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DNA testing kits have become increasingly popular in recent years, as they offer individuals an insight into their genetic makeup and ancestral history. DNA kits can be used to determine the geographical origins of a person's ancestors, as well as their ethnic background, family lineage, and even health predispositions.
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How does at home DNA testing work?
At home DNA testing kits make it very easy for you to uncover insights about your biological heritage. Once you receive your kit, it's very simple to submit your sample
Providers like 23andMe or AncestryDNA will send you a DNA collection kit with a prepaid shipping label.
To collect your DNA, you'll have to provide a saliva or cheek swab sample in a vial and ship this back with the prepaid label.
You then download the providers' app or register on their site and wait anywhere from 4-6 weeks for your results to come back.
Once you receive an email alert that your reporting is ready, voila! you'll see a lot of different insights that come back just based on your DNA.
Whether it's insight into your biological heritage or understanding health predispositions, there is a wealth of information that you can uncover from your genes.
Ancestry and genealogy reporting
With some kits, like Ancestry or 23andMe, you can also see a timeline of your ancestry going back over eight generations and see a visual representation of where your different ancestries are found across your genome.
I took a test through 23andMe and I found their ancestry reporting very easy to understand and insightful. Below is an example of what my DNA report looked like after providing my sample. What I found very interesting, is how granular they got with their reporting. As you can see, they get down to the county level with my Irish roots, which made our vacation there that much more fun!
To learn more compare our top providers in our best DNA kits reviews.
DNA relative finder
Another feature I find really neat about at home DNA kits, is your ability to connect with distant relatives you otherwise would not have known. This is a feature that most kit providers have, and will require your consent to opt in as to respect data privacy. I found it really interesting to see distant relatives in countries I had never been to and connecting with them.
Also, given my families history, this actually made for some emotional moments when I went through these insights and shared them with my dad. If there might triggering emotions that can occur by going through reports like this, then I'd recommend looking at DNA kits for their health predisposition reports vs. ancestry.
Finding the best DNA Kits
At DNA Discovery, we rate the best at-home DNA kits available today. To learn more about which testing kit is right for you, check out our Best DNA Kit reviews. Compare pricing, features and more.