By Oreo I mean mostly black (African) with some white (European) sprinkled in the middle. Overall I have pretty basic DNA.

Being from the Caribbean I have always wondered which part of Africa our slave ships hailed from. Interestingly enough it seems like Massa’s DNA got filtered down through the grapevine also *sips tea*

As a scientist I have been intrigued by the surge of these genetic tests being sold commercially so that people can find out where they came from. With the 2 main companies offering genetic testing as a service being ancestryDNA & 23andme, I decided to give it a shot. These tests have become so popular that they recently sold out on Amazon PRIMEday.

Without any clear idea as to which test is better I decided to test my DNA with both services to see if they give comparable results but also to see if one was better than the other.

Setup for these tests were relatively simple, and painless. I paid for the tests online and they came in the mail within a week. They were both spit tests that required a generous amount of saliva. Once done the packages were sealed and mailed back to the respective companies. Test results take 4-6 weeks to receive by email. The results came in a day between each other.

Which DNA test kit is better? 23andME vs. Ancestry DNA

The good news is that both test results were similar

23andME: 58.6% Sub Sahara African, 39.1% European

ancestryDNA: 62% West African, 36% European

There were several slight differences with the way the results were presented and the significance of the results. AncestryDNA is a lot more specific with the individual countries stating that my lineage derives from 21% Cameroon/Congo, 11%Benin/Togo, 11% Senegal and 9% Ivory Coast, I had no idea that these lineages were apart of my ancestry. 23andME gave a general Sub Sahara location. The European Ancestry was similar across both tests.

Both tests provided genetic profiling of ancestry DNA. With 23and me I opted for the Ancestry DNA + Health Kit that provided additional health information for 75 tests including Late-onset Alzheimer's & Parkinsons disease, sense of taste for bitter and sweet flavors or even whether or not you have a unibrow. So ladies no matter how hard you pluck your DNA cannot lie. AncestryDNA does not offer this service.


Fun Fact: I do not have a genetic predisposition for hair loss or a bald spot. Thanks MOM, because I definitely didn’t inherit that from my Dad.

Due to the nature of the genetic tests, AncestryDNA appeared to have a lot more cross references of other individuals that you may be related to. They suggested a couple people who may be 2nd and 3rd cousins based upon our DNA profile. I also found someone who was related to my grandmother on his or her family tree. Pretty Cool!

It may also be worth noting that 23andME is leveraging their genetic testing capacity to develop the latest therapeutic drugs while also performing academic research. Therefore your DNA may end up in a study unless you chose to decline upon sign up.

Overall the experience was painless and informative. It’s a great way to see genetics in action. Our DNA packs a lot of information about us, so it is refreshing to see some of the observations that we take for granted are hardwired to our core.

Might be worthwhile to see where you came from. STAY WOKE!

For more in depth look at how the kits compare CLICK HERE->


To purchase your own kit:-

23andME 15% off Health + Ancestry Service ($169)

30% off ($69) ancestryDNA kit

Ease of Purchase

Both test kits are relatively easy to purchase. You can order directly from either website www.23andme.com or ww.ancestry.com/DNA . The DNA ancestry profiling test is $99 dollars with both companies, however 23andMe offers an Ancestry Service + Health kit for $199. I purchased this option to get more information and to see if it was worth it. You can often find promotional deals for these kits. I was able to buy the ancestryDNA kit for $69 with a promotion. The 23andMe kit was on sale during Amazon PRIMEday where the Ancestry kit was $49 and the Ancestry + Health kit $99. After purchasing both kits they arrived in mail within 2-3 days, with the 23andMe arriving first.

WINNER: SAME

Sample Submission

ancestryDNA kit

23andMe kit

Aside from requiring a mouth full of spit, the submission the process was relatively simple.  I opened the kit and followed the directions provided which included dropping a huge lugi (spit) in the sample tubes.  Then I registered the kit online after signing up for an account. I then sealed the tube and placed it in a biohazard bag, followed by placing it in a pre-packaged return box and dropping it in the mail.

One difference between the two kits was the ease of using the sample tubes. I did find the 23andMe kit sample tube easier to seal. With the ancestryDNA kit, I was not entirely clear I had sealed the sample tube correctly and feared the saliva sample may leak out during shipping.

WINNER: 23andMe just barely


Waiting process and website use

Shortly after registering each kit, I received a confirmation email from both companies. It was from this point I started noticing the major differences bewteen both companies. In order to sign up for use, you have to authorize the genetic tests and read through the terms of agreement.

The 23andMe website clearly states in their terms of agreement that they are offering this commercial service as apart of a larger goal to perform medical research. They have made this well known publicly even recently signaling that they may be developing DNA-based therapies for various diseases using tour genetic information. You are offered an option to be excluded from any medical research as well. They also offer an affirmation that the company will not use your personal information. I signed up to be apart of the medical research with 23andMe after all I am a scientist. As a result there were surveys for me to take that just provided additional information to the company. They only took a few minutes and were not a nuisance.

AncestryDNA also has a terms of agreement to sign that is pretty standard. However, the ancestryDNA website started to feel more like a sales pitch. Shortly after signing up it became apparent that their goal was to sign me up for other services which include a monthly subscription. It made me pause for a minute but luckily they didn’t turn into a spam attack after I declined to sign up.

WINNER: 23andME

Results
The results came in a few days short of 4 weeks, with ancestryDNA arriving one day before the 23andMe results.

ancestryDNA Genetic Community

ancestryDNA Ethnicity Estimate

In regards to how the data looks, ancestryDNA provided a comprehensive snapshot at my heritage. From my DNA they were able to accurately determine I was apart of the African Caribbean genetic community. They were then further able to determine my ethnicity to be 62% African specifically 21% Cameroon/Congo, 11%Benin/Togo, 11% Senegal and 9% Ivory Coast. BTW I didn’t know any of this before the test. It was also 37% European with 17% Great Britain and 9% Scandinavian. AncestryDNA also provided relative DNA matches based upon the other people they have tested. There were some 2nd and 3rd cousin matches based upon the DNA. Surprisingly I knew one or two of the names on the list. One of the names is someone who I’ve met before and we know that we are related but didn’t know exactly how. So that was a reminder about how this DNA thing works.

23andme Ancestry profile

The 23andMe heritage data was similar in terms of the results from ancestryDNA. I will admit that the 23andMe version lacked some specifics about the countries but it did feel a lot more scientific regarding the information on how they derived the data, who were the control groups used as genetic markers and how many people have been tested as a cross reference. In addition, the Health part of the 23andMe kit was very informative. It provided additional information on Early Alzheimer and Parkinson risk, lactose tolerance, cheek dimples, cleft chin, hair curliness etc. Unfortunately my health information was rather mundane excluding a slightly elevated risk for age related macular degeneration.

DNA Health Report

WINNER: AncestryDNA for heritage specificity, 23andME for level of scientific presentation

Conclusion

I thoroughly enjoyed this little experiment of science becoming mainstream. I can see these companies offering paternity tests in this fashion pretty soon and putting Maury out of business. YOU ARE NOT THE FATHER!

I think both of these kits will appeal to different types of individuals. If you are just interested in understanding how your DNA relates to your specific heritage based upon individual countries and you are looking to find long lost relatives I recommend the ancestryDNA kit. If you are interested in finding out a little bit more about yourself from a health perspective while becoming a productive member of scientific study I recommend 23andMe. Either way you get to learn a little it about yourself and your DNA.

These results got me feeling kinda like an Oreo.

In light of this little experiment I may have to plan a trip to Cambodia to hit up the Fam!

We all have that person who seems like they are always sick. Science has recently discovered that it may be more than just a bum immune system but may boil down to the building blocks of life, DNA via telomere length. For everyone who slept though high school biology, Telomeres are an essential aspect of human biology. But before we say why, lets get down to what a telomere actually is.

A chromosome that is capped by the telomere