Ancestry Dna Testing
It is important to understand that there are limitations when it comes to ancestry DNA testing. For instance, you can’t map an entire family tree, but it can determine whether you are related to someone with the same last name. In other cases it is used to confirm or refute research that you have done into your genealogical history. It can also determine your ethnic roots. Ancestry DNA has been available for some time, but it wasn’t affordable to the masses until recent years.
The testing for ancestry DNA testing is done using one of two methods. It can be done through mitochondria DNA , which means the DNA you get from your mother. This DNA is passed from mother to child without mixing. It stays the same generation after generation from mother to child and so on and so fourth. If two people have the same mitochondria DNA most likely they are related. Men inherit mitochondria DNA from their mothers, but it does not pass to their children.
Y chromosome DNA is also used in ancestry DNA testing. It is commonly referred to as Y DNA or Y-Line DNA. This type of DNA testing can only be used for males. Y chromosome DNA only passes between a father and his son. The Y chromosome is identified by patterns called haplotypes. If haplotypes match an ancestral link can be assumed. This type of ancestry DNA testing is used more often than mitochondria DNA testing.
Many people used ancestry DNA testing because they want to know more about their ethnicity. Many DNA labs offer can tell you what percentage of your genetic make-up comes from which of the four major ancestry groups including, North American, Indo-European, African and East Asian. What’s more, is that people with a high European percentage can determine a more specific European ancestry. Newer developments in DNA testing called STR DNA test allow scientist to compare your genetic finger print to up to 19 different regions worldwide.