OR; What I Got For Christmas 2015
I got knowledge, or at least, the chance to obtain knowledge. I just hope I get proof that I belong on this planet, although I may not be happy with some of my relatives. “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!” Not if the Christians have anything to do with it.
Since I don’t need anything, and anything I’d want would be too expensive, the family got together and bought me a DNA kit. Companies like 23andMe (because of the 23 pairs of chromosomes in each human cell), and Ancestry dot Com/Ca sell kits which they send to you. You provide a DNA sample, and they provide information.
23andMe stresses that their results include warnings about genetic diseases, like Tay-Sachs Syndrome, and Sickle Cell Anemia. We got our kit from Ancestry dot Ca. Their advertising doesn’t mention these, although I may yet be pleasantly surprised. They don’t seem terribly worried that you may die of some horrible disease, only who you’re related to when it happens.
I wondered how I was to provide the DNA sample. Did I prick my finger like diabetics? Would I have to go to the nearby clinic to have them draw a small vial of blood? The son reassured me that it was just like you see on CSI. You swab the inside of your mouth, and send them the sealed swab.
We were all surprised to unpack a small plastic tube with a spit-cup on the top. You fill it with saliva, break an ampule of stabilizer and mix it, and send it away. Despite using the Canadian website, the package came from the Mormons in Utah. What I have yet to discover is, why it gets sent to Dublin, Ireland for processing.
The results break the world down into 23 subsections, and tell you what percentages of your genes come from each area. After the assumptions I made in my ‘Who Am I’ post, it will be interesting to see how right (or wrong) I was.
As bad as the Lowells and Cabots of Boston, Mormons are fixated on who you are related to. Included in the fee is a limited family tree, going back a hundred years. “You may find cousins you didn’t even know you had.” Or I may find cousins that I didn’t want to know existed – and don’t want to know that I exist…highwaymen, scam artists, pirates, Ted Cruz, people who voted for the Green Party. “Hey cuz, could you spare $3500 for bail? I promise to pay you back as soon as I get a job.”
I’ll post the DNA and kinship results when they come back. Some of you may prefer to admit that you are descended from monkeys, rather than admit that I dangle from your family tree. I think some of my ancestors were hanged from mine. Of all my relations – I like sex the best. They say that knowledge is free, but I think somebody’s going to pay. 😛
Archon's Den 
This is a great christmas gift! My husband and I were talking just this past weekend about doing this. I can’t wait to hear what your results say!
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Thanx for the visit. Stay tuned to this batty channel. 🙂
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Interesting. My own genealogical mining hit dead ends ten years ago but the possibility of genetic links is intriguing. I look forward to hearing your results. I wonder if they can identify Neanderthal genes? I have been accused . . .
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Neanderthal genes??! Is that you, Uncle Jim? 🙄 😆
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Wish I could be a fly on the wall when your results come back.
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I’d offer to scan and email, but I’d probably trip over a big pile of procrastination, and injure my determination. One way or another you’ll get a look at the complete truth. They say they’ll slice this meat-pie into 23 pieces – but I’ll still put some Heinz 57 sauce on it. 😯
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Now this should be interesting … especially if they say you are a monkey’s uncle. If so, that will be big news because most would say cousins is more fitting. But common genes with Ted Cruz could be another story.
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Hey, don’t you know that all of us Canadians are related – to caribou. 😯
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Then no need for the monkey/ape connection. 😉
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I am thinking of having the test done, but on the other hand, I am afraid they might take my DNA and clone me, and then sell my clone into slavery…I am a hard worker you know…
. I have my family tree traced back to the same branch, so I guess my DNA results will prove that I am my own Grandpa!.
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Aw, go ahead and get cloned. You could send him/it to work, while you stay at home with the wife and son….oh wait – the wife works, and the kid goes to school. You could home-school the boy, improving on the Dept. of Education.
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