23andMe is a genetic service that helps you understand what your 23 pairs of chromosomes - your DNA - say about your health, traits and ancestry. 23andMe is the first and only genetic service available directly to you that includes reports that meet FDA standards. Get a snapshot view of your DNA with more than 60 detailed reports on your health, traits and ancestry, plus tools to explore and compare your DNA with family and friends. As new genetic discoveries are made and as they are able to clear new reports through the FDA, you’ll receive updates. How it works. It takes just 3 simple steps. Order your kit and provide a saliva sample from home. Mail it back to their CLIA-certified lab. Then you’ll be notified when your reports are ready online. Their service is exclusively online. You'll receive your genetic reports through a password-protected account at 23andme.com, and you'll have access to additional web-based tools and features. Their test is $199.00 dollars. 23nadMe does not mention what type of test they do but form experince i know that they do the atDNA, the mtDNA,and the Y-DNA.
What You Get
Reports
23andMe will provide you with 65 reports but only three are genealogy related. They are the Ancestry Composition, Neanderthal Ancestry, and the Haplogroups.
Ancestry Composition - This will provide you with your ethnic composition.
Neanderthal Ancestry - Based on recent research it has been found that Neanderthals did not go extinct but intermarried with modern humans. This report will provide you with the percentage that you may have of Neanderthal DNA.
Haplogroups - This report will provide you with your maternal and paternal haplogroup meaning that your mtDNA and Y-DNA was also tested but don't think that you will get detailed information about these two. They don't provide all the extra data that FamilyTreeDNA does.
Tools
Share and Compare - This section lets you share your reports and genetic similarities with other people. It also lets you manage your connections. This is were you can interact with others to try and find ancestors.
DNA Relatives - Int this section you will get a list of all your DNA matches and weather they are second, third, fourth cousins and so forth. It also has a section where it lets you compare the DNA of the people you have connected with.
Family Tree - They provide an option to create a family tree with MyHeritage.
Find Genetic Counseling - They provide information for you to obtain genetic counseling in case you want to be able to understand your health reports.
Forums - They have a forum where you can interact with other users and or help each other out with DNA questions.
Raw Data - This section will let you either browse your Raw Data and or Download Your Raw Data. This is what you need in order to use GEDmatch.
Research
This section has nothing to do with Genealogy and it seems that it is 23andMe's way of collecting data from you for their medical research. It is fully optional.
Tutorials
They only have six tutorials and only three of them can be used for genealogy related research they are the Ancestry Tutorial, The Ethnicity and Your Reports Tutorial, and the DNA Basics tutorial. They are so short and provide minimal information.
What We Think About 23andMe
People swear by 23andMe but after the recent website face lift many people aren't happy with them since many previous features are no longer available and the new website makes it very hard to find thins around. The price increase is also very discouraging if you are only interested in testing with them to find new cousins. The medical reports are trivial at best. On the other side they do provide you with cousin matches but it is hard to send and receive messages due to new look. The mtDNA and Y-DNA haplogroups are provided but you don't get any other vital information about them that can be useful in determining exact matches to others in your own haplogroup.
Is 23andMe Right for You?
If you are interested in finding medical information in regards to your DNA then yes they are perfect. If you are trying to find more cousin matches then they are also helpful but just keep in mind that you will have headaches trying to learn their system since it is not as user friendly.
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