DNA Test – Genetic Ancestry
It has never been easier to Investigate your family tree and now a DNA test can help you discover your ancestry.
DNA test to establish ancestry
Revealing your family tree can be a little like detective work - gathering clues and following various avenues of investigation, some leading to facts about your history, others leading nowhere. The DNA test has become a valuable tool for detectives in high profile crime investigations and many people are now turning to DNA tests to discover their ancestry.
Genetic fingerprint
DNA is like a genetic fingerprint passed down from one generation to the next, some parts remaining unchanged while others are transformed. Because DNA is passed down through the generations in this way a DNA test can help reconstruct a family's history.
A DNA test can:
- Establish if you are related to another person
- Find out if you are descended from the same ancestor as another person
- Discover if you are related to somebody with the same surname as you
- Help prove your own academic research into your family tree
- Give you clues as to your ethnic origins
DNA tests on the increase
Using a DNA test to help determine your past is becoming increasingly common thanks to the accessibility of DNA tests, which are now much cheaper than in the past. Tests are even available that you perform at home, involving nothing more painful than a swab to collect cells in your mouth.
How might a DNA test help you?
Using a DNA test can uncover important and interesting information about the ancestral lineage of your paternal or maternal lines. What our genes tell us about who we are depends on exactly what you want to know. Some African-Americans have used a DNA test to trace their genetic lineage back to the areas of Africa from which their ancestors were captured and brought to America as slaves. For many people, performing a DNA test to map their ancestry is no more than a hobby that can reveal a rich history, along with exciting revelations. |
