Sunday, April 28, 2013

DNA Testing Opens a New World to Adoptees

The success stories for adoptees using DNA to learn about their roots are coming in fast and furious lately, so I thought it was about time for a blog dedicated to them.

5 comments:

  1. Your video is clear and interesting. Good to hear your voice

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  2. I'm adopted, and was excited to get my Geno 2.0 results.

    I was puzzled, however by how they chose the reference populations.

    I am 43% Northern European, 36% Mediterranean, and 19% SW Asian.

    It seems that my closest match would be German: 46% Northern European, 36% Mediterranean, and 17% SW Asian.

    That's pretty close isn't it? Is the average German any closer?

    Yet, for my first reference population they selected Bulgarian, which is 46% Mediterranean, 31% Northern European, 20% SW Asian, and 2% NE Asian.

    For my second reference population they selected Russian, 51% Northern European, 25% Mediterranean, 18% SW Asian, and 4% NE Asian.

    It seems my first reference population ought to be German, and my second British, which is 50% Northern European, 33% Mediterranean, and 17% SW Asian.

    Do you know why they chose the reference populations they did? Perhaps it's simply that they're still in Beta.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ross,
      You are far from alone! Many people are confused by the reference populations that were chosen as their closest matches by Geno 2.0. I don't know the answer, except that you probably hit the nail on the head and they still need to do some tweaking to their algorithms.
      Have you tested at 23andMe yet? I prefer their Ancestry Composition feature for "ethnic" breakdowns.
      Thanks for commenting,
      CeCe

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