Try these options and find out about your family history.
Have you ever wondered where you’re from and who were your ancestors? Thanks to DNA testing, you can now easily trace your heritage and family history across multiple decades. And you can do this all from the comfort of your home!
DNA testing is faster
DNA testing is more accurate and far-reaching than looking through piles and drawers and boxes of dusty archives. Deciphering old, illegible birth certificates is hardly fun, right?
Today, all it takes to run DNA-testing are samples of saliva. (You’ve got more secrets in your mouth than you think!) You can simply spit into a tube, follow the instructions of the test kit and send it off to companies like Ancestry or 23&Me and six weeks later, boom.
You can get the inside scoop on your ethnic heritage based on statistics merged with population history and other data. You may be less British or American than you think. Heck, there could be some Jamaican flavours, bits of Scotland, Scandinavia and Asia in your background, all waiting to be discovered in a little test tube.
The sites that provide you with this information have assorted options that allow you to interact with more details if you wish, even setting up matches with possible distant relations, cousins, and ancestors. You could discover a whole extension of your family tree that you never knew existed!
Trace your health history
While knowing your ancestry is fun and great, most Americans often overlook this one benefit: There’s now potential to look up your health ancestry in the future. It would be interesting to know what conditions you might be susceptible to, and this knowledge lets you keep on top of getting regularly tested for certain things you might find in your results. It can ultimately make you a healthier person because of this, and by giving you an idea of what the best things would be for you to eat. You can also pass this information down to your kids. This way, they will be armed with the same information as you and will be even more on top of things if you get the health history of their other parent, as well. This would be especially helpful in the case of certain serious conditions and you could trace genetic diseases and mutations to provide answers to these complicated health problems.
So Where do I Start?
There are many DNA testing companies, but you’ll want to make sure you work with reputable companies that uses the most up to date databases and records. To help you get started, try one of the companies above.
Spit your secrets
You can spit into a tube, follow the instructions of the test kit and send it off to companies like AncestryDNA or 23&Me and six weeks later, boom. You get the inside scoop on your ethnic heritage based on statistics merged with population history and other data. You may be less British or American than you think. Heck, there could be some Jamaican flavours, bits of Scotland, Scandinavia and Asia in your background, all waiting to be discovered in a little test tube.
The sites that provide you with this information have assorted options that allow you to interact with more details if you wish, even setting up matches with possible distant relations, cousins, and ancestors. You could discover a whole extension of your family tree that you never knew existed!
Trace your health history
There’s even the potential to look up your health ancestry in the future. It would be interesting to know what conditions you might be susceptible to, and this knowledge lets you keep on top of getting regularly tested for certain things you might find in your results. It can ultimately make you a healthier person because of this, and by giving you an idea of what the best things would be for you to eat. You can also pass this information down to your kids. This way, they will be armed with the same information as you and will be even more on top of things if you get the health history of their other parent, as well. This would be especially helpful in the case of certain serious conditions and you could trace genetic diseases and mutations to provide answers to these complicated health problems.
What do you make of the results?
The test results are based on estimates, so keep this in mind before you have a family argument with someone over which nations are part of your heritage and which are not. The point is that DNA tests illustrate our diversity, our bond with each other as humanity.
Whatever your beliefs or opinions may be, where you come from doesn’t matter as much as you think it did. It is up to you to recognize that the puzzle of your life holds many pieces and it’s okay that some of them may seem strange and unfamiliar. Whatever your history and heritage, your life is still what you make of it and not determined by your genetics.
