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Mason Thibault Mason is a native of Fall River, Massachusetts, an avid NFL and NCAA fan, and a commerce writer for the Daily Caller
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Ever been curious about where you really come from? Most of us know our heritage and ethnic makeup according to our family, but as it turns out, oral tradition combined with spotty historical records may play a role in slight and sometimes massive errors in our actual ethnic makeup. Yet unlike before, DNA testing kits have become wildly popular in recent years and as a result it has never been easier for people to learn about their family heritage. Yet far from being restricted to just ethnic makeup, today’s DNA testing kits have proven to be a powerful tool for individuals to gain insights into many different areas of their lives, ranging from basic geographical family migration knowledge to individual genetic health risks, carrier status for diseases and genetic traits.

Luckily for you if you have been holding out based on how expensive these kits can be, Amazon has already released early black Friday deals in preparation for the biggest sale of the year. Here are three DNA testing kits we found that are already discounted, and are available now at Black Friday level prices: 

A Popular Favorite:

23andMe Health + Ancestry Kit

23andMe Health + Ancestry Kit (Image Via Amazon.com)

23andme is one of the better known brands in DNA testing and to say it is simple to use is an understatement. Simply send 23andMe a Saliva sample in this kit and receive a detailed report in return. You can learn about not only your family heritage, but where exactly your family originates from, your genetic health risks and carrier status, wellness reports, genetic trait reports, and more. And reviewers across the board are pretty satisfied with the results, as one reviewer raves:

“Buying this test was the best money I have ever spent in my entire life. The knowledge they give you is incredible. I wish everyone had a chance to know and understand their DNA. I wish 23andme was given automatically to all newborns. I just ordered kits for 3 family members.
23andme is not just ancestry, you get so much more. Here’s a few things I got out of it…
1) I learned about my ancestry and how I am 24% Lithuanian, which was spot on as my grandma was born there.
2) I have at least 1000 cousins (3rd, 4th and 5th cousins.)
3) I can see a map of where my relatives are located and can be contacted/contact them if they also opted in for communication.
4) I learned I do not carry the breast cancer genes (thank god!)
5) I learned I do carry a mutation that lowers cholesterol and helps guard against heart disease (looked that gene up after seeing it in the news.)
6) Anytime I see any study in the news about genetics and how they found this gene associated with this disease etc, I can log in to 23andme, pull up my data and see if I carry that mutation or not. So geeky, but soooo cool.
7) I learned I have the mthfr mutation and was able to read more about what this means so I can make better choices regarding which types of folate I consume.
8) I learned I have a double mutation that effects b12 processing which could explain why I have always been low in b12. I will now ensure I get more b12 and monitor my levels with my doctor for the rest of my life.
9) I gained a new outlook on people. I think it’s so incredibly that we are all essentially “written in code.” It’s this code that defines our health, how we look and to an extent, even how we act.

Another satisfied reviewer confides that “they do not prepare you for this like they do the medical results. I believe this aspect has far more implications than just carrying a gene that ‘might’ be a factor vs a real person showing up and changing history, now that’s a HUGE outcome! Super HIGH Recommend to uncover health issues, relative connections, ancestry line and family secrets!”

Just be aware that according to our research and reviews, the process of getting your DNA info can take up to a month, so give yourself some time if you want your DNA info in time for the holidays. And at $100 off the regular price, now is the perfect time to strike.  

List price: $199.99 Amazon Early Black Friday Price: $99.99! 

An Affordable Alternative

Ancestry DNA + Traits Kit

Ancestry DNA + Traits Kit (Image Via Amazon.com)

Ancestry.com’s DNA + Traits kit allows you to learn exactly where your family originated from by analyzing your DNA and connecting it to a specific region in the world- pinpoint where your family is from. This report will also tell you about 26 different hereditary traits so you can learn more about your specific genes. Ancestry DNA + Traits will also give you an ethnicity estimate which will reveal what ethnicity you are made of and what percentage you are of each. 

One sastified reviewer had clear praise to give, stating: “I received the new Ancestry kit as a gift and I loved it. It taught me interesting information about my heritage (I’m almost 50% English – I thought it was closer to 20%) and even connected me to a third cousin. Together, we discovered that we are connected to George Washington and Princess Dianna. I highly recommend doing this not only for you but for your family as well. Or give it as a gift!”

Another reviewer explained how the results impacted their understanding of their family: I liked how fast I got results. It took 3 weeks from the day I dropped it off in the post office. My results were surprising as I have a higher percentage in areas my siblings had lower but I at least it got the main regions right although some that I know for sure are missing. Anyways, it does not show any migration patterns at all on mine and the migration patterns on my parents’ kits don’t even apply to them. None of our kits show even show any path to when our grandparents migrated to the Americas from Europe or even older generations migration or anything of the like. What I liked best was the traits. Even though there’s Many other things I’m curious about, it covered many general traits. Like how I have the gene where kale, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts are bitter to me which is true. Especially kale. I find that our DNA is more helpful to them that it is to us and I understand they need more info about a larger variety of peoples to give us better estimates and information so I wish the price could be lower so more people can try it.

While $199.00 might have been too expensive to give this a try, at just $119 this is one of the better Black friday deals out there, with huge educational potential for those curious about genealogy.

List Price: $119.00 Amazon Early Black Friday Price: $69.00!

The Biggest Sale We Found:

Genetic Ethnicity Test

Genetic Ethnicity Test (Image Via Amazon.com)

Maybe you want to learn more about where your family is from, but don’t want to spend extra money on the additional reports. Ancestry DNA has a kit available for $59.00 right now – one of the lowest on the market! This report will give you the exact region your family is from and let you learn more about your family’s past. As one educated reviewer puts itI’ve done DNA testing with all of the major companies now. And I’ve been at this DNA stuff for almost 15 years now. * I found the ethnicity estimate to be just about equal to everyone else. You can get more detail running your own models via gedmatch but for the curious or beginner, this is the easy result. If you just want to know whether you need a kilt or lederhosen or green beer for the next holiday seasons then this works as well, with many particular limitations, as any of the others.
* There’s no medical interpretation – most don’t anymore. You can get good medical results running your raw download through Promethease for a few bucks. If you want to know medical propensities then Ancestry won’t help much on its own.
* The relationship calculations are pretty accurate and the database is huge. Compared to my other tests, this one returned far more and much closer connections. If you’re looking for birth parents and such, this is the place to start. Just remember that the calculator is an estimate and other possibilities exist.

A note of caution, while this kit offers massive savings, reviewers caution that this kit currently only provides minimal knowledge for those of Asian descent, so if you already know a lot of your ancestors come from eastern or western asia, you may want to look at other DNA kits. Also keep in mind that they will try to up-sell you for access to even more detailed information once you get your results, but even just for the basic results you get for $99.00 ($59.00 while on sale) most reviewers are satisfied with this DNA kit, especially for its sale price.

List Price: $99.99 Amazon Early Black Friday Price: $59.00! 

So what are you waiting for? Learn who you are today with one of these kits, and be sure to let us know what you think of these kits in the comments!

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