How do companies like 23andMe figure so much stuff out just by a using a saliva sample?
In: Biology
There are cells in your saliva that they can get your DNA from. They then sequence that DNA and look at it’s sequence at numerous specific places. The variations in sequence at certain locations (loci) in your genome can them be checked against those of a database that can say this or that sequence/variation/mutation is associated with this or that disease, lineage, ancestry, etc.
I think its to do with DNA and looking at patterns they already have seen. They must have a huge database of DNA now that they can compare and match certain attributes seen in your sample.
Or they just google you, and make some stuff up.
in your saliva are cells from the tissue inside your mouth. Each of those cells has a full copy of your body’s DNA, and they extract enough of that DNA to test it and compare the results with other people (people who you share ancestors).
They take DNA samples from your saliva and then use that as a template for the DNA tests they do in their labs. DNA is very small and there is a ton of it in every cell, let alone the tons of cells they would get from a saliva sample (usually check or tongue cells that have been scraped off).
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