We may not deceive flying cars, rehydrate pizzas or self-lacing shoes equivalent to Back To The Future promised us just yet, but some aspects of the settled frontier are already here.
Namely home DNA kits, which set apart even non-science boffins to uncover fitness, health, ancestry and staid male pattern baldness insights with a vial of saliva.
With unprejudiced a select few on the market now, we’ve broken down the selling points of each Doc Brown-style spew forth jar to see which deserves your hard-earned.
23andMe
Best For: Constitution And Wellbeing
Arguably the biggest name in the business, 23andMe is a full-spectrum assay that covers everything from potential health children to international ancestry.
Along with the serious stuff, it can also whoop it up more frivolous traits hidden in your DNA, such as whether caffeine has a artistic effect on you, whether your body will respond on the double to working out and your chances of developing grey hairs break of dawn.
The kit is pricier than other tests on the market, but the firm’s ancestry percipiences can provide data stretching back to the Neanderthals. Plus, all your bumf is stored online, and there’s the option of speaking to an expert to convey you through the findings.
Available at 23andMe, priced £149.
National Geographic
Excellent For: History Buffs
An extensive family tree can take decades and thousands of poundings to research, so thanks to National Geographic for making it as easy as salivating into a tube and posting it to California.
Whereas most tools work backwards from the present day, this test utilize consumes the 16th century as its starting point. And as it’s run by science stalwarts National Geographic, your anonymised information also becomes part of the groundbreaking Genographic Project that probes 750,000 DNA markers to track ancestral migration and provide historians with new info of what the world was like thousands of years ago.
More than 800,000 people bring into the world already taken part in the project that aims to boost fill gaps in the human story. By joining them, you’ll get a directly picture of the migration paths of your ancestors and learn which department your genomes stem from – as well as providing the risk to connect with other participants who have similar patrimony. You never know who you might find.
Available at National Geographic, assessed approx £116.
Ancestry DNA
Best For: Geography Nerds
While scad of the kits of the market focus on health benefits, there are rationals you may not want to know the inner depths of your DNA, but still liking learning whether you’re one-eighth Parisian (makes a good Tinder bio, righteous?).
Ancestry, better known for its online family tree the Deity, has partnered with a world-leading lab to create a relative-uncovering test that circulates anything Jeremy Kyle can offer to shame.
Sequencing genes to search for your geographic roots, you can learn minute details of your estate. For example, instead of revealing how British you are, it can tell the exact county your great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents are from. All being well, it’s not just a street away.
Available at Ancestry, priced £79.
