Posts Tagged ‘genetics’

Some amusing trace DNA that I discovered.

The amount of German DNA that this is reporting really surprises me, because just about every test I’ve done says that I either have very little German DNA or none. Almost all tests have reported that I am either a third or just under halfway Celtic (Irish, Scottish and Welsh). The fact that this says that I have no British DNA does not surprise me at all since three recent tests where I have uploaded my DNA have reported that. I am predominantly Scandinavian as it turns out, and I’m cool with that. The French DNA that this reports back is not that surprising, as early on I ran my DNA through GEDmatch and it reported back with trace DNA that I had initially discarded. I know that I have Balkan and Greek DNA, although this does not report back on my Italian DNA the same way that GEDmatch enthusiastically has. And the eastern European DNA does not even surprise me, because GEDmatch consistently reported back on low levels of Romanian DNA.

So here we are, I suppose. At some point I’ll update the “More About Me” page with some of this.

Before I completely forget to mention this here…

Facebook suggested this website enough to me that I decided to upload my Ancestry DNA to it and give it a try. So far, it hasn’t told me anything that I didn’t already know or haven’t already seen on other tests, which is good. The only surprising bit is the fact that it did not pick up any Irish DNA, and it reported west German DNA when 23andMe isn’t sure if I’m French, German, or both, and Ancestry initially had me pegged at 2% German that it walked back on the next update. Given what I do know of my family history though, I am inclined to say that I am probably not as German as 23andMe thinks I am, or this website might think I am.

Regarding the gene test results that I posted…

Through talking to some people, I found out that some of these tests consider Scandinavian DNA to be European (namely western European, from the United Kingdom) if it reports back to them at what they consider a “low confidence”. On my dad’s side of the family, I’ve been able to ascertain that I am predominantly Danish, some British, and… as for the rest of what has reported back over the years that I’ve done these tests, I’m still figuring out from whom might I have inherited what (or was it both of them?). I know that I am Swedish on my mom’s side of the family because her maiden name was extremely Scandinavian, and Ancestry reporting back that I am Swedish — then being able to tell from what side of the family that would be on — does not surprise me one bit. I mean, it would be from one of those countries.

I seem to be stuck with the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh DNA, and I say that with nothing but love at this point.

As for the Greek, southern Italian, and Balkan DNA, that’s where things began to get a bit interesting. When I first took a 23andMe test, before they made some updates to their algorithm, it reported back that I had southern European DNA at around this percentage. I have a cousin from whom I was able to tell exactly how we are related who has this at a higher percentage, and apparently a higher confidence level. So I was quickly able to figure out from exactly which relative this DNA came from, even if Ancestry and 23andMe “regard” the DNA with lower confidence than MyHeritage (my paternal great-grandmother). Interesting…

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