23andMe DNA Test
As part of DNA Day 2018 on 25 April, 23andMe offered AncestryDNA users the chance to upload their raw DNA for free.
23andMe is the only major genetic genealogy testing company with which I haven’t tested. When I saw a tweet from @AtcherleyONS saying the offer was about to run out, I jumped at the chance.
After a couple of false starts and a complaint email to 23andMe, I was able to upload the DNA. I received my four free reports a short time later.
23andMe is unique for being the only major family history DNA testing company that offers health reports. My free reports included two Wellness Reports and two Ancestry Reports. Of the latter, the first comprised ethnic origins and the second focused on cousin matching.
-
European 99.5%
-
British & Irish 49.1%
-
Ashkenazi Jewish 11.2%
-
French & German 4.0%
-
Scandinavian 3.1%
-
Eastern European 0.4%
-
Iberian Less than 0.1%
-
Broadly Northwestern European 28.4%
-
Broadly Southern European 0.3%
-
Broadly European 3.1%
-
-
East Asian & Native American 0.4%
-
Broadly East Asian 0.4%
-
-
Western Asian & North African 0.2%
-
North African & Arabian 0.2%
-
Broadly Western Asian & North African Less than 0.1%
-
-
Unassigned Less than 0.1%
My favourite part of this, and something that seems unique among the main testing companies, is that 23andMe provides “Your Ancestry Composition Chromosome Painting”. Specific ancestry and that shared with others is clearly visible. My Ashkenazi ancestry, for example, is clearly defined. 23andMe describes the feature as follows:
These are your chromosomes; we’ve painted them with your Ancestry Composition results. The first 22 are called autosomes and come in pairs of two, each represented by one of the colored horizontal lines in the graphic below. Chromosomes have different lengths, and are named 1 through 22, when sorted by size (scientists are not very creative). Lastly, we also look at ancestry on your X chromosome: two copies like the autosomes if you are female, and only one copy if you’re male (that you got from mom).
The “Your DNA Family” section of the report tells me I have 1093 DNA Relatives in the 23andMe database. This only gives an overview of my matches (1 Close Family to Second Cousins; 727 Third to Fourth Cousins; Many Fifth to Distant Cousins). In order to see the full DNA Relatives list of individual cousins, I need to pay for a kit.
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 2020
In October 2019, I paid for a kit and upgraded to the full 23andMe experience.
As well as the ancestry information to which I already had access, I was delighted to learn that my maternal haplogroup is T2b, described by 23andMe as:
As our ancestors ventured out of eastern Africa, they branched off in diverse groups that crossed and recrossed the globe over tens of thousands of years. Some of their migrations can be traced through haplogroups, families of lineages that descend from a common ancestor. Your maternal haplogroup can reveal the path followed by the women of your maternal line.
As a woman, I have no Y-DNA. I know of my paternal DNA through a test taken by my grandfather for FTDNA some years ago. Male 23andMe customers would learn both their maternal and paternal haplogroups through this test. This is more than offered through an Ancestry test, for example.
I now have access to 66 health reports. None of these has made a significant difference to my approach to health. I am fortunate that no major problems have been identified.
My 34 traits are of variable certainty, but the earwax type and eye colour are precise. For hair texture, the results predict I have a 39% chance of slightly wavy hair – which I do have. In the weird and wonderful section, though, the prediction about hair thickness is wrong. On a positive note, my toe length ratio of the big toe is longer than others is also accurate.
Paying for access has opened up contact with DNA relatives. I currently have 1372 cousins on the database. Some of these cousins I know already through other tests, such as Ancestry and MyHeritage. We know exactly how are related. My closest relative at present is a 2nd cousin. There is an option to connect with cousins in order to share further information.
