When most people think of DNA testing, they commonly associate this practice with things like paternity testing and examining evidence found at crime scenes. However, genetics are quickly becoming a popular way for people to learn a little bit more about themselves. Whether it’s for health reasons or personal reasons of self-discovery, people are increasingly using DNA tests to tell them something about both their past and their future. Here is a look at two of the major ways that using DNA tests for genealogy purposes can benefit you.
Staying In Charge of Your Health
The biggest benefits to undergoing a DNA test have to do with the medical information that a firm understanding of your genealogy will provide you with. A person’s genome can quite accurately predict risks for a number of diseases that have a basis in genetics, such as Parkinson’s disease, cancer, or Alzheimer’s. In fact, some doctors use DNA testing as part of their diagnosis procedure for certain conditions.
The benefit to having this information and knowing your own risk factors is quite self-evident. For example, if you were to find out that you have a predisposition for cancer, that might lead you to adopt a healthier lifestyle in order to minimize your risk. Additionally, this type of screening is great for people who want to become parents but are worried about inadvertently passing along genetic disorders to their children.
However, it’s important to note that there are some concerns from medical professionals about DNA testing for these purposes. Some diseases, like Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s, that can be detected with DNA testing have no cure and are difficult to prevent through lifestyle changes. Receiving results that indicate you’re at risk for these kinds of conditions can be psychologically traumatic and leave you feeling helpless or depressed. Some people may be okay with uncovering these risks, but it’s important to know that you could learn something about yourself that you might not want to know.
Finally, don’t forget that DNA testing isn’t an exact science. Just because your results indicate that you are predisposed to a certain disease doesn’t guarantee that you will develop it. Similarly, people who don’t have a genetic risk shouldn’t take that to mean that there is no chance of them developing it in the future for other reasons.
Connecting with Your Past
For some people, DNA tested provides a link to family and ancestry. Over the years, genealogy has become something of a lost art, and many people are unaware of their family history that extends past their grandparents.
Genetic testing of this sort can provide you with a surprising amount of information about the people in your past. In addition to being able to determine the ethnicity and geographic location of your ancestors, DNA tests can also inform you about specific people that you are likely related to. Because of this, it’s become quite popular to get tested in order to find any long-lost famous relatives. For example, it was recently discovered that pop stars Madonna and Lady Gaga are ninth cousins once removed, thanks to DNA testing.
As with genetic testing for medical reasons, this sort of genealogy has its drawbacks. In order to use DNA for these purposes, genetic information on lots of people must be stored in databases where it can be compared to new samples. Critics of this practice have argued that this could amount to an invasion of privacy—especially since some testing companies have no privacy agreement whatsoever for their clients. While no major scandals have emerged from this burgeoning market so far, there’s always the possibility that the information could be stolen and used maliciously.
