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Neanderthal DNA
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Jun 30, 2022 08:28:32   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
I just got an email from 23andMe. I have less that 2% Neanderthal DNA; I don't have a fear of heights (true), but I have a poor sense of direction (not true).

They got this one Totally wrong. "You have 0 variants associated with having difficulty discarding rarely-used possessions." I don't like to throw anything away. I still have my Boy Scout uniform in the closet.

If you haven't done a DNA test, I think it's worth doing.

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Jun 30, 2022 08:31:14   #
Bigmike1 Loc: I am from Gaffney, S.C. but live in Utah.
 
Why bother? I know where my ancestors came from and I don't believe in Neanderthals.

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Jun 30, 2022 08:44:30   #
kvanhook Loc: Oriental, NC
 
I had the test and found out who my biological grandfather was. My Dad was adopted and never knew. Surprise!

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Jun 30, 2022 08:47:48   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
kvanhook wrote:
I had the test and found out who my biological grandfather was. My Dad was adopted and never knew. Surprise!


A couple of my friends go that surprise after their parents died. The relatives decided to tell them. An "Italian" friend was actually Irish.

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Jun 30, 2022 08:48:42   #
fourlocks Loc: Londonderry, NH
 
I did a test through Ancestry and although I have well-documented Native American ancestors, Ancestry showed there to be none in my DNA. My cousin said Native American often shows up as Asian, though. The rest was accurate as verified by our family genealogy going back to the 1500's.

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Jun 30, 2022 09:59:03   #
DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA
 
fourlocks wrote:
I did a test through Ancestry and although I have well-documented Native American ancestors, Ancestry showed there to be none in my DNA. My cousin said Native American often shows up as Asian, though. The rest was accurate as verified by our family genealogy going back to the 1500's.


My take on genealogy:

Going back to the 1500s is good. Around that time people started to keep records.

1500 back to 1000: Pretty much only the aristocracy kept records. The hoi polloi were on their own.

Before 1000: Only royalty kept records. But in addition, there arose an interest in having good ancestors, so people started to make things up to improve their ancestry.

My grandmother was interested in genealogy and had a list going back to the 1500s for that branch of the family. My mother got her genealogy books and I got them when my mother passed. Internet time. There's a lot of information on the internet on genealogy. Some of it is probably accurate.

There's a 'mathematical theorem' that 'proves' that anyone of European ancestry is descended from Charlemagne (about 840AD). It's not specific to Charlemagne, but really applies to ANYONE from about that time. It's a statistical argument, (based on a calculation of who is NOT your ancestor) and doesn't take into account the predilection of royalty to breed with royalty (primarily) but the application of statistics to ancestry has to be taken with a barrel of salt. It's interesting, however, to extend the argument to later years. Doing that 'proves' that the probability that you are NOT a descendant of any given person from the year 1100 is about 1 part in a million. That makes nearly all you European descended guys related to MacBeth (and Duncan), or William the Conqueror (or William the Bastard, depending on whom you talk to), or Ethelred the Unready (a guy with an unfortunate appelation, which is a mistranslation of an old English word meaning "having bad counsellors").

Today, having a few kings in your ancestry will probably allow you to buy a Starbucks coffee for around $20.

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Jun 30, 2022 16:33:03   #
therwol Loc: USA
 
DirtFarmer wrote:
Today, having a few kings in your ancestry will probably allow you to buy a Starbucks coffee for around $20.

My wife has a marker that all of the European royalty has (and a ton of other European people as well.) So she takes that as proof that she's descended from royalty which should entitle her to a lot of money. Right?

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Jun 30, 2022 16:42:40   #
therwol Loc: USA
 
jerryc41 wrote:
I just got an email from 23andMe. I have less that 2% Neanderthal DNA; I don't have a fear of heights (true), but I have a poor sense of direction (not true).

They got this one Totally wrong. "You have 0 variants associated with having difficulty discarding rarely-used possessions." I don't like to throw anything away. I still have my Boy Scout uniform in the closet.

If you haven't done a DNA test, I think it's worth doing.
I just got an email from 23andMe. I have less tha... (show quote)


I've had two DNA tests, one through Ancestry and one through 23andMe. Not only do they not agree on where my ancestors came from, they keep changing where they came from as they do "updates." When I first was tested about 5 years ago, one of them had me coming mostly from Scandinavia and the other southern Europe. Now both of them have most of my ancestors in the UK, Ireland and Scotland. But one of them has me with other ancestors in France, and the other one has me with ancestors in Spain. I wonder how they determine this. Do they take your word that your ancestors are from a particular place and apply the surveys to everyone? Do they actually go all over the world and do mass testing on people? DNA testing is not as popular in many countries as it is in the US.

The other thing is that I'm never going to put my identity out there for others to see. I was adopted, and I don't need or want 2 families. My son put his identity out there and was contacted by a psychotic woman on my wife's side who was pissed off when she found out she was adopted and wanted my son to make contact with her biological father and make him have contact with her and make his attorneys stop threatening her. He ignored her, and she eventually gave up.

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Jun 30, 2022 17:25:57   #
DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA
 
therwol wrote:
My wife has a marker that all of the European royalty has (and a ton of other European people as well.) So she takes that as proof that she's descended from royalty which should entitle her to a lot of money. Right?


Remember that people who have a ton of money, usually also have a ton of bills.
(Or since you're of European descent, make that a Tonne).

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Jun 30, 2022 23:10:46   #
bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri
 
Keep in mind that there’s a difference between your heritage and your DNA. I know without a doubt that my heritage is 25% German. However, my DNA doesn’t show any German and only a small bit of “northern European.

How so? We inherit 50% of our parents DNA. My dad was half German and half English and I inherited his English half. There is a slight mixing of genes back and forth between the two halves of the DNA strand so it’s never a 100% “pure” half.

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Jul 1, 2022 06:46:05   #
exakta56 Loc: Orford,New Hampshire
 
Bigmike1 wrote:
Why bother? I know where my ancestors came from and I don't believe in Neanderthals.


Whether or not you 'believe' in Neanderthals, they did exist. What's your problem?

Reply
 
 
Jul 1, 2022 07:56:29   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
therwol wrote:
I've had two DNA tests, one through Ancestry and one through 23andMe. Not only do they not agree on where my ancestors came from, they keep changing where they came from as they do "updates." When I first was tested about 5 years ago, one of them had me coming mostly from Scandinavia and the other southern Europe. Now both of them have most of my ancestors in the UK, Ireland and Scotland. But one of them has me with other ancestors in France, and the other one has me with ancestors in Spain. I wonder how they determine this. Do they take your word that your ancestors are from a particular place and apply the surveys to everyone? Do they actually go all over the world and do mass testing on people? DNA testing is not as popular in many countries as it is in the US.

The other thing is that I'm never going to put my identity out there for others to see. I was adopted, and I don't need or want 2 families. My son put his identity out there and was contacted by a psychotic woman on my wife's side who was pissed off when she found out she was adopted and wanted my son to make contact with her biological father and make him have contact with her and make his attorneys stop threatening her. He ignored her, and she eventually gave up.
I've had two DNA tests, one through Ancestry and o... (show quote)


My two tests seem to agree that I'm mostly Irish with a bit of western European. What's interesting is that they issue questionnaires and match the answers with the DNA. If most people with certain DNA have a particular trait, they list that as a strong possibility for others with that DNA. I told them to stop sending me the questionnaires. I've done enough of them.

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Jul 1, 2022 07:59:22   #
rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines
 
Bigmike1 wrote:
Why bother? I know where my ancestors came from and I don't believe in Neanderthals.



Yes, who cares??? Of what value is it, other than as a possible conversation piece? I guess if you're in the business of supplying this "information", it's of value - to you!

Be you!!! - and neither a distant relative of Queen Elizabeth nor the illegitimate child of some drunk!!! (And if one believes there were Neanderthals, go a little farther back - there were supposed to have been monkeys, too! - and even amoeba in your background!!!)

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

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Jul 1, 2022 08:11:13   #
Lagoonguy Loc: New Smyrna Beach, FL
 
For a small price Ancestry.com DNA test has been great entertainment for me and my family. If you bother to build a family tree it is even more fun, not to mention being full of surprises. One warning, only use well researched and three source verified information when adding someone to your tree as there is a lot of false information out there. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading of the history, politics and cultures surrounding my research. It didn’t pick up my documented Greek ancestry but that was five generations ago. Close enough for me. The danger is like eating potato chips, it’s hard to stop.

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Jul 1, 2022 08:52:19   #
sb Loc: Florida's East Coast
 
My brother has traced our ancestry back to revolutionary war times. Although our DNA shows 3% West African DNA, he cannot find any mixed marriages. I pointed out to him that back in the 1800's mixed marriages probably did not get recorded in family Bibles or even at the courthouse. It is interesting, though.

I do have some neanderthal DNA in me. Must be why I like to stare into the fire.

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