DNA and Holidays

You may think to ask what the Holidays have to do with DNA. As we inch closer to the Holiday season and sales, it's the time of year when most home DNA companies have sales or will have their Black Friday sales on the companies' DNA kits. These kits can be given as a gift for the holiday if you think the recipient would be interested in this type of gift. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid are the genetic building blocks determining what you look like, how your body works, etc. You could consider companies like 23andMe, Ancestry, Family Tree DNA, My Heritage, and Nebula Genomics.

The DNA testing currently available includes Maternal Ancestry, Autosomal, Paternal Ancestry, Health Traits, or a combination of these. Maternal DNA or mtDNA tests are for both biological males and females. It can be used to determine your direct matrilineal ancestors and can provide your maternal haplogroup. Paternal Ancestry or Y-DNA is explicitly tested for biological males to have the Y-DNA tested, which can help verify your direct paternal ancestry.

The companies and types of DNA testing they provide are below:

1. 23andMe can give both women and men the mtDNA, in addition to the ancestry and traits or Health and Ancestry. 23andMe also has a Premium option which includes premium reports and features throughout the year. The Ancestry + Traits service is $99.00, the Health + Ancestry service is on sale for $129.00, and the 23andMe+ Membership is $129.00 plus $14.99 to provide the one-year prepaid membership. If you are interested in learning more about these tests, click here.
2. Ancestry uses only the autosomal DNA test contains DNA from both the maternal and paternal lines. However, a maternal or paternal haplogroup is not provided in the reporting you receive once the specimen testing has been completed. The offerings from Ancestry are on sale and include the following: Ancestry DNA at $59.00 (Basic testing); AncestryDNA+, which includes Ancestry DNA and a 3-month Ancestry World Explorer subscription at $60.00, and Ancestry DNA Traits + All Access Membership includes the Ancestry DNA Traits, and a 3-month Ancestry all access including Newspapers.com and Fold3 military records for$149.00. If you are interested in this test, click here.
3. MyHeritage DNA and Health Test uses an autosomal DNA $89.00 test is on sale at $49. If you are interested in this test, click here.
4. I recently discovered another DNA testing company Nebula Genomics. The founder of Nebula Genomics is George Church, a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Health Sciences and Technology professor at Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). The exciting way this company approaches DNA is they claim they do "Whole Genome Sequencing" in comparison to any of the other three companies listed above. If you are interested in checking out this site, they have a fall sale going on at this time. They have 3 types of testing with the costs varying from the Basic Whole Genome Sequencing report at $99.00, Deep Whole Genome Sequencing at $249.00, and Ultra Deep Whole Genome Sequencing at $899.00. If you are interested in learning more about this company's tests, click here

I always suggest you thoroughly review the privacy terms for each company you are considering sending your DNA sample to before purchasing.