ageing of mutations is something that is undergoing a lot of research and debate at the moment. As more people test, the genetic branches become apparent and whilst Y-DNA was seen as only useful for 1000 year+ understanding, it is now being used to look much closer to current day.
The US is perhaps unsurprisingly leading the way in terms of numbers tested. But as more from the UK and Europe test, the picture here becomes clearer.
Catatafish said:
That's is true although it's a massive underestimate. How much of our DNA originated in monkeys, lizards, frogs, bacteria etc. ?
DNA is DNA only humans apply species labels to particular sequences. These ancestry DNA tests won't tell you where your ancestors came from as such. They look at your DNA and compare it to DNA from individuals currently living in various parts of the world.
All it tells you is that your ancestors and the ancestors of the people currently living in X, Y or Z were probably in a similar geographic region (give or take half a continent) at some indeterminate point in the past..... maybe
The results you get are interesting from a population genetics point of view but don't tell you anything about the individual heredity.
Catatafish said:
Robbo 27 said:
There was one case that said that 1% of a particular persons DNA was 'not of human origin'.
That's is true although it's a massive underestimate. How much of our DNA originated in monkeys, lizards, frogs, bacteria etc. ?You bunch of monkey f
kers 
CrutyRammers said:
Joey Deacon said:
keirik said:
So basically your ancestry changes based on how many people have paid them money?
Sounds like it's as accurate as I thought it would be.
Totally agree, sounds like a total con to me. You can tell people anything and they have no way of proving otherwise.Sounds like it's as accurate as I thought it would be.
Chuck the DNA sample in the bin, print some randomly generated report and take the cash.
The con is that they are selling this test as though it has any meaning to individuals and their background.
Leithen said:
It's early days. The science is developing fast as is the understanding of it. The simple statistics of sample numbers mean that it will be continually be being refined.
You should read up on the differences between Autosomal DNA (Ancestry) and Y-DNA and MTDNA. If you are unsure about your paternal history, a Y-DNA test will tell you much more. There are surname projects that will help too.
Ageing of mutations is something that is undergoing a lot of research and debate at the moment. As more people test, the genetic branches become apparent and whilst Y-DNA was seen as only useful for 1000 year+ understanding, it is now being used to look much closer to current day.
The US is perhaps unsurprisingly leading the way in terms of numbers tested. But as more from the UK and Europe test, the picture here becomes clearer.
That's the rub, my surname is of Germanic origin hence not being suprised initially lol. You should read up on the differences between Autosomal DNA (Ancestry) and Y-DNA and MTDNA. If you are unsure about your paternal history, a Y-DNA test will tell you much more. There are surname projects that will help too.
Ageing of mutations is something that is undergoing a lot of research and debate at the moment. As more people test, the genetic branches become apparent and whilst Y-DNA was seen as only useful for 1000 year+ understanding, it is now being used to look much closer to current day.
The US is perhaps unsurprisingly leading the way in terms of numbers tested. But as more from the UK and Europe test, the picture here becomes clearer.
I'm not at all having a pop at ancestry.com they were very specific as to why I've seen a change in my own ethnicity "estimate" (and that's what it is) and they clearly say as the database of 3000 grew to 17000 it changed how they can compare massively plus there has been a change in DNA testing that relates specifically to the regional British make up of your estimate. That's why the wife's hardly changed, she's got an essentially very localised English Midlands/north surname that is extremely rare and only shows up in that area typically as opposed to Europe or worldwide.
Her DNA matches have all been strong with families she already was aware of in their family tree whereas mine have thrown up 3rd and 4th cousins with very high confidence matches who at present are being researched through my family tree as we do have links but not yet clear through which great grandparent, as I've not yet done an extensive tree.
I'd encourage anyone interested to have a go, I did it on the Black Friday offer for 50 quid so it's not that expensive, normally 79 I think.
You can do the family genetic full test which will list potential health issues as I understand it but I'm not going there just yet if ever.
I'll know more as it's spurred on a family tree search, the wife already is fairly good at researching and collating but we've already had a confirmed link with someone in Australia as mentioned who is a 3rd cousin and who has a huge tree already researched. Interested in other people's experience of having done the test .
Catatafish said:
That's is true although it's a massive underestimate. How much of our DNA originated in monkeys, lizards, frogs, bacteria etc. ?
I am no expert but it is something to do with Neanderthals. It was thought in the past that Neanderthal man died out long before humans existed, this may have been the case in Europe but possibly not in Asia, Neanderthal man may have interbred with early humans and evidence of their DNA is still present.Robbo 27 said:
I am no expert but it is something to do with Neanderthals. It was thought in the past that Neanderthal man died out long before humans existed, this may have been the case in Europe but possibly not in Asia, Neanderthal man may have interbred with early humans and evidence of their DNA is still present.
Reminds me of a birthday card I once sent the wife in humour as she's been researching for a few yrs now, she wasn't best pleased. Bunch of chimps on front swinging on a branch, titled "For your birthday I looked up your family tree" ..Inside it said " most of them were still up it"
:-)
HTP99 said:
This has always interested me as I would love to know my genetic make up, especially as I have an Aunt (dads sister) who is very dark, she was even asked by a nurse; after my cousin was born "when are you going back?", my dad looked very similar to Mohamed al Fayed and my grandad was darker than your average Brit, plus I'm not the fairest person in the world; tanning bloody easily and always being asked "oh have you been on holiday?", when all I've done is mowed the lawn in the sun.
There have always been insinuations of an Asian connection from my dads side, but nothing conclusive.
Have you watched 'Who do you think you are' with Alastair McGowan - he though he was scots with maybe Italian that gave him black hair, brown eyes, slight tan, but it turned out great-something-grandad was in India in the 19th C and married an Indian woman, which would explain why he AM is dark.There have always been insinuations of an Asian connection from my dads side, but nothing conclusive.
He had no idea about it, they took him over there and introduced him to distant cousins who looked Indian but had surname McGowan.
Until independence there were lots of Brits over there in the army and civil service so you could be descended from them, I guess there might be a colonial service database on line you can search?
We've done it for my little boy. Raised a lot of unexpected issues as I don't know who my father was, and my biological mother was, I believed, from a village on the Yorkshire / Derbyshire border. The type of place where you'd have expected fairly static DNA since people followed the retreating ice northwards across the landbridge from Europe.
He was just about 0% English.
OK, my wife's from two continents away, but still unexpected. More questions than answers.
He was just about 0% English.
OK, my wife's from two continents away, but still unexpected. More questions than answers.
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