Family history
How DNA is inherited: Each of your parents gave you half your DNA, and your children receive half of yours. Which half? That's completely unpredictable. Learn more. >
Family history isn't the whole story: Your family health history holds valuable information. But it can’t provide all the information you need. Your family history may not reveal all the important DNA traits you carry. And for many of us, family history holds more questions than answers. Learn more. >
What if I don't know my family history? Many of us are adopted. Others have lost contact with a parent. Gaps in family history leave many of us without important information about our health, but now genetic testing can bring essential knowledge to light. Learn more. >
Completing your health picture: The knowledge you gain through genetic testing does more than fill the gaps in your family history. It can also sharpen your awareness of health risks you already thought you understood. Learn more. >
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Family HistoryStart learning about family history |
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To figure out health priorities, many people turn to their family health history. But family health information can only take you so far. Family history, it turns out, is far from enough. |
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There are many reasons why. Family histories often have gaps. And some family health information may be vague or inaccurate. |
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Some families don’t stay in contact, or talk about health issues. And some of us don’t know one or both of our parents. |
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Another reason: Health conditions, and the DNA behind them, are often passed from parents to children in complex ways. |
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You received your DNA from your parents, with some coming from your mother, and some from your father. Your parents also got their DNA from their moms and dads, and so on, stretching back many generations. |
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But this inheritance usually doesn't unfold in predictable ways. As your parents' DNA made its way to you, their genetic material got divided and shuffled. As a result, the DNA you carry, and in what combination, is unique to you. |
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Your genetic inheritance also reflects the different ways that DNA can be inherited. Some less common variations in our DNA can lead to a specific health condition, such as certain types of breast or colon cancer. These variants are passed in a fairly straightforward manner. If you inherit one of these variations, it is likely you will develop the condition. |
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For more common health conditions, however, the pattern isn't so straightforward. More common health-related DNA often passes from one generation to the next in less direct ways. One of these variants, on its own, may not trigger a condition. But it might interact with your other DNA variations, or your diet or environment, and the combination could lead to that condition after all. |
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For example, your parents might each carry a few genetic markers related to a particular health condition. Their markers might not be enough to increase their risk of the condition. |
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But if your inheritance from both of them combines to give you a full set of markers, you might develop the condition. |
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A genome assessment improves on family history to give you the most complete information on your DNA and your health. |
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"I assumed that I knew my family history. But after I saw my high genetic risk for diabetes, I realized I didn’t know as much as I thought. It turns out there is a risk of diabetes in my family, but it had never been discussed." - Sarah, marketing consultant |