I had been thinking about spitting into a vial and sending it off to have my genes analyzed in order to determine where my ancestors came from. But my sister beat me to it! A couple days ago, she sent me an e-mail with all the details that came out of an analysis of her spit. And because we’re siblings, her ancestry is also my ancestry. There were some surprises.
Briefly, each of our grandparents was of a different European ethnicity: French (maternal grandfather), Italian (maternal grandmother), German (Paternal grandfather) and Bohemian (paternal grandmother). My own view was that our ancestors might have wandered into these regions of Europe from some distance away, but that our heritage was essentially continental European. Perhaps some African genes would be present (Rome was once a happening place in the old days, y’know), or some Asian genes (the Mongols and all that). One issue I was interested in was possible Jewish heritage. Our last name is a German name that is used by both Jews and non-Jews, and I wondered if, either through our German line, or through some other route, we might be Jewish.
The answered turned out to be quite a bit more complicated and interesting than what I would have expected. The real story follows below the fold…
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So, what cryptic information was found in my sister’s spit? Lot’s that was unexpected. From what part of the world did the largest component of our genetic heritage come from? Clocking in at 30 %, it was (drum roll...)
Great Britain! (Urk!) Well, so much for a heritage from continental Europe. Neither of us saw this coming! I had always taken a perverse pride in not being Anglo-Saxon, and now it seems I’ve been all the time. Just as long as nobody forces me to eat pork pies, I suppose I can live with it.
Next, at 29 %, came the completely expected Italy/Greece. Okay, what next?
At 23 % comes Eastern Europe. At first I thought that this component was provided by my paternal grandmother, and it may still have been, but the portion of Europe from which this heritage hails is further east than Bohemia, centered more on Poland and Ukraine. Unexpected, but not shocking.
Next, we have the greatly anticipated component from Western Europe, which, interestingly, spans all of the countries of our known, non-Italian heritage: France, Germany and Bohemia. How much? 9 %! What we used to think was approximately 75 % of our heritage turned out to be less than 10 %. Do I need to tell you that this was very unexpected?
Next, coming in a 5 % is Scandinavia. My short, brown-haired sistered wondered where the tall stature and blonde hair this particular heritage might promise had wandered off to.
Then came a small amount of non-European heritage: 2 % Caucasus in western Asia. We’re Caucasian! Who would have guessed?
And finally, the trace components: Less than one percent each from Finland/Northwest Russia, European Jewish, and Ireland. So there is some Jewish heritage present, but pitifully little. I was kind of disappointed. And with less than one percent Irish, am I to be shunned from St. Patrick’s Day celebrations (particularly with all that English in me)? And Finnish?! WTF? Somebody must have gotten seriously lost.
The good news from this is that I don’t have to wonder where my ancestors come from anymore. The bad news is that I can’t speculate, or make things up anymore because I know with greater certainty what the answer is.
So have you spit in a vial? Do you know definitively where your genes come from? Or do you prefer to speculate without knowing? Do tell!
And now, the comments!
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From aoeu:
This comment from icallbs, an obvious top comment, from Mark Sumner’s front page post Zika threatens thousands of lives, one person stopped the funding—and they won’t own up to it.
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This first comment by frogdogs5, in teacher ken’s recommended post I have read the Kurt Eichenwald “blockbuster” on Trump.
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This comment from AmericanIdeal, from Beauregard’s post CNN Ohio Poll: Only 18% of sample under 50 years old.
Highlighted by Reallysuperscrappy:
This oh-so appropriate, bite-you-in-the-ass comment by ginadcnj, in The BBQ Chicken Madness’ recommended post Trump Jr. makes a holocaust joke.
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