23 and me

EmilyFoxSeaton said:

Just mentioning it because Matt's Mom mentioned it. 23 and me is a test you can take from home that will test your DNA. You just spit into a tube and send it in and will test like 100+ things including variants for Parkinson's and [font=arial, sans-serif]Alzheimer's.[/font]

[font=arial, sans-serif]Good news...  I don't have any variants for that. In fact, I don't have any variants for ANYTHING. Any bad diseases. I am also, not a carrier for any bad diseases. Why didn't I reproduce! [/font]

[font=arial, sans-serif]I am also just tickled pink that I am what I thought I was ancestry wise. 80% irish and 20 percent other things. The largest of which is Italian. That tickles me because I have an italian sur name and everyone always thinks I am italian although I look very Irish. [/font]

[font=arial, sans-serif]The funniest revelation is that I tested positive for a DNA variant that makes me likely to be an elite athlete. Now you have to know me.. I am very weak and always have been that way. But you see, I could be so much more. It really made me think because people of my ancestry are like 30% this way.[/font]

[font=arial, sans-serif]I still have a few filters to run the raw data through. 
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[font=arial, sans-serif]Has anyone else done this? [/font]

[font=arial, sans-serif]Interestingly I have 1200 genetic relatives on the service you can make contact with them and this year.. on the holidays... if my sister doesn't want me over.. I got 1200 relatives to hit up. Weirdly [/font][font=arial, sans-serif]zero are in my state though. 

That's awesome!  I had sent mine in a week ago; how long did it take to get back?

I had done AncestryDNA about 5 years ago.  I have 74 4th cousins or closer identified, most of them verified secondarily through raw family tree data (from both me and the other party).  Beyond 4th cousin it's really hard to pin down people and most people's generations don't go back that far since I'm German (from an area of the country that got devastated during WWII, so records are hard to find).  I'm hoping 23 and me's ancestry panel comes back a little bit more sensical.  I tested positive for African, and a blood aunt Native American, and I'm like unless there were some serious interracial affairs going on or something I highly doubt it as there's a pretty bigoted history esp on my dads' side....[/font]

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COMT Mutations
COMT (catechol-O-methyltransferase) helps break down certain neurotransmitters and catecholamines. These include dopamine, epinephrine, and norepinephrine. Catechol-O-methyltransferase is important to the areas of the pre-frontal cortex. This area of the brain is involved with personality, inhibition of behaviors, short-term memory, planning, abstract thinking, and emotion. COMT is also involved with metabolizing estrogens. COMT (-/-) individuals can usually break down these neurotransmitters efficiently, but COMT (+/+) individuals may have trouble breaking these chemicals down from impaired function of the enzyme. With a COMT + status, it has been clinically observed by physicians that people may have trouble with methyl donors. This can lead to irritability, hyperactivity, or abnormal behavior. They may also be more sensitive to pain. 

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VDR Mutations
VDR (Vitamin D Receptor) encodes the nuclear hormone receptor for vitamin D3. Low or low normal vitamin D values are often seen in those with chronic illness and even the general population. Low vitamin D is related to a lot of neurological and immunological conditions. Vitamin D stimulates enzymes that create dopamine. 

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