What one Hong Kong writer found out when she had her genes sequenced

Getting your DNA unravelled is relatively cheap and easy these days. Kate Whitehead wanted to know more about her ancestry – and was pleased by the results – but also learned about her health

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For a fee, 23andme will analyse a sample of your DNA and provide you with a complete breakdown of your genetic makeup.

Published: 7:00am, 19 Jun 2016Updated: 9:18pm, 19 Jun 2016

My grandad often talked of how our family was descended from Vikings. Curious to find out if there was any truth to his tale, I took a genetic test recently – and ended up finding out buckets about my health.

Genetic testing used to be strictly the domain of health care providers – they administered the test, sent the results off to a lab and then interpreted the results. Now you can do it yourself.

Direct-to-consumer testing has taken off and 23andMe – named for the 23 pairs of chromosomes in a human cell – was one of the first on the market and is perhaps the best known. I logged onto the site, paid £99 (HK$1,092)and had the kit sent to my dad’s place in the UK. Over last year’s Christmas holiday I picked up the kit, followed the instructions that involved spitting into a tube, and sent it back. Twelve weeks later I got my results by email.

(Now it’s even easier to take the test because as of April, 23andMe will send the kits directly to Hong Kong.)

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I discovered I’m 100 per cent European – 70 per cent British and Irish, 8 per cent Scandinavian, 20 per cent Northwestern European, 1 per cent French and German, and 1 per cent Iberian. I was excited to see the Scandi/Northwestern European connection – surely that hints at some Viking blood? And also fun was the discovery that I’m 2.8 per cent Neanderthal. But the ancestry element is just the icing on the cake; there’s so much more to be learned.