[Informational] Dave's Quest for History

Dave

Dave

Staff member
So as you all know (or might not), I'm adopted. So medical history is something that I've never been privy to. So I did the AncestryDNA thing and got the results back today. This thread will be my journey into discovery.

To start, I'd planned on live streaming the initial opening and streaming of the results. My plan was that you would all find out at the same time as me. Well, I got the results this morning and there was no way I could wait until 4 pm tonight to open the email. I caved.

I am probably not the whitest person in the world...but I gotta be close.

Ancestry.png

So it turns out that I'm pretty much the same as my adopted family, even though they are almost all German or Scottish.

Now the interesting part - the family tree matches. What this part does is it matches you against other people who have taken the DNA test. Normally for these you find a second cousin and on back. Mine shows a First cousin!! That means it'll be very easy to track down history. Or at least it would if the profile were public instead of private. Damn it! So I sent them a message and went to the next person.

I had 2 second cousins (our grandparents were siblings) and sent them messages. And then there's a third cousin (our great grandparents were siblings) that blew me away. She has 25,000+ people in her tree, so it'll be a great starting point. I sent her a message as well. What's so cool about hers...her grandfather is Ralph Waldo Emerson! Super cool!

Anyway, I've uploaded this to GEDMatch and will be sending it to 23andMe for further analysis. So stay tuned!

https://www.ancestry.com/dna/public...fc77302e/bd3aa177-7d9e-4098-b41f-73093c6225d3
 
Last edited:
strawman

strawman

I got my DNA sequenced for free for a UofMichigan study (still ongoing if anyone else is interested in giving their sequence to medical researchers). But I haven't done anything with it yet, so seeing you fiddle around with yours makes me want to finally deal with it. I'm looking forward to your adventure!
 
Celt Z

Celt Z

This is very cool! I hope something pans out with the people you contacted.

My mom's youngest sister did this recently, and my mother and her siblings are 91% Irish (no surprise there), 1% African, and the final 8% is a mix of Spainish and ...some Nordic I can't remember. (Viking visits and all that.) I'd really like to get mine done because my dad's side are the real mutts. Even though his father's side said they kept a pretty accurate family tree, I'd like to see what comes up, especially for Li'l Z. Heck, I'd want to get Mr. Z swabbed, too, just to see if there's any other Asian mixing in his background.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Well I got this going for me!

Parents Not Related.png
[DOUBLEPOST=1478183768,1478183409][/DOUBLEPOST]And now for some deeper analysis through GEDMatch.

MDLP Genetic Mix.png

Hunter/gatherer, baby!
 
fade

fade

Staff member
Man, the paranoid conspiracy theorist in me doesn't want to voluntarily have its DNA sequenced.
 
strawman

strawman

fade said:
Man, the paranoid conspiracy theorist in me doesn't want to voluntarily have its DNA sequenced.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but the paranoid engineer in me accepts that in my lifetime you'll be able to steal my dna and have it sequenced and the results in a matter of days if not hours without me ever noticing, a la Gattaca. So why not do it early on the off chance it might help scientists and possibly myself now?

Besides, the risk/reward scale seems tipped in favor for me:

Chance that someone else will want it, and the risk of the damage they could do to me with it are both low.
Chance that I might learn something about myself, and the possibility that it could benefit me in a particularly great way are high and low, respectively.

So, in balance, at least for me, it seems like the scales tip more in favor of getting it and using it now vs worrying about the possible outcome.
 
fade

fade

Staff member
stienman said:
Yeah, but the paranoid engineer in me accepts that in my lifetime you'll be able to steal my dna and have it sequenced and the results in a matter of days if not hours without me ever noticing, a la Gattaca. So why not do it early on the off chance it might help scientists and possibly myself now?

Besides, the risk/reward scale seems tipped in favor for me:

Chance that someone else will want it, and the risk of the damage they could do to me with it are both low.
Chance that I might learn something about myself, and the possibility that it could benefit me in a particularly great way are high and low, respectively.

So, in balance, at least for me, it seems like the scales tip more in favor of getting it and using it now vs worrying about the possible outcome.
Click to expand...
Have fun being a remotely converted cyborg when the robo-wars come!
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Well, I did some internet sleuthing and found out the name, address, email, and phone number of my first cousin. I tried to send him an email but I got a rejection back. Apparently he only accepts emails from specific addresses that he white lists. That's a wee bit paranoid for a guy whose phone number is readily available online.

So...should I call him since I can't message?

There are 3 people with the same name on Facebook and I sent them all messages, but two of them haven't been on since 2015.
 
strawman

strawman

I'm just hoping for a 5 minute comedy routine from the whole experience.[DOUBLEPOST=1478191239,1478191149][/DOUBLEPOST]
Dave said:
Well, I did some internet sleuthing and found out the name, address, email, and phone number of my first cousin. I tried to send him an email but I got a rejection back. Apparently he only accepts emails from specific addresses that he white lists. That's a wee bit paranoid for a guy whose phone number is readily available online.

So...should I call him since I can't message?

There are 3 people with the same name on Facebook and I sent them all messages, but two of them haven't been on since 2015.
Click to expand...
Well, with that level of paranoia, I'd suggest waiting until you've exhausted other resources. At least then you can play the, "You're my only hope!" card.
While it's fun to have answers immediately, patience is a valuable resource in genealogy.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
So what do you guys think about this for a letter? I don't want to freak him out and want to walk the fine line between not looking needy while wanting information. I want to convey that I don't want anything from them but information.

First, I must apologize for the unexpected letter. I did a bit of internet sleuthing to get this address so I hope this is not being too intrusive.

My name is David Nihsen. I was born on October 3, 1965 in Sioux City, Iowa and was adopted by a couple in Minden, Iowa about 12 days later. I've always known I was adopted and never really wanted to find my biological family due to having a happy childhood. My adopted father passed away a few years ago of cancer and my adopted mother is suffering mightily with Alzheimer's. It really got me to thinking that I have no medical history so I'm unaware if there are any genetic ticking time-bombs awaiting my future (or the future of my children). To this end I took the Ancestry DNA test. You have been identified as a first cousin. I did send you a message at Ancestry.com, but you haven't been there since like May so I did a Google search on your user name and this produced your email address. I tried to send an email and was rebuffed as your account only accepts from specific addresses. Again, I apologize if you feel this is intrusive - that wasn't my aim. The search also gave me your telephone number, but with the levels of anonymity you have I thought that might be a bit too much to start.

To set your mind at ease, I am not looking for my biological family per se. If it happens I am not against the concept of meeting them, but my main focus is in obtaining a more complete medical history. Or any medical history, for that matter.

Please respond and let me know if you are able and willing to speak about this or if you would rather I not contact you further. My email address and phone number are at the top of the page. I hope to hear from you soon.
Click to expand...
 
Denbrought

Denbrought

Personally...
internet sleuthing -> Googling
wanted to find -> sought to find
mightily -> (remove)
medical history -> medical history,
ticking -> (remove)
awaiting my -> awaiting in my
(or the future of my children) -> (or my children's)
message at Ancestry.com -> message through Ancestry.com
haven't been there since like May -> haven't logged in since May
 
strawman

strawman

I'd probably start out more directly. Too much personal information, particularly at the start, makes me think scammer/con artist.

Dear [firstname],

I submitted my DNA to GEDMatch.com, and it identified you as a possible first cousin - here's a link to my GEDMatch profile (profile which should allow him to verify DNA connection). I was adopted and have no knowledge of my parents. I'm writing you to see if there is a connection, and if so whether you know how to reach our common relatives. My primary purpose is to gain a more complete understanding of my genetic medical history so I can better take care of myself. While I am open to meeting either of my parents, I don't want to open old wounds. At the same time the medical history is important to me - even if I cannot contact them, any relatives or known medical information within our shared ancestry would be useful.

I would appreciate your help with this, are you willing to talk or email? If so, here's my contact information. I've also included a self addressed stamped envelope which you can use to respond. If you are unable to help please at least let me know you received this letter by sending a short note back via the return envelope.

Thank you so much for your time and assistance.

Sincerely,
blahblahblah
Click to expand...
But that's just me. I tend to be somewhat more paranoid when a complete stranger offers me way too much personal information before they get to know me. Consider hand writing it for this reason as well.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
If I write it by hand it'll look like it's coming from someone who has palsy and is half-illiterate. My handwriting is amazingly bad.
 
strawman

strawman

Dave said:
If I write it by hand it'll look like it's coming from someone who has palsy and is half-illiterate. My handwriting is amazingly bad.
Click to expand...
As long as it's legible. Particularly if they are from the generation above you - handwritten letters are strangely comforting to them, even when the handwriting is terrible.

I don't think a printed letter would be bad, I just don't think it would convince them to give you some time as much as a handwritten one would, and I suspect you'd like to tip the scales in your favor as much as possible.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Turns out someone with the last name of Emerson named their son "Ralph Waldo", but this is NOT the famous poet/philosopher. I thought the timeline was off considering the woman doing the thing is his granddaughter.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Okay, I uploaded my DNA file to a site called GEDmatch. Good lord what the FUCK am I looking at?!? Here's an example of what I'm getting. WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS MEAN?!?

Code: 
Comparing Kit A317691 (*Edrondol) and A295868 (*[redacted])
 
Minimum threshold size to be included in total = 500 SNPs
Mismatch-bunching Limit = 250 SNPs
Minimum segment cM to be included in total = 7.0 cM
 
 
Chr Start Location End Location Centimorgans (cM) SNPs
2 6,919,861 17,251,681 24.3 1,920
2 67,389,946 81,841,893 17.9 2,220
2 120,793,654 138,521,504 19.7 2,232
3 138,718,570 150,505,455 13.6 1,594
3 150,661,351 174,759,452 20.3 2,605
7 46,336,205 66,763,901 11.3 1,683
7 67,250,154 77,777,932 10.1 1,078
8 72,908,845 82,134,300 7.5 1,170
8 139,371,399 146,241,933 12.2 1,187
9 131,155,000 136,430,546 13.0 1,100
12 102,897,730 114,857,228 15.6 1,819
13 105,325,671 109,269,107 10.9 1,031
17 32,563,796 66,954,416 39.4 4,199
Largest segment = 39.4 cM
Total of segments > 7 cM = 215.6 cM
13 matching segments
Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 3.0
 
401147 SNPs used for this comparison.
 
strawman

strawman

Well, the most useful number is the MRCA - it's the number of generations you can expect you have to go up your two trees to find a common ancestor. They use a liberal model that does 50th percentile, so the MRCA is a very likely candidate for common ancestor - with 3.0, you have good chances of sharing a great grandparent, but it's not a 100% certainty, just an estimate based on how many of your SNPs (single-nucleotide polymorphism) match and how many long sequences of SNPs match.

https://dna-explained.com/2012/08/06/what-does-mcra-really-mean/
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

Dave said:
Okay, I uploaded my DNA file to a site called GEDmatch. Good lord what the FUCK am I looking at?!? Here's an example of what I'm getting. WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS MEAN?!?

Code: 
Comparing Kit A317691 (*Edrondol) and A295868 (*[redacted])
 
Minimum threshold size to be included in total = 500 SNPs
Mismatch-bunching Limit = 250 SNPs
Minimum segment cM to be included in total = 7.0 cM
 
 
Chr Start Location End Location Centimorgans (cM) SNPs
2 6,919,861 17,251,681 24.3 1,920
2 67,389,946 81,841,893 17.9 2,220
2 120,793,654 138,521,504 19.7 2,232
3 138,718,570 150,505,455 13.6 1,594
3 150,661,351 174,759,452 20.3 2,605
7 46,336,205 66,763,901 11.3 1,683
7 67,250,154 77,777,932 10.1 1,078
8 72,908,845 82,134,300 7.5 1,170
8 139,371,399 146,241,933 12.2 1,187
9 131,155,000 136,430,546 13.0 1,100
12 102,897,730 114,857,228 15.6 1,819
13 105,325,671 109,269,107 10.9 1,031
17 32,563,796 66,954,416 39.4 4,199
Largest segment = 39.4 cM
Total of segments > 7 cM = 215.6 cM
13 matching segments
Estimated number of generations to MRCA = 3.0
 
401147 SNPs used for this comparison.
Click to expand...
It means you have frog DNA mixed into your genome, and thus you can autonomously change sex if needed and breed.
 
evilmike

evilmike

bhamv3 said:
It means you have frog DNA mixed into your genome,
Click to expand...
That's a common misconception. When the scientists were trying to clone dinosaurs, they recovered Dave's DNA from mosquitoes trapped in amber. They weren't able to read the full sequence so they filled in the missing parts with frog DNA.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top