What Secrets Does Your DNA Hide? Find out with 23 and Me

 

 

Thank you 23andMe for sponsoring this post. For more information about this leading health and ancestry DNA service, please visit 23andMe.

Have you ever wondered what secrets your DNA hides?  Are you at risk or a carrier for a certain diseases or condition?  What is your ancestry?  Where do my relatives reside?  If you’ve ever wondered about any of these things, 23 and Me offers a simple test that will provide answers.

Having taught science to 7th graders for 21 of my 22 teaching career, I find genetics to be fascinating.  Learning about traits that can and cannot be inherited is always a favorite topic for students.  Did you know that smelly urine after eating asparagus is inherited?  How about the taste of cilantro?  Some people find it to have a pleasant taste and some people think it tastes soapy.  It tastes like soap to me!  Teaching students about DNA, chromosomes, and heredity is a topic to which I look forward every year.

 

A test from 23 and Me can help you to discover your ancestry composition like this example:

Isn’t that fascinating information?

A test will also show genetic relatives and where they live.

Other results include maternal and paternal lineages and  Neanderthal percentages.

 

Although ancestry information is interesting, what could be truly important to your personal health is the disease risk that your DNA may carry.  Are you at risk for macular degeneration, diabetes, or Parkinson’s Disease?  A test from 23and Me  will let you know.  My great-grandfather had Parkinson’s Disease and my precious Aunt Judy now suffers from it, so I’m particularly interested in my risk for this disease.  23 and Me provides over 240 health reports which give  information about conditions and traits for which there are genetic associations.  On the list of particular interest to me are back pain, alcohol dependence, breast cancer, coronary heart disease and hay fever.  I’ve posted many times about my SI Joint dysfunction and the pain it has caused me.  Did I inherit the trait that makes my joints loose and more prone to injury?  My mother had breast cancer.  Does my DNA contain a gene that will make me more likely to get breast cancer?  My dad suffered from terrible allergies and I control mine with medication.  Does my DNA contain this trait?  My grandfather died from a heart attack.  Do I need to monitor my heart health.  Taking a simple test will let me know.

Are you thinking about having a baby?  You should know if you or your husband is a carrier for Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle Cell Anemia, or Tay-Sachs Disease.  A test will let you know if you are a carrier for 50 inherited conditions.

Personal genetic testing is easy with 23 and Me.  Order a kit, register it when it arrives, put your saliva in the provided container, ship it off and in 6 – 8 weeks your results will be sent to you.

 

As a teacher, I’m happy to discover the 23 and Me website because it contains interesting facts that I can use with my students and also a video that I know my students will enjoy.

It’s wonderful that modern technology lets anyone find out the secrets their DNA hides with a simple, noninvasive test.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.