23andMe Informed Me My Husband and I Are Related
1–10 of 91 posts
Re: 23andMe Informed Me My Husband and I Are Related
#2We are all related.
It's not surprising some third cousins find out they are related. Maybe a fun read, but is it of any importance?
Re: 23andMe Informed Me My Husband and I Are Related
#3You share (about) 1/128 of your genes with a third cousin. The chance of any (particular) recessive trait being passed on from both parents as a result of the inbreeding is a whopping 1 in 65,536.
Re: 23andMe Informed Me My Husband and I Are Related
#4This is not a big deal. In fact likely better fertility for them: a 2008 deCODE study results show that couples related at the level of third cousins have the greatest number of offspring, with the greatest reproductive success observed for couples related at the level of third and fourth cousins. [1]
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18258915?ordinalpos=1&it...
Re: 23andMe Informed Me My Husband and I Are Related
#5The sociological effects of DNA matching sites are going to be interesting to watch. I personally found out a year or so ago that my dad wasn't my biological father. At the age of 45, that's an, um, interesting secret to suddenly discover.
Now, imagine what happens in a society with strict laws/rules/mores about this sort of thing? Well, we won't have to imagine for long. I'm quite sure my experience is a lot more common than most people realize, and I think much of the world isn't ready for it.
Re: 23andMe Informed Me My Husband and I Are Related
#6I work in genomics. My lab, many of my friends and acquaintances work in genomics or had to dabble with it for at least one of their projects. You would think we would all be fascinated by this stuff, getting to know your own DNA and everything. Yet I don't know a single person who would even consider using 23andMe's service.
To me this is all an elaborate scam. Why on earth would you pay them to give them your data?! At least with Google et al. we know that if you are not paying for the product, you are the product. With this company you end up $100 (or whatever) short and you surrender your data for it to be sold to advertisers, insurance companies and whatnot. And not just stupid things like your Amazon shopping history or your latest Tinder conversations (which are in themselves pretty damn intimate if you ask me) but the most intimate thing of all. I actually disagree with behavioral genetics/sociobiology fundamentalists who think there's little more to the self than one's DNA, but just because one cannot make much out of it doesn't mean it can't be misused. If Gattaca implications sound scary, imagine what would happen if the decision makers had no idea what they were doing in the first place.
Because that's where we are at this point: just because X variant is associated with Y% more incidence of whatever disease does not mean extra care should be taken regarding risk factors, insurance policies, etc. The correlations are interesting when combined with other data but most of the time we have no idea what's going on and what it is that makes variant X cause disease Y, if it does at all. Doesn't mean it won't be misused.
Please people, don't pay to get your data swindled out of you. Stop with this weird fascination with your DNA, and stop trying to look for an answer when are barely asking the questions.
Re: 23andMe Informed Me My Husband and I Are Related
#7Two thoughts came rushing to my mind after reading this.
Disclaimer: I have not researched the scientific background of these thoughts. They are mere thoughts.
It made me uncomfortable to read about the autistic child at the end of the story. Was Autism more probable because of the closer genetic relationship of parents?
I was raised in southern India, and some of our families have a fascinating astrological tradition about not marrying someone from same "Gothram".
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gotra
Is it possible that our ancestors knew that certain genetic combinations were unhealthy/undesirable even without a scientific background and adopted these rules for the society?
Re: 23andMe Informed Me My Husband and I Are Related
#8Two thoughts came rushing to my mind after reading this. Disclaimer: I have not researched the scientific background of these thoughts. They are mere thoughts. It made me uncomfortable to read about the autistic child at the end of the story. Was Autism more probable because of the closer genetic relationship of parents? I was raised in southern India, and some of our families have a fascinating astrological traditio…
It is a fact, not a possibility. That's (a big part of) the reason that incest is a taboo in all cultures.
Re: 23andMe Informed Me My Husband and I Are Related
#9Two thoughts came rushing to my mind after reading this. Disclaimer: I have not researched the scientific background of these thoughts. They are mere thoughts. It made me uncomfortable to read about the autistic child at the end of the story. Was Autism more probable because of the closer genetic relationship of parents? I was raised in southern India, and some of our families have a fascinating astrological traditio…
I am from India(South) and also coming from a family where there are quite a lot of people in the medical field.
Yes it was known not to marry inside the family by our ancestors. I know several people who are suffering from various birth defects due to marrying very close and inside the family and yes it is told by the doctors.
Gotra is completely screwed up now. A system has to be taken seriously. If a person doesn't know his Gotra then he is just arbitrarily assigned one which becomes dangerous when done in huge volumes.
Also in India there are caste communities which are smaller and when they have to marry inside their families problems start cropping up.
There is a huge demand for home nurses and speech and hearing specialists in the Gulf region. This is because of consanguineous marriages very prevalent there. There are a lot of children born with mental or speech disabilities.
Re: 23andMe Informed Me My Husband and I Are Related
#10The sociological effects of DNA matching sites are going to be interesting to watch. I personally found out a year or so ago that my dad wasn't my biological father. At the age of 45, that's an, um, interesting secret to suddenly discover. Now, imagine what happens in a society with strict laws/rules/mores about this sort of thing? Well, we won't have to imagine for long. I'm quite sure my experience is a lot more co…
On the other side of the coin, I know someone who recently found his biological parents at age 50 through one of these places. Turns out both he and his biological parents had tried to find each other in the past but were stymied legally.
This kind of thing exposes secrets. Some of those secrets could be uncomfortable (I'm truly sorry you have to deal with what you discovered!), but some can be good. It'll be interesting to see how society going forward reacts to biological ancestry secrets not being able to be swept under the rug so easily.