23andMe: Analysis (Review)

Last week I shared all about who 23andMe are and the collection process. This week is about the results. The reports take 3-4 weeks to receive. I liked being kept updated of the process along the way and what stage my sample is at. It took a long time for delivery to be confirmed which I was a little worried about, but then less than a week for all the reports to be back. I was kept informed at all stages of the process and it was nice to see what the next steps were along the way. 

There is a multitude of genetic reports produced, backed by science. 23andMe ensure rigorous quality standards to ensure reports are clinically valid and accurate. All saliva samples are processed in labs in the United States that meet local regulations. Genotyping is a well-established and reliable platform for analysing DNA and ancestry percentages are derived from our powerful, well-tested system that provides you with ancestry estimates down to the 0.1%

I was really excited to see what areas of health I was more at risk of getting and I was pleasantly surprised to not have too many areas. The only areas of increased risk were hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol) and celiac disease. I actually already knew or assumed both of these because my dad and sister have these respectively. The other two conditions which I had a unusual variant for are not proven to increase the likelihood of having the condition, so I'm pretty happy with my genes inherited. 

My personal favourite part was seeing my inheritance from an ancestry perspective. I knew I was very much from the United Kingdom, with some white European likely. I was a little surprised French and German was so high, but of course the majority was British and Irish as expected. I also thought it was very clever that it quickly identified my sister as a sibling match. 

I also liked being able to compare the different characteristics between us and we both found them scarily accurate. For me, the majority were correct. It's crazy how genetics play a part in personalities and traits. The main one which was wrong was that I have thin hair, when in reality it is the opposite, and that I had freckles, when I have none. 

I'm excited to continue to see new additions to the lists are more information becomes available and is regularly updated. A lot of the trait information comes from research that customers partake in so I've been answering as many questions as I can. Once again, if you want to purchase your own kit, you can get 10% off here.