#DNA Testing

[prokopetz]

Getting a job at the shady discover-your-ancestry DNA testing outfit and doctoring everybody's results to tell them they're 50% pine tree.

[unbfacts]

In 2013, the FSAI found horse DNA in over one-third of tested beef burger samples and pig DNA in 85% of them.

[vaspider]

The company said its systems were not breached and that attackers gathered the data by guessing the login credentials of a group of users and then scraping more people’s information from a feature known as DNA Relatives. Users opt into sharing their information through DNA Relatives for others to see. 

...

The full picture of why the data was stolen, how much more the attackers have, and whether it is actually focused entirely on Ashkenazim is still unclear.

...

Callow notes that the situation raises broader questions about keeping sensitive genetic information safe and the risks of making it available in services that are designed like social networks to facilitate sharing.

...

“This incident really highlights the risks associated with DNA databases,” Callow says. “The fact that accounts had reportedly opted into the ‘DNA Relatives’ feature is particularly concerning as it could potentially result in extremely sensitive information becoming public.”

Yeah, so, don't reuse passwords, and be careful what kind of information you share purposefully or opt in to passively sharing.

Jesus fucking Christ.

[kemetic-dreams]

African populations have the highest levels of genetic variation among all humans.

[aniseandspearmint]

Wow YIKES

[thechanelmuse]

23andMe Wins Court Approval to Sell Customers Data After It Filed for Bankruptcy

(Bloomberg) -- Bankrupt genetic testing firm 23andMe Holding Co. won permission from a judge to try to sell information about customers’ medical and ancestry-related data, a trove that is considered the most valuable asset in the insolvency case — and has become a source of privacy and safety concerns amid the company’s collapse.

Shares in the company surged on the news, jumping as much as 158% as investors speculated that the bankruptcy could bring in enough cash to pay them something once all of 23andMe’s debts are paid. Under bankruptcy rules, any sale would need to bring in more than the company owes creditors — at least $214 million — before anything could be paid to shareholders.

Read more

Who didn't see this day coming years ago?... This isn't just reserved for 23andMe. Plus, you can't delete your genetic data with the click of a button on your end. Common sense. You're sitting in a database in an entertainment purpose lab, love. Like hello...🙃

And as stated here: "The privacy statement of 23andMe seems to treat your data as a company asset that’s on the table like anything else. It reads: 'If we are involved in a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, your Personal Information may be accessed, sold or transferred as part of that transaction."

Again, who didn't see this coming? Maybe now people will start reading the large print and fine print, learning, and using discernment.

[baxterthebunnychronicles]

Please sign this petition and reblog this post

[lifewithaview]

Kayvan Novak in What We Do in the Shadows (2019) Ancestry

S1E10

Guillermo is starting to experience fatigue from serving as a familiar, and feels more like a Renfield than an Armand. He has the DNA of himself and his vampire roommates tested to find out who their ancestors and descendants are. Guillermo is surprised to discover that he is 3.12% Dutch and a direct descendent of the Van Helsing family. This causes him to experience irrational thoughts about becoming a vampire hunter and he keeps the results secret from the vampires.

Laszlo and Nadja refuse to see their results, while Colin is revealed to be 100% white. Nandor discovers that due to having 37 wives in his human life, he has 200,000 direct living descendants, including Madelaine, a woman living on Staten Island. Nandor decides to pay Madelaine a visit. Despite Guillermo and Colin warning him not to, he taps on her window to greet her, causing the elderly Madelaine to collapse and die from fear. Nandor finally experiences grief for the first time, and dislikes it.

The incident makes Nadja reflect upon why it is a bad idea to become close to humans, as they do not last long. She sings about her longing for Gregor, and Jeff, who is restrained in Poughkeepsie Psychiatric Facility, hears her song. He breaks free and escapes from the facility, stealing a car to drive to Nadja’s residence...

*The beheading painting shown when Nadja is talking about Gregor, is a painting by Italian artist Caravaggio, titled "Judith Beheading Holofernes". Painted in 1598/99.

[red-envelopes]

DNA Testing?

Hello! If anyone has any experiences at all with DNA testing for any reason whatsoever (fun, genetics, health, ancestry, etc etc), or knows anyone who has gone through it and knows the process, could you please let me know your experiences? The process, the company etc, basically how it all went!

Especially welcome input from adoptees but anyone at all is ok!!

[jbfly46]

Swab a cat and send it in to a DNA testing company under your name.

[josemierworld]

Jose Mier, Sun Valley, CA and DNA

Unraveling Ancestral Mysteries: DNA Testing for Genealogy Jose Mier, amateur genealogist in Sun Valley, CA searches for others with the same name. As an aside, some of this research is actual genealogy. Today he delves into powerful tools that can aid that research. One is direct-to-consumer DNA testing, one of the tools listed in an article on the Family Tree Magazine website. DNA test site…

[dnagenealogy]

Can a 6 cM connection be meaningful?

When it comes to small DNA segments, we’ve heard the “glass half empty” version of the story many times. Here’s the other side of that story.

Submitted for your consideration: A pair of third cousins twice removed and their 6 cM connection…

According to AncestryDNA, Bryan Smith and his cousin, K, share 6 cM of DNA across 1 segment. And according to Ancestry’s ThruLines, Bryan and Cousin K share a pair of third great grandparents, Reuben Willis Smith and his wife Mary Connell.

The cM value is certainly consistent with the identified relationship but did Bryan and Cousin K inherit their shared DNA from the Smith ancestry as shown? Is the 6 cM segment even valid or could it be an artifact of an imperfect DNA matching algorithm?

Let’s start with an easy evaluation: the shared match list.

Among Bryan and K’s list of shared matches at AncestryDNA:

HG, a descendant of Reuben and Mary’s son, Charles Thomas Smith (HG shares 57 cM with Bryan)

RR, a descendant of Reuben and Mary’s daughter, Fannie Janes Smith (RR shares 47 cM with Bryan and 38 cM with K)

IG, another descendant of Reuben and Mary’s son, Charles Thomas Smith (IG shares 47 cM with Bryan and 71 cM with K)

And at least three other descendants of Reuben and Mary are on the shared match list.

So we’re off to a promising start. In addition to the fact that Bryan and K share DNA and a paper trail leading to Ruben and Mary, this group of matches gives us more evidence suggesting that Bryan and K might be related as suspected.

But what about that 6 cM segment shared by Bryan and K? Is it valid? Did it come from the shared Smith ancestors or did it originate elsewhere?

To get the most comprehensive help in answering these questions, we turn to GEDmatch. As indicated in the ThruLine image above, both Bryan and his father are related to DNA Cousin K through their Smith line. And because K is on GEDmatch, we can see that Bryan and his father both share DNA with K on a specific portion of Chromosome 12:

Further investigation reveals that two other descendants of Reuben and Mary, Cousins I and G, share DNA with Bryan and his father on Chromosome 12 in roughly the same location. In fact, all of the matches in question match each other on Chromosome 12:

This is what we call a Triangulation Group. It brings the possible genetic connections into sharper focus.

The common segment shared by all of the members of this Triangulation Group indicates that they all share a common ancestor. And we’ve already identified shared ancestry through the Smith line. Cousins I and G are first cousins once removed and they are descendants of Reuben and Mary’s son Charles Thomas Smith...

A review of the pedigrees of the matches in question reveals no lines of shared ancestry other than the known shared Smith line. This investigation is summarized briefly in the table below, listing 2nd great grandparent surnames and shared ancestors (blue for paternal names and surnames, light red for maternal names and surnames):

Although we cannot say with perfect certainty that there is no additional common ancestry that conceivably could account for the shared segment of DNA on Chromosome 12, the known evidence doesn’t leave room for much doubt.

For completeness, here’s a chart summarizing the amount of DNA shared by the relatives in question:

And cluster analysis for Cousin G yields a cluster with eight descendants of Reuben Willis Smith, including Bryan Smith and Cousin K:

Not everyone will feel the need to go this far to investigate a 6 cM connection. But this post provides examples of ways to investigate the validity of an ordinary small segment and to determine whether the shared DNA legitimately belongs with the presumed paper trail source of the DNA.

Discussion

Skepticism regarding small segments of shared DNA is appropriate. In comparison to larger shared segments, such segments are more likely to be IBS (false).  Additionally, even when small segments can be shown to be reliable, we have to grapple with the fact that small segments can be too old to fall within the reach of reliable historical documentation. 

With the exponential growth of the DNA matching databases, the impetus to explore distant matches waned. Reluctance to do the strenuous work involved in using small segments grew. With access to strong genetic connections leading back to target ancestors, why bother with low cM connections?

The sentiment is understandable!

On the other hand, I believe that excessive skepticism has impeded progress in genetic genealogy.  As databases have grown, our opportunities for research have multiplied and our research techniques have improved. But at the same time, goalposts for small segment success have been moved to poorly-defined and very unreasonable points. 

[From the skeptics: Your success with a small segment doesn’t count if you find a larger segment in a relative! I don’t want to hear about triangulation! Visual phasing is not allowed!]

If we applied such arbitrary restrictions to all areas of genealogy, we’d struggle to get our work done!

Even with our luxuriously large DNA databases, distant genetic connections are the only connections available in some areas of investigation (or to people who hail from less heavily-tested populations). Defeatist refusal to accept low cM matches as evidence in genetic genealogy needlessly limits our potential. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m fully in favor of scholarly rigor. But let’s not allow skepticism to pave the way for denialism! 

When distant genetic connections are found to be of dubious quality, they should be set aside. But shared segments should not be judged on the basis of size alone. Even the most fervent opponents of small-segment research will admit that small segments are often valid (IBD). And while these opponents frequently cite IBD/IBS percentages, they ironically fail to see that our ability to find these percentages points directly to a practical method for sorting distant matches on an individual basis. 

We are privileged to have access to enormous databases of incredibly valuable genetic information. More than a statistical hiccup that can lead us serendipitously to more reliable information, small DNA segments are  messages we carry with us every day, testifying to our connections with our ancestors. Genetic information, even in small amounts, can be just as valuable as any other form of information. We should be good stewards of that information and we should invest good faith effort in understanding how our distant matches can inform us about our rich ancestral history. 

I’ll close with this analogy for small segments: 

You want some refreshing water but the glass is only half-full. Drink it or toss it out?

Posted with Bryan Smith’s permission. 17 May 2023

[thatwritererinoriordan]

Or, contrariwise, small Victorian children are the marketing team for dear Papa, whose whoring ways are their sole source of income. Papa waits in the alley while his two darling urchins accost passers-by on the street with the pitch: "Please, sir, won't you try Papa? He's a proven whore, he is!"

Holy shit.

[watercress-words]

Why wait until Mother's Day to honor your mother? Do it anytime, and consider finding the mothers who preceded her by researching your genealogy.

[thechanelmuse]

DNA Testing Firm 23andMe Files for Bankruptcy As Demand Dries Up

Co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki quits after multiple failed buyout bids

Wojcicki plans to make another bid for company

Company gets financing commitment of up to $35 million

March 24 (Reuters) - On Sunday, 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in after struggling with weak demand for its ancestry testing kits that once featured in Oprah Winfrey's annual list of favorite things, and following a 2023 data breach that damaged its reputation.

The company's market value peaked in 2021 at nearly $6 billion amid booming interest in DNA testing kits but demand has waned in recent years, hurting firms such as 23andMe and its Blackstone-owned rival AncestryDNA.

Read more

California Attorney General Warns 23andMe Users to Delete Their Data

The genetic testing company has the genetic data of more than 15 million customers — and California Attorney General Rob Bonta is warning users to purge their data sooner rather than later.

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Delete your DNA from 23andMe right now

If you’re one of the 15 million people who shared your DNA with 23andMe, it’s time to delete your data. 23andMe’s financial distress prompted California Attorney General Rob Bonta to issue an unusual privacy “consumer alert” about it Friday. “I remind Californians to consider invoking their rights and directing 23andMe to delete their data and destroy any samples of genetic material held by the company,” he said in a statement.

The company said there will be “no changes” to the way it protects consumer data while in bankruptcy court. But unless you take action, there is a risk your genetic information could end up in someone else’s hands — and used in ways you had never considered.

There’s also a risk that your data could get sold or transferred to a new company, which might want to use it for new purposes. The privacy statement of 23andMe seems to treat your data as a company asset that’s on the table like anything else. It reads: “If we are involved in a bankruptcy, merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, your Personal Information may be accessed, sold or transferred as part of that transaction.”

Read more

Chile, Anne done ran up out there...

I've been telling people for years to stop doing those ancestry spit tests that are merely for entertainment purposes 🫠. Granted, they can tell you your immediate relatives (if they too did the test) because well...it's DNA...

But people are out here (like those amongst the 15 million customers) thinking they have African, European, Asian DNA strands 🫠.... No lol 🤦🏽‍♀️. Now you have a bigger problem that was preventable.

Always read the fine print. Read your contract. Instead trace your genealogy. Although it's a longer process, it's rewarding to find actual people in your family tree going back in time.

If people think they can delete their participant DNA from an entertainment purpose database with the click of a button...Chile 🙃. Good luck.

SN: In the first article, I made Blackstone bold for a reason. Go down the rabbit hole, love.

[thecarlsoncompany]

Advanced Forensic DNA Testing Solutions | Accurate & Fast Results USA - The Carlson Company The Carlson Company leverages cutting-edge forensic DNA testing methods to deliver accurate and efficient results. Learn how DNA analysis is evolving in criminal justice, paternity, and legal investigations.