Spit - in - a - thermionic vacuum tube DNA kits are everywhere today , with XII of biotech companies offering the opportunity to settle around in your genetic computer code and offer insights into yourancestry , yourheritage , yourhealth , or even yourfamily ’s dirty secrets .
Journalists fromNBC 5 in Chicagorecently carried out their own experimentation to compare a few of the top home DNA kits on the market , using a sample from reporter Phil Rogers , only to discover the results can depart quite a lot .
They even tested the outfit on a hotdog , Bailey . While most of the companies declared the sample distribution unreadable , Orig3n DNA reportedly failed to note that the DNA belonged to a Labrador Retriever , not a human being . Instead , they received a seven - varlet report explain that Bailey had superb muscularity power and cardiac output , ideal for packing and endurance cycle rides .
Even for the non - laniary player of NBC ’s experimentation , there was some confusion within the solution . Ancestry.com secernate Rogers his ancestors were most potential ( 36 pct ) from Ireland , Scotland , and Wales , followed by Scandinavia ( 32 pct ) and western Europe ( 26 percent ) . My Heritage , however , said that the likeliness was high for north and western Europe ( 66.2 percent ) , followed by Great Britain ( 18 percent ) , then Ireland ( 15.8 percentage ) . Both companies , when asked , said that the difference could be explained by their different algorithm and databases .
domicile DNA uses a slightly different frame of test to show where your hereditary marker seem in the populace today . This time for Rogers , his results evince Kuwait , Ireland , Austria , and Afghanistan , Peru , and Guyana . Their babe troupe , Connect My DNA , shew similar results for Ireland , Austria , and Scotland , followed by Peru , Guyana , and Nicaragua .
As mentioned , these two tests depend for present - day familial markers across the world , so you would not necessarily be able to work out the identity of your ascendent like the other tests . Nevertheless , it goes to show how otherwise these final result could be interpreted by unknowing consumers .
The long and scant of it is that family deoxyribonucleic acid kits are fun and can be fascinating , however , be ready to take your results with some critical thought process ( especially if you are a wienerwurst ) .
“ It ’s not very hard science – maybe it will get better , ” Dr Wayne Grody , a UCLA geneticist , toldNBC Chicago . “ I ’d be taking them all with a grain of salt ! ”
“ There might be some dim truth , but those are undefined assumptions , ” he added . “ It ’s really like the letters patent medicines of a hundred years ago . ”
