Life Highlights: My 23and Me Results

Got my test results in today! Not that exciting (nothing life-altering here!), but still interesting! According to the website I am 92% Chinese, 6.4% Southeast Asian, and 1.6% Broadly East Asian & Native American.  Most likely, I had a parent or grandparent born between 1940-1970 that was 100% Chinese and a second great-grandparent, third great-grandparent, fourth great-grandparent, or fifth great-grandparent who was 100% Southeast Asian born between 1790 and 1880.

Although when we switched the "confidence" level of my results to 90% it changed the fractions to be 33.7% East Asian (30.8% Chinese and 2.9% Broadly East Asian) and 66.2% Broadly East Asian & Native American.  Apparently, this type of confidence level means that these percentages are more likely to be true, whereas the first fractions are "speculative".  This is because they're assuming and extrapolating from my DNA (like 92% Chinese) whereas the latter results leave more room for variables (Definitely 30.8% Chinese, with a lot of other Asian DNA).

Moreover, I'm part of the  Haplogroup F group, which the website says is, "particularly common in populations of Hmong-Mien speakers, one of the major language families in East Asia. This group includes the Lahu, Hmong, Lao, and Mien of southern China and Southeast Asia. Many of these groups are considered ethnic minorities in their countries, including in China, Vietnam, and Thailand."  Additionally, the report includes this interesting tidbit, "During the Vietnam War, from 1953 to 1975, the United States Central Intelligence Agency recruited many of the Hmong, Lao, Mien, and Lahu to fight for American interests in Laos against the North Vietnamese and the Pathet Lao. When the North Vietnamese and Pathet Lao gained control of the region, members of the ethnic groups recruited by the US were targeted, forcing many of the Hmong-Mien to flee the country. Many refugees resettled in the United States, especially in California and along the western seaboard."

So I'm pretty unsurprised, although I'm a little disappointed that I'm not British or Japanese (both obviously because of Bowie).  I definitely don't feel like these results have been LIFE CHANGING or anything like that, but I am happy to know a little more about where I'm from.  And the fact that I probably have Native American and Vietnamese DNA is also interesting.

More interesting to me was actually the characteristics, wellness, and genetic disease reports.  I am more likely to prefer salty to sweet things (true), less likely to consume caffeine (true), and more predisposed to weigh less than the average person (true).  Most importantly to me was that I have a slightly increased risk of getting Late-Onset Alzheimer's Disease.  According to the report, I have 1 variable detected, although it also says that this only increases my risk by like 1%,

So, all in all, I'm really happy that our family decided to do this.  It brought us all a little closer together (even though we don't share any DNA).  And I'm really happy to have a little more genetic information about both my ancestry and my health.  Next step? Figure out what my blood type is (still don't know).