I have always questioned Ancestry(dot)com and the way they do their testing and here is an interesting example of siblings being tested and the surprising results ...


Who’s More Irish, You or Your Sibling? The Surprising Science Behind the Inheritance of Ethnicity
Growing up I always thought I had to be more Irish than any of my siblings because I was born on the day before Lá Fhéile Pádraig (Saint Patrick’s Day)—one day early I might add; my due date was actually the 17th.

When I realized an AncestryDNA test could tell me if I really was the most Irish, I jumped at the chance.

My DNA test results — compared to my sisters’ results — were completely surprising!

Ready, Set, Spit
I started by testing my own DNA. And my test results did indeed confirm my Irish roots. (Phew!)



But my test was only half the story.

Yes, I was almost a quarter Irish. But was I more (or less) Irish than my sisters? To find out, my sisters needed to take a DNA test too.

Luckily they were easy to convince. They spat in the test tubes, sent in their saliva samples, and waited.

Who’s Most Irish: Can You Guess?
Though, as I had explained to my sisters, most siblings have a different mix of ethnicities due to the random nature of genetic inheritance, I still wondered: How different could we really be?

And of course I was dying to know: Which sister would prove to be the most Irish?

As we waited for our results, we challenged our friends and family to see if they could tell who looked “most Irish.”

Can you tell just by looking at us? Here we are, from oldest to youngest (that’s me on the far right).
I had to screengrab their images because the origin image is "a hot link".


It’s hard to say just based on our photos, I know. We don’t even look particularly alike, though I can say for sure we are all sisters — DNA did prove that.

And the DNA Verdict Is…
After several weeks, we had everyone’s results.

Take a look:



Do you see what happened? My oldest sister’s ethnicity results (on the far left), show she’s 45% Irish.

Mine show I’m just 22% Irish. So my sister is twice as Irish as I am!

And my other two siblings were right around 30% Irish. That means, despite my birthday, I’m actually the least Irish.

I Was the Odd Woman Out
Oh wow. I was reeling. But our DNA had more surprises in store.

Take another look:



All three of my sisters received a good portion of ethnicity from Europe West — and I basically got none.

In the first moment I almost felt robbed. But then I realized my ethnic mix is just different but every bit as awesome.

I am, for example, the most British (cue British accent and Britishisms like “Bob’s your uncle”).

How Can This Happen?
We all get 50% of our DNA from each of our parents. But they don’t give each kid the same 50% — unless you’re identical twins.

So it’s not super unusual for siblings to have different percentages of their parents’ ethnicities.

It makes sense if you think about the science behind it. But the first time most of us learn that our siblings can be more Irish or have DNA from a region that we totally lack, it’s definitely mind blowing.

 

Good news...you are NOT the father!!

 

LOL.

I do love Irish women though ...

Here is an excerpt from a website named "Skeptoid" and the article is both long and full of links but this was interesting as was the article.

 

I understand people have this need of knowing things to make their lives fulfilling and worth living...i however find bliss in ignorance...so I'm okay with just being a human...

 

My question is, just how many men was your mom sleeping with?

I was quickly put off from the whole DNA thing, even from very advanced labs in that they really cannot be very precise. Though confirming the degree of my Native American make up, having had hopes that I could somehow narrow down the field regarding who my mother might have been as in Nation or even general region, that was a bust. They just simply can't define it that well. In any case, it is my understanding that what you see in a DNA result is pretty much your mothers line. So all of the nonsense about "DNA proved I'm Mahatma Gandhi's love child" is simply nonsense.

Hush....an alias

 

Well said. I am under the understanding that they also take into account the family tree information that they have on file in making their conclusions to a point in the case of the Ancestry website.

I was kind of disappointed to find out I was pretty much a purebred. Good bloodline but boring for party talk lol.

When I was diagnosed with Parkinsons they traced my genealogy to see if it was hereditary but it turned out it was from repeated blows to the head from my wrestling, hockey and car crashes ... that might explain my posting style LOL.

 

Some just want to know when money is involved ...

 

There was a fascinating program following the DNA of locals , recently.
It showed some very interesting connections , from some really obscure and remote regions , often totally surprising to participants.

One participant even had a marker that says their ancestry goes right back to , and included Neanderthals.
Meaning one of their ancestors resulted from a modern homo sapiens being knocked up by a Neanderthal.
A whole different take on interracial sex

 

So, these DNA tests are nearly total bunk as far as your ethnicity. What about medical issues. Are they as rangy at detecting, say if you have a better chance of ending up with Crohn's disease than any of your sisters?

 

I have followed DNA trails more than a few times while looking for clues in all the body parts left over when doing investigations .
Other than that they are a money grab for people that need closure and they would be just as well off seeing a psychic in my opinion . Testing for disease is one thing but ancestry is a whole different story . Some people just want so badly to believe what others feed them .

 

Unless I'm being charged for a crime i did not commit FUCK DNA literally...

 

I read an article that says as many as 1 in every 200 men on earth can be traced back to Genghis Khan .

 

Yeah , in human terms , Genghis Kahn was only yesterday , and about 100% of us have notable ancestors.

African worriors , Celtic Kings , Egyptian Pharos , Viking nobleman , murderers , rapists , bigamists , Chinese emperor's , Indian chiefs ,
Poncho and Davey Crockett.

 

Me?, Purebred mongrel
my Daughter even more so....

 

Just so that you all know, ancestary.com sells yor dna info to various clients. So your health insurance company might find out about possible health concerns.

 

Here is the "company line" on that Ed.

The fineprint that nobody reads is where they get you ...

Most companies would sell their own mother to make a buck these day lol.

 

Here is their policy if anyone is interested ...

1. What does this Privacy Statement cover?
2. What personal information does Ancestry collect?
3. How does Ancestry use your personal information?
4. Will Ancestry disclose any of your personal information to third parties?
5. May you refuse to provide personal information to Ancestry?
6. Managing your privacy settings
7. What about non-personal and anonymized information, "cookies" & tracking technologies, and our advertisements?
8. How do you report, change or delete personal information about you or your family
9. Security
10. Contests, surveys and promotions
11. Changes, updates and consent
12. Contact us about privacy