A Guide To Home DNA Kits

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We may not have flying cars, rehydrate pizzas or self-lacing shoes like Back To The Future promised us just yet, but some aspects of the final frontier are already here. Namely home DNA kits, which allow even non-science boffins to uncover fitness, health, ancestry and even male pattern baldness insights with a vial of saliva. With just a select few on the market now, we’ve broken down the selling points of each Doc Brown-style spit jar to see which deserves your hard-earned.

23andMe

Best For: Health And Wellbeing

Arguably the biggest name in the business, 23andMe is a full-spectrum test that covers everything from potential health issues to international ancestry. Along with the serious stuff, it can also reveal more frivolous traits hidden in your DNA, such as whether caffeine has a greater effect on you, whether your body will respond quickly to working out and your chances of developing grey hairs early. The kit is pricier than other tests on the market, but the firm’s ancestry insights can provide data stretching back to the Neanderthals. Plus, all your information is stored online, and there’s the option of speaking to an expert to take you through the findings. Available at 23andMe, priced £149.

23andMe

National Geographic

Best For: History Buffs

An extensive family tree can take decades and thousands of pounds to research, so thanks to National Geographic for making it as easy as spitting into a tube and posting it to California. Whereas most kits work backwards from the present day, this test uses the 16th century as its starting point. And as it’s run by science stalwarts National Geographic, your anonymised data also becomes part of the groundbreaking Genographic Project that tests 750,000 DNA markers to track ancestral migration and provide historians with new information of what the world was like thousands of years ago. More than 800,000 people have already taken part in the project that aims to help fill gaps in the human story. By joining them, you’ll get a full picture of the migration paths of your ancestors and learn which region your genomes stem from – as well as providing the chance to connect with other participants who have similar heritage. You never know who you might find. Available at National Geographic, priced approx £116.

National Geographic

Ancestry DNA

Best For: Geography Nerds

While most of the kits of the market focus on health benefits, there are reasons you may not want to know the inner depths of your DNA, but still fancy learning whether you’re one-eighth Parisian (makes a good Tinder bio, right?). Ancestry, better known for its online family tree creator, has partnered with a world-leading lab to create a relative-uncovering test that puts anything Jeremy Kyle can offer to shame. Sequencing genes to trace your geographic roots, you can learn minute details of your heritage. For example, instead of revealing how British you are, it can tell the exact county your great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents are from. Hopefully, it’s not just a street away. Available at Ancestry, priced £59.

Ancestry DNA

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