Sunday, March 29, 2015

Ancestry results

BIG NEWS:
  The DNA test results are in!  As expected, there are numerous mutations but it does appear to be treatable.  Bottom line is that I've got to solve the instability.  I may never PR again but I really do want to get back to the point in which I can enjoy the running community and participate in group runs without fear of a collapse and the walk of shame.  The results are very complex and I don't fully understand them yet so it's premature to post the full results and explanation until I talk with a health coach.  I feel a bit better psychologically knowing that the test found something.

Ancestry:
No shockers here.  I expected to see a good mix of Western and Eastern European DNA with possible traces from West and Central Asia or North Africa.  I would have been very surprised to see any Native American or sub-Saharan African DNA.  Without further ado, here are the results:

Fully 100% European- A mild surprise that there was no trace of anything else but again, it's an interesting mix nonetheless.  Here's the breakdown:

18.5% British and Irish- No surprise here.  My paternal grandmother was born in Scotland.  I expected the percentage to be under 25 because Scottish DNA is quite diverse.

2.9% Scandinavian (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland)- Interesting but not a big surprise.  Scandinavian DNA is common in Scotland but I know that I have no recent ancestry from there so that percentage is probably accurate.

2.8% French and German- That percentage seems awfully low given that there is a lot of German ancestry on my father's side but there's a reason for that as explained below.

25.3% Broadly Northern European- I'll bet that this is mostly German or at least Western European.  This is only the preliminary result and could get more precise upon further inspection and more data. Germany was not fully unified until the late 19th century, which I believe was after my father's ancestors came to America. 

30.8% Eastern European- This includes countries such as Russia, Hungary, Ukraine, Czech, Slovenia but I know that this came from my mother's side, which is mostly Polish.  This was expected and the percentage seems about right.  Poland was not homogenized as there was a lot of migration from southeastern Europe in the Middle Ages.

0.2% Balkan- (Includes regions such as Greece, Serbia and the former Yugoslavia).  An interesting find but not a big surprise.  This most likely came from my mother's side as part of the migration to Poland.

1.7% Broadly Southern European- Can't be pinpointed but I would not be surprised if it is also Balkan DNA.

0.2% Ashkenazi- (related to European Jewish DNA).  This was the biggest surprise of my results.  I think it's pretty cool that I have a trace of Jewish ancestry even though it is several centuries old.  I could be very distantly related to some Bible characters.

17.6% Broadly European- Again, it cannot be pinpointed exactly but it was narrowed down to Europe.  There could be traces from Italy, Spain or others but more than likely, this percentage is from both my mother and father's side and likely will add to the percentage of Eastern European and German.

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