Genealogy / Has anyone taken Genealogy DNA tests? [87]

Forget the Y-chromosome and mtDNA markers, because they really don't say much. They're only one gene each and represent ONE ancestor each out of many. They're also heavily influenced by drift, founder effect, really ancient migrations, and even selection.

Modern genetic tests use many genome wide SNP markers to look at genome structure, which will tell you everything from your geographic origins to the likelihood of getting cancer.

There are two companies I would recommend for that...

1) 23andme, which tests 500,000 genome wise SNPs for $399

2) deCODEme, which looks at 1,000,000 SNPs for $985.

Btw, plz also forget the stuff propagated by Sykes and Wells via their books and documentaries.


The markers used by dnaTribes were developed to identify individuals in forensic research. Genome wide SNPs are much more reliable for population genetics.

Genealogy / Has anyone taken Genealogy DNA tests? [87]


23andme use a modern method that can be directly cross checked against several databases out there, as well as against new academic studies. So even if their own database is a bit sparse at the moment its not really an issue, especially as they're adding new populations anyway.


LOL

Man, you butchered that quote to suit your own evil means. :)

It should read...

"To conclude, Romero et al. have clearly demonstrated that significant problems exist with both indels and SNPs, and they have also shown that the STRs are probably the best loci available today (but see Nielsen et al. (2004) for possible corrections for SNPs). One should probably take with a pinch of salt their claim that their STRs were unbiased or that the biases identified by Ray et al. (2005) were not real. But clearly, Romero et al.'s study is a significant step towards proper population genetics inference."

This paper is all about making sure that scientists reduce the bias in their results by picking the proper markers. It doesn't say SNPs are crud and STRs so much better. It just says that SNPs sets can be cross checked by certain STRs to make sure they're the best ones to use.

Hundreds of thousands of SNPs are the benchmark today, and the next step is full genome sequencing. Making sure that the methodology used is correct is important, but that doesn't change the very clear trends in genetics we're seeing now.

P.S. However, I did have a look at the DNA Tribes website just now, and their latest newsletters about Europe and Asia. I have to say I am impressed how accurate their findings have been in comparison to the academic stuff out there, considering they are using technology initially developed for use by the FBI in forensic work.

Btw, an interesting PDF from DNA Tribes, with lots about Poland...

dnatribes.com/dnatribes-digest-2008-11-28.pdf

Genealogy / My genetic ancestry results [11]

I've just had my raw data from 23andme analysed at a university.

Genealogy / My genetic ancestry results [11]

$399 not including shipping. 23andme.com

Genealogy / My genetic ancestry results [11]

Ok, if you read my blog it says I had the raw data analysed independently at a university. And the raw data itself is typed at the illumina lab, not at 23andme.

Btw, I've now included a genetic map comparing me to the samples from the Human Genetic Diversity Project (HGDP).

polishgenes.blogspot.com/2009/07/second-look-at-my-genetic-ancestry.html

As for privacy concerns...privacy is an illusion.

Genealogy / Indian? Gypsy? Turk? [41]

The average Pole has brown hair and blue, green, grey or hazel eyes. Extreme blonds and really dark people are both in the minority.

Generally speaking we're a lot fairer than Southern Europeans, but less fair than Scandinavians.

I find it ridiculous that some people here try to portray Poles as some sort of non-European population living on the Southern Baltic shore. Clearly you need to cure yourselves of some very serious complexes.

I don't have any non-Polish ancestry, and no one's dark haired and dark eyed in my family. That's the way things are. If they were different, I'd see that as an interesting turn of events and maybe investigate things via the right channels. What I wouldn't do is talk nonsense on a forum about Poles being mistaken for Middle Easterners or Greeks.

Genealogy / My genetic ancestry results [11]

Hey man, good luck with that.

I didn't use deCODEme because they apparently have fewer customers, and part of the fun here is to compare my results with people from all over the world.

A couple of weeks ago I found a guy in the US who had an 0.02 Gb half-identical segment on chromosome 9. That means we had to have a common ancestor about 250 years ago. He had an English name, but also carried R1a1a, so I thought it was proably changed at some point from its Polish version. And I was rght; his grandfater was Polish and came from the same part of the country as my grandfather's family. Other people there I know have had similar experiences.

And like I said before, privacy is just an illusion. But honestly I wouldn't mind giving a DNA sample if requested, because that would clear me of any charges. Not only that, but since I have so much info about my own DNA, the chances of being fixed up with the wrong sample are pretty slim.