Doing your own DNA testing is possible using kits that you can purchase in drugstores and online. There is a fee for the kit and an additional fee for the lab work. Once you have sent in the sample, expect to wait for three to five days to find out your DNA results.

What is DNA?

DNA is the material that determines the specifics of your body such as your hair color, eyes color, if you have strong bone density, etc. Your DNA is unique, unless you have an identical twin. Every DNA strand is a thin string of such minute dimensions that a foot long strand is squeezed into a one millionth of an inch cube. Each of our cells has a sample of our own personal DNA. Only our red cells do not have DNA. Our blood type is found in our white cells. The role of the DNA is to store long-term information. It is the blueprint of your body, containing instructions to construct other cells.

How to test

You can collect the DNA sample by swabbing your cheek. It is painless. It is important to swab the inside of your cheek wall. You must do this for at least thirty seconds. Scrape your cheek by swabbing up and down. You can swab your gums and inside your lips. Do not collect saliva. Use all the swabs that are in the kit. Do not test if you have eaten or drunk anything within an hour. Provided in the kit will be a specimen envelope. Place all the swabs you tested into this envelope. Check the envelope label to make sure it has your name on it properly identified. Gather the specimen envelopes, with the order forms and payment, and place into the return envelope. Online sites will allow you to access the results either by phone or using a password and email address. You can log on to view your results. For testing the DNA of your blood or hair, you will need to deal with a forensic lab. It will be more expensive.

The results

For paternity testing, the report will say "excluded," or "not excluded." If you are researching your family tree using Mitochondrial DNA, the testing will show your relatives in your maternal line (See Resources). Paternal DNA testing will analyze the Y chromosome found in males only. Maternal and Paternal testing can show you where your ancestors were living. Maternal lineage will not prove relationships, but will prove that individuals were once related. DNA testing used for ancestry purposes will not give genetic medical conclusions or diagnosis. If you need to know if you are related paternally or maternally, you would take both tests. Either one or both of these tests can show if you are closely related.

Source:

Health and DNA

Family Tree DNA

DNA testing