DNA Testing For Ancestry/ Paternal Lineage/ Maternal Lineage

Need to know more about who you are? Are you curious about your ancestry and origins? Then why not do a DNA test? There is little which can reveal as much about your ancestors as that which is inscribed in your genetic makeup.

Ancestry testing seeks to analyze those special regions of your DNA which connect you with your ancestors.

What Will an Ancestry Test Tell Me?

There are two main regions on your DNA which can directly link you to your ancestral forefathers. These regions are referred to as hypervariable region one and hypervariable region two.

DNA testing companies have access to huge databases of genetic information. In these databases there are the genetic blueprints of hundreds of anthropological groups.

Having your DNA profile means they can compare your DNA against that of the other hundreds of anthropological groups to see which groups match most closely with your DNA profile.

This means that they will be able to pinpoint what part of the world your ancestors came from. Perhaps your might have African ancestry, perhaps western European or eastern European. Who knows!

Ancestry testing is full of surprises and it is not unusual to discover you belong to ethnic group you never would have imagined you did.

A DNA test for ancestry was carried out on the remains of Adolf Hitler back in 2011. Who would have every imagined that his ancestry was of the very same type he tried so viscously to exterminate – Jewish.

What about Michelle Obama- an ancestry test carried out on her DNA showed that she descended from white immigrants from Western Europe

What Does an Ancestry Test Result Show?

An ancestry test result is a detailed report spanning several pages. Genetic matches are both to native regions as well as population matches.

This means that you have what is known as ones “geogenetic” origins. That is, your DNA will be linked to specific geographical regions from which your ancestral forefathers originated thousands of years ago.

Besides a detailed explanation of your result and your own unique genetic profile, most DNA testing companies also provide you with a world map, pin pointing the geographical origins of your ancestors.

Whilst more ancestry tests give you a general idea of your ancestral origins, you can opt to do an ancestry test with a narrowed scope and specifically investigate your maternal ancestral line or your paternity ancestral line.

Testing specific regions on the male Y chromosome can reveal a lot about our ancient forefathers, linking us back to our ancestral “Adam”.

Testing a special type of DNA known as MtDNA can, on the other hand, tell us a lot about our ancient maternal roots.

How are Samples Collected For an Ancestry Test?

Collecting samples for an ancestry DNA test is pretty simple. DNA testing companies send out a home sampling kit which makes it possible to collect DNA samples using oral swabs.

All the interested person needs to do is rub the swabs inside their mouth, under their tongue and against their inner cheek. Once this process is complete and the swabs have been left to dry, they can be returned for laboratory analysis.

Can I Research My Ancestry Myself?

The amount of ancestry research you can carry out by yourself would be very limited. You will likely be able to get as far as 3- 4 generations by asking family members for names and slowly begin drawing up a paternal line and a maternal line separately.

You can then move on to searching in the public registry for birth records, death records and wills. This would all be very time consuming and you would most likely reach an impasse.

Moreover, to return the subject at hand, an ancestry DNA test will link you to your ancient forefathers and will take you back thousands of years. You would never be able to discover your ancient geogenetic roots in any other way.