“When we learn
about the past, we gather strength for the future.” – Hank Smith
You
have chosen a company, tested your DNA, and received your results. What should
you do with this information?
All DNA
testing companies will allow you to download a files of you raw DNA data. There
are many things that you can do with this data to get more out of it. However,
you do need to be cautious because once you upload your DNA file online – you cannot
get it back!
Here
are a few reputable websites where you may upload your raw DNA file to get more
out of your results.
1.
MyHeritage – I touched on MyHeritage in a previous post about deciding which DNA
test to take. I highly recommend uploading your DNA file to MyHeritage (and
your family tree file, aka GEDCOM file). MyHeritage allows you to upload files
from 23 and Me, Ancestry, Family Tree DNA, and many other companies. So,
uploading your DNA to MyHeritage will give you more matches than you can get on
any one platform.
MyHeritage also has an international
reach, unlike Ancestry and 23 and Me, who focus only on North America. Based in
Israel, the company extends to Eastern and Western Europe, North America, South
America, Asia, Australia, and more. So, when you upload your raw DNA file, you
will receive international matches. I uploaded my DNA and I received matches
from many different countries. I even reached out to a distant cousin in Russia
and a cousin in Ukraine to try to find out how we were related. We didn’t have any luck, but it was neat to be able to message them and know
that I share DNA with people many, many miles away J
The website also has a chromosome browser,
which you are able to access under the DNA tools tab. A chromosome browser
allows you to view your shared DNA segments between you and your matches, which
can help point you to a common ancestor.
In short, I highly recommend uploading
your DNA file to MyHeritage
2.
GEDMatch – Another website that you may upload your DNA file to is GEDMatch. You
may have heard about this website before as it has gained notoriety for using
DNA to help find criminals such as the Golden State Killer.
GEDMatch enables you to compare your DNA
segments with others (similar to the chromosome browser on MyHeritage). While
this can be helpful when trying to locate a common ancestor, GEDMatch is more
of a technical website, meaning: it is not very user-friendly. As someone who
is not a science/math minded person, it is hard for me to understand the intricacies
of DNA science. So, I would only recommend GEDMatch if you are very comfortable
with DNA.
A feature of GEDMatch are the many
ethnicity calculators. Various individuals have developed software’s which
calculate your ethnicity percentages differently. IF you are very interested in
your ethnicity percentages, this tool can be fun to use.
3.
Promethease – For $5, you can upload your DNA to this website and receive a very
detailed health report back. The report will tell you which diseases you are at
risk for, which medications your body will respond best to, and will even tell
you if you are at risk for anxiety disorders or depression.
4.
GenomeLink – GenomeLink is another great website to upload your data. The website
will allow you to upload your data for free and you will receive 20 trait
reports. However, if you would like access to additional reports, then you must
pay for a membership. Each week the company will send out an email, called “Bonus Trait Tuesday”, where you
are able to login to the site and receive one additional trait report for free.
I uploaded my DNA here – some of the reports are very
interesting. For example, my DNA indicates that I am at a lower risk for having
a milk allergy, but I have an intermediate risk for having a peanut allergy. My
report also stated that I am predisposed to have a longer lifespan (this is
interesting because many of the women in my family tend to live very long
lives). I would highly recommend uploading your DNA to GenomeLink if you are
interested in trait and health reports.
Below I have listed links to the websites mentioned above.
GenomeLink - https://genomelink.io/dashboard/
Promethease - https://promethease.com/
MyHeritage - https://www.myheritage.com/
GEDMatch - https://www.gedmatch.com/login1.php
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