DNA is the building block that our body is built upon. A host of our bodily functions and other essential elements depend upon the DNA infrastructure that our body cells are made up of. In fact, many genealogy experts around the world have been looking for a good DNA Ancestry test. A host of us has been exploring the possibilities of unearthing the biological families that you are made of.
What is DNA Ancestry?
DNA Ancestry or Genetic Ancestry testing is a new concept and is based on finding the family history of people. This can be extremely helpful for understanding the family history beyond what you have learned from the relatives or through the historical documents.
DNA Ancestry tests involve two major types of ancestry tests. You can choose between Y-DNA test or the mtDNA test. The Y DNA test works with a focus on the paternal line, and thus the test can only be taken by men. The mtDNA is all about the DNA passed through the mother to the child. This test can be taken both by men and women, but the test or the ancestry traces the maternal lineage.
The Y-DNA Ancestry Testing
This test focusses on the lineage through the variations in the Y Chromosome. This shows the DNA passed through the men in the family – from father to son. It can be a test of your paternal line.
The Y DNA Ancestry test can help you reach the common ancestor you may have. You can make use of these tests to arrive at the complete information about you and what relationship do you share with the other people belonging to your ancestry.
This test can be a good option to find if two families with the same surname are related to one another. The test cannot be conducted on the females as they do not possess a Y Chromosome. However, the females can have their male representatives to understand their common ancestry.
Mitochondrial DNA testing
This DNA Ancestry testing is all about finding the genetic variations in the mitochondrial DNA. The test is also known as the mtDNA test. Since both males and females have the mitochondrial DNA, this test can be taken by both the genders. However, it should be noted that the mtDNA is passed through the daughters and thus the test tracks the maternal side of your ancestry.
Given the fact that most of the cultures around the world follow a paternal system of preserving the ancestry, the details about the female ancestors may be lost. The mitochondrial DNA testing can help you understand enough about the female genealogy. You should be able to understand the details about the direct female ancestral line.
Single nucleotide polymorphism testing
This is yet another common testing practice and provides you access to the best standards, yet less commonly used options. The test takes into account a huge number of variations in the entire genome of a person. The results are compared between the different people who have taken the test and thus helps you make an assumption about the ethnicity of a person.
While the Y DNA testing and mitochondrial DNA testing offers you input into the single ancestral line either paternal or maternal ancestral lines, the Single nucleotide polymorphism testing will help you understand the overall ethnicity of a person.
Why Should you take the DNA Ancestry Test?
Well, the genealogy test can provide you inputs into where do you come from. Perhaps it can help you identify the REAL YOU. It can indeed help you learn more about yourself and thus device new ways to improve your life.
The genetic research holds the key to the future of medicinal science. The genetic testing or the DNA Ancestry tests can be helpful in arriving at the best understanding of the human genome. In fact, several research organisations like CRI Genetics have been involved in an attempt for a clear understanding of the variety of ancestries.
The DNA Ancestry can help you know your background. The medical and genetical knowledge and benefits apart, a good knowledge of your genetic history can help you connect with the world around you more positively. Most of the DNA Ancestry tests assure you an accuracy of over 90 percent.
Is the DNA Ancestry Testing perfect?
The science of genetic mapping and genealogy is relatively new and may need a little more time to be stabilised enough. The technology does have a few limitations as things stand as of now.
The results are inferred by comparing the results of your tests to the previously available test results. This would mean that the ethnicity reports that you arrive base on the DNA Ancestry tests can be quite inconsistent when you compare the results and inferences provided by two different providers. There is another factor that may make it a little varied and inconsistent with the expectations you may have. A host of the human ethnicities have migrated from one place to another and thus have experienced the intermixing with the other nearby groups. This can also result in variations in the genetic variations and ethnicity estimates.
These differences apart, we would definitely expect the techniques to become helpful enough for enhanced ethnicity estimates in the future. We would also expect the scientific community to take it ahead and help us understand the common thread that holds the entire humanity together. A philosophical thought though, it would indeed be the right approach towards making our planet a wonderful place to live.
The Concluding Thoughts
There are several options available for the DNA testing and genetic ancestry estimates. A host of companies tend to provide the testing options through online forums and other media. In the days to come, we may be able to arrive at a situation where all these reports and analyses can be compared, and a huge database can be created. This can be helpful for the scientists around the world to arrive at the right exploration of the ethnicities around the world and understand how different populations throughout the history have been able to rise, migrate, and mix with the other nearby groups.
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