Tuesday, May 15, 2012

DNA testing

my DNA ring
Through one of those daily deal sites I found a deal to have individual DNA profiles created. I decided to buy one for each member of our little (or by some standards not so little) family. It was $29 per person for the deal. This company Connect my DNA, is trying to make DNA test affordable for the average person. Their test isn't a full DNA profile. Its only the 13 sites using STR (short random repeats) that are used for DNA forensic testing. This test won't tell you anything about your DNA (ie- cancer risk, Alzheimer risk, are you a carrier for anything). Instead it only looks at random sequences and tests the length of the random sequences found in all/most humans. Connect my DNA's test is normally $89.95 per person. I really wanted to know if my girls are identical. This test isn't designed to do it, but should be obvious enough to tell if the girls are identical or fraternal.  So I was able to get a great deal, but compare their $90 test to other DNA test out there it would cost me about $200 per person to get the girls tested. For the deal I got I was able to also test myself, my husband, and our son, in addition to our twin girls. Point being if you want to have your DNA profiled, this is an affordable way (even without the great deal I found) to get it done.
Just a word, ignore their "country connection" feature. They say my country connection is Malaysia. My family history is British and Danish. The only European country on my "country connection" was Hungary. I don't even have any family from there or any other countries on my list. It was pointless. It does remind you that your "country connection" isn't what your ancestry is, it is just a list of where you'd most likely fit in current populations. 

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