Just wondering who on here has used the ancestry DNA test and what you thought. I took mine, it was a gift and was somewhat confused. I know my great grandma and grandpa were full blooded Cherokee Indian but shockingly, no native American showed up on my dna test. So what are you thoughts on yours if you've taken it?

My dog took one. Alas, I have no experience with the human version

Which do you the most doubts about, your relative's recollections or the DNA test house data analysis?

I am interested in these tests, but I have never had one. To be honest, I worry about the potential ramifications these things might have at some point. I don't have a specific fear right now, I just don't particularly trust either the government or large companies to appropriately handle this information if they perceive some benefit they can invoke.

PackFansXL said:

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Which do you the most doubts about, your relative's recollections or the DNA test house data analysis?

I am interested in these tests, but I have never had one. To be honest, I worry about the potential ramifications these things might have at some point. I don't have a specific fear right now, I just don't particularly trust either the government or large companies to appropriately handle this information if they perceive some benefit they can invoke.

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I know for fact my great grandpa and grandma were full Cherokee. For me, I doubt the the analysis on it. I know quiet a bit about my family, where I'm from, etc, but the fact that it didn't even detect that makes me wonder how off it actually is.

You've responded as I expected. Have you inquired with the company representatives regarding your doubts? Perhaps they have online methods to address generic questions so you don't have to reveal your details while you're seeking answers.

What provisions does this company make for protection of your data? Did they make statements regarding the reliability of their analysis?

My mom has done it do to the fact that their was a presumed Cherokee lineage in the family. Came back zero on Native American. No, my mom is not Elizabeth Warren. I myself refuse to give anyone my DNA. No, I am not Alex Jones.

PackDaddy said:

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My mom has done it do to the fact that their was a presumed Cherokee lineage in the family. Came back zero on Native American. No, my mom is not Elizabeth Warren. I myself refuse to give anyone my DNA. No, I am not Alex Jones.

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My mom isn't Elizabeth Warren.....lol

You have made my day PackDaddy

I found this article about genetic testing in general as well as how you get different variances between companies

https://gizmodo.com/how-dna-testing-botched-my-familys-heritage-and-probab-1820932637

Its worth the read

cowboypack02 said:

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I found this article about genetic testing in general as well as how you get different variances between companies

https://gizmodo.com/how-dna-testing-botched-my-familys-heritage-and-probab-1820932637

Its worth the read

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Excellent article! Some important points from the article are listed below.

• Sometimes your heritage doesn't have anything at all to do with your genetics
• It's worth mentioning that genetics is also probabilistic: just because you have the gene, doesn't mean you have the trait.
• Each testing company is looking at different alleles from different parts of the genome and using different algorithms to crunch that data.
• Where your ancestors are from depends on what period in time you're talking about.
• The estimates of genetic ethnicity are variable and depend on the method applied, the reference panel used, and the other customer samples included during estimation."
• "They're not telling you where your DNA comes from in the past," he told me, "They're telling you where on Earth your DNA is from today."
• Harvard geneticist Robert Green explained there isn't an agreed-upon approach to pick the right number of markers and combine them mathematically. Everyone is sort of just making it up as they go along."

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RWW26, based on that article, I think the most likely reason for the test excluding your Native American heritage is the comparative data set does not include enough people similar to you to yield accurate results. At least that is my interpretation of the bullet I bolded. It appears there isn't some objective truth these tests reveal right now. They are like an artificial intelligence algorithm that is continually adapting to new data and refining results to improve accuracy. Perhaps with a large enough data set, the results will be more accurate, but like the author's final paragraph indicates genetics and heritage don't always agree.

Regardless, this is an interesting topic and I'm glad you posted the question on this board.

PackFansXL said:

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cowboypack02 said:

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I found this article about genetic testing in general as well as how you get different variances between companies

https://gizmodo.com/how-dna-testing-botched-my-familys-heritage-and-probab-1820932637

Its worth the read

---

Excellent article! Some important points from the article are listed below.

• Sometimes your heritage doesn't have anything at all to do with your genetics
• It's worth mentioning that genetics is also probabilistic: just because you have the gene, doesn't mean you have the trait.
• Each testing company is looking at different alleles from different parts of the genome and using different algorithms to crunch that data.
• Where your ancestors are from depends on what period in time you're talking about.
• The estimates of genetic ethnicity are variable and depend on the method applied, the reference panel used, and the other customer samples included during estimation."
• "They're not telling you where your DNA comes from in the past," he told me, "They're telling you where on Earth your DNA is from today."
• Harvard geneticist Robert Green explained there isn't an agreed-upon approach to pick the right number of markers and combine them mathematically. Everyone is sort of just making it up as they go along."

-----------------------------------
RWW26, based on that article, I think the most likely reason for the test excluding your Native American heritage is the comparative data set does not include enough people similar to you to yield accurate results. At least that is my interpretation of the bullet I bolded. It appears there isn't some objective truth these tests reveal right now. They are like an artificial intelligence algorithm that is continually adapting to new data and refining results to improve accuracy. Perhaps with a large enough data set, the results will be more accurate, but like the author's final paragraph indicates genetics and heritage don't always agree.

Regardless, this is an interesting topic and I'm glad you posted the question on this board.

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Thanks for that man! Very interesting indeed. It was so odd not seeing it show up considering I spent the first 9 and 11 years of my life respectfully knowing them and spending weekends with them.