The main reason I did it is I had a grandparent that had dementia- she died before Alzheimer tests were done to determine if that is what she had- I know there are some genes that increase the probability of Alzheimer- I wanted to know early if I had those genes- thankfully the answer was no- I fully understand that I could still get Alzheimer disease, all the test showed was that ONE factor that greatly increases the risk was not present in my DNA.

I don’t know if anyone remembers Crichton’s “Next”, but it covers this area perfectly. Think “Jurassic Park”, except it focuses on the corporate aspect.

I mainly did it to see if there were any hints of a genetic predisposition for any diseases but didn’t want the results attributable to me in case at some future date health insurance companies were allowed access to the database…

Luckily- at least according to their analysis- I have no obvious issues…

I do question the accuracy of some of the results… they claim my results show I likely have a low tolerance for caffeine…

Before COVID I kept two coffee shops afloat with my habit…

There’s sources for this material, but I’ll post them later – it’s late, and I need sleep.

Our crop of ‘taters has been mixed. At least what we have dug up so far. Been experimenting with various containers verses in-ground, a hand full of varieties, and different micro-climates. Gave up on potato towers after several years of experiments. (Spud roots move sideways.)

Had one plant produce fruit. They look like little tomatoes. They are drying now and my reading tells me that the seeds are difficult to germinate. I have to try, yeah? They’ll be a new potato, though, and who knows what it will be like.

Saw a film about the origins of potatoes years ago. Came away with the knowledge that the Incas had hundreds of varieties, each especially suited to a certain mountain terrace.

And that’s what screwed the Irish. They found that one potato that grew great just about everywhere on the Emerald Isle and when the blight came it took it all. There was no diversity.

And then there is the soil. Still haven’t figured that out.

And companion planting.

So many variables.

There are specific markers associated with the Corca Loígde clan of Southern Ireland.

https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/corca-laidhe/about/background

Then we get to the last 0.5%

Senegambian & Guinean: 0.3%
Broadly West African: 0.2%

Assuming that the test is really accurate at the level of a fraction of a percent, then there is one hell of a story in my ancestry.

I had never been interested in genealogy and family trees, but I did a deep dive into it upon seeing this and tried to figure it out… tracing some branches back several hundred years- no hints as to what that story might be. In the civil war all the ancestors I could find that fought in it fought for the union. No hint of a slaveholder, but I wasn’t able to trace every branch that far back…

I was able to isolate the African genetics to my paternal lineage due to other relatives on my maternal side having tests, which delighted me no end. My paternal grandfather was a vicious racist. The news made me wish he was still alive, so I could tell him… it would kill him!

Oh… and 0.1% is listed as “unassigned”… must be from a long ago alien abduction?

Like most people whose family goes back several generations in Oklahoma, there were rumors we had a little American Indian in our ancestry (Elizabeth Warren wasn’t the only one) – and the DNA test conclusively showed that was bullshit.