Best DNA Test Kits of 2020

Have you ever wondered why some of your physical features and character attributes are similar to those of your family members? That is because your genetic composition is alike. Apart from physical characteristics, many standard features like ethnicity, lifestyle, and genetic traits determine your personality. To find out more about your genetic history, a DNA test kit can be used. DNA kits are popularly used to know about your lineage and for health screenings like analyzing information about your age, health, inherited traits, possible genetic susceptibilities, and medical risks.

These DNA kits help citizens understand genealogy, connect to the exact location of living relatives and give you a perception of your family’s health so that you can make better lifestyle choices and keep life-threatening diseases at bay. The extensive genealogy database helps people to connect with their relatives through a comprehensive, secure process.

With the DNA comparison in up to 500 worldwide regions, it has helped to create a foolproof heritage map and proved successful in finding the biological family of adopted children. It allows free trials to explore National archives, build a family tree, and easily connect with relatives and bring families closer. It also has gift memberships at discounted rates and a mode to honor ancestors who were a part of World War II.

DNA test kits are primarily used to study Ancestry, but they can also be used to determine paternity, understand health situations, and prevent major diseases. These kits are affordable, easy to use, and very reliable. People can avail these kits at a lower price with Ancestry DNA kit coupons.

Depending on the composition of the test material and its purpose, DNA test kits can be classified as:

Autosomal DNA (atDNA) testing: Autosomal testing examines chromosomes, except the ones that define our gender. The 22 chromosome pairs are used to determine ethnicity, genetic traits, inherited diseases, physical features like eye color, and that is why such test kits are called ‘family finders.’

Mitochondrial DNA testing (mtDNA): These testing kits help to trace the mother’s lineage since these strands of DNA are passed down from mothers to the next generation. This test can track genetic relationships from the maternal family that dates back to 150,000 years. Both male and female children receive mtDNA from their mother, so they are eligible to take this test. This test is mainly considered to identify close relations to a haplogroup (which is a group of people who have a common ancestor or who live in a specific demographic region) or locate distant relatives.

Y-DNA testing: This testing helps to trace the paternal Ancestry, i.e., the lineage from father to child from data ranging over 60,000 years old. This test can be taken only by male children since the Y-chromosome is passed on from father to son. This test has two sub-tests, including STR test (short tandem repeat) and SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) test. STR test determines if people with similar last names are related, whereas the SNP test is responsible for allocating a person to a haplogroup.

Ethnicity testing: This type of test uses all three mentioned tests, where Y-DNA and mtDNA tests help you connect specific genetic lines, and autosomal DNA tests can produce results with the help of a family tree. These tests are incredibly beneficial to find the results of migrated individuals.

Health risk testing: To predict susceptibility to diseases and other health issues, these kits are beneficial. The test is accompanied by counseling that helps you to adopt lifestyle changes to reduce the risk of diseases at an early age or determine what cure can suit you the best. Some premium tests also provide customized diet DNA tests that give you a list of recommended foods, meal plans, nutrition testing, and workout strategies based on the percentage of micro and macronutrients in your body.

Overall DNA testing: To determine age, gender, ethnic background, trace traits like hair, eye color, intolerance to different substances, assess health risks, etc. an overall DNA testing is done. This test also keeps a record of common health conditions that run in the family to prevent prevalent diseases and disorders.

Popular brands like Ancestry, 23andMe, tellmeGen, MyHeritage, Living DNA, National Geographic Geno 2.0, FamilyTreeDNA, etc. carry out analysis in three main categories, such as – Ancestry, health, and genetic traits. DNA testing kits use genetic information to explore ethnic backgrounds, locate lost/missing relatives, build a family tree, decide father of a child discreetly, if required (with rapid DNA paternity test kit) and discuss predisposed medical conditions that run in the family to find out diseases you might be susceptible to and prevent them at an early stage.

In addition to humans, DNA test kits are also available for pets. Brands like Embark and Wisdom Panel 3.0 look at the family history of dogs using breed tests, health screening, wolf, and coyote tests to produce results within 3-7 weeks.

These kits run all types of DNA tests, health tests, and genetic trait tests with a capacity to screen DNA from over 1000 regions. Usually, the test results are ready within a month, but some test kits may need more time and can provide the outcome in 4-6 weeks or a maximum of eight weeks. Some brands focus on predisposed medical conditions, predict the onset of disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, and analyze if you can be a carrier of diseases like cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, and risk assessment of genetic conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.

To safeguard health, users can also subscribe to nutrition counseling with the usual test kit. Unique test kits trace paternal and maternal lineage in detail. In contrast, some give users a whole-exome sequence that tells what you share in common with African tribes (through AfricanAncestry) and Neanderthal species (through Hominin ancestry). Most of these tests are available at affordable rates and can be easily purchased on their websites, pharmacy stores, and popular online retail websites. Users can sign-up with valid email id to get more updates and use coupons to claim benefits.