Ancestors

I read the book, The Seven Daughters of Eve, by Bryan Sykes some 20 years ago. Ever since then, I've wondered where I might fit in that saga. I was graduated from college as a cellular biologist, worked early on in biochemistry and molecular biology labs, and ended up with Masters Degrees in Parent-Child Nursing and Education. I've been an educator of students in Kindergarten through college. I'm also a long-time Public Health Nurse. I've been the wife of the same man for 47+ years (known him for 50 years!) and we've had four children. Our first child died 38 years ago at age five -- she had a brain tumor, and we didn't have an autopsy performed, so I never knew anything about its histology or genetics. Our other three kids are adults now, with spouses and children of their own -- so far, all healthy and happy. Our oldest son (3rd in sibling order), now a doctor like his dad and both of his dad's parents, wrote a paper in college about mRNA. When, as our County's COVID Vaccine Clinic Vaccinator Coordinator, I first read scholarly papers about COVID-19 mRNA vaccines, I was thrown

back in time to the Sykes book and my son's paper. The fire of my wondering flamed brighter, and I finally decided to give in to finding out about my DNA and to the saga of my mRNA.

I recently received the results from the cheek swab DNA sample I sent for testing. I found my ancestral analysis to be very interesting, although not truly enlightening. Nothing in the report actually revealed anything I didn't already know or could have inferred.

My maternal grandparents were of Spanish origin, so it doesn't surprise me that I could have French or Italian ancestors or possibly some from South and Central America. My father's ancestors emigrated from Northern Europe, his mother's from Germany and his father's from the U.K. No surprise that there could be some genetic input from India, since the British "empire" extended there and beyond. Not really surprised about Scandinavian input, either, since so much of my background is Iberian, presumably on my mother's side. I'm also aware that the Spanish Kingdom of Murcia in Spain was raided by Vikings and settled by Romano-Britons, so my father's ancestors could have been fighting with my mother's long before the two of them fought with each other.

It was extremely interesting to discover that my genetics originally derive from present-day Turkey. My mitochondrial (inherited from mothers) DNA report, revealed that my ancestral line originated some 30,000 years ago in the regions of Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Phoenicia, which was mostly localized throughout the Mediterranean, Greece, Italy/Sardinia, and Spain, along with some possible interaction with the peoples of the Hindu Kush. I found out that I have DNA consistent with peoples from many different regions:

I consider many of the items "reported" in the DNA report I received to be superfluous. I hesitate to offer credence to actual gene inheritance regarding social cue perception, skill at facial recognition, creative and mathematical abilities, nutrition preferences -- these attributes can be learned and nurtured. Specific genes have been identified to explain some issues related to weight control and body build, but knowing that one has a propensity to have difficulty managing weight isn’t enough to solve such a problem. In fact, I imagine that many people ignore such problems because they feel they’re doomed by their genes.

I realize that I can use the reports from this analysis to find out other, more important information that could be of significance to me or my children. For instance, was the brain tumor that caused the death of my daughter genetically connected to the benign brain tumor that my niece had -- or was her's related to the fatal brain tumor her dad's brother had? Are my kids and theirs predisposed to Alzheimer's Disease because my husband's mother, his maternal uncle, and possibly his paternal grandmother had it? I still don't have any actual genetic evidence that my lousy degenerative arthritic spine and other osteoarthritis are a legacy from my father (who also suffered from both) or if the Dupuytren's Syndrome that affects my hands AND my son's could have been inherited, due to the prevalence of Northern European genes in our DNA make-up. I’m not sure what purpose it would serve to spend more money to learn about paternal (Y-chromosome) contribution to my ancestry -- other than simple personal interest. I’m still mulling over the idea of paying for a medical report.

Over the years, I’ve acquired significant knowledge about DNA or genetics. I have a Cellular Biology degree and worked in a Molecular Biology lab. I've taught this stuff at the college and high school levels. I've read extensively. It intrigues me. I'm glad I did it. It’s a relief that it didn’t reveal any big surprises. But... I really didn't “learn” much more from my ancestral analysis than I have already been able to infer.