With home testing more widely available and affordable than ever before, there are many good reasons for running a DNA test: you may be keen to add detail to the branches of your family tree, or perhaps you need to establish whether or not you have a predisposition to certain diseases and conditions to make the lifestyle changes needed to mitigate against these. We explore further the five key benefits of getting a DNA test below.
1. Discover Your Ancestry
A DNA test is a great way to find out more about your ancestry, as well as details about your ethnic background. Testing can trace both your maternal and paternal heritage back hundreds of years, providing answers about your familial origins: you may discover that your long-past forbears had their roots in Scotland or Africa, for example.
This type of DNA testing is known as autosomal DNA analysis: it works by analyzing twenty-two of the twenty-three non-sex autosome chromosomes that we inherit from our parents. This then provides information regarding the historic population groups that fed into your unique ethnic mix and where they were located in the world.
2. Build Your Family Tree
For those looking to fill in some more detail on the branches of their family tree, home DNA testing is a convenient, cost-effective way to do so. As well as giving you information on your distant-past heritage, tests can also provide you with information on your modern-day connections. Read more here for one such type of DNA test that fulfills both functions by linking your ethnic background to modern-day countries whose populations share your genetic profile. The easy-to-read report provided by this company after testing includes your ethnic make-up estimate – both simple and regional – and information on your deep ancestry.
DNA testing can help you find matches, too, which can reveal or confirm your ancestry: some testing companies enable users to upload their results to a database so that other people who are building their own family trees can make connections to yours, too, opening up the potential for you to connect with relatives that you didn’t know existed. As new members add their results, the database grows, making finding new family connections easier.
3. Predisposition To Disease
For some people, anxiety over whether or not they may have a predisposition to a condition or disease can be significant and impinge on their day-to-day living; others may be keen to know the likelihood of this eventuality so that they can make lifestyle changes to help prevent it or to ameliorate any future symptoms. Where this is the case, a DNA test to establish whether or not there is a predisposition to disease may be a sensible option.
Health DNA tests will look for mutations in the genes that can tell you your likelihood of suffering in the future with a disease, such as breast cancer or polycystic kidney disease, and can also tell you if you are a carrier of a genetic mutation that could be passed onto your children.
It is advisable to think very carefully before undertaking a health DNA test and to consult with your doctor first, who may refer you to a genetic counselor to support you through the process. Should a home DNA test reveal that there is a predisposition to a certain condition present, your doctor will likely recommend you go for full screening to verify the results.
4. Makes Sense of Personal Traits
If you’ve ever wondered about the origin of your aversion to the taste of coriander or where your hazel eyes come from, when most of your family members’ are blue, then a DNA test is a fun and fascinating way to discover the answers.
Along with eye color, traits such as facial dimples, hair texture and thickness, finger length, and tendencies too, for example, wake early, can all be explored: The DNA test providers that offer this report allow you to input your details onto a platform so that, if you match with other distant family members, you can explore how many of these shared familial traits you have in common.
5. Specific Need
You may find yourself in a position where it is important to establish whether or not you, or your child, is related to someone else, and DNA testing in these circumstances is crucial. An example of this might include where a paternity test is needed to definitively establish whether or not you are the father of a child or to confirm a family relationship with a sibling, where there is doubt.
DNA tests are sometimes required in immigration cases, as well as in legal proceedings that relate to child custody, child support, adoption, or court orders. In these cases, home DNA tests are acceptable to use in court, as long as they are of the necessary type – this should be carefully checked with the provider before the test is undertaken.
Sometimes, DNA testing can be the quickest and most efficient way to resolve an issue over inheritance, particularly where a will is in dispute.
6. Medicinal Uses Of Genetic Testings
1. Screening Of Newborn Babies
Some genetic disorders can be cured only in the early stages, and doctors prefer to take a DNA test to find those genetic disorders. Millions of babies are tested for genetic diseases in the USA, so by doing this, doctors can verify and treat the baby accordingly to protect the baby from various complications in the future.
2. Prenatal Testings
The genes or chromosomes can be monitored before the baby’s birth. Most doctors suggest pregnant ladies take this test if they find any risk in their health, especially if there is a doubt in their parents’ genetic health. But only the essential details and common threats to babies’ health can be found during pregnancy, so the inherited disorders can be found only after the baby’s birth. As parents’ health impacts a child’s growth it is one of the important tests that doctors suggest.
3. Carrier Testings
Carrier testing can be used to find two copies of gene mutations. Generally, this kind of gene mutation can cause some issues, especially in genetic disorders. Most probably, doctors can witness this kind of situation in cases with a family history of genetic diseases. In many cases, parents and even grandparents might have some genetic disorder, and because of this, the child might have a risk of having the same genetic problem.
4. Pre Implementation Testings
This test can also be called the Preimplantation genetic diagnosis that can reduce the risk of having a child with multiple genetic disorders. As genetic conditions can result in severe problems in the future, people generally prefer to take this test to protect their children from genetic diseases. Genetic changes can also be found using ART; the assisted reproductive technique. The pre Implementation test is mainly done to remove eggs from female ovaries and fertilize them with sperm cells.
5. Forensic Testings
DNA sequences are used to find a person’s identity to establish proof for legal purposes. Other tests on the list are used for creating awareness to treat the baby in the right way, but forensic testing is used to establish solid proof for legal purposes. This test probably proves a crime or may also help an innocent to escape from severe punishments. In most cases, people usually try to find the exact parents. It might be interconnected with many chrome scenes, so forensic testing plays a vital role in easing many problems and cases.
Final words
Hence in this article, we have discussed some important reasons for having a DNA test. It fulfills the legal formalities and helps parents find the genetic disorders for a newly born baby. These tests might help doctors recognize some common genetic disorders and provide treatments accordingly.