By Patrick Whitehurst
Whether it comes as a gift for the holidays or just a gift to yourself, your heritage is worth knowing, if just to explain why you prefer cold, rainy days over those sweltering summer ones. Could be that, genetically, you’re from a place with more ice than grass.
Born of Irish ancestry, McElwee to be exact, I changed my last name later in life and always thought I hailed from Ireland. Some distant relatives came from other regions, such as Germany, I’d been told, but the family basically had Gaelic roots. My name is Patrick, my grandfather owned a restaurant in southern Ireland in the 1980s, and with that last name from my birth, I had to be Irish.
And maybe related to royalty or something.
Earlier this year I pulled the trigger and ordered a DNA test. These tests ship out from a number of sources, including Ancestry, My Heritage, 23 and Me, and plenty more.
I chose My Heritage and set up an online account online. Within a couple weeks a small box arrived. Inside were swabs and bio hazard bags. I already knew what to expect however. Staying in more these days, I read up on the site and even built up my family tree using the built-in account features before the testing kit arrived.
During the process I learned how much I use my mouth. You swab the inside of a cheek for the test and if you want it be as accurate as possible they ask that you not eat or drink for half an hour. They want that spit pure. I came to the realization during that half hour that I’m always drinking or eating. After two swabs I packed up the kit and took it to the post office. Then waited, and not well, for six long weeks. The company does a good job during that time of updating you on the progress of the test, but it still felt like a long time to prove my skill at “wee craic,” or general banter.
Turns out I’m terrible at wee craic.
That’s because the results, when they finally hit my inbox, revealed not a lick of Irish lineage. Instead I’m 71 percent North and West European, which could mean any number of countries – from Denmark to France, and 25 percent English, which I’m taking to mean the United Kingdom. Had I only eaten some corned beef during that half hour things might have come out a bit more Irish.
The market is rich with testing labs these days, despite some who fear the tests smuggle your genetic information for the wrong uses. Say if a prospective employer somehow manages to find out you’re genetically prone to a specific disease or some other not so pleasant way and decides you’re not worth the headache to hire. Some fear the information can be stored for other, more nefarious means, such as bio weapons and more. Many of the companies offering these services insist they do not sell customer information to third parties, but many choose to avoid the risk. And let’s be honest, doctors and hospitals tend to collect more DNA than anyone else already. They’ve done it for years.
Of course the medical benefits of genetic sampling far outweigh the concerns. This includes screening and treatment for diseases, such as diabetes, before the first symptom ever appears – thanks to DNA testing. Specialized treatments can also be designed, to battle the onset of obesity and more, thanks to testing. The possibilities are endless.
For me it means I’ll be drinking more Earl Gray tea and reading a few more Agatha Christie novels.
Journalist Patrick Whitehurst is the author of the books “Williams,” “Grand Canyon’s Tusayan Village,” The Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History,” “Haunted Monterey County,” and the forthcoming book “Murder & Mayhem in Tucson.”
