What were your AncestryDNA results?

Your AncestryDNA® results include information about your genetic ethnicity estimates and, if you’ve chosen to see your matches and be listed as a match, identifies potential DNA matches, linking you to others who have taken the AncestryDNA® test.

Does ancestry mean ethnicity?

Your AncestryDNA® results include your ethnicity estimate, which shows you where your ancestors might have lived hundreds, or even a thousand years ago. Broken down into percentages, the ethnicity estimate tells you approximately how much of your DNA likely came from different regions around the world.

How does a DNA test determine your ethnicity?

They create a “reference panel” from the DNA obtained from the sample population. When you send in your DNA test, the laboratory compares your DNA sample with the reference panel, measuring similarities. You will then receive results, which tell you your approximate ethnicity (DNA Story/Ethnicity Estimate).

How does ancestry DNA know what your DNA looks like?

Using the sample population, Ancestry DNA is able to determine, basically, what DNA from that region “looks like” at a genetic level. They create a “reference panel” from the DNA obtained from the sample population. When you send in your DNA test, the laboratory compares your DNA sample with the reference panel, measuring similarities.

What is the sample population of a DNA test?

Ancestry DNA (or any of the other testing companies) has a database filled with the DNA of thousands of people from all over the world. This is called their sample population, for our purposes.

Why can’t geneticists determine a person’s race?

Similarly, an individual whose tests come back with a very low estimate of West African ancestry might actually be black. That’s why geneticists haven’t devised a test that can conclusively determine a person’s race. And in a way, it’s impossible.