<p>I was browsing through a catalog and was intrigued by DNA kit that enables you to test your genetic lineage:</p>
<p><a href=“https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/participate.html[/url]”>https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/participate.html</a></p>
<p>Has anyone tried it? Was it worth the $100? I’m thinking of giving it to myself as a birthday gift.</p>
<p>My sister has been tracing the family tree back to the 1400’s, but havent had the dna checked.</p>
<p>Did you just see this program?
[Faces</a> of America | PBS](<a href=“http://www.pbs.org/wnet/facesofamerica/]Faces”>Faces of America | PBS)</p>
<p>A genealogy software program is a good investment. It allows you to organize and sort all the information you gather from relatives and other sources. Once you get started, you learn so much. The DNA result might be academically interesting, but not very personal.</p>
<p>OP
We did that same program. We were trying to test if H’s family rumor of American Indian ancestry held up.</p>
<p>I have to say it was NOT worth it. What they give you is your ANCIENT ancestry (did you come out of Africa to Europe or Mongolia) sort of trace. 2000000 years ago (exaggeration!) kind of trace. Not what we were hoping for.</p>
<p>And then you can put up your “stats” and people with the same stats can email you (or not if you don’t put up and OK) and perhaps you can find a common ancestor. </p>
<p>Since we wanted more of a “last 1000 years” sort of trace, we didn’t find it helpful.</p>
<p>But also, we didn’t join in the “community” and did not expose our DNA for other people to match. I looked around at other people that did expose their stuff who matched me, but did not find any real connections anywhere.</p>
<p>So I guess it depends on what you want out of it. It definitely does not say “You are 1/2 english, 1/8 irish, 1/32 mutt, 1/32 cat …” </p>
<p>I was looking more for genealogy rather than evolution. So it depends on what you are looking for.</p>
<p>esobay, that is disappointing - nothing more specific than a very large geographical area or continent?</p>
<p>fendrock, </p>
<p>Right. It is interested in anthopological stuff. Although I guess you could connect with other people and get more current info.</p>
<p>[Family</a> Tree DNA - mtDNA Frequently Asked Questions](<a href=“http://www.familytreedna.com/mtDNA_tutorial.html]Family”>FamilyTreeDNA - Understanding DNA) </p>
<p>is info.</p>
<p>What I got was:</p>
<p>An exact match on Hyper Variable Region 1 means you share a common female
ancestor, although only 50% of the time this common ancestor lived 52
generations or less.</p>
<p>esobay I would agree that that is NOT worth $100!</p>
<p>Thanks for saving me the money!</p>
<p>Well, there are lots of places that offer this, however. Certainly some are more valuable than others. Which are most valuable?</p>
<p>Yes, does anyone know of a test that will show some sort of country of origin, for example, if you had Native American ancestry or Scandinavian or Eastern European? Or even all three?</p>
<p>I haven’t done it, but you might want to check to see if there’s a DNA study for your specific family. There are hundreds of these. </p>
<p>Also, the Mormons allow you to download free genealogy software from their site. Just google genealogy and Mormon and you’ll find it. Then click on PAF. No need to pay for it.</p>
<p>I tested my dog. It cost $45, the results were not totally accurate, but everywhere I go people always ask me, “what kind of dog is that” and at least I have an answer. I know the test was not fully accurate because it came back showing only one breed, and the dog is obviously a mix. I figure that most likely the dog is a mix between a pure bred dog on one side, and a mixed breed on the other. But at least now when people ask me about the dog, I have an answer – rather than simply saying “pound dog” I can say “bichon mix”. This was somewhat useful to me, because before I got the test results back I thought I had guessed poodle rather than bichon.</p>
<p>The dog breed genetic testing is iffy, but the way they developed it was by looking for specific markers for specific pure breeds and then adding those to their database. That means practically, you have to start with samples from known and verifiable breeds. They will test dozens of labradors in order find the specific marker that seems to be present in every labrador but is not present in any other breed. Once having done that, they add Labrador Retrievers to your database, and then move onto the next breed. The dog DNA people do publish lists of what breeds are in their database, and they only test for standard AKC recognized breeds. They have to, because the existence of a breed standard and documented lineage for their sample dogs is what enables them to draw conclusions from their testing that can be applied to dogs with unknown lineage. </p>
<p>Which brings us to people. Unlike dogs, there aren’t many “purebred” people running or human “breed” standards. I had a healthy dose of skepticism when I sent away for the dog DNA test – I’d be even more skeptical of a people DNA test. I mean… at least I have a pretty good idea of what the dog DNA people did to distinguish between bichon’s and basenji’s.</p>
<p>If you are male there are some surname groups using DNA tests to match descendants. Take a look at this website for surnames:</p>
<p>[Surname</a> Projects | WorldFamilies.net](<a href=“http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/]Surname”>http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/)</p>
<p>Ordering through a project does save money on the DNA tests.</p>
<p>You might be interested in this article about Spanish descendants including a Catholic priest who found they had Jewish heritage:</p>
<p>[Hidden</a> heritage exposes cancer risk](<a href=“http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/health/health_krqe_albuquerque_hidden_heritage_exposes_cancer_risk_200907162200]Hidden”>http://www.krqe.com/dpp/news/health/health_krqe_albuquerque_hidden_heritage_exposes_cancer_risk_200907162200)</p>