Besides 23andme, are there any other reliable DNA testing services?

[bif]

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

1. Read the contract carefully...ALL OF IT.

They own your dna profile/configuration(?) amongst other things. I wouldnt even bother unless its UBER important.

[Siwsan]

3. I think the same as you, on this

You never know what they are going to do with that information, or how it might come back to bite, in the future. I have no doubt if they don't permanently squash the 'pre existing conditions' clauses in health care, these DNA profiles will be involved in some heavy bidding wars by for-profit health insurance companies. And that's just for starters.

I'm not someone who buys into conspiracy theories, until it comes to healthcare.

[Crutchez_CuiBono]

6. Thanks. The implications for a law enforcement imbroglio should be enough to scare anyone.

Never give away what the law has to get a warrant to take from you. imho. The rate at which law enforcement officers plant evidence etc.....no way. NO WAY.

[beachbum bob]

2. ancestry.com

[WePurrsevere]

4. What are you trying to discover by doing one?

For ethnicity, 23andMe and Ancestry DNA are both as good as you'll get for that at this time.

If you're looking for bio family members I suggest doing Ancestry first because it has the largest database and 23andMe as the second. After you get your results you can download your raw data and upload it to a few other very good sites to help.

For the record, as an adoptee trying to find my missing puzzle pieces I've tested at 23andMe and Ancestry and uploaded my raw data to MyHeritage, Family Tree DNA, GEDmatch and a couple others. I'm now in reunion with both sides.

And yes, I actually read contracts as well as TOU, etc) and highly suggest everyone do so. I also researched this before jumping in.

[bif]

8. I did the 23andme DNA testing

Just to see my ethnic roots. I was thinking about using another service to compare the results.

[WePurrsevere]

9. You probably won't find a big difference between the two...

If you're looking for a specific ethnicity that's not showing up, or showing up lower than expected, it's possible you just didn't inherit that gene or that much of it. For instance the 'paper trail' on my family tree says I'm more Irish than my DNA (18%).

What you can do, if you're open to it, is download your Raw Data from 23andMe and upload it for free to GEDmatch's Genesis. Once it's done uploading there you can check your 'Admixture' (heritage) there. GEDmatch is the big one mentioned in the news lately for helping to solve cold case murders.

The ethnicity aspect of DNA is also a relatively new science and it changes a bit and will become more accurate as more people enter the databases. This is an older articles but is still pretty true IME: https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2014/05/18/admixture-not-soup-yet/

[samnsara]

5. im not worried about the DNA thing.. that can be collected by anyone randomly..

.. I gave one (ancestory.com) to my SIL for Xmas and she said she worried about data collection...and yet she lives on FB so I guess we just have to pick and choose our fears. Or be afraid of everything.

[MuseRider]

7. My husband got me Heritage

last year for my birthday after I had asked for 23 and me. Heritage got my DNA then lost it and did not bother to tell me. After 4 months of no response when I wrote to them they told me they had it, I never got the test but they sent another kit. Reluctantly I did that and after 3 months they said they had it, I told them not to bother but they quickly ran it and sent me a map with a big circle over Europe and that was it. A year after the first try he came home with 23 and me and I have great results that are interesting and fun. I am 65. I don't care about my DNA so much at this point. If I were younger I might but as someone said, what do we do online that does not already put us at risk? The results are amazing, so much helpful info. I am hoping this summer to get in closer contact with some of my relatives. One has already filled in a hole that for some reason my side of the family had lied about. I wish there was a living relative that might shed some light on that one! They are sending new info now and again as they test for new things. All in all I found it very comprehensive and if you are not worried about what they do with your DNA then it is good.

[RobinA]

10. I'm With You

I'm 61 and every 6 months my Dr. sends off my blood to a lab. I know what he gets back, but I read or sign absolutely nothing, so who knows what Federal Laboratory Inc. might be doing with it other than checking my cholesterol. What's a little spit? I used to protect my fingerprints in case I had to murder someone , but after a 2 hour wait in customs one time I had to relent and get global entry. I'll wear gloves.

[smirkymonkey]

12. I agree. Do people think that this is the only way that "they" can get your DNA if they

want it? I'm just not that paranoid.

[aeromanKC]

11. No worries, Govt. can always get my DNA if they wanted to

And unless I have a drunken blackout episode I do not remember from my past, I have no hidden bodies either. Whew!! I'm going for my AEROmexico Travel discount!!

[NNadir]

13. I have to tell you, the heritage thing is just trash for all of them.

They don't make money on what you pay them either.

What they do make money on is selling genetic profiles to researchers looking to find the frequency of genes, in order to understand population genetics and disease. Typically the research is ethical biomedical research, but if you're really trying to find out if your great-great-great-great-great grandfather was a Viking raiding the coast of Scotland for nefarious purposes, well, frankly, it doesn't mean very much.

My mother-in-law thinks she's descended from Anne Boleyn's sister because her brother got a DNA test. She's in her 80's and I don't argue the point, any more than I argue with her about whether Stonehedge and the Pyramids were built by space aliens. If it gives her peace, so be it.

[csziggy]

14. My sister did the National Geographic DNA test and was impressed with the results

She got for her and for our Mom. She did it several years ago when it was about $300 each. I looked just now and it's down to $99.
https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/about/