My Experience (so far) with 23andMe

It was partially due to my background in science, partially due to wondering what it would tell me, and just a whole lot of insatiable curiosity.  I felt compelled to have my DNA tested for some time.  But I resisted since it isn't a critical need and the cost is not negligible.  But I would occasionally read up on the various companies that do this and look to see if there were any deals out there.  There were really only two companies I even considered:  ancestry.com and 23andme.com.  From what I've read, both of these companies provide similar data from similar state of the art technology as far as ancestry is concerned.  And both also work from relatively comprehensive databases.  Some of the other companies have much smaller learning databases, with one little more than smoke and mirrors.  23andMe was the clear favorite since it also provides data on some known health markers - for an additional fee.  There was an FDA crackdown on 23andMe about health claims and how this characterized their service, but some clarification of language that is used has allowed this to resume.
23andMe has another advantage in that it is pay-once, lifetime-data.  As I understand it, ancestry.com requires annual subscriptions to continue to get updates as the technology progresses and new data is available.
Towards the end of November, I finally bit when I saw that there was a sale on Ancestry+Health kit from 23andMe.  It was still more than I wanted to pay but close enough to pull the trigger.  A "sale" on DNA analysis sounds a bit weird though - some kind of an amalgamation of a KMart Blue Light Special with 21st Century technology.

Within a few days my kit arrived.  It came with clear instructions and return postage is prepaid.  Before actually submitting the sample, I had to register on 23andMe.  There are many disclaimers and agreements to terms and conditions to get through on registering.  Although there is a lot of paranoia about how these companies are going to do evil things with DNA or the data collected, or that it will be stolen and used by anybody from the Federal Government to racial purity groups to rogue states, I didn't see anything in there to scare me away.  They do go out of their way to make it clear that it is possible to find out information which may be disturbing.
I didn't think too much about this aspect at first, since I was mostly doing this to appease some curiosity.  But as I reflected on it later, I started wondering how I would react if 23andMe showed a genetic marker for some terrible disease, or if my ancestry showed something very different from family lore.  To be honest though, this really didn't feel like a roll of the dice.  I was just curious.  Perhaps part of me was hoping for something unexpectedly interesting.
And as far as the government or racial purity groups, if they want someone's DNA, it is not terribly difficult to get.  Yes Chicken Little, the sky is falling.

The instructions with the kit warn not to eat or drink anything for at least 30 minutes prior to sampling.  So on a Friday that I didn't have to work I waited for almost two hours just for good measure.  No need to contaminate my results with DNA from cornbread pecan waffles.  The mailing tube doesn't look very big, but it took more spitting than I would have thought to fill it to the requisite level.  Not the bubbles!  Then, it was all sealed up and sent off to North Carolina.

I got an email saying it was received, then a few weeks later I got another email saying my reports are ready.  I immediately put down my phone and walked over to the computer that is always on at the house and logged in to 23andme.com.
And the results are...









wait for it...












disappointing.

I am absolutely and profoundly boring.

My ancestry mirrors what I've been led to believe my whole life.  I am 100% European and even more boringly over 98% Northwestern European.  Yes, there is more British Isles in me than I would have expected and even some Scandinavian (I knew I was part Viking!), but I'm just a slightly mixed Northern European.  No Mayan.  No Zulu.  No lineage which can be traced back to the vicious tribes from the Steppes of Russia.  No evidence of even ancient Roman conquests.
Similarly, my health results showed nothing too surprising.  And even most of the physical traits were as expected.
The only thing even slightly interesting about me is that I have more than ample evidence of Neanderthal DNA.  So I guess I am part knuckle dragger.

Some of the predicted physical traits don't match up with reality.  I don't see this as a failure of 23andMe, but just an acknowledgement that the science behind some of these things is still in a learning phase and may be for a long time - 23andMe does say many times that not all genes are identified and how they interact is often unclear in the current state of the art.  The additional information about the science behind this provided by 23andMe is fascinating as well.

There are lots of other information that I'm still going through, and if anything, this has increased my curiosity about my ancestry - even if it is boring at first glance.  So was it time and money well spent?  If the goal was to quell the curiosity, it failed.  If the goal was to learn a little in order to think more and likely investigate more - it was definitely worth it.