Baby DNA

     When my twin sister had a baby a few months ago, I could hardly wait to DNA test the cute little guy.  He wasn't exactly thrilled with the process, but he only has a baby's memory, so although he fussed while we swabbed the inside of his cheek, he literally fell asleep two minutes later.

    His DNA results came back the other day, about two weeks early.  Exciting!  So, what did I get out of this?

     Or should I first say, what didn't I get out of this?  By testing my nephew, I'm only getting further away from my ancestors.  His DNA isn't going to help me find genealogical connections through my ancestors.  However, he does open up the DNA door to my brother-in-law's side of the family.  His family is moderately interested in their family history, but in a absent sort of way.

     I also proved that my sister and I are identical twins.  I share 3358.69 cM with my nephew, which is the amount of DNA a parent shares with a child.  By contrast a normal amount of DNA for an aunt/uncle/nephew/niece is shown when comparing my nephew and my brother, who share 938.48 cM of DNA.  The high level of  DNA I share with my nephew proves that my sister and I have just about identical DNA.

     I also get to compare my nephews DNA with my parents' (his grandparents') DNA.  It's pretty neat to view the chromosome chart for their shared DNA:

     It would be really neat to have his paternal grandparents in here as well... but not neat enough for me to pay for.

     It's also neat to compare my nephew's DNA to other relatives.  Below, you can see the DNA he shares with his Great-Great Aunt (left) and the DNA I share with her (right):

 

     If you remember that my DNA (right) is a stand in for his mom, my identical twin, you can see that it's very similar to mine, but he does share less DNA.

     From testing my nephew, I get more "neat" than useful, but I'm still excited to see it.  I'm going to play with his results over at GedMatch.com and might take a look through his paternal matches (matches that don't match me).  Maybe I can find him some new cousins on that side of his family.