[Hencredible Casanova]

http://www.23andme.com


Has anyone done anything like this before? A friend of mine recently got one done through the site above and highly recommended it. The results broke down his ancestry on both sides of his family as well as his roots going back thousands of years. It also reported his genetic chances of acquiring certain diseases and health conditions.

The kit is only $99.

This quora answer seems to be pretty positive.

http://www.quora.com/Genetic-Testing/Wha...ke-23andme

[WesternCancer]

I'd definitely try something like this and its only going to get cheaper/more available. Right now in the field of genetic analysis the technology is the limiting factor. We have the ability to get an almost infinite amount of genetic info, but no way to analyze it all.

One of my profs had a colleague who was developing a USB genome analyzer. Put a drop of blood in a USB stick, plug it into your computer and BAM your genetic sequence.

Do they give any data on what type of sequencer they use or how they sequence it? Some of the faster sequencers out on the market aren't all that accurate on a whole genome level, but I would assume they would be looking for certain regions of DNA instead of sequencing the whole damn thing.

[Roosh]

Is it possible just to get the ancestry testing done? I don't want to know my disease probabilities.

[Roosh]

Here's another option: http://dna.ancestry.com/

[Hencredible Casanova]

One benefit from this type of testing is it makes for a good convo piece when talking to chicks. Ancestry is definitely an interesting topic.

[Tuthmosis]

I've thought about doing this for a while, since a few people I know have done it.

My fear is what they do with that data after they're done. It's a little paranoid, but it's not far-fetched to think that information could be surrendered to law-enforcement databases (there are several national DNA data banks) or put to other nefarious uses in the future (employers, future forms of social networking, future marketing). The if-you're-not-doing-anything-wrong-you-have-nothing-to-worry-about argument is, as we know, not valid reason for surrendering your privacy, and no guarantee that you won't be wrongfully accused or screwed over at some point in your life.

Do they make any assurances that your information is discarded or safeguarded no matter what?

[Giovonny]

(07-24-2013 03:11 PM)Roosh Wrote:  

I don't want to know my disease probabilities.

Why not?

Don't you want to take precautionary measures..?

Or, do you not want to introduce the idea into your mind..?

I think knowing can create a self fulfilling prophecy effect. Being worried and preoccupied about a disease can lead to getting the disease.

Because of this self fulfilling prophecy effect, I often would rather not know.

Sometimes, ignorance is bliss, and bliss is a healthier mindframe.

It's a tough one.

[Hencredible Casanova]

(07-24-2013 03:32 PM)Tuthmosis Wrote:  

I've thought about doing this for a while, since a few people I know have done it.

My fear is what they do with that data after they're done. It's a little paranoid, but it's not far-fetched to think that information could be surrendered to law-enforcement databases (there are several national DNA data banks) or put to other nefarious uses in the future (employers, future forms of social networking, future marketing). The if-you're-not-doing-anything-wrong-you-have-nothing-to-worry-about argument is, as we know, not valid reason for surrendering your privacy, and no guarantee that you won't be wrongfully accused or screwed over at some point in your life.

Do they make any assurances that your information is discarded or safeguarded no matter what?

Tuth, I'm not sure what they do with the data but I know that employers/health insurance companies are legally prohibited from discriminating against people due to genetic factors.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_Inf...nation_Act

[speakeasy]

I've always wanted to take one of these to see what my racial breakdown is.

[Numa]

(07-24-2013 03:32 PM)Tuthmosis Wrote:  

I've thought about doing this for a while, since a few people I know have done it.

My fear is what they do with that data after they're done. It's a little paranoid, but it's not far-fetched to think that information could be surrendered to law-enforcement databases (there are several national DNA data banks) or put to other nefarious uses in the future (employers, future forms of social networking, future marketing). The if-you're-not-doing-anything-wrong-you-have-nothing-to-worry-about argument is, as we know, not valid reason for surrendering your privacy, and no guarantee that you won't be wrongfully accused or screwed over at some point in your life.

Do they make any assurances that your information is discarded or safeguarded no matter what?

We do not share individual-level genetic data or survey responses with third parties without asking for and receiving your explicit permission to do so, except as required by law. If you have given consent for us to do so, we may include your genetic data and survey responses, stripped of your name or other contact information, in aggregate data that we publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals. Aggregate data is data from multiple users that has been combined to minimize the possibility of exposing individual-level information. Regardless of your consent status, we may also include your data in aggregate data that we disclose to third-party research partners who will not publish that information in a scientific journal.

https://customercare.23andme.com/entries...d-parties-

Information Disclosure Required By Law

Under certain circumstances Personal Information may be subject to disclosure pursuant to judicial or other government subpoenas, warrants, or orders, or in coordination with regulatory authorities. You acknowledge and agree that 23andMe is free to preserve and disclose any and all Personal Information to law enforcement agencies or others if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal or regulatory process (such as a judicial proceeding, court order, or government inquiry) or obligations that 23andMe may owe pursuant to ethical and other professional rules, laws, and regulations; (b) enforce the 23andMe TOS; © respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third parties; or (d) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of 23andMe, its employees, its users, its clients, and the public. In the event we are required by law to make a disclosure, we will notify you through the contact information you have provided to us in advance, unless doing so would violate the law or a court order. As relates to 23andMe’s IRB-approved research, 23andMe has obtained a Certificate of Confidentiality from the National Institutes of Health. If you are participating in 23andMe’s IRB-approved research, 23andMe will withhold disclosure of your Personal Information involved in such research in response to judicial or other government subpoenas, warrants or orders in accordance with the Certificate of Confidentiality. There are limits to what the Certificate of Confidentiality covers (for more information, please visit the Certificates of Confidentiality Kiosk).

https://www.23andme.com/legal/privacy/

[Tuthmosis]

(07-24-2013 04:12 PM)Numa Wrote:  

[Information Disclosure Required By Law
Under certain circumstances Personal Information may be subject to disclosure pursuant to judicial or other government subpoenas, warrants, or orders, or in coordination with regulatory authorities.

Sounds like I was correct in having those concerns. This ambiguous language opens you up to all kinds of disclosure to authorities and other unnamed entities--present and, more importantly, indefinitely into the future. "As required by law" includes shit like PRISM and the PATRIOT Act, not to mention other semi-legal abuses of your personal information (see Facebook's face-recognition technology). Fuck that.

I wonder if there's a way to send your DNA with an alias and a throw-away, safe email address (or physical address, if they require it). That might be the only secure way to do it, but if your stuff ends up in a DNA database, and there's ever a hit on you in a future investigation or data mining operation, they're going to dig deep into everything.

Even though I'm curious, I might have to be okay with not knowing. Alternatively, I may have to get a friend who works in a lab to do that shit for me.

[scotian]

(07-24-2013 03:26 PM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  

One benefit from this type of testing is it makes for a good convo piece when talking to chicks. Ancestry is definitely an interesting topic.

Out in Alberta, Canada there's a lot of different European mixes so whenever the topic comes up with a girl, they always rattle off a long list, "I'm part Hungarian, quarter Ukrainian, a fifth Scottish, Half Norwegian and my great-great grand father twice removed was a Cree Indian". Mine is much less interesting, 100% Scottish, most Nova Scotians are.

[BlurredSevens]

I just ordered the kit, it sounds too fascinating to pass up. I did some google searching for sample results, and stumbled upon this forum, where a user posted his results: http://www.anthrogenica.com/showthread.p...Me-results

Sample Results:

[Brodiaga]

I've done it recently. The most interesting part is ancestry. I'm about 99% European, mostly East European.

[Clash1e]

(07-24-2013 04:21 PM)Tuthmosis Wrote:  

I wonder if there's a way to send your DNA with an alias and a throw-away, safe email address (or physical address, if they require it). That might be the only secure way to do it, but if your stuff ends up in a DNA database, and there's ever a hit on you in a future investigation or data mining operation, they're going to dig deep into everything.

Even though I'm curious, I might have to be okay with not knowing. Alternatively, I may have to get a friend who works in a lab to do that shit for me.

Gather a group of friends (3 or more) that want to try it. Order the kits all under someone else's name and credit card that won't use the kits. Afterwards compensate that person with the money their credit card was charged.

That way there wont be any names that are correctly attached to any person's DNA.

Just a thought.

[Tuthmosis]

I'm already seeing one way this information will almost certainly get disseminated without your approval. Under the guise of getting you "connected" with your "genetic relatives," your name and information is compared and linked (and possibly disclosed) to those people. It's only a matter of time before some of that shit is used as a teaser--that comes up in a Google search of your name--to get people to sign up and see the rest.

   

It's like those ancestry or "people-search" or background check sites. You can pay a fee to get a tremendous amount of info, but the amount of shit that's just free (and comes up in a routine Google search) is staggering.

Run your name, or one of your close relatives, through these to see what I'm talking about.

http://www.ancestry.com/
http://www.archives.com/

[Hencredible Casanova]

(07-24-2013 05:06 PM)BlurredSevens Wrote:  

I just ordered the kit, it sounds too fascinating to pass up.

Same. Even though I didn't see Tuth's comment until after, I'm not worried about privacy. Big Brother knows everything about me already. I ain't hard to find. I'm in the Global Entry program for frequent international travelers which involved a lengthy application, criminal background check, fingerprinting, and an interview with a US Customs Officer.

I also have a US government security clearance for work which involved a very long application, criminal/financial background check, fingerprints, and an interview with a federal investigator.

On top of that I've been to many foreign countries that have governments/societies that are opposed to the US government. So at this point what gives.

[ElBorrachoInfamoso]

My wife used 23andme and it was pretty cool for her. After doing my research, I figured it wasn't worth it for anyone who wasn't Northern European or Ashkenazi; 23andme hasn't sampled enough populations outside of those groups.

[Tuthmosis]

(07-24-2013 06:08 PM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  

Same. Even though I didn't see Tuth's comment until after, I'm not worried about privacy. Big Brother knows everything about me already. I ain't hard to find. I'm in the Global Entry program for frequent international travelers which involved a lengthy application, criminal background check, fingerprinting, and an interview with a US Customs Officer.

Big Brother has pretty two-dimensional information about you. The difference between DNA and fingerprints is like the difference between a high-def TV at 1080p and one of those 90s big screen TVs that came in cabinets the size of refrigerators.

   

Don't get me wrong. Big Brother has my info--I've been fingerprinted, my passport has an RFID chip in it (and yours too), I use a smart phone that's basically a honing beacon that's on 24/7, and I use a credit card for a lot of my purchases--but I draw the line at this Brave New World of new tech.

I'm opting out of DNA, retina scans, face-recognition software for as long as I possibly can.

[iknowexactly]

(07-24-2013 06:28 PM)Tuthmosis Wrote:  

I'm opting out of DNA, retina scans, face-recognition software for as long as I possibly can.

I don't think we can opt out of facial recognition, cameras on the street can be linked to driver's license database information.

No need for your permission or need to notify you.

[Samseau]

In America's future, they will DNA profile every baby born.

[Hencredible Casanova]

(07-25-2013 04:55 AM)Samseau Wrote:  

In America's future, they will DNA profile every baby born.

That's what I'm saying. There's nothing you can really do so long as you choose to live in the "land of the free."

[Benoit]

(07-24-2013 03:26 PM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  

One benefit from this type of testing is it makes for a good convo piece when talking to chicks. Ancestry is definitely an interesting topic.

Cheaper and more fun to make it up. The more ridiculous the better.

"Yeah, it turns out I'm 5% Australian aborigine and 5% Eskimo. Weird because I'm actually distantly related to the British royal family."

[Hencredible Casanova]

(07-25-2013 07:18 AM)crippler Wrote:  

(07-24-2013 03:26 PM)Hencredible Casanova Wrote:  

One benefit from this type of testing is it makes for a good convo piece when talking to chicks. Ancestry is definitely an interesting topic.

Cheaper and more fun to make it up. The more ridiculous the better.

"Yeah, it turns out I'm 5% Australian aborigine and 5% Eskimo. Weird because I'm actually distantly related to the British royal family."

Yeah I make jokes about that too. It's not THE reason to get the kit but an added benefit to knowing your ancestry. You may legitimately have an interesting history.

[Blackhawk]

(07-24-2013 03:32 PM)Tuthmosis Wrote:  

My fear is what they do with that data after they're done.

What Tim Ferriss did was use an obvious false name like "Brad Pitt" and had the results mailed back to a UPS store using only the street address. He also did on-line payment through coupon cards he bought for cash in a department store, and did his on-line account setup with an IP masker. Someone already figured the way to do it anonymously although someone may have updated his process since then.

The ancestors story isn't interesting. The presence of absence of certain genes like ACTN3 that can effect how you should diet and what workout routines can work better for you is interesting.