"DNA Testing" Topic

As a recent advertisement proclaims:

Uncover your ethnic mix, discover distant relatives, and find new details about your unique family history with a simple DNA test.

Does it interest you?

* yes
* no
* already had it done

My brother had it done. Best to test the mother. We discovered we had a substantial amount of Scandinavian, which was a surprise. We knew about the rest of it, and have a good guess where the Scandinavian blood enters in. Just never knew about it specifically.

Absolutely not interested!

It would be mildly interesting to know, but I have no intention of doing any actual work or paying for it.

As for my ancestors, as Karsi the Wildling said at Hardhome to The Magnar, "**** 'em. They're dead."

I read an article on line a few days ago about some deranged people who are so obsessed with completing family trees, they deceive strangers they suspect to be related into leaving used cups or glasses behind to swab for DNA.

"Uncovering distant relatives" Like with a shovel?

Goodwill gets really upset if you leave them in a drop box, you know.

Already did it. I've traded emails with 2 relatives I didn't know about. Ancestry.com will let you know when you have common DNA with someone.

I am reasonably interested. My wife is totally interested. If I get a large chubj of change from this worker's comp settlement, we will be doing it.

No.

I havehad it done. It is generally spot on with some differences from family history.

My brother in law had this done, he found out he was 16% Native American, in this case South American (probably Aztec I guess). It also showed about 4% Spanish, which debunked the long held family claim that they're mostly Spanish.

Might be fun but not something I'd pay for I think.

Not even remotely interested.

Well, my father's relatives still live in Ireland and the main street in Dublin is named after one of my mother's ancestors, so I think I already have a pretty good idea.

Now, if there were an inexpensive test to prove I'm not related to my siblings I'd be on it like a duck on a junebug.

LT

Did it…half Celtic, half Viking, apparently the girls in Western England were friendly?

No. I'm 100% American now.

+1 Zulupaul!

I'm really dubious about genealogy to begin with, as a heritage professional I feel it doesn't really reflect the complexities of history. Just sharing the same name as someone in the past doesn't mean you're related to them.

DNA testing avoids all that and also acts as a useful reminder of how diverse our ancestors were. It's also amusing when someone who claims to be English/Irish etc all the way back to time immemorial does a test and finds Mongol or Middle Eastern indicators

My main hobby other than wargaming is researching my family history and ancestry. As part of that project I took a DNA text a few years ago, and discovered that my ethnicity is roughly 49% British (English and Scottish), 24% Eastern European (Croatian), 13% Irish, 6% Scandinavian (Norwegian and Swedish), 3% European Jewish, 2% Finnish/Northwest Russian, 2% Spanish, <1% French (possibly Norman), and <1% Italian. All of that corresponds quite well with the genealogical information that I have been able to piece together over time.

Personally, I find it all rather fascinating!

Done. I'm a mongrel….

A topic of interest? Yes. But what the bleeping heck does this have to do with wargaming?

Would love to, but it's not a priority. With two kids in private school, (our school system is horrible here), I have other things to spend my money on.

It's tangentally connected to wargaming as a lot of people I know like to run armies they feel a connection with. This gives some of them that connection.

I did it and I found it really interesting.

I already know I'm a Heinz 57 – Scottish, Welsh, English Spanish, French, Belgian, Greek, Macedonian, maybe some Turkish in there… All places with spotless history of clean bloodlines, sure.

I would be surprised if the was, say, Koran in my ancestry, but anything European is kinda to be expected.

I did it some days ago!

yeah, that would be interesting. How could anybody not be curious?

Not in the smallest way.

I've met my family, the people who raised me. I know about my ancestors, where they came from and specifics of what they did as part of our family history. None of that has anything to do with DNA and vague, flimsy correlation to maps.

One simple example of many: Both of my maternal grandparents were immigrants to the country where my mother was born. They lived there because of their parents' actions, fell in love with each other and the only homeland they could remember, and stayed until Soviet reoccupation.

My mother would have no locally mapped DNA from where she was born. From where her parents made a home. From the place her father fought Nazis and Soviets to protect. She and her family dedicated time and money to supporting their countrymen through Soviet occupation. They sponsored families to immigrate to the US and become citizens (the way they were sponsored in after the War). Over the last couple of decades, they helped their freed country orient itself to the Western world.

If you would like to explain how that place is not part of her heritage because her DNA doesn't map to it, I would like to listen.

Had it done, and was not surprised that my English-Irish was fairly huge, with northwestern Europe firmly in place going back some 40,000 years.

I've always been a "stay at home," and now I see I come from a long line of cats who didn't move around much, either.

But the FUN part was to find that I am among the top 95 percentile of the population for NEANDERTHAL genes.

Like I said, it appears NO ONE in my family moved much. They sat in their caves, welcomed the Homo sapiens into the neighborhood, and were absorbed rather than move away.

No wonder I still like "Cave Man Movies"?

Ancient TVAG

Already done it for me, my mom, & my wife.

Fun stuff.

Lots of illegitimate children in my family tree, so I find it interesting.

Now, if there were an inexpensive test to prove I'm not related to my siblings I'd be on it like a duck on a junebug.

To this I say to my much older brother brass1 – "Please, if there is a merciful God make this come true!"

yeah, that would be interesting. How could anybody not be curious?

Because I'm not interested?
Give me that information as a free gift and I will politely accept it so as not to be rude. But to actually pay for it or do any work for it, no thanks.

My wife to this day thinks that I was adopted or switched at birth.

Please include an option for "this has nothing to do with wargaming."