Our son had his DNA tested through 23 and Me and it showed that he had a small percentage of

[Cousin Dupree]

Ashkenazi Jewish DNA. My spouse and I had our DNA done by Ancestry and no Jewish DNA showed up. Can anyone explain how this can happen? PS we are his parents, and no, there’s not a chance that he could have a different father.

[2naSalit]

1. They go by what they

have in their database, so one company has more Jewish people in theirs than the other company. They aren't as accurate as they would like to think.

[3Hotdogs]

2. Another possibility, not all genetic make-up shows up in the tests.

For example, my ex and her sister took the Ancestry test. Ex has small amount of German, sister does not. One of you hay have latent Az genetic component.

[shanti]

22. yup

my brother, sister and I all took the 23nme test and he's the only one that showed a small amount of Iberian ancestry. we don't know where it came from though.

[procon]

3. It might be a recessive trait.

Very simplistically speaking... If you and your spouse only have, say one gene, and you need two for it to become traceable, then it won't show up in you. But then your son inherits the recessive gene from each of you, and -- voila! -- his DNA now shows that newly combined marker gene.

[LakeSuperiorView]

14. DNA analysis has no "recessive traits"

They can sequence all of the DNA. Traits, such as eye color, blood types, hair can have recessive and dominant genes, but DNA sequencing does not care, it reads it all.

[CanonRay]

4. If it,is under a few percent

It may be meaningless

[WePurrsevere]

5. 1) Admixture/Ethnicity is not an exact science 2) Database (as mentioned) and...

3) Interpretation: Different DNA companies interpret the data differently and some are better at picking up smaller ethnic groups than others.

For instance as an adoptee searching for more info and bio-family I've tested at both Ancestry and 23andMe. (I've also uploaded my raw data to other testing companies). IME the ethnicity results I have on 23andMe match my (now) known ancestors (my tree on Ancestry) more closely than Ancestry does even after they've recently updated the data and they seem to go back further in time (hence 23andMe offers Neanderthal results and AncestryDNA does not). My experience with how far back they dig (aside from Neanderthal) is that my 23andMe results show that I have .5% Sub-Saharan African that doesn't show anywhere else. I thought it was cool but had read in a 23and Me forum that it was possibly 'noise' so pushed it out of my mind until my half-sister tested on 23andMe (to prove that we're sisters) and she has it as well. Anyeay, if you and your husband tested on 23andMe one of both of you might have Ashkenazi Jewish show up too or...

If you want to dig a bit deeper, you all could download your raw data and then upload it for free to GEDmatch's Genesis (I'm assuming your son tested recently on 23and Me and has the v5 chip if it's v4 reg GEDmatch works well): genesis.gedmatch.com Using the Admixture feature and, from this site's suggestions try Eurogenes and Jtest. If just you and your husband want to dig and tested at AncestryDNA I suggest regular GEDmatch.com since it has more tools available ATM.

When I first got my results back from various companies I was confused by the differences in ethnic percentages so did some hunting, found this article to be very helpful and highly recommend people read it if they've tested or are thinking about testing.
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2014/05/18/admixture-not-soup-yet/free


I hope I'm clear enough. I woke up, couldn't go back to sleep so popped in DU for a bit sans coffee. Lol

[Cousin Dupree]

7. I think I'm going to do 23 and Me. Didn't realize 23 and Ancestry don't test for all the

same things. Son also has Neanderthal DNA. Thanks for the info.

[WePurrsevere]

10. 23andMe certainly seems to dig just a bit farther back...

than Ancestry.

Each DNA testing site has some things alike but each also has it's speciality. For instance 23andMe is ancient DNA and health. Ancestry is genetic genealogy. They both offer matching of DNA family and both allow you to share your results or not. A newer up and coming testing company in the UK, called Living DNA, has already developed a very good rep for putting your DNA ancestors not just in the normal big regions but in more precise areas. I haven't tested with them yet so I can't speak from personal experience but hope to test with them in the near future.

[MontanaMama]

9. Your answer is fascinating.

I’ve always wanted to have a DNA test done and have been worried about privacy and if my info would/could be misused. I’ve done extensive work on a family tree on Ancestry. My parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles are deceased so there’s a lot I don’t know. Lots of Irish and German lineage but I know there must be more. Thanks for the detailed info.

[WePurrsevere]

11. Privacy should always be considered and I always suggest...

Reading privacy policies of you have any concerns. This is a decent article about testing and privacy concerns: https://www.businessinsider.com/privacy-considerations-for-dna-tests-23andme-ancestry-helix-2017-12

I have a fairly decent family tree on Ancestry too as well. Actually I have 2... 1 is purely DNA matches based... The other is more traditional. The Global subscription is pricey but it's been a huge help.

If you decide to test please feel free to contact me here via this forum or message system when you get your results in. I'm no expert but between my eldest daughter and I we've become fairly adept and I'd be happy to help. First tip... make sure you attach your raw data results to your tree as soon as you get them.

Oh and I have quite a bit of Irish and German as well.

[MontanaMama]

12. Thank you!

I am bookmarking this for future reference. I’m still undecided as to whether I want to test... and I’m committed to research the pros and cons in terms of privacy. My spouse thinks it’s weird that I would even consider it. I think it’s weird he isn’t curious!

Thank you again.

[argyl]

17. You seem quite knowledgeable about this subject so I'd like to ask you a question.

Would I get a more overall picture of my ancestry if my sister were tested as well?

Her being XX and me having that that pesky Y chromosome and the XY pairing. Or would me and my Y chromosome give her a better base than if she had done the test herself?

I know that the X and Y chromosomes determine sex and do not undergo much if any changes as they are passed down.

But that's something I have known for quite a while and maybe it's not so set in stone anymore. So I'm wondering if, because of the Y chromosome, would the DNA of a brother have a more complete profile than that of a sister?

[WePurrsevere]

18. I'm far from an expert but will gladly try to help.

So.. exactly what sort of information are you looking for and which test are you considering?

For example... If you're talking about taking an autosomal test, like those sold at Ancestry, your sister taking the test could pick up matches that you don't and visa versa but it's not because of gender. There are companies where your XY vs your sister's XX can help with sorting your paternal vs maternal lines but Ancestry isn't one of them.

[argyl]

19. Thanks for the input.

I tested my DNA with 23 and Me. So maybe I'll get a kit for my sister and see what variation there may be.

[pansypoo53219]

6. NPR had a story about this. EVERY egg is a crap chute. my uncle had all his & wives done.

got mine. so far i have the most german & not even 50%. BUTBUTBUT 3 grandparents def german. only my uncle has finnish. its weird. it can skip a generation.

[LakeSuperiorView]

13. Skipping a generation is not a possibility.

It just can't happen. You either have the genes or you don't. You can't pass genes you don't have to your children.

But the results for location are not an exact science. The databases that each company builds will give slightly different results. The simple answer is that likely your three German grandparents were not 100% German.

All my immigrant ancestors came from Norway or Sweden. My results came back 9% Finish/NW Russian. My dad did his and 18% Finnish/NW Russian. I pushed back further and his Grandmother had significant Finnish roots. So my "Swedish" great grandmother was not 100% Swedish, her ancestors immigrated to Sweden from Finland.

I also show some British Isles and Western Europe,very low percents, that are probably travel further back than is traceable (Viking?). I uploaded my raw results to another site and that came back pretty much the same, but a small percentage Nigerian added. Like I said, I know who each of my US immigant ancestors were and at least 3 generations before them in Norway and Sweden, so Nigerian is most likely an outlier result that is not accurate.

(BTW, you probably mean crap shoot as in shooting dice. A crap chute would be something else entirely. )

[Cousin Dupree]

8. Thanks for your help, everyone

[TuxedoKat]

15. FYI -

So my sister tested with 23andMe and I tested with Ancestry. Her DNA showed about 3-4 more different ethnicities than mine. It may be that I didn't inherit the same DNA but I plan to retest with 23andMe because I am curious that maybe their tests show more.

That said, I was recently talking with DNA to a dentist I happened to see when my regular one was on vacation and he said that this company: https://homedna.com/ has even more extensive testing that shows even more info than either 23andMe or Ancestry so I plan to test with that one too some time.

[argyl]

16. I got a 23 and Me update about a week ago.

Couple of changes. Apparently I am now .3% Scandinavian and .2% Italian.

And they dropped the .1% American Indian/Eastern Asian so I reckon my greatx8 grandpa wasn't Genghis Khan after all.

With percentages as small as these it's hard to know how accurate they are.

But overall looks like I have,in effect, three grandparents from the British Isles and one of Germanic/Northwestern European extraction, which is keeping in line with what I know of my familial origins.

[LeftInTX]

20. Very small traces of DNA are to be expected

I run mine through GEDMatch and I get about 1% East Asian/Oceanic/Native American or Siberian. Depending on the calculator I use. It's just noise from ancient DNA. (Kinda like neanderthal)

[LeftInTX]

21. I uploaded my DNA to DNALand it says 5.4% Ashkenazi, but I'm not

My family comes from part of the world where Ashkenazi's lived before they moved to Europe. Ashkenazis are generally a mixture of Mid East, Mediterranean and East European. The unique mixture is what would make a it statistically likely. I am also half European.

If it is 1% or less it is noise.

If you have any of the above in your family then, that could be why.

Don't read too much into. It just means that your son has some markers that correlate with the Ashkenazi population.

[NurseJackie]

23. Did you bring home the right baby?

Kidding!!

That's very strange... the possible answers in this thread are very interesting. I've thought about doing one of those genetic tests, but I remain unsure and skeptical.