A few years ago, Roger and I ordered a National Genographic analysis, which was very interesting! There were a few surprises based on known family history, such as the similarity of my genes to those of people currently residing in Romania. To my knowledge, I have no Romanian relatives, but people do move around a bit.
To follow up, Roger wanted us to also go through the 23 and Me analysis, and I just received my reports. Not only do these reports go over your ancestry, but they provide quite a bit of health and behavioral insight as well.
Again, I didn’t see too many surprises, but there were things that made me smile. I am likely to consume more caffeine than most people (duh–I’m down from my 20 cups a day routine in grad school), I have “in-betweener” circadian genes (neither lark nor owl), and I’m more likely to weigh more (hmmm–I think I knew that). One of the surprises, though, was the genetic basis of height phobia. I had always assumed that my height phobia was learned, but 23 and Me says I am predisposed. They argue that some people, like me, are dependent on visual cues rather than physical cues for balance, leading to unpleasant sensations at height. I’m going to have to look into that further!
Perhaps the most amusing finding is that my muscle composition is that of “elite power athletes.” I’m assuming that means I have a preponderance of fast twitch as opposed to slow twitch muscles. What makes this funny is that I am surrounded by truly elite power athletes (weightlifters and throwers) in my husband and daughters, and I have always been the “weak one.” Ha! Yay genes!
I apparently do not have the APOE e4 variant associated with some cases of Alzheimer’s disease. I did not expect anything different, as I have mostly long-living, lucid-to-the-end relatives. Still, it’s nice to know. At the same time, I’m wondering what you’re supposed to do if you DO have the e4 variant. Would you live your life differently? I’m also wondering at what point these data impact your ability to do things like obtain affordable long-term care insurance. We seem to be receiving some types of information long before we’ve figured out how such information should be used.
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