You have probably seen the ads on tv and online advertising companies such as 23andMe that offer you the chance to take a look into who you are. It can be intimidating when you receive your box, but there is so much you can learn and do with the new information you receive. With the 23andMe $99 kit, you have the potential to learn about your ancestry composition, timeline, parental inheritance, and DNA pairing. There are even options to explore your ancestry more in-depth, as they give you different facts about the places you are from to let you learn more about your heritage. On 23andMe you can also create a profile and meet different relatives that you share DNA with. Along with this, you can see where your relatives are located and even learn if you have Neanderthal Ancestry. One aspect that 23andMe  has is the health testing that allows you to see what diseases your genes could be carrying or other health screenings. This test could be important for possible prevention of health problems for the future. If you want to know about your roots and what your ancestors have passed down onto you, this process is perfect for you.

 I became interested in learning about my own genetics and my ancestry because I was fascinated with some aspects of history that I learned throughout school. Growing up, I did not really know where my ancestors came from as many people could pinpoint that they were part German, English or Irish. Sophomore Carter Pack knows about his great grandparents from Hungary and said, “There are so many kits out there to learn about my history; I just do not know which one is best.”  I received a kit from the brand 23andMe. The quality of the product and the efficiency of my results were impressive. My DNA result even got released about a week or two earlier than predicted. When you open the box, the first thing you will see is a tube where you will have to put your saliva in so the company has your DNA. Once the steps at home are completed, your results are sent to their laboratory. When I received my results back, I was surprised by what I learned about myself. The first thing I opened was the ancestry composition, which tells you what percentage of an ethnicity or region you are from. In summary of my results, I found out I was 34% Nigerian, 4.5% British and Irish, and was only 0.3% Native American, which was something growing up I thought I predominantly was. Knowing that I was not as Native American as I thought shows how if you are looking for more accurate results about what makes you who you are, DNA kits can be a fun way to do that and bring your family closer. Take the leap to dive deeper into the unique characteristics of your history!