New Thing #96 - Ancestry

Month 7 - Origins

January 2019 - Ancestry.com DNA Test

I've been wanting to do a DNA test for years to see where our ancestors hailed from. Given my last name and delicate skin tone, I've had a feeling it's the British Isles, but wanted to be sure. So many of my friends are certain of their heritage, reveling in their German, French or Asian roots. I wanted to know for sure where the Jones clan is from, so I could feel a stronger connection to a place.

With the upcoming holiday season last year, Ancestry.com put their DNA test on sale, making it the cheapest I've seen in a long time. I couldn't pass it up. I briefly considered doing 23 and Me instead, to learn more about my genetic markers in regards to health, etc., but they don't offer the full ancestral history. Well, they do, but it's much more expensive and less extensive than Ancestry.com. Maybe next Christmas when it's on sale, I'll try the health one.

Last month, I received my kit, spit into a little vial and mailed my DNA back. I'm not sure if it was because of the time of year, but it took around 6 weeks to get my results back. I don't think that's overly long, but I was anxious to find out everything they had to say about me. Over the duration of the 6 weeks, I received frequent updates from Ancestry keeping me up to date on the progress of my results.

When they came in, I couldn't wait to dig in. Any guesses as to where you think we're from?


Drum roll please.....


I was right. 88% is from England, Wales and Northwestern Europe. 10% is Germanic Europe and the remaining 2% is from Ireland and Scotland. That part surprised me a little bit. I assumed Ireland and Scotland would be higher or even lumped in with everything else, but turns out it's quite a bit less.

Additional locations, where it appears my ancestors moved to was, Lower Midwest and Virginia, more specifically the Potomac River Valley and Central Kentucky.

And that's kind of it. Seriously. That's all the information they gave me. I think if I expand my family tree with people and dates, I might get more specific information, but without sitting down with my parents, I'm kind of at a dead end.

Well, that's really kind of a let down. I know they can't pinpoint exact locations of ancestors, but damn, the commercial makes it seem like I'd get a city or at least a county in England/Wales. I mean Kelly Ripa found out the exact location in Italy her ancestors are from!

Gotta say, I'm really bummed by this. The information they gave me is pretty damn sparse. I'm not sure I have the time or energy to fill in all the extra information needed for a family tree. Maybe I'll make some time later in the year to dig in! For now, I basically paid $60 to find out that I'm from the countries I already suspected I was from. Neato.

I guess I did end up with an additional feature in my DNA traits, including where they come from and how they relate to geographic regions in my results. It's not really anything earth shattering though, but I guess it's a nice added feature. But first, a quick genetics lesson.

People typically have 46 chromosomes, grouped into 23 pairs. Genes are pieces of DNA within each chromosome that give instructions on certain traits: eye color, unibrow, etc. We have two copies of each gene, one inherited from each parent. A genotype at certain markers helps determine the likelihood of certain traits (i.e. red hair), phenotype is what we actually have.

Each of these traits comes with some additional scientific info that I've added below. I totally copied and pasted from the website though (hence the quotation marks). I didn't feel like paraphrasing.

APPEARANCE TRAITS:

Finger Length:
DNA says my pointer finger should be longer than my ring finger. Nope, they're pretty much the same length. "The relative lengths of these two fingers is known as your digit ratio, and it can provide some surprising insights about you. It turns out that the length of your fingers is related to how much testosterone you were exposed to in the womb. Greater testosterone exposure leaves most biological males with a ring finger that’s a bit longer than the index finger. Because biological females are exposed to less testosterone in utero, they tend to have index and ring fingers that are about the same length, or an index finger that’s a bit longer."

Cleft Chin:
DNA says I probably don't have a cleft chin. That's correct! "Research suggests males are slightly more likely to have cleft chins than females. A cleft chin (sometimes called a chin dimple) is a small indentation in the chin that develops before you’re born. It forms when the two sides of the lower jaw don’t completely fuse together, leaving a little space."

Ear Lobe Type:
DNA says I should have unattached earlobes. And that would also be correct. They're almost freakishly unattached, in fact. "Buddha is usually portrayed with elongated earlobes that have come to represent wisdom, compassion, and a rejection of materialism." Boom. I, too, am wise. ;-)

Earwax Type: (seriously, this is what my money went towards?!?)
DNA says I should have wet and sticky earwax (gross). This is also correct, in case you really wanted to know. "“Wet” earwax is sticky and yellow to brown in color, whereas “dry” earwax is crumbly and grayish or tan. What type you have is correlated with your ethnicity. Dry earwax is common in Asian and Native American populations. Just about everybody else has the wet variety. Also, the same gene that controls earwax type also plays a role in a person’s underarm odor."

Eye Color:
DNA says I should probably have "light" eyes. They don't list a specific color, but I do in fact have blue eyes that appear quite light most of the time. "Melanin, the pigment that gives color to our skin, hair, and eyes, doesn’t come in blue (or green or hazel or gray, for that matter). So how can eyes be anything other than brown? The more melanin you’ve got in the stroma, one of the layers in your iris, the darker your eyes are. Less melanin in the stroma means the iris reflects more light. As that reflected light is scattered by particles in the stroma, it gives blue and other light-colored eyes some, or all, of their hue. It’s similar to what happens when light is scattered by molecules in the air, which is why the sky looks blue." Yeah, I'm definitely lacking in the melanin dept. "According to one study, blue eyes are becoming rarer. A century ago half of Americans had blue eyes; today that number is closer to 17%."

Iris Patterns:
DNA suggests I have two eye-catching features: furrows and rings. Guess I should go stare deeply into my own eyes to be sure. "Furrows are a series of pale lines that curve around the iris; they’re produced as the pupil opens and closes in response to light. Pigmented rings are wide, colored bands around the pupil that are a different shade than the rest of your iris. The difference in color comes from melanin, the same pigment that colors our hair. Pigmented rings are often more noticeable in light eyes. For example, you might see a brown ring in the middle of a blue eye."

Skin Pigmentation:
DNA suggest I have light to medium skin tone. Yep, correctamundo! "Our ancient ancestors lived in Africa where the sunlight was strong, and darker skin likely helped prevent the loss of folate. As humans moved out of Africa into lands to the north with less sunlight, losing folate wasn’t as big a threat, but producing enough vitamin D probably became an issue. So genetic variations that led to less melanin and lighter skin would give these migrants a better chance of thriving in lands with long winter nights. Scientists think these sorts of variations spread through Europe and eastern Asia by natural selection and led to lighter skin."

Freckles:
DNA suggests that I should have freckles. I don't have very many on my face, but I do have them on my arms and other areas of the body. "While you might see more “angel kisses” among people with red hair and fair skin, gene variations that cause freckles are found worldwide, including in Asia, Africa, and the Americas."

Hair Color:
DNA says I should have light hair. While it's brown, it's definitely on the lighter spectrum of brown, sometimes appearing red or bronze in certain light. "Your hair has two types of melanin: eumelanin, which comes in black and brown, and pheomelanin, which is a spectrum of pinkish-red to orange and yellow. In people with dark hair, eumelanin is high and pheomelanin low; those with blonde hair have low amounts of both pigments. As we age, hair follicles produce less melanin, resulting in gray and ultimately white hair. People have been dyeing their hair blonde for centuries—in Ancient Rome, they used pigeon dung and in Renaissance Venice, horse urine." I don't know which is worse: all the chemicals we use today or all that excrement.

Hair Type:
DNA says my hair should be naturally wavy. I'm on the fence about this. I've always considered my hair to be straight, but when I air dry it, certain parts are wavy (especially those around my face). The longer my hair is, the straighter it is, but I suppose there is some truth to the wavy thing. My mom had wavier hair, so I suppose I can say it's naturally wavy. I just don't agree with the natural waves my hair decides to take. "It all starts at the roots. Hair grows from tiny pockets called follicles. Round, symmetrical follicles create hair that grows straight. Waves and curls are made by flat or oval-shaped follicles; the more extreme the shape, the kinkier the curl. But DNA doesn’t tell the whole story when it comes to hair type. Things like humidity and length of the hair can also play a role. Our earliest ancestors likely had curly hair. Straight hair may have become more common during the Ice Age, about 65,000 years ago, as protection from the cold."

Hair Strand Thickness:
DNA says my hair should be of average thickness. I can't really say I know what "average" thickness really is, but all my life I've been told I have fine hair. Even with my long hair now, I can't even make a full bun. You know those faux bun starters that you wrap your hair around to make it look fuller? Yeah, I don't have enough hair to actually cover the thing. I'm gonna go with "fine" on this one.

Male Hair Loss:
I think I can skip this one, though it does say that my close male relatives have a low chance of hair loss. Um, tell that one to my dad. :)

Unibrow:
DNA suggests that I do NOT have a unibrow, and thankfully, they would be correct. Though, I furiously plucked them in my teens just to be sure. So, I have the opposite of a unibrow now.

SENSORY TRAITS:

Asparagus Metabolic Detection: (say that 5 times fast)
DNA suggests that I might not notice a distinctive smell when I pee after eating asparagus. Can't really answer this one since I don't like asparagus. "When your body digests asparagus, it produces a chemical called asparagusic acid, which breaks down into compounds that contain sulfur, which is notoriously stinky (think rotten eggs). Some people can smell this in their urine after eating asparagus; others can’t."

Bitter Sensitivity:
DNA says I might be extra sensitive to certain bitter tastes. "If you tend to avoid vegetables like brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and kale, the reason may be in your genes. These veggies all contain glucosinolates, a group of natural compounds that can taste bitter to some people." I definitely don't like brussels sprouts, no matter how many times I've tried them (adding sweeteners or bacon to them does nothing to make them palatable for me.) I don't have strong opinions on cauliflower, and I can eat raw baby kale, though cooking it isn't my fave, so I suppose this one could be true.

Cilantro Aversion:
DNA says I should have a strong dislike for raw cilantro. This one is definitely incorrect. I freaking love cilantro. "Although cilantro leaves and coriander seeds come from the same plant, the two have very different flavors. So even if you hate cilantro, you might not mind coriander."

Sweet Sensitivity:
DNA suggests I might be more sensitive to sweet tastes, meaning some sweet treats could be deemed "too sweet" to me. I would say this could be true now, since I've cut out more sugar from my diet. But, growing up, nothing was too sweet for me. If it was sugary and delicious, I would eat it. I don't know that there was ever anything I deemed too sweet back then. That's probably also why I was a bit on the chubby side. :)

Savory (Umami) Sensitivity: (fun fact: every time I read the word umami, I immediately think of Ross on Friends and his unagi.)
DNA says I might be less sensitive to savory flavors. I would agree. While I like savory foods, I don't think I'm overly sensitive to them.

So, basically, this DNA test that I've really been wanting for forever turned out to be kind of a dud. It really didn't tell me anything I didn't already know, but rather confirmed my suspicions. I guess I was hoping there was some exotic ancestor down the line from Persia or Scandinavia. Nope, we're pretty vanilla over here in the Jones house. Ah well. Those ancestors are who made me what I am today, so I'm okay with it. :)

Update: May 2019

So, Ancestry is continuing to come up with new DNA traits, so I thought I'd add the newest ones they identified. :)

New - Nutrition Traits: I apparently have average levels of Omega-3, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Vitamin E. According to my doctor though, I'm low on Vitamin D, so genes are definitely not a factor for that.

Additional Appearance Traits: Me (or my closest male relative will have less thick facial hair. Can't say I've paid much attention to my dad or brother's facial hair thickness, so I can't say if that's accurate or now. ;-) I'm also supposed to have been of average birth weight (which is 7.5 pounds). I can't remember my exact weight, but I know it was 7 pounds something. And finally, my DNA suggests all of my wisdom teeth developed. That would be a bit of a lie, because I only ended up with 3 instead of 4. When I had an issue with one of my wisdom teeth 17 years ago, I decided to go ahead and have them all removed. Luckily for me - and my wallet - I only had three to remove.

Additional Sensory Trait: DNA suggests that I might sneeze when exposed to bright light. You know, I've never really noticed that.