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Reliability of results on genetic testing sites
- Thread starter Jumi
- Start date
They are accurate in the sense of correctly linking you with other people who share common, recent (i.e. within the last 200 years) ancestors, as identifiable in centimorgans of DNA on different chromosomes that are IBD (identical-by-descent).
I've found many third and fourth cousins through it.
But the actual ancestry % algorithms are constantly being updated and are not in anyway an exact science.
I've found many third and fourth cousins through it.
But the actual ancestry % algorithms are constantly being updated and are not in anyway an exact science.
Ellen Brown
Well-Known Member
I used Ancestry.com. I have a suspicion that they are a profit maker for a church. There does not seem to be a way to test their accuracy unless you have lots of money.
Jumi
Well-Known Member
Yeah I heard it had connection to LDS. Probably not part of the church though.
Ellen Brown
Well-Known Member
I'm far less trusting than normal.
Stanyon
WWMRD?
It sounded interesting to me but I have a problem with sending a DNA sample to anyone for no reason, plus I'm cheap. From what I have read there seems to be quite a bit of variance in results from different companies with some of the smaller ethnic groups misrepresented or not represented at all.
Ellen Brown
Well-Known Member
I was always told that I was half Cherokee. The "test" results said there was no evidence of that. They also said that one side of my family is Scots, and the other English, which may be true. I was quite startled to find that the Vikings and those who became the French and Germans spent quite a lot of time invading and conquering what became England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. The Romans tried to conquest over the Island, but stopped at Hadrian's wall. England did not exist as a country until around 1100 AD.
I say all that to show that there is good reason for the UK to be sort of a melting pot with most of Western Europe. I think (??) there is record of Middle Easterners going to England around 700 AD due to drought. So yes the races have become quite mixed.
Different testing companies use different algorithms, which are always being refined. The results are only as accurate in reporting as the database of people who have contributed to it. As more people test, the database grows, with the ability to show more detailed population groups.
Many people confuse ancestry, nationality, and ethnicity. They are quite different. 23andMe reports where your ancestors lived within the past 500 years. It is not what your nationality or ethnicity is because those are socio-political constructs... borders change all the time. A free service, Gedcom (you upload your raw genetic data from one of the companies to Gedcom), drills deeper and shows more ancient ancestry, as far back as 1,000+ years. Ancestry.com lays more emphasis on genealogy.
23andMe, the company I tested with shows my ancestry as:
European 90.5%
Italian 78.6%
Greek & Balkan 4.2%
Spanish & Portuguese 0.3%
Broadly Southern European 7.4%
Western Asian & North African 7.3%
Western Asian 6.6%
The missing percentages are "unassigned". That is, there aren't enough people in the database yet to match some of my DNA with. The same principle applies to the numbers from Gedcom.
Gedcom goes further back:
North Atlantic 20.52%
Baltic 6.74%
West Med 21.62%
West Asian 12.74%
East Med 30.66%
So why does 23andMe show no North Atlantic or Baltic, and generally report different categories from Gedcom? Because Italy (especially Sicily and southern Italy), for example, was invaded and/or settled by Greeks, Normans, Vandals, Vikings and others from northern Europe, starting with the Vandals in the 5th century CE, to the Vikings and Normans beginning in the 10th century, with Greeks going back >2,000 years ago. Those are the groups that are the genetic make up of southern Italians.
Many people confuse ancestry, nationality, and ethnicity. They are quite different. 23andMe reports where your ancestors lived within the past 500 years. It is not what your nationality or ethnicity is because those are socio-political constructs... borders change all the time. A free service, Gedcom (you upload your raw genetic data from one of the companies to Gedcom), drills deeper and shows more ancient ancestry, as far back as 1,000+ years. Ancestry.com lays more emphasis on genealogy.
23andMe, the company I tested with shows my ancestry as:
European 90.5%
Italian 78.6%
Greek & Balkan 4.2%
Spanish & Portuguese 0.3%
Broadly Southern European 7.4%
Western Asian & North African 7.3%
Western Asian 6.6%
The missing percentages are "unassigned". That is, there aren't enough people in the database yet to match some of my DNA with. The same principle applies to the numbers from Gedcom.
Gedcom goes further back:
North Atlantic 20.52%
Baltic 6.74%
West Med 21.62%
West Asian 12.74%
East Med 30.66%
So why does 23andMe show no North Atlantic or Baltic, and generally report different categories from Gedcom? Because Italy (especially Sicily and southern Italy), for example, was invaded and/or settled by Greeks, Normans, Vandals, Vikings and others from northern Europe, starting with the Vandals in the 5th century CE, to the Vikings and Normans beginning in the 10th century, with Greeks going back >2,000 years ago. Those are the groups that are the genetic make up of southern Italians.
My hubby and i used a forensic dna laboratory before the trend for ancestry sites to get on the bandwagon. We were not looking for relatives, a lab wont do that, what we wanted was our own genetic history.
I knew my ancestors came from Scotland, the DNA confirmed that and went further back through Viking Norway, north west France and the black sea coast of Turkey
Perhaps not what you want but i would guess DNA testing is as accurate as the database the company uses.
Edit : an interesting point. At the same time we were researching our genealogy and discovered one of hubbys ancestors and one of mine sailed on the same ship to america in the early 1600s. They must have met with only 70 odd passengers on a long atlantic voyage.
I knew my ancestors came from Scotland, the DNA confirmed that and went further back through Viking Norway, north west France and the black sea coast of Turkey
Perhaps not what you want but i would guess DNA testing is as accurate as the database the company uses.
Edit : an interesting point. At the same time we were researching our genealogy and discovered one of hubbys ancestors and one of mine sailed on the same ship to america in the early 1600s. They must have met with only 70 odd passengers on a long atlantic voyage.
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