# I got my DNA test back **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 9, 2017, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084 "2017-11-09T00:55:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2017, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084/21 "2017-11-09T21:47:40Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Little known fact: Neanderthals had the right leg shorter than the left. They couldn’t leave Eurasia because they kept walking in circles. Littler known fact: For Neanderthals south of the equator the left leg was shorter and they walked in a circle in the opposite direction. ---
**Author:** ![harmonicamoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/65b543/32.png) [@harmonicamoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/harmonicamoon)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084/22 "2017-11-10T00:16:53Z")
At a party in WA state, people were discussing their DNA results. And they were bragging about their high % of Neanderthal ancestry. I found it highly entertaining. It was as if they were saying, “I was here first!” or “Native Earthling!” But it was obvious that the higher the %, the more respect they deserved. I don’t get out much. Is this normal behavior? Or, was it a just quirky party? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084/23 "2017-11-10T00:24:46Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Littler known fact: For Neanderthals south of the equator the left leg was shorter and they walked in a circle in the opposite direction. The anatomical difference was predominantly in the tibia in those southern Neanderthals. That’s why they walked widder **shins**.😃 ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084/24 "2017-11-10T00:38:20Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > At a party in WA state, people were discussing their DNA results. > > And they were bragging about their high % of Neanderthal ancestry. > > I found it highly entertaining. It was as if they were saying, “I was here first!” or “Native Earthling!” > > But it was obvious that the higher the %, the more respect they deserved. > > I don’t get out much. Is this normal behavior? Or, was it a just quirky party? it’s just “I need something to feel special and unique about.” ---
**Author:** ![Dobbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Dobbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dobbs)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084/25 "2017-11-10T01:07:24Z")
> [@WildBlueYonder](#): > > My mother’s and my sister’s DNA from ancestry doesnt show Neanderthal… My understanding is that, because Ancestry is pretty much a Mormon operation, the idea of humans and Neanderthal interbreeding is a sacreligious idea. I’ve done both the 23&me and Ancestry test, and I’d recommend 23&me, and not just because of the Neanderthal reports (23 used to report percentage, but now they count variants - I was 2.8%, now 279 variants). 23 also test your Y haplogroup and your maternal haplogroup via your mitochondrial DNA. (Turns out I’m Irish on dad’s side. There is a show on PBS, _Finding Your Roots_, hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. One of the episodes covered Bill O’Riley and Bill Maher. It turns out they share my Y chromosome, as does Henry Louis Gates.) Ancestry doesn’t do any haplogroup testing. If you’re looking for DNA relatives (strictly optional for both services), 23 is easier to use, and, if your matches fully fill out their profiles, they offer more information. For example, 23 has a place you can list your families surnames (and they are searchable by others), Ancestry doesn’t. Both services will allow you to link to a family tree, but if you want to see your matches tree on Ancestry, send mo’ money, every month. 23 allow you to see where several peoples genetic profiles match (in my case, me, my sister, her kids and her grandkids) all at one time (provided they ‘share’ with you). No such feature at Ancestry. 23 has two tiers of testing - ancestry only ($100) and ancestry and health ($200). I’m not sure the health is worth it. I received the health reports because I was a customer prior to them getting clearance from the FDA for the health testing. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084/26 "2017-11-10T05:52:05Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > At a party in WA state, people were discussing their DNA results. > > And they were bragging about their high % of Neanderthal ancestry. > > I found it highly entertaining. It was as if they were saying, “I was here first!” or “Native Earthling!” > > But it was obvious that the higher the %, the more respect they deserved. > > I don’t get out much. Is this normal behavior? Or, was it a just quirky party? It’s like how it became way cool to have NA ancestry after _Dances With Wolves_ came out. 🙂 You can inform your uninformed friends that Neanderthals beat us Sapiens to Europe, but our species are about the same age. And we both came from some precursor species about 600k years ago, which makes the whole idea of being “first on earth” nonsensical. And that goes for us vs any species. For me, I love being part Neanderthal only because I’ve been following the research on human evolution for decades, and back not that long ago when the consensus was “no hybridization between Neanderthals and Sapiens”, I thought it just didn’t make sense and that we just didn’t have enough data yet. Large mammalian species like us just don’t become non-interfile in only a few hundred thousand years. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084/27 "2017-11-10T12:42:31Z")
> [@harmonicamoon](#): > > At a party in WA state, people were discussing their DNA results. > > And they were bragging about their high % of Neanderthal ancestry. > > I found it highly entertaining. It was as if they were saying, “I was here first!” or “Native Earthling!” > > But it was obvious that the higher the %, the more respect they deserved. > > I don’t get out much. Is this normal behavior? Or, was it a just quirky party? [It is a pet idea for many racists now](https://voxday.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-neanderthal-theory-of-intelligence.html) that having Neanderthal DNA is what makes whites and Asians better than blacks. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084/28 "2017-11-10T14:39:42Z")
DNA tests for non-medical purposes _might not_ be protected by medical privacy laws. Good luck at the insurance office! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084/29 "2017-11-10T14:48:00Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > DNA tests for non-medical purposes _might not_ be protected by medical privacy laws. > Good luck at the insurance office! Does GEICO sell medical insurance? Maybe the Caveman can help out. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084/30 "2017-11-10T16:56:29Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > DNA tests for non-medical purposes _might not_ be protected by medical privacy laws. > Good luck at the insurance office! This has been my biggest hang-up regarding these tests. What does 23 & me do with their information? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2017, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084/31 "2017-11-10T20:43:28Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > This has been my biggest hang-up regarding these tests. What does 23 & me do with their information? They use it. A lot. It’s deidentified, but they are making a HUGE amount of money off that data. They lose money on each DNA test they do - that’s how they can afford to sell them so cheaply - but that sweet, sweet data more than makes up for it. Having the largest database of human genetic information out there is well worth it. Again, it’s deidentified, so no one could trace any one record back to YOU personally, so it’s all ethical and whatnot, but like they say, if you’re not the customer, you’re the product. They don’t even do their own testing. It’s outsourced to LabCorp. 23andMe is purely a data company. This sort of information is incredibly valuable to people like pharmaceutical companies, who may be interested in targeting specific racial and genetic demographics. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-got-my-dna-test-back/801084.md?page=1)