Thread: Nature vs nurture in real time

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Very interesting story, Mike-I have always thought that we are much more prisoners of our DNA than we believe. Neither my brother nor myself were raised by my biological father beyond baby-hood (long story), but we both have some of his mannerisms, thought patterns, and personality traits. It used to drive my mother crazy-she thought she had escaped him! Fascinating how that genetic stuff expresses itself over the generations.

A study was done years ago of identical twins who were separated at birth and never met. Decades later, their lives were astonishingly similar-I don't remember all the details. Weird, huh?

This...

Results are in..

Did not expect to find out I was Jewish, well partly. Although as I remember from history there was quite the influx of Jewish settlers throughout the Austrian region in the 1800s. My mom being Austrian I guess it makes sense.
Craazy stuff. But very cool to know. Highly recommend you invest the spit to have it done.

Good thread guys, and a bit timely for me.

My step daughter/adopted daughter born in Vung Tau, Vietnam recently went in search of her biological father. She submitted a DNA sample to the 23 andMe website. She found out she was Vietnamese ( no surprise), a bit of Chinese ( again no surprise) and a bunch of English and some Irish!
Then she was notified of a dNA match with some 3rd & 4th cousins. That was followed by a match with 2 1st cousins! She contacted them and asked if they had an uncle who had served in Vietnam in 1968. One of them said yes! My daughter contacted him ..... he had a DNA test done and it is a match!
Everything is going well now and they will get together in Oregon soon.
One picture of his grandmother looks remarkably similar to my daughter!
I am very happy for her. She now has a "place" in life.

I do need to have a DNA test done for me. There is a possibility of some interesting results according to family rumors !

You can pick your nose and your friends but not your relatives.

In the two generations of my family that I feel comfortable in saying that I know about there has been a world wide mixture of races and cultures.

I know of a couple of younger people that I don't think that their dad is really their dad. I am not going to open that can of worms.

I am not going to send my DNA to a stranger to tell me what I have seen.

If you go back far enough I think we are all related.

And I might get a CODIS hit!

Little update on my own journey of discovery.
Wife and I invested in the 23andMe dna kits after Black Friday, as the kits were 1/2 priced.
Similar to the ancestry.com kits, but more medical information, traits, and genetic marker info than the ancestry kits.
Just got the results this week, and wow.
Uncanny how much of our own predisposition is in our dna gents.
Tests for Parkinson markers, Alzheimer markers, cancer etc, all came back negative happily.
Found there are over 1000 folks already in their database with enough similar strands to indicate they are third cousins or greater. Folks in USA, Canada, Poland, UK etc.
Found out that I’m not just a little Jewish, I’m a specific type, from a specific path through Europe.
Also just learning that that line seems to end abruptly in 1940s Germany, or almost ends.
That part of my family was seemingly dessimated in the concentration camps of WW2.
This is all on the mothers side mind you. The fathers side was safely developing in Ireland.
Fascinating stuff men.

Oh, I also found out I’m related to Benjamin Franklin. Also on the mothers side, pre WW anything.
If you are considering the dna stuff, and having done both now, I’d recommend the 23andMe program over the ancestry one from a depth of information perspective. The ancestry one is stronger for people searching, if that’s more your goal.
Anyway, it’s all just information and history. Nothing more than that.
The most important thing is be comfortable in your own skin. Knowing where it comes from is purely tertiary.
Happy new year men!

Interesting stuff Mike. I somehow missed your OP the first time so this is new and very interesting information. Thanks for sharing.

That's really cool they can figure that all out with alittle DNA.
Thanks for sharing Mike