Have any of y'all done this? Anyone found any surprises?

Kenny Phillips said:
Ah. Free. Do they mine it?
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They don't mind it at all. <- that's funny right thar

I've come to realize that to some people "free" means that someone else pays, or that it was included in some other cost.

I don't like either. It takes away my freedom to buy, or not buy, things.
 
My background has always be a little muddy. When I took the DNA test, it referenced a location I didn't recognize.

Where is Krypton?

Anyone??
 
Timbeck2 said:
All of us with any kind of elevated security clearance has the same Uncle.
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Actually, anyone in the military the last 20 or 30 years has their DNA on file in the system whether they had a security clearance or not.
 
Rushie said:
I similarly ended up with a half brother I didn't know I had, but we didn't find him with DNA. My Dad did something with a lady back in college, well before he met mom. They parted ways and he never knew she ended up pregnant, she gave the baby away. Fast forward 35 years and he goes looking for his biological parents. All he knew was bio-mom's name and what college she attended. He finds her, contacts her, and they reunite, and then they contact my Dad.

So my Dad and my half-brother meet and spend about a year getting acquainted with each other, then one day Dad sits me and my other four siblings down and says, "You each have an older half brother you didn't know about."

He lived about four hours away so we eventually planned a trip up to meet him. I still remember pulling up to the house, him walking out, and me seeing him for the first time. I said to my husband, "He is the spitting image of my Uncle Bob." (Dad's brother.) No DNA test needed, there is no doubt he's Dad's. We have become very close, we couldn't be closer if we'd grown up together.
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Good story. A coworker of mine was adopted. She did the test and it found her biological mother (to within some likelihood or another). She connected with a child of the biological mother who sent her a picture of her mother when she was younger. Looks exactly like my coworker. There’s no doubt about it.

But, I got me wondering how fair that is to the mother. I’m sure she had to deal with the situation over the years, this might nit be a welcome thing depending on her situation.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Actually, anyone in the military the last 20 or 30 years has their DNA on file in the system whether they had a security clearance or not.
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Is the use of that DNA limited to identifying remains or can it be used for other reasons as well?
 
SkyDog58 said:
Is the use of that DNA limited to identifying remains or can it be used for other reasons as well?
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That’s the big $$$ question. I honestly don’t know. The purpose is for identification of remains, but the info is obviously in a searchable database. Whether or not the Govt makes it available to law enforcement is a good question.
 
Fearless Tower said:
That’s the big $$$ question. I honestly don’t know. The purpose is for identification of remains, but the info is obviously in a searchable database. Whether or not the Govt makes it available to law enforcement is a good question.
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And one with an obvious answer. Whether legal or not, there will be some sharing no matter what anyone thinks, says or tries to do.
 
DaleB said:
And one with an obvious answer. Whether legal or not, there will be some sharing no matter what anyone thinks, says or tries to do.
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And since its in a database, it lives forever and never goes away. In terms of "used for other thing", it's not a matter of if, but when.
 
I did two test, the National Geographic and 23 & Me.

According to 23 & Me, I am:

31% Balkan (Greek)
28% Italian (that was a WTF moment)
16% Askenazi
21% Western Asian (probably refugees from Asia Minor)

That Italian component took me by surprise. No one in the family spoke about that background. I know now, that there is a branch of us in Argentina who got there by way of Italy, the progeny of a sea fairing 5th or 6th grandfather (typical, eh!). We have one of those unique family names and chances are everyone you meet with the same surname is related to the clan.

National Geographic is more interesting because it traces my genetic tribe's migration over the past 150,000 years. According to that test, a branch of the clan made it to North America via an east-bound migration that took them out of Africa, into central Asia, over the Bering Straits, and into the Americas. No, I am not cousins with Elizabeth Warren.

NG tells me that I am less Neanderthal than the average person, 1.4% v. 2.1%. On my mother's side, I am related to Jesse James, Benjamin Franklin, and Queen Victoria. On my father's side, I am related to Abraham Lincoln, Charles Darwin, Nicholas Copernicus and -- are you ready for this? -- King Tut!

Just to be clear: I was born in northeast Greece in 1967!
 
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Fearless Tower said:
That’s the big $$$ question. I honestly don’t know. The purpose is for identification of remains, but the info is obviously in a searchable database. Whether or not the Govt makes it available to law enforcement is a good question.
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DaleB said:
And one with an obvious answer. Whether legal or not, there will be some sharing no matter what anyone thinks, says or tries to do.
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So how do we feel about using it to catch criminals, especially murderers and rapists? Would it be better to allow some of these to escape justice in the name of privacy?
 
SkyDog58 said:
So how do we feel about using it to catch criminals, especially murderers and rapists? Would it be better to allow some of these to escape justice in the name of privacy?
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Great idea, and full of merit. Extending that only slightly, why not require the sampling and registration of every person's DNA for use in any and all investigations? Auto ticketing for littering, for example, when discarded beer bottles, Starbucks cups or cigarette butts are found. Got a wad of gum under a school desk? Bill the kid's parents for the cleaning and refurb. All of it could be farmed out to private companies for a cut. Look at how well it's working for traffic cams.
 
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Fearless Tower said:
That’s the big $$$ question. I honestly don’t know. The purpose is for identification of remains, but the info is obviously in a searchable database. Whether or not the Govt makes it available to law enforcement is a good question.
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wsuffa said:
And since its in a database, it lives forever and never goes away. In terms of "used for other thing", it's not a matter of if, but when.
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"Divine intervention couldn't keep the word from leaking out." :eek:
 
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