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[Max White]

Well we are on a forum. Everything you say you do in current tense, you do, unquestionably. For example!

I stab Criptfeind in the face with a shotgun.

There! Now unless you say you die, you don't die, because you didn't say you did.

[inteuniso]

Frankly, I don't think ANYONE saw this coming. I kind of guessed that I was of semi-arabic descent (I've been mistaken for an Iraqi before) But not Finnish and North African. Just kind of odd.

In other news, I've started to read up on Finnish history, since it turns out that Finland is really awesome. I know what Moroccan history is, and since my Dad's ethnic group is in the Balkans and ALL of North Africa, AND Sudan and Somalia, there's no way to really pin down where he's from. Probably going to be of Egyptian, Tunisian, or somewhere in North Africa's descent.

[RedKing]

Wait...do they sequence your entire damn genome?? For $99?? 

Imma have my DNA on a flash drive that will be passed down through the generations of my descendants, so that one day I can be cloned. Unless my great-great-grandson decides to erase the flash drive to store porn on it. Damn kid.

[ChairmanPoo]

No they don't. Whole genome sequencing is getting cheaper but it's nowhere near that cheap yet. They search for SNPs associated to stuff, instead.

They say it in their own webpage, for the record
https://www.23andme.com/you/faqwin/sequencing/

[RedKing]

Bah, there goes my dream of cheap immortality. I'm a little skeptical of using markers as a basis for determining ancestral ethnicity. I almost had this done once myself but it required handing over my DNA to the Mormon Church, which I'm just not comfortable with.

I suppose at some point I'll get it done and see how accurate it is (since I actually have a pretty damn extensive genealogy, and already my know my "ethnic history" back at least six generations in every direction).

[inteuniso]

Umm... I'm pretty sure they sequenced my entire genome. In fact, they gave me access to the raw data, which is a 24MB text file that includes millions of genes on all 22 autosomal chromosomes, my x chromosome, my y chromosome, and my mitochondrial dna.

[ChairmanPoo]

They say it on their very website. Didn't you check the link?

Though you may hear both terms in reference to obtaining information about DNA, genotyping and sequencing refer to slightly different things.

Genotyping is the process of determining which genetic variants an individual possesses. Genotyping can be performed through a variety of different methods, depending on the variants of interest and resources available. At 23andMe, we look at SNPs, and a good way of looking at many SNPs in a single individual is a recently developed technology called a “DNA chip.”

Sequencing is a method used to determine the exact sequence of a certain length of DNA. Depending on the location, a given stretch may include some DNA that varies between individuals, like SNPs, in addition to regions that are constant. So sequencing is one way to genotype someone, but not the only way.

You might wonder, then, why we don't just sequence everyone's entire genome, and find every single genetic variant they possess. Unfortunately, sequencing technology has not yet progressed to the point where it is feasible to sequence an entire genome quickly and cheaply. It took the Human Genome Project over 10 years' work by multiple labs to sequence the three billion base pair genomes of just a few individuals. For now, genotyping technologies such as those used by 23andMe provide an efficient and cost-effective way of obtaining more than enough genetic information for scientists—and you—to study.

[inteuniso]

No I did not. They did, however, get a good portion of my genome, and I can host it if you want to see the millions of genes they did in fact sequence.

[Levi]

Sequencing isn't that cheap(Although its sure getting closer lately).  They probably just figured it out by the SNPs and then copy/pasted the most likely sequence from a database.

[ChairmanPoo]

It's not as much sequencing as it's matching pieces of it to already known sequences.

From their website: https://www.23andme.com/you/faqwin/chip/

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The process by which 23andMe's contracted laboratory genotypes your DNA uses the latest in DNA technology.

Once the lab receives your sample, DNA is extracted from cheek cells in your saliva. Your DNA is then copied many times so that there is enough DNA to use for the genotyping step. Next, the DNA is cut into smaller, more manageable pieces. These DNA pieces are then applied to a DNA "chip." The DNA chip is a small glass slide with millions of microscopic beads on its surface. Attached to each bead are "probes"—bits of DNA complementary to sites in your genome where SNPs are located. There is a pair of probes for each SNP, corresponding to the two versions of each SNP. Because two complementary pieces of DNA stick together, your DNA sticks to whichever probes match your versions of a SNP.

To tell which versions you have, your DNA is extended in a way similar to the process of DNA replication inside your cells. But on the chip the process adds not just DNA but a fluorescent marker as well. By determining which beads are glowing we can tell which versions of a SNP you have.

The DNA chip that we use genotypes hundreds of thousands of SNPs at one time. It actually reads 1,000,000 SNPs that are spread across your entire genome. Although this is still only a fraction of the 10 million SNPs that are estimated to be in the human genome, these 1,000,000 SNPs are specially selected "tag SNPs." Because many SNPs are linked to one another, we can often learn about the genotype at many SNPs at a time just by looking at one SNP that "tags" its group. This maximizes the information we can get from every SNP we analyze, while keeping the cost low.

In addition, we have hand-picked tens of thousands of additional SNPs of particular interest from the scientific literature and added their corresponding probes to the DNA chip. As a result, we can provide you personal genetic information available only through 23andMe.

[inteuniso]

I just got back my ancestry painting back. This doesn't trace my parent's lines, just tells me my percentages of each of the "original" continents.

I am 92% European, 7% Asian, and 1% African.

Wut?

[hamburgerfan]

Frankly, I don't think ANYONE saw this coming. I kind of guessed that I was of semi-arabic descent (I've been mistaken for an Iraqi before) But not Finnish and North African. Just kind of odd.

In other news, I've started to read up on Finnish history, since it turns out that Finland is really awesome. I know what Moroccan history is, and since my Dad's ethnic group is in the Balkans and ALL of North Africa, AND Sudan and Somalia, there's no way to really pin down where he's from. Probably going to be of Egyptian, Tunisian, or somewhere in North Africa's descent.

I wouldn't have guessed it, but it doesn't surprise me a bit now that I already know. Congrats, Finland is really badass.

[Vactor]

Sami people lived beyond just finland, and if you're in the US, the chances are decent that your ancestors were from Norway, as there was a large emigration of Sami people to the US from Norway.

I'd say I was on the right track with my Mediterranean guess, and Sami dosen't surprise me much either.

[Rilder]

I just got back my ancestry painting back. This doesn't trace my parent's lines, just tells me my percentages of each of the "original" continents.

I am 92% European, 7% Asian, and 1% African.

Wut?

So you had a few ancestors in Iberia during the reconquista who then fled to around Western Russia/Eastern Europe and promptly got invaded by the Mongols? 

[inteuniso]

Or it could simply mean that somewhere some Indian immigrants entered my bloodline somewhere.