23andMe

I recently treated myself to something I’d been wanting to do for nearly 2 years… I had my family’s DNA genotyped by the company 23andMe. Here are 10 things about me and my folks that we didn’t even know (and this is just scratching the surface of data about ourselves that we can explore):

10 — My Mom’s mother’s mother’s mothers sprang from the same haplogroup as THE Marie Antoinette (though that does not mean that I am necessarily a direct descendant).

9 — My Dad’s mother’s mother’s mothers came from a region stretching between Spain to North Africa, all the way around to Lebanon. No wonder I like drinking Port and eating Baba Ganouj.

8 — My DNA says that I have a 24% lifetime incidence of experiencing Prostate Cancer, as compared to other people in my same genotype. This is fairly ironic, as I am currently recuperating from robotic surgery for prostate cancer.

7 — I am not a carrier of the BRCA Cancer Mutation, which now defines the life of my childhood friend Nikki who must remain on guard for the rest of her life.

6 — I have a 21% lifetime incidence of experiencing Psoriasis, as compared to other people in my same genotype. This was another ironic discovery, since I’ve been dealing with that skin annoyance for nearly 5 years.

5 — I have substantially higher odds of having red hair. How crazy is that?

4 — My IQ will be raised by 6-7 points if I am breastfed. The things I’ll do to excel.

3 — I have moderately lowered odds of getting Mad Cow Disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease). Eat mor chikin.

2 — I’m over 99% European, less than 1% Asian. That tiny percent of Asian in me REALLY likes Asian food and hot Japanese Schoolgirls and Yu-Gi-Oh!

1 — The haplogroup of my Dad’s father’s father’s fathers suggests that we may be kin to the Irish king Niall of the Nine Hostages, who established the Ui Neill dynasty that ruled the island country from the 4th or 5th century and onward for the next millennium, though our family is more recently from Scotland. There can be only one.

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Back in 2007, when I first learned of 23andMe.com, they were charging $999 to provide this service. The price has come down to $399, which isn’t cheap, but what price can you put on learning about yourself from the inside out? Tell ’em that Drewprops sent you and they’ll say “Great!! That’ll be $399!!”, but in all seriousness, I recommend that you follow their Twitter feed to take advantage of some $50 discounts they’ll be offering in the coming weeks.

Update January 2011 : They’ve upgraded the “resolution” of their equipment at 23andMe and current members can update their accounts for even more accurate results. I’ve just finished completing a new spit kit and am off to ship my spit to California!