Ancestry by DNA.com Review
Review of AncestrybyDNA.com
AncestrybyDNA.com’s motto is “DNA is the key to unlocking your ancestral roots.” This idea is important to understanding the services the site offers. The company offers four different tests: DNA Origins, DNA WorldView, Maternal Lineage, and Paternal Lineage.
DNA Origins costs $195. This test is designed to tell clients where their ancestors came from. In industry jargon, this is termed “bio-geographic ancestry.” This test gives results in proportions. It gives estimates of the percentage of DNA coming from four different population groups, namely, European, Indigenous American, Sub-Saharan African, and East Asian.
Some people are surprised by the results of their DNA Origins test. It is, however, important to keep in mind that the four population groups represent big groups of people. The characteristics measured are based on generalizations. Also, there has always been lots of movement throughout history. Some mixture and shared characteristics among groups are to be expected.
DNA WorldView costs $249. This is actually a two-in-one. Two different types of DNA test are used to give you a comprehensive and individualized report about yourself. DNA WorldView determines the origins of your DNA with single-nucleotide polymorphism. Then the test looks at Short Tandem Repeats. Those results are compared to populations today with DNA test results that are most similar to yours.
There are two different Lineage tests. Maternal and Paternal lineage testing are each $195. Paternal lineage testing is only available to men because only men have Y chromosomes. Since everyone has an X chromosome, Maternal lineage testing is available to everyone.
The goal of Lineage testing is to tell you what migration routes your ancestors took. Between 400,000 and 130,000 years ago, groups of humans evolved in Africa and began to migrate. The test can tell you something about which group your ancestors belonged to, and when they began to move. For Maternal lineage testing, these would be your mother’s ancestors. For Paternal testing, the results would reflect on your father’s ancestors.
In maternal lineage testing, the bits of mitochondrial DNA passed from mother to child are examined. Although these have been passed on over thousands of years, they remain almost totally intact over time. Paternal lineage testing is very similar. The only difference is that instead of mitochondrial DNA, it is the Y-DNA that is examined.
The services offered by AncestrybyDNA.com offer users information about themselves that can go on to provide them with insight. For some people, knowledge of their DNA is an important part of knowing who they are. People who are curious about their family past, and who have questions about their identity, will surely get a lot out of these testing options.