Genetic testing - for or against?

[Mad Dilys]

On the last evening that my DD and grandson were here we each collect a saliva sample in a bottle to be sent to 23AndMe for genetic testing.

I think it will be very interesting to compare the different generation's results. It may give some indication of ancestry and a tendency to certain ailments though of course not a diagnosis.

How do you feel about this?

[Horus]

From what I have seen most seem to be pretty general in what they indicate such as 50% Scandanavian 10% Zulu etc. As for the medical bit I am not so sure, they may indicate a risk of certain diseases, but if you are not already suffering from them then why worry about it. I am sure that the more expensive tests can give you a lot more detail, but at what cost?

[Mad Dilys]

I think this cost about £70 per person and my daughter and I were really wanted to see how much we differed as well as were similar.

I do have a couple of genetic minor problems, like limb girdle muscular dystrophy and hypermobility and I am quite interested to see if the others have inherited it from me.

In view of my uncommon family name I wondered if I had Arab forebears too.

[Horus]

I suppose many surnames will denote an ethnic inclusion of some kind as in
“By the names of Tre, Pol, Pen, you shall know all Cornish men”
So if your name is Trelawney, Poldark, Penhaligon etc. then you must have Cornish ancestry unless its just from marriage. Other names just denote occupations or places unless of course you are Celtic in origin when the likes of McGregor, McClean will denote a clan association and even worse if you are Icelandic with your name reflecting your parents as in Magnus Magnusson or ‘Magnus the son of Magnus’ and of course you know that the Arab naming system is just as complex. I wish you well with your research

[Mad Dilys]

I always get a great reception in the middle east when using my Egyptian passport as apparently my surname is the same as the family who hold the key to the Kaba, the little building in the very centre of the mosque in Mecca. Apparently it was given them by Mohammed (PBUH) and they hold it still.

There are very, very few bearing that name in the UK.

[Horus]

Not hard to figure out your surname then
I leave a spare key with my neighbours

[Mad Dilys]

Bill the Burglar has a spare.

I never use the name on the internet by the way.

[Horus]

I never use the name on the internet by the way

That's why I did not write it
In our street just about everyone has a key to someone elses house

[LovelyLadyLux]

I did the genetic testing thing probably a little over a year ago. Was quite interesting to see your genetic breakdown and where you're from. I used Ancestry and it legitimately linked me to a first cousin I know I have who also did the testing. Interestingly here in Canada we mail all our saliva to a Lab in Ireland for analysis.

[Mad Dilys]

Our saliva went to Denmark!