As modern technology advances, we can conclude that it has become easier than ever to check your DNA heritage, and thus gain a detailed insight of your own history. Doing an ancestry DNA test is a way to get a lot more information about your own lineage than relatives or historical documentation can tell you. Finding out your family’s heritage will surely provide many important details about yourself since you will get to know where your ancestors precisely came from, and better understand the fact that you are the result of genetic variation that has been going on for many millenniums.
DNA lineage testing is a way for people who are interested in their own family’s history to get to know more about themselves. Generally, there are three different types of doing heritage tests that are most commonly used:
Y chromosome (Y-DNA) test
This is a type of testing that can be done exclusively on males since females do not possess the Y chromosome. A Y-DNA test explores the variations in the Y chromosome which is passed from father to son, letting you know more about your male heritage.
Mitochondrial (mtDNA) test
This is a type of ancestry test which identifies the genetic variations you might have in your mitochondrial DNA. Both males and females have mitochondrial DNA, since this type of DNA passes down from mothers to children. This can be a very useful test for genealogy, since it preserves the information about female ancestors that may or may not be lost from the historical record that your family has. Since females’ surnames are not passed to future generations in most cultures, an analysis for female ancestry is slightly more difficult for many families.
Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) testing
These are tests that look into the variations of a person’s entire genome, allowing you to known your ethnic heritage with DNA testing. Later, these results are compared and provide an accurate estimate of a person’s ethnic background. For example, a pattern in SNP testing will provide that a person’s ancestry is approximately 50% Asian, 40% European and 10% unknown. Then, these percentages could be further broken down by proper analysis into ethnicities, offering you great detail. For example, 20% Chinese, 20% Japanese and 10% Vietnamese could be the reason for your 50% Asian result. This is the most commonly used type of heritage test since it captures the biggest possible picture, covering the overall ethnic background of an individual’s heritage.
Helping you find the best Heritage test
Of course, there are many different types of genetic tests done by many different companies. At DNACrowd we offer a great way for you to compare different DNA tests and testing companies. We’re here to demystify the topic of DNA tests. In addition to finding a company that will test DNA for your heritage, we provide other options, such as lists of companies which offer genealogic DNA testing, personality DNA testing, and cat DNA testing.
You might think that doing a DNA test for your heritage is useless, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. DNA testing will provide you with proper, detailed information about your heritage. Just think, what are you? Italian? Mexican? You will be able to find out everything about your origin and trace your ancestors’ journeys over time. Since migration has a big impact on DNA, a heritage test such as this will follow how, why and when your ancestors moved from one place to another.
Are Heritage DNA tests private and confidential?
For many people, privacy is a question that arises first when they consider DNA testing. We, at DNACrowd, will always strive to find the best DNA test provider specifically for you. We believe that your personal information should be dealt with integrity and respect. Earning your trust as we protect your privacy is one of the most important things for our existence as a company. We are 100% transparent in our work and we will make sure that you have control of your own data.
Find out about your (not so) distant relatives
Of course, heritage testing can tell you a lot more about how you relate to others. We, at DNACrowd, will help you find the right company that will compare your test results with other people in their database who have also taken the ancestry test. Depending on how much DNA you share with a person, you might accidentally match up with someone, from a parent to a distant cousin who might have a photo of your great-grandmother in his wallet.
There is also plenty of room for further exploration. You might come out to be 24% Chinese and 62% Native American. Who knows! With DNACrowd, the possibilities about the knowledge you may gain is limitless.