23 and Me

This afternoon, after coming home from work, I spat into a test tube. I spat in the name of science. I spat because I want to know about my ancestry, and if I have genes that might be prone the development of cancer. I spat for at least two full minutes to fill that test tube with my lovely and mysterious DNA.

23 and Me is a company that will take your saliva and map your DNA to the best of current scientific abilities. Then, they will give you a full report. (Here is their website: 23 AND ME.) You can find long lost cousins though their website, discover your genetic heritage, and also do a couple of silly things like confirm what kind of ear wax you are pre-disposed to generate. There was a discount on "DNA DAY", which is why Alan and I could afford to try it. I can't wait to see the results!

What I find truly amazing is that 23 and Me might even be able to tell me, if my husband and I were to have babies, what kind of genetic predispositions our children might have. Isn't that cool?

I am really eager to see the results of my genetic mappings, but I am also kind of wary. What would happen if my genetic information were to leak to unscrupulous sources? Can I really trust 23 and Me to keep my DNA anonymous and safe? What if they were hacked? I can't even begin to fathom the consequences. On the other hand, I don't think that my genes hold the power of ever-lasting-youth, or the cure for AIDS, so probably nobody will care about what my DNA has to say except for me.

But you never know....