In the summer of 2019, Donna Johnson spotted a special offer: 23andMe kits were half price. She and her husband, Vanner, had been thinking of getting their DNA tested to learn about their heritage and any health issues that might be related to their genes. Given the deal, Vanner thought they should buy four kits and test their sons as well as themselves. “A fun family activity. That’s how we coined it to our boys,” Vanner says.
Vanner Jr and Tim – then 14 and nearly 11 – were happy to indulge their parents. They had an idea what DNA was, Vanner says, but didn’t ask many questions. The logistics proved unexpectedly challenging: you’re not supposed to consume anything for half an hour before you produce your saliva sample, and finding a time when neither boy had eaten or drunk wasn’t easy. But within a week of receiving the kits the four of them were standing around the kitchen table together at their home north of Salt Lake City, Utah, spitting into little plastic tubes. They registered their kits online, sent off their samples, then they got on with their summer.
