Today I'm going to tell you about genetic tests.
I wanted to find out what surprises we inherited. Well, besides the red passport, of course. Not that I dreamed of wrapping myself in tinfoil and reinsuring myself against everything, but at least it would be helpful to know roughly where trouble might come from.
At first I looked at it skeptically. But then curiosity and discount did their work. Myheritage test is $36. The kit was like a classic “covid” kit: a stick to scrape your mouth, a little glass of liquid, plastic bag, return envelope, and a bunch of boring papers.
Three weeks later, a notification flies to me saying, "We've decoded you! And we've even found someone 50% like you. It's most likely your daughter." Relax, no soap opera - it's just that my wife and daughter took the tests before I did. At least the results aren't drawn at random. In addition there were distant relatives with strange names from Austria, Germany, Norway and Poland. Four-uncles, five-uncles - in general, those with whom we have common great-great-grandparents. No familiar names. But who knows, maybe in time there will be a couple more interesting coincidences.
Next up, the useful stuff. Genetic disease report. I now know that somewhere in the bushes, diabetes is waiting, along with heart and vascular problems. Not unique among humans, but unpleasant. The other good news is that there is no early Alzheimer or Parkinson! But late-onset isn't going anywhere. Well... But with gluten I have complete peace and harmony - even if I eat it, or put it intravenously. Thanks to my agricultural ancestors. You can also download your DNA transcript to a file and upload it to some other service for analysis, for example on genotek - also the report on diseases and relatives can be ordered separately and you don't need to submit anything for the second time.
And as a bonus I got a map of ancestral settlement. And it turned out that I am... Latvian! It seems unexpected, but it doesn't contradict my grandmother's stories about her homeland somewhere around Bryansk and Smolensk.
