Those DNA Tests

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

My daughter in Florida sent me one of those DNA kits. She is big into genealogy; I could care less. I was surprised at the results. I knew that I had a lot of English and Irish in me, but I didn't know I had 21.4% Scandinavian, and 4% North African. Maybe that is why Casablanca is a favorite movie.

 

 

[Blackwater 53393]

I'm beginning to think that the DNA in some of these instances stands for Does Not Apply!!    

[Wallaby Jack, SASS #44062]

Do

Not

Activate

 

 ......... as in "wouldn't work"

[Badlands Bob #61228]

I'm not giving my DNA to private industry.  Nothing good can come from having my DNA in a private industry database.  As they unlock the DNA code in the future, the insurance industry would love to be able to access a list of people with genetic ailments or medical conditions.  That DNA is a slippery slope and I'm not volunteering to give mine up.  Especially to a private corporation.  In the next 20 years, there will be things they can do with DNA that we can't even dream about today, with or without your permission.

[Pat Riot]

Yeah, they’re watching us. Our every move. We are so important that they have to come up with ways to track us and keep us from thriving.... 

 

I was surprised to find out that not only do I not have Cherokee blood, but I have less than 20% Irish. I am mostly of English descent. I am actually happy with the results. Saves me a lot of BS when dealing with family. 

[Utah Bob #35998]

Of course nobody in the movie was North African. French, German, Czech, Yank, Russian, Italian, and filmed in Arizona and Hollywood. But hey, it’s the fantasy that’s important. Vive la France! 

[Sedalia Dave]

12 minutes ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

Yeah, they’re watching us. Our every move. We are so important that they have to come up with ways to track us and keep us from thriving.... 

 

I was surprised to find out that not only do I not have Cherokee blood, but I have less than 20% Irish. I am mostly of English descent. I am actually happy with the results. Saves me a lot of BS when dealing with family. 

 

If you do some research you'll find that they have very little Native American DNA with which to make any comparisons. The same is true of most other indigenous ethnic groups that Europeans colonized. Central and South America are also poorly sampled.

About all they have semi-good samples of is Europe.

 

They lack significant details about different ethnic groups in Asia, the Middle East and Africa as well. 

[watab kid]

while all this info is fun to get - i question the reasoning for building a national data base , but its been great for solving "cold cases" and getting serial criminals off the streets 

[Cyrus Cassidy #45437]

My Scottish clan organization is running a DNA project for anyone with our surname or its many variants (there are 1555 ways to spell my last name due to illiteracy in the middle ages; however, we all claim descent from ONE PERSON who was born in 1225).  Genealogical records are sparse prior to about 1500, so most connections between 1225 and 1500-ish are rare.  So I had the DNA test done and was added to the clan database.  It showed me two things:

 

1) I have NOTHING interesting in my ethnic makeup.  I'm exclusively from the British isles, plus a touch of German.  As expected, I'm overwhelmingly Scottish, but also some Irish, Welsh, and Anglo-Saxon (English).  

 

2)  I do, in fact, descend directly from the clan's founder through the male line.  

[Pat Riot]

6 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

 

If you do some research you'll find that they have very little Native American DNA with which to make any comparisons. The same is true of most other indigenous ethnic groups that Europeans colonized. Central and South America are also poorly sampled.

About all they have semi-good samples of is Europe.

 

They lack significant details about different ethnic groups in Asia, the Middle East and Africa as well. 

Ah, see, my reasons for being “surprised”, as well as happy, was that all my life all I heard from my Dad and his birth family (he was adopted and later his family sought him out) was that “we are Scots-Irish and Cherokee Indian...but we refused to register with the Bureau of Indian Affairs because we will not be like other Indians and kowtow to the white man.” That and other statements always made me question the validity of their claims. Now I know they were full of crap. 
The other thing that really got me was how many arguments my wife and I had over me not wanting to pursue this “Cherokee Heritage” for the sake of our daughter and getting her a “free” college education. Once my results came back my wife apologized a few times over past arguments. She never understood why I was so adamant about refusing but I suspected it was all BS from my Dad’s family. 
The thing that really got me though is that my Dad and his family (I don’t claim them as mine - long story) all have dark skin, dark hair and dark brown eyes. Their Cherokee story was totally believable and was pretty much believed by all. I know my Dad and his brother believed it and I am sure their parents, grand parents or great grandparents came up with this story to explain their complexions or to reap virtue from their complexions. 
Truth be told it would have made my year had I found out there was an African in the mix as racist as that clan was / is but there were no indications of that. 
I maintain no contact with them so I have that going for me. 
To give you an idea how odd these people are I kept hearing about all the past relatives that fought in all the wars leading up to WW2. No one from the clan “fought in WW2 because we had waivers as steel workers and coal miners. We supported the was from home!” 

Turns out none of them, as far as my research goes, back to 1792, fought in any war. None joined the military until my Dad and his brother did. My Dad - the Marines- BCD 2 years into his enlistment - after fighting in battles in South America no one ever heard of. They were “secret”, you know. 
My uncle - Navy - born in 1937 but served valiantly during the Korean War...he was 12 when the war started. 
 

Okay, this was more info than necessary, but I am happy with my DNA results. 
 

Sorry for the ramble. 

[Go West]

Some cold cases have been solved through DNA supplied by relations searching for genealogy answers. I'm of German and English ancestry, with some hillbilly thrown in.  No interest in going further.

[irish ike, SASS #43615]

I don't trust the accuracy of any of these tests. Whose data base or how extensive is their data base. My mother in laws grandmother was 100% Navajo. Her DNA shows no evidence of being native American. So is the DNA test accurate or did someone have some outside of marriage fun?

[J-BAR #18287]

11 minutes ago, irish ike, SASS #43615 said:

I don't trust the accuracy of any of these tests. Whose data base or how extensive is their data base. My mother in laws grandmother was 100% Navajo. Her DNA shows no evidence of being native American. So is the DNA test accurate or did someone have some outside of marriage fun?

It gets complicated.

 

Each human normally gets 23 chromosomes from mom and 23 chromosomes from dad at the moment the sperm fertilizes the ovum.  Those 23 chromosomes are a random assortment of chromosomes from the grandparents.  Statistically usually there is likely to be a fairly even mix of chromosomes from both male and female ancestral lines on both sides.  (Paternal grandparents contributing about 12 chromosomes each, and maternal grandparents contributing about 12 chromosomes each.).  But mathematically and biologically it is possible for all the chromosomes In a sperm or ovum to all come from one grandparent, so the other grandparent in that line gets shut out (or what is more likely, poorly represented.)
 

I think you would need DNA samples from a lot of family members and generations before suspecting an ancestor of infidelity.

 

But, yeah, that’s another possibility.  

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

I learn something new every day. 

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

3 minutes ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

I learn something new every day. 

 

But didn't know anything to start with...

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

Yup! 

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

18 hours ago, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Of course nobody in the movie was North African. French, German, Czech, Yank, Russian, Italian, and filmed in Arizona and Hollywood. But hey, it’s the fantasy that’s important. Vive la France! 

 

Along those lines, the "piano player" Dooley Wilson was actually a drummer, not a trained pianist, so the piano music for the film was played offscreen by Jean Plummer and dubbed.

[Rye Miles #13621]

All I know is my Great great grandparents, who I didn’t know, were all born raised and died in Italy. That’s as far back as I need to go. I’m 100% Italian and I’m sticking to that story. 

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

You might be, but we’re they? 

 

 

[Ramblin Gambler]

I didn't give them my real name.  Sure all of my relatives did.  But there's still no official record for Ramblin Gambler.  Just some fella name Winston Daniels Remington Schlitz.  They'll never prove that's really me. 

 

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

11 hours ago, Abilene Slim SASS 81783 said:

You might be, but we’re they? 

 

 

Castaldi, Antonucci, Romano and Tisci........Yea I'm pretty sure as they were all BORN in Italy!

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

14 hours ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

It gets complicated.

 

Each human normally gets 23 chromosomes from mom and 23 chromosomes from dad at the moment the sperm fertilizes the ovum.  Those 23 chromosomes are a random assortment of chromosomes from the grandparents.  Statistically usually there is likely to be a fairly even mix of chromosomes from both male and female ancestral lines on both sides.  (Paternal grandparents contributing about 12 chromosomes each, and maternal grandparents contributing about 12 chromosomes each.).  But mathematically and biologically it is possible for all the chromosomes In a sperm or ovum to all come from one grandparent, so the other grandparent in that line gets shut out (or what is more likely, poorly represented.)
 

I think you would need DNA samples from a lot of family members and generations before suspecting an ancestor of infidelity.

 

But, yeah, that’s another possibility.  

More complicated than that. Your chromosomes do not match any any of your forebears’.  Each chromosome contains thousands of genes.  Your parents’ pairs of genes split and recombine leaving chromosomes that resemble but do not exactly match anyone else’s.

[J-BAR #18287]

57 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

More complicated than that. Your chromosomes do not match any any of your forebears’.  Each chromosome contains thousands of genes.  Your parents’ pairs of genes split and recombine leaving chromosomes that resemble but do not exactly match anyone else’s.

True.  I just figured it was hard enough to explain meiosis in one paragraph without adding the additional complication of gene recombination.  Spontaneous mutations could also occur to muddy the  gene pool further.

 

 I used to shoot with Bad Gene Pool.  I wonder if he still plays CAS?  

[Smoky Pistols]

It was only a matter of time before money got in the way---

 

https://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-23andme-gsk-20180725-story.html

[Waxahachie Kid #17017 L]

Mine showed the following:

20% English...bulldog

20% Irish...setter

20% Spanish...mustang

20% African...lowland gorilla

20% Welch...pony.

 

No wonder my great-grandpaw was a top-hand cowboy.  He was stubborn, prone to drink, was small but tough, was strong, was good with kids.

Love them DNA tests. 

 

W.K.

[Whiskey Hicks]

On 8/9/2020 at 12:31 AM, Utah Bob #35998 said:

Of course nobody in the movie was North African. French, German, Czech, Yank, Russian, Italian, and filmed in Arizona and Hollywood. But hey, it’s the fantasy that’s important. Vive la France! 

I saw a ‘making of’ documentary a few years back. You would be surprised. Many of the minor characters were actual war refugees. 
 

The Le Marsaillaise performance drowning out the Nazis singing Die Wacht Am Rhine, those were actual tears and emotions of the refugees as they shot that scene.

 

Sometimes the emotion and patriotism you see in a movie like that is real.