I would like to know where my family disposition toward sarcasm came from. I’m thinking somewhere near the gene for smartass? I’d like the genotyping kit to try to answer these questions.

Wait, forget my last smartass answer. My real answer is that my husband is an identical twin, but I suspect that they’re really fraternal twins. I’d like to find that out.

Hi Meagan— pick me! I would love to find out some stuff about myself!

annnddd I didn’t read the rules.. duh! I would like to find out if I am somewhat more likely to develop cancer like my mother, grandfather and aunts.

I have no genetic information for me or for me to pass down to my children. My mother was adopted 63 years ago. She had tried to get something, anything, about her health history but the adoption agency had burned down (Sounds Like a made for TV movie !) She died because of heart issues. We never knew if anything in her history could have helped her know to get help sooner. My BIO Father has been out of my life for 37 yrs and refuses to answer any type of family history questions.

I really wish that for , not just me, but my kids, we had *some* type of information to pass on.

Tracy Johnson

Since I’ve not been in contact with my father or his family since I was a toddler, this could help me learn something about my genetic background on that side.

Being adopted, I have no family background records, no health records. As a parent now myself, I really wish I had some of that information!

Hmmm… DNA seems like one of the mysteries of life– even though an analysis might not tell me anything in particular, I’d still be super curious to see what it said!

I’d be more cautious about having one of my kids’ DNA tested, unless we had a specific question we needed answered. A DNA analysis seems like information that ought to belong to the possessor of the DNA, and it ought to be their choice when they’re grown to learn it or not. Or maybe that’s just me.

My mother’s family is from Armenia, i would love to really see what traits I get from that side of the family, especially since Armenians are so dispersed.

I suspect a genetic link in my family to autism, so I’d be very interested to find out more about my genetic background. I’d also like to find out more about any genetic tie to liver or gallbladder issues, since there are some odd health issues with both that seem to run in the family and that I’d like to watch out for.

My family’s an odd bunch, I’m colourblind, so I know there’s funkiness going on there, but many of my mother’s side have diabetes and I currently don’t. It would be interesting to know how genetically dipsosed I am to develop it.

I’m a “mutt” with many different ethnic backgrounds, and I’d love to understand more about my genealogical background.

It looks like Tracy has the best reason so far — can’t say I’d disagree with a kit for the Johnson kids (I know, it wouldn’t be random then, just saying

re: kids, I’d feel pretty comfortable genotyping children. The laws seem fairly protective here and the personalized medicine benefit probably will outweigh the legal risks in the long-term. It’s worth waiting a few years to hedge the risk unless you believe the exploration to greatly affect their development.

Oh, I wish they had selected me as one of their bloggers - I’m a total geek when it comes to genetics. I’ve really wanted to try this service ever since I saw information about it a few months ago.

I’d love to find out if I’m at a higher risk of heart disease or breast cancer. My mom’s family has a history of both, and I’d like to know if my risks are higher than the average person. If they are, it’ll be a big wake-up call to monitor those conditions more carefully in the future.

I’d love for my husband to have this done, too. His mom was adopted and died at 39 from sudden heart failure. He would like to know if he’s at risk for the same fate.

Both of my parents were smuggled out of Poland in WWII. They were never able to find any members of their respective families so no health history whatsoever. Would like to learn if I have any genetic predispositions

I always have people asking me what my ‘ethnic’ background is. I grew up in Louisiana and my father’s side of the family hails from France and my mother’s side is Cajun. But, I suspect that there may be some American Indian and perhaps some African American in me as well. I’m very curious to find out more about my ancestry.

I would really like to know the ethnicity of our family more specifically - from whence the various families migrated, and so on.

Hello,

My father had a “mini heart attack at age 46, his father died of a massive stroke and his mother has a pasemaker. I am 30yrs old and want to know what the odds are I will have hart issues/disease or heart attack!?

Thank you!
Jon

We know almost nothing about my dad’s family, his dad was estranged from most of his family so I’ve got no idea about that side of my family and I’d like to.

Great contest! My family background is from South America but apparently we have a lot of European ancestry and I would love to have more information about where in Europe my family originated from. Also, my paternal grandfather, and both maternal grandparents suffered from high blood pressure. I am currently okay, but my BP has been creeping up over the years. I’d be really curious to know if high blood pressure is “in my genes”. Also, my maternal grandfather had diabetes and I’m curious to see if he had a genetic predisposition to this (obviously I only have a 25% of getting confirmation about that even if he did). Finally, I probably would NOT choose to have my child genotyped, unless it was an in utero test. I tend to agree with Melissa Wilkins, above, who said that “DNA analysis seems like information that ought to belong to the possessor of the DNA, and it ought to be their choice when they’re grown to learn it or not” although I recognize that if I choose to learn about my DNA, I will end up with info about my kids whether I want to have it or not. At least they’ll have the option to learn the full details or not.

thanks!

my parents divorced when i was very young and i know nothing about my father and his medical history. it would be interesting to have a peek into my genetic make-up.

Yes, I would have a child of mine genotyped to help give them some potential guidance as to some problems they may encounter in the future. I would however explain exactly what it means carefully so as there was no misinterpretation of what it tells.

i feel just plain curious about what’s inside of me. my dad’s family and my mom’s family had such different kinds of problems in terms of cancer, heart conditions, etc. i THINK i would like to know my predispositions and whom i take after more… at least i think so!

I would love to do this! I had a preliminary DNA test done a while back, but there is so much more I want to know, especially on the maternal line (which is really hard since records are very spotty/hard to find/destroyed). As for the questions, I think I’ll answer all three!

“Are there any mysteries about your family background that genotyping might help you figure out?” I hope so! Like, where they really came from, which one of the 6 possible ancestors is the REAL one, etc.

“Are there any health conditions or traits that you suspect you might be genetically predisposed to? What would you do if you found out you were—or were not?” I want to know if celiac disease is on my line or not, and also if the cancers my family is experiencing are due more to genetics or crappy diet.

“Would you ever have one of your kids genotyped? Why or why not?” Absolutely, if they wanted it, and the results were confidential

I would love to genetically discover my ethnicity, particularly the Cherokee line. Other family members have found names of great-greats on rolls listed as Cherokee, but not the proper rolls that are required to become a member of the tribe. Not that this would help with that, but it would be really cool to know if it’s all rumors or scientific fact!

It would also be very nice to know of any health problems I and my children might be predisposed to having.

I would really love to find out if we are carriers for a deafness gene. We were told we had a high probability of having a child with a hearing loss, something like a 1 in 4 chance, but none of our children have a hearing loss. We have deafness on both sides of our family.

Your prompt asks for an answer to one of the questions…I chose: would I have my kid(s) genotyped?

I don’t have kids yet, but when I do, I will wait for them to reach an age where they can make the choice themselves. Not because I suspect they won’t, but mostly because I believe in the value of the thrill of SELF discovery.

However, I anticipate that I will know a lot about their genetic makeup in advance, since I and my mate will be already genotyped. DNA is a family thing… know thyself… know thy relatives…a couple of genomes can be quite the “cat out of the bag” for a family…

Q: Mysteries about my family background that genotyping might help you figure out? Of course! Doesn’t everyone? I come from a mixed racial background and I’m curious to know how or if some of the traits associated with a given ethnicity track with my current genetic makeup. 23&Me (and other personal genotyping companies) are finally giving people the power to explore themselves at the most basic and personal level. So cool!

I found out today that my one year old son has a severe peanut allergy and it got me thinking about how messed up our current healthcare system is, from misaligned incentives, variances of care and ethical debates about care at during the first three months and the last three months. My son only has one granparent having lost his grandfathers to Cancer and my mother to stroke. Congress isn’t going to fix the system nor his future, science and personalized medicine make up the keys of the reform toolkit.

Well, I am curious about my predisposition to cancers… I have colon cancer and breast cancer in my family and would be curious to know whether I’ve inherited them.

But also, my oldest has cystic fibrosis and CLEARLY has something else going on, some sort of syndrome, but we haven’t been able to pin it down. He is actually due to go back to see a geneticist but this would be a great opportunity to get some thorough testing done…

Thanks for the chance to win!

I’d like to test the person that matched me on 67 Y-DNA STR markers. It will help me to solve the mysterious genealogical puzzle.
Thank you for the cool giveaway idea!

I’d like to know if making chronically bad decisions is hereditary!

I am adopted and would like to create a virtual family history including disease genetic risk and learn about my lineage.

I’d love to find out more about my genes. I find genetics fascinating and there is a bit of mystery about my father’s parentage. Now that he and his family is all gone it would be a great way to find out more about them and their genetic predispositions. Also, autoimmune diseases run rampant in my mother’s side of the family. I have symptoms but no diagnosis. I’d love to see if there is a likelihood of the same fate.

I would like to test my grandparents in order to:
1. Research more on family history and find family roots. Sources of “old” genealogy are exhausted alredy
2. Know about family deceases and risks, such as breast cancer and others.

I plan to test, one by one all the family - starting from grandparents up to my children

Tragic Story here: I recently lost my 35-year old sister to brain and colon cancer (2 primary sites)which was a shocker since as far back as my family could tell we had no history of cancer and in the last several months, my brother, has been battling aggressive sarcoma cancer that is spreading throughout his leg and lungs - he also has glaucoma impairing his vision. Both cases so bizarre for people in their 30’s and again no history of cancer or glaucoma in previous generations. Needlesstosay, I am freaking out and in desperate search of some clues and potential impact on me and the next generation. Thanks for your consideration!

I recently found out that a couple of boys’ mother’s mother’s mother’s father had polydactyly (an extra thumb on each hand). The condition has not appeared in subsequent generations. What are the chances that the boys may pass this trait on. Boys, mother and grandmother (granddaughter of person with trait) are available to test.

I would love to get a kit for my father, because I’m a genealogist and his paternal line abruptly ends in the middle of the Civil War. His last known direct ancestor was very well-documented but curiously never lived near anyone with his surname. And in his obituary, which listed tons of people, not one person with his surname was listed except for his wife and kids. The earliest I’ve found him in a census record was at age 17, working on someone else’s farm.

A cousin of mine with a different surname took a DNA test simply to match this common family name with a specific family in the area. The results showed that we are not biologically who we say we are at all. About 300 yrs ago, our male ancestor was either adopted from another family or was the result of an unofficial relationship with an unknown (to us) father. The results went a step further to match us to biological family that we actually descend from! I didn’t realize that the tests could be so specific. But it only works on a direct male line.

Would totally love to be entered! With a son on with Aspergers, and now also investigating highly suspected Celiacs, I’m very interested in genetics!

We would love to genotype my hubby who is adopted. We think he broke the mold and would love to be SURE!

I’m ineligible for entering (I don’t live in the US), but I thought I’d offer my perspective on the question:
“Would you ever have one of your kids genotyped? Why or why not?”

This is something I’ve thought about very carefully as there are arguments both for, and against this.
In short - My answer is: It depends.
It depends if the child has a 50% chance of inheriting a gene that would have a negative impact on their health, and this negative impact would occur before they reach an age where they can themselves make an informed decision.

I’m the mother of a six month old child, and I also have health problems - and I do worry about whether I’ve passed them down. One of my health conditions is Endometriosis, and I do indeed carry two of the risk genes associated with Endometriosis. I also have a much higher risk of macular degeneration than the average person, plus I also have a gene that makes me more sensitive to some chemicals found in plants in Solanaceae (the plant family that contains Potatoes, Tomatoes, Capsicums etc).

One thing I’m concerned about is the issue of informed consent. Is it ethical for parents to have their child tested, when the child themself hasn’t tested. Should we instead wait until the child themself is at an age where they can make a fully informed decision themself. If a daughter carries a gene for Endometriosis for instance, - does it do any good to know about it before she is at an age where that knowledge matters or not. Perhaps it is better for her to decide for herself.
As it happens, my child is a boy, so he’ll never have to worry about suffering from Endometriosis (but in time he may have daughters, so it may concern my future granddaughters). If my son carries the same risk genes for Macular degeneration, - it won’t affect him for many years, so whether we know whether he too has those genes, now or many years in the future won’t matter. On the other hand, - whether or not he carries the gene that makes me more sensitive to plants in the Potato family, - that does matter. My son is at the age where solid food is introduced to his diet, - and it would be good to know whether I can feed him foods containing Tomatoes, Potatoe etc, without worrying whether they wil have a negative effect on his health.

To me - it seems better to (if possible) have both parents tested first, and from that weigh up what chances the child has to inherit something significant. If the risk is high, and its something that will affect the child now (and not 20+ years in the future) then its justified to test.

My sons father has not been tested yet, and when he is tested, I will compare our results (and what gene combinations our son might have inherited), I’ll then weigh up the pros and cons from that information, and decide from there.

I suspect I will have my son tested (but only when I can afford it).

Looks like I made a typo (must be “Mommy Brain :-)).

Where I say:

One thing I’m concerned about is the issue of informed consent. Is it ethical for parents to have their child tested, when the child themself hasn’t *tested*. Should we instead wait until the child themself is at an age where they can make a fully informed decision themself.

I mean:

One thing I’m concerned about is the issue of informed consent. Is it ethical for parents to have their child tested, when the child themself hasn’t *consented*. Should we instead wait until the child themself is at an age where they can make a fully informed decision themself.

I had a boyfriend whose father had Hemochromatosis! I remember because I thought it was so fascinating that the treatment for it was still, essentially, blood letting.

I was so thrilled to see you put this up. Here’s the scoop!

My mother and sister both suffer from autoimmune disorders. My mother with rheumatoid arthritis, and my sister with a form of muscular dystrophy called myasthenia gravis. Autoimmune disorders being hereditary, and me displaying clinical symptoms of fibromyalgia (not actually considered autoimmune), have left me with quite a bit of anxiety over what my body has in store for it in the future, and what I may be passing to my children. I watched, as a child, the ravages of the disease on my mother, but it didn’t sink in that I could be up against a similar foe until I reached my mid twenties. I’m taking steps now to bastion my body against disease, hoping it isn’t too little too late. But in this situation, I think knowledge would be power.

Sarah

This is a note for Sarah:
I do hope you are able to be tested with 23andme. My health problems were diagnosed as Fibromyalgia about 10 years ago. Whether or not it is Fibromyalgia I have, or a combination of health issues, I do not know yet. I am hoping to unravel it in part with my 23andme results.
I suspect that there are several different genes involved. Different people with Fibromyalgia (and Chronic fatigue syndrome) have different symptomologies, - and these differences may perhaps be due to different combinations of gene variants.
One thing I find interesting is your mention that you have a sister with Myasthenia Gravis. Before I got my dignosis of Fibromyalgia, I did briefly wonder if I had Myasthenia Gravis. I don’t. Some of the symptoms that led me to suspect MG, could well have been caused by the gene variant I have (the one related to plants in the potato family). The compound in these plants I am sensitive to is one that affects acetylcholine, which is the same neurotransmittor that is affected in Myasthenia Gravis.
Over the next few days I’ll try to put a page on my website dealing with the genes that might be involved. Perhaps this will be helpful to others.

I would like to find distant relatives and learn more about my father’s father’s line (he was killed during the battle of Stalingrad). -AY

Three major things I’d really love to know:

-I’d love to find out if my infertility is genetic.

-And also, as an adoptive mom, we have wonderful connections with our children’s birth mothers’, but not their birth dads. SO very curious about half of our children’s genetic make up!

-Oh right, and that whole gay thing. Would love to prove once and for all that it’s NOT a choice - I just am who I am.

Thanks!

I want to know if I’m more Ukranian or Russian.

I would love to be able to give my fiance the gift of knowing a little more about his genetic past. He has very little contact with his parents due to a nasty divorce when he was 4 and he lived with other family after that. He has been on his own for so long but no information about his past. Thanks for the consideration.

I would love to know more about the genetic making of myself. I think we have a family tendancy toward depression, auto-immune diseases & some instances of epilepsy/seizures. I am also interested in learning more about any genetic influence for neural tube defects & the relation of the body’s ability/lack of to use folic acid properly. I know neural tube defects are multifactorial, and have experienced the loss of a child due to a major defect. I wonder if there is any noted genetic link that would explain the increased risk.

My Mom’s dad abandoned her when she was 2 years old. We know nothing at all about his side of the family and my Father’s side of the family don’t know any of their history either. I’ve been going to doctor’s for 3 years now trying to find out what’s “wrong” with me. I’ve been diagnosed and then undiagnosed with Celiac Disease, Gerd, IBS, Crohn’s…no one knows what’s wrong with me. I would love to buy this test if I had the money, but since I don’t, I will just shamelessly beg that you pick me!

My partner and I each gave birth to a girl using the same (unknown) donor. We are getting more and more curious about the other half of the girls’ genes as they grow. Before they were born we swore off biology as entirely insignificant to us, but now we’re crazy interested in knowing more.

I may be genetically predisposed to breast cancer and/or pkd (polycystic kidney disease). I’m not sure about breast cancer - my mother and sister died last year of breast cancer. Both grandmothers also died of breast cancer. But that pattern is nowhere near as clear was pkd seems to be on my mother’s side of the family.

What would I do if I knew? Any children I would have has a 50% chance of getting pkd. I would not only alter my diet but also find out what can be done to test for them. And also spread the knowledge of which genes they are (if possible) so that those who are predisposed or might be could be tested early enough to seriously consider the effect their diet will have. For example, with pkd a renal friendly diet early enough could help slow the progression of the disease. Unfortunately, most people don’t know they even have pkd until far later in life.

I would love to be able to connect the dots in my family’s medical history. This sounds like a great opportunity to do just that!

Yes, I would have my son genotyped. My son was conceived through donor sperm and he is having behavior issues/anger issues and I would like to use the test on him to see if he is predisposed to any health problems. The doctors are unable to figure out what is causing the problems.

I’ve been following 23andme since I heard about them through Dr. Jeff Bland’s “Functional Medicine Update” (jeffreybland.com). Totally awesome!

I feel that there’s enough family history to assume I’m predisposed to cancers and perhaps some hematologic disorders…getting the kit would help answer a lot of questions.

On the other hand, my daughter will be born soon, and it could benefit her too.

Our family is trying to determine our heritage. My paternal grandfather’s true past is unknown.

The Graham family who arrived in Charleston, SC in the 1800’s says that he was left on their door step in a basket. This would have been about 1912.

My grandfather had three children. The oldest is a daughter, my father, who died in 1991 from the same type of cancer his father died from, and the youngest is their half brother. My Aunt and other family members feel that the story of the baby being left at their door is a cover story. They believe he was an illegitimate child of one of the eight Graham sisters. Her name was Helen but they called her Shunny. I don’t know where her nickname came from but it makes me think of her as being shunned. There is a definite resemblance in comparing pictures of my father and even myself to Helen’s picture.

Another thought is that he was the son of Thomas Graham the only male in a family of nine children. He married and they say the sisters ran the wife off & kept the baby. There would be no shame related to that scenario so the illegitimate theory seems stronger. The last of the Graham sisters died in the 1971 taking the secret with her. My father was raised by the Graham’s and in our hearts we are Grahams. We would love to know if we are true Grahams.

My Aunt who is in her eighties would love to know before she dies if one of the Grahams, either Thomas or Helen, was her grandparent.

If my story is picked I would give the test to the best candidate for testing, either my aunt or her half brother. This would be a great gift for our descendants and for my grandfather, whose history stops at a door step on Queen Street in Charleston, South Carolina on a hot July morning in 1912.

I already know (via logic, but not via actual testing of my own DNA) that both my husband and I happen to be carriers for both alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency and cystic fibrosis, and our son Jacob has landed on the 1 in 9 million chance that he would inherit two copies of each gene for both disorders. He also has autism, and what I’d really like to know is whether I carry a genetic predisposition for autism as well, passed on to him - as my brother is also on the autism spectrum.

Yes, we’ve already won the genetic lottery in reverse - wondering if we go for the trifecta and he’s inherited genes that predispose him to autism, too. It would relieve a lot of mother-guilt. I suspect I know the answer, but it really would put me at ease to know for certain.

My grandmother was an orphan, but I actually have very little information about the medical histories of anyone in my family, and it would be great to have some more information, I’m sure some of which would be useful to my sisters as well.

My mother passed away from breast cancer, and I have no other female relatives (she was an only child, and her mom passed away many years ago), so I wonder whether I am predisposed to breast cancer.

This is great! My husband’s dad died from cancer at a very young age, even though both of his siblings lived to a very old age. I would like my husband typed so we can advise his doctors about certain cancers to test frequently. 23andme could help my husband, as well as my daughter.

Cancer. Cancer, cancer everywhere in my genes. Now that I am, ahem, well into my thirties, I feel like I need to know more.

My sister has been a diabetic since she was 9. I’d love to find out more how genetics play into this.

I would like to know more of my background. Plus I’m trying to convince my sister who is a research analyst for MRSA, what a cool product 23andMe is.

Would I have my child genotyped? Of course I would! I can’t see any issues with knowing predispositions before they become realities…

Would I have my kid genotyped?

Right now.. probably not. If he was interested when he’s older (he’s 2 now)? Definitely. Knowledge is very powerful, and I’d like to leave that decision up to him since it’s a personal choice to know or not know. But I had severe early onset preeclampsia with him (now pregnant with #2) and it would definitely be interesting to poke around at where our genetics interfaced!

“Are there any mysteries about your family background that genotyping might help you figure out?”
There are few mysteries surrounding the nature of my paternal heritage, and genotyping will only tell me that my patrilineal ancestry is European, something that my family has documented through genealogy in excruciating detail . However, my mother’s side of the family is more a mystery. I was born in Costa Rica and my mother is mostly native, i.e. mestizo. It would be here that genotyping would offer greater resolution concerning the nature of my mother’s ethnicity (she does not know her family’s history very well.) As an anthropologist, I think this type of testing would be extremely informative and valuable. Thanks!

“Would you ever have one of your kids genotyped? Why or why not?”

My wife and I have already been genotyped by 23andMe, so I’d *love* to get one of my boys genotyped. We’d probably choose my oldest son (5).

Sneaking in under the wire. I’d test me to get a sense of autoimmune diseases in the fam (I got rheumatoid arthritis at 35 like one of my grandmas.

[...] was so intrigued by the comments in the giveaway post. People have such fascinating, heart-rending and important reasons for wanting access to their [...]

Family history of cherokee and soiux indians want to prove it

Well looks like its past June 12th so who was the winner of the free give away?

I’m very afraid about crohn’s disease. I have some symtoms in abdominal pain, often in the lower right area, and diarrhea. Should I go to see the doctor? Please help.