I finally got my results back from the DNA sample that I sent in! There are pages and PAGES of info to sort through, but it is really interesting and fascinating. I am mostly of Northern European ancestry, specifically French/German (I know- German, right? But certain "tribes" are grouped together according to original peoples' arrangements, before migration and splits. The British and Irish are grouped together. This is the only place THAT'S gonna happen!) then in descending order I am Native American, sub-Sahara African with some Cuban, Argentinian and Balkan thrown in for good measure. And I only share 2.6% of my DNA with Neanderthals. Average for European descent is 2.7%. So much for the hairy knuckle theory...
As far as genetic risk factors go, I'm in pretty good shape. I have a copy of a variant associated with development of Alzheimer's. No, this does not mean that I will succumb to it. It means that I have a genetic variation sometimes found in people with Alzheimer's. I had the good fortune to know two of my great-grandmothers who lived to ripe old ages and were both sharp as flippin' tacks to the end. I am not worried.
Now here's something that I found quite interesting - there's a relatively new feature on the site that calculates how much of your weight comes from single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNiPs for short. Think back to your high school/secondary school days and basic biology. DNA is made up of four bases: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). The sequence of these bases determines the information available for building and maintaining an organism, similar to the way in which letters of the alphabet appear in a certain order to form words and sentences.
DNA bases pair up with each other, A with T and C with G, to form units called base pairs. Each base is also attached to a sugar molecule and a phosphate molecule. Together, a base, sugar, and phosphate are called a nucleotide. Nucleotides are arranged in two long strands that form a spiral called a double helix. The structure of the double helix is somewhat like a ladder, with the base pairs forming the ladder’s rungs and the sugar and phosphate molecules forming the vertical sidepieces of the ladder.
Within the nucleotide, there are subtle changes occurring from individual to individual, and these are the SNiPs. Scientists and geneticists use these SNiPs as markers for determining susceptibility to drugs and environmental toxins, locating and tracking genes associated with disease, and risk of developing certain diseases.
SNiPs are common, occurring about once in every 300 sequences, amounting to roughly 10 million SNiPs in the human genome. What I didn't realize, or think about, was how that amount could translate into body weight. Something so small, how could it make a difference? But hey - enough of them get together and guess what? 4.76 pounds of my total body weight can be attributed to SNiPs! Almost 5 POUNDS OF SNiPs! Are you kidding me? Can I blame them for the muffin top I can't seem to get rid of completely!?!?!
All kidding aside, lucky for me, none of the polymorphisms are known to lead to problems. They're just harmless little anomalies.
23 and me also gives you the choice to make contact with others who could be related to you. I've had a couple of contacts made, but we haven't progressed yet to comparing family trees. Donna, I'll be in touch - you are the Guillot tree master! :)
