Why The Use Of Online DNA Testing May Not Be The Smartest Thing to Do.

originally posted by: Nyiah
Edit: My mother sent hers in, and was greatly disappointed to find it just confirmed the genealogy research -- predominantly Scandinavian, Russian & Irish descent with some Eastern & Central European in there. The only new info was a very tiny minority percentage of "Red Sea", whatever the hell that means. Arab or Hebrew, I guess.

a reply to: rickymouse

I'm glad that it worked out for you, even though you would have still raised them as your own, if you were to know they weren't I would suggest no matter how well you did with them there would most likely have been a subconscious undertone of resentment. Not to say that you would have let it show, but I'm glad for you and your daughters sake that it worked out. I'm also happy for you that the doctor was wrong about you being able to be a father.

originally posted by: TheLead
a reply to: rickymouse

I'm glad that it worked out for you, even though you would have still raised them as your own, if you were to know they weren't I would suggest no matter how well you did with them there would most likely have been a subconscious undertone of resentment. Not to say that you would have let it show, but I'm glad for you and your daughters sake that it worked out. I'm also happy for you that the doctor was wrong about you being able to be a father.

The reason I gave up my first daughter to my ex's new husband is because I felt it might be better if the daughter actually had someone to call dad in the house. I guess the wife's bipolar ways led to their divorce within three years, also her divorce from three more husbands. I warned them all, they did not listen. She is on meds now to help control the bipolar, they do help somewhat but are real hard on her body.

I have only had one wife after her, and we are still around. My wife has always accepted my oldest daughter as our daughter too, even though legally she is not related anymore.

I learned not to believe doctors even if they insist they are right unless real evidence shows that their information is correct and properly evaluated.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

I voiced my concerns with this in a thread called 23 and me. I started that thread in 2015 when the company of the same name started advertising its services. I was, and still am, concerned about a government agency having so many DNA samples. If they wanted to use them to nefarious ends, how could anyone stop them? Unless your name is OJ DNA evidence is considered ironclad.

a reply to: rickymouse

I applaud your all's ability to be adults and put your differences aside for the needs of the children, far too often people tend to use children as bargaining chips in that situation.

originally posted by: TheLead
a reply to: rickymouse

I applaud your all's ability to be adults and put your differences aside for the needs of the children, far too often people tend to use children as bargaining chips in that situation.

If I were to have married a woman with children, I would have treated them as my own. I would consider the rights of their real father though. But let him know that we need to work together to bring up the kids properly. Working symbiotically is the best way to do anything.

a reply to: Azureblue
The science of DNA is far more complex than they want you to believe.

The science is not unanimously agreed upon by all involved. What the sample is being used for is a huge factor in the kind of results can you expect to see. The two main forms of DNA that are used for identification are mitochondrial DNA and nuclear DNA. Huge amounts of DNA can be found in tiny samples, and DNA can be extracted from a sample long past what most people think. Depending on whether the DNA has been exposed to heat, water, sunlight, chemicals, and oxygen, will impact the decay rate and the integrity of the DNA. That is why proper collection, packaging, and storing is critical.

Many have said that it doesn't make any difference if you voluntarily submit your DNA or not, because it is so easily obtained, if someone really wants it. That is true to a degree, but DNA sitting in a global database voluntarily submitted, probably is more likely to be admissible in a court of law than DNA swabbed from a bottle at a club that was in the possession of multiple people.

Add to that scenario that it wasn't even you at the club but a distant cousin, that you may not even know, that they were able to trace back to you through a familial DNA link. That is why I think people should think twice before voluntarily sending their DNA to be entered into a global data base.

What they are getting is not as accurate as they lead you to believe. In some cases it is nothing more than a new fad that gives some status on social media. It doesn't really identify who or what you are.

The companies offering ancestry identification services uses its own proprietary database of ancestry informative markers (AIMs) from current populations in Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. Using their individual and proprietary specimens, from within their databases, they select for a certain number of alleles. Alleles are only one member of a pair of genes located at a specific position on a specific chromosome. From these spots they use the genetic variations known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) as the basis for evaluating individuals. The SNPs markers are chosen because they have different frequencies across different geographical populations.

I don't have enough time or space, and I doubt there is enough interest, to go into the complexities involved with DNA typing. The full typing process involves theories and findings that cover a wide variety of scientific fields, and all do not agree. That is why it is a big deal in a court of law and why it is not always admissible.

The online Ancestry companies makes submitting your DNA appear to be fun, safe, and the in thing to do. I am just suggesting that before people fall for the hype and voluntarily add their DNA to a global database that they look at the possible consequences of such a choice. I think they are particularly naive to think that these companies are going to protect your privacy rights when the law comes knocking at their front door, or to think the law hasn't already entered by way of the back door.

Will be nice when states start using it . When after the weekend they scour the beach collecting trash that wasn't put in its proper place . After people start getting fined for littering , no more trash on the beach. The states could make a fortune.

a reply to: MajorAce

If they start using DNA for prosecuting minor infractions we won't have to worry about the beaches, or anything else. We will all be safely tucked away in our FEMA camps killing each other off for the first offense that comes to mind.

When I was a child I was a ferocious reader. I used to read about our futuristic world and thought it was all fiction. I believed people would never be so stupid as to allow themselves to become slaves to a controlling system of any kind, and definitely not to computers.

Well, just another thing I have gotten wrong over the years.

a reply to: rickymouse
That’s incredible you found out you were really their father.
My two daughters got theirs done with very different results. One has much more Irish.

I always thought you inherited different percentages by doing the math , like if my mother was half Irish, I’m a quarter, but this is not so.

Anyways the one daughter who has always been much darker skinned, has regions that look to be Iran and North Africa . Her other countries are all dark skinned races as well. Yet my other daughter didn’t inherit those genes. I know for a fact I have Scottish ancestry but it didn’t come up in mine, but did on my ‘dark’ daughter. I was even somewhat surprised to see my ‘dark’ daughter actually was mine! It’s been a long running joke she was switched at birth because she looks nothing like me or her sister. I always got asked if she was mine or was there a different father than my other two. She often gets asked if she’s half Black. So I guess now we know she sort of is, must come from her father. Yet he could do his and not inherit these dark genes. It’s like they’re skipping generations and suddenly pop up in one person. Like when you see a news story about a black couple giving birth to a white child.

Perhaps those genes are in there but are in hidden form? They have to be in there if they’re passing on.


Either way though, you can tell if it’s Parent - Child.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn
Me too. It all seemed such fiction. Little by little it is coming into fruition

a reply to: violet
What your dealing with there is genetics. Example, say your white but had a black great grandfather the chances of you having a black child (even if the parents are both white) averages out as one in four. That does not mean every fourth child will be black, it might skip six or seven generations, but might show up anytime.
Now about genealogy and ancestry people who help you with your family tree and would like you to give your DNA. You all actually know who is doing this?
Look them up, go through who runs what down to the backers. They're Mormons. Did you read that right? The Mormons for the last few decades have been compiling a world family tree. It's not just for Mormons. If you are compiling your family tree and offer them your results free, they will give you access to their database of family trees.
As you are now aware this now includes your DNA. So if truth be known the Mormons hold a bigger DNA data base than the US government.

a reply to: crayzeed

You are correct it’s mormons. All based in
Utah.

I think ancestry owns them all

My wife bought me a kit for my Birthday and I threw it away as far as I know these company's could be undercover government agency's cataloguing everyone's DNA there's no way in H that I'm just going to volunteer my DNA.

a reply to: crayzeed

You are correct it’s mormons. All based in
Utah.

I think ancestry owns them all

a reply to: violet

Actually the ancestry utilizes epigenetic factors. The darker daughter could have inherited some from you and some from your husband while the other daughter got a different mix of snps. if you have an irish snp and your husband has one copy, the daughter could wind up with two.

I always thought that it would slowly filter down but it doesn't quite work that way. I read some of the information and watched a video on ancestry that explained how it works. I think it is still there. I have the daughters done, the son in laws, my ex's, and most of the grandkids done. We just bought one for the other granddaughter, my oldest granddaughter had hers done already. I need the genetic info for a gene app to compare why the younger one can eat more and has less asthma and histamine problems than the older one does. Lots of HLA problems with my oldest granddaughter, I want to compare the results in the Livewello app.

Both my ex and my present wife are mutts. I am pretty much Finn with a little scandanavian and some estonian in the mix. Typical Finlander. My daughters show up as first cousins because they are half sisters.

a reply to: violet

They are running a free promethease report for a limited time where you can check some health and medicine information. I have done this app for everyone in our house, It only costs five bucks anyway, but free is better and not having to put a credit card on the net is safer if your computer is compromised. www.promethease.com...

I just got an e-mail that they were again doing this. I left all our data there so I can rerun the app as new information is discovered. Use this as reference information only, I study this and it has to be used along with family history to see if it applies. I like when they list the amount of extra risk, I can evaluate whether it is worth considering. You just download your genetic data from ancestry and load it into the app. You do not have to leave the DNA data there, but then you need to reload it again, and pay if needed, to update. You have to download the results to your computer or it disappears in forty five days. I have like eight promethius apps on my desktop and also everyone's dna so I can double check things if one of the apps gets it wrong.

The Free signup is only good till May 10th

It sounds like such a fun holiday gift idea: a DNA test that can tell your sister-in-law whether she really has Native American ancestors, or one that promises to craft your friend a perfect diet based on his genes.

Home DNA tests are likely a big seller for the next few weeks, but privacy experts say consumers should be cautious, and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said this past weekend that he was asking the Federal Trade Commission to "take a serious look at this relatively new kind of service and ensure that these companies can have clear, fair privacy policies."

What you're giving away with those home DNA tests It’s the most valuable thing you own

Some people are more trusting than others. Regardless of how honest or trustworthy you think a company may be, your precious data goes through many hands. Some may not be as trustworthy or even have the same intentions as the ancestry web site.

“Obviously, there is a lot of fine print,” said Mary Freivogel, president of the National Society of Genetic Counselors. “Any time you do anything and you have a big, long agreement in front of you, I think so many of us are accustomed to just clicking ‘agree’.” Even if you do read the whole agreement, which can go on for pages, you may not understand what you’re giving the company permission to do, said Hank Greely, director of the Center for Law and the Biosciences at Stanford School of Medicine.

a reply to: NightSkyeB4Dawn

If I was in the DNA/science business right now I'd be all over it like a rash, collecting as much information on as many people as possible. In the future these databases will be worth an absolute fortune. Forget selling phone number/name lists for cold calling etc, there will be businesses trading DNA lists and making huge money.
...and there's nothing people will be able to do about businesses profiting from their DNA, because they didn't read the small print.

It's the same argument of halo cams. Could the video evidence help catch criminal? How much privacy for how much security? All these things don't stop crime, just aid in solving after the fact. Ultimately, I'm opposed to the government know me all the way down to my DNA.