DNA testing reveals racial groups Breaking Technology by Burleson Consulting

Ever wondered if your family tradition about having an American Indian ancestor was true?  Are you really a direct descendent of Ivan the Terrible, or was your grant-grandpa just senile?

Well, wonder no more.  Several companies are now providing tests that can trace your ancestry.  We have has the mitochondrial (mother to mother to mother) and Y chromosome tests (father to father to father) for a few years, but vendors are now going beyond the "tail" tests to include probabilities of racial groups, based on empirical data and the human genome.

The problems of Y and Mito tests

The problem with mitochondrial and Y chromosome tests are that you only get limited data, regardless on how far back you go.  In only ten generations (about 300 years) you have 2**10, or 1024 distinct ancestors and you will have absolutely no information on 1022 of your direct ancestors.

The Y and mtDNA represent only a fraction of the human genome, and reading ancestry from Y and mtDNA haplotypes only tells 1/23rd the story (since there are 23 chromosome pairs). However, these two chromosomes are inherited from parents as single non-recombining units of DNA.

Vendor DNA testing offerings

Here is a vendor (DNAPrint Genomics) who claim to offer to go beyond the Y and mito tests to give you a more global idea about your racial and genetic makeup, while other vendors offer race-specific test such as the GeneTree Native American blood tests.

DNAPrint Genomics - (941) 366-3400 - Test is $219, plus an optional European test ($399), if your DNA is appropriate.

With your AncestryByDNA order, you get a CDROM that contains the following: Certificate and results table showing your ancestral proportions Graphical representation of your results Map of ancient human migration patterns Your genotypes at tested markers The price for AncestryByDNA 2.5 service is $219.00 USD. Service is for one individual's sample. The price for Upgrade from 2.0 to 2.5 for returned customers service is $199.00 USD. Service is for one individual's sample. The price for EURO-DNA 1.0 service is $399.00 USD. Service is for one individual's sample.

The following services only offer the Y chromosome and Mitochondrial tests:

Family Tree DNA - Phone: (713) 868-1438 - Full test is $995 (Maternal test is $129)

Oxford Ancestors - The Y-Line™ analysis costs £150, and the Mito tests costs £180.