Then I found out I have a goldmine in my hands which I haven’t even started using yet: raw data. Most companies offering genetic tests let users download their raw data. Although only genetic experts can analyse such complicated data sets, more and more services aim to help users do it themselves and thus learn on their own from their data. This does not substitute the professional analysis provided by the companies’ genetic counselors, but it can still be useful.

Thus, if you had a genetic test and get the raw data, you could trace back your ancestors and might receive information whether your great-great grandfather was an Inuit or lived in the jungles of Sumatra and you might get to know what medical conditions you have a risk for. Moreover, as the FDA shut down many of these services, you don’t even get reports from them. 23andme, for instance, only provides you with ancestry reports and uninterpreted raw genetic data in certain countries.

It’s amazing that according to Interpretome.com individuals vary at the genetic level by about 1 in 1300 bases, so any 2 individuals share about 99.97 per cent. So many differences in the remaining 0.03 per cent!

Read the article on medicalfuturist.com