Genealogical DNA test
                     GENEALOGICAL 
DNA TEST
INTRODUCTION
GENETIC ANCESTRY TESTING, OR GENETIC GENEALOGY, 
IS A WAY FOR PEOPLE INTERESTED IN FAMILY HISTORY 
(GENEALOGY) TO GO BEYOND WHAT THEY CAN LEARN 
FROM RELATIVES OR FROM HISTORICAL 
DOCUMENTATION.
2
SOURCE:  MEDLINEPLUS.GOV
EXAMINATION OF DNA VARIATIONS 
EXAMINATION OF DNA VARIATIONS CAN PROVIDE CLUES 
ABOUT WHERE A PERSON'S ANCESTORS MIGHT HAVE 
COME FROM AND ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN 
FAMILIES.
3
SOURCE:  MEDLINEPLUS.GOV
PATTERNS OF GENETIC VARIATION 
CERTAIN PATTERNS OF GENETIC VARIATION ARE OFTEN 
SHARED AMONG PEOPLE OF PARTICULAR 
BACKGROUNDS. THE MORE CLOSELY RELATED TWO 
INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES, OR POPULATIONS ARE, THE 
MORE PATTERNS OF VARIATION THEY TYPICALLY SHARE.
4
SOURCE:  MEDLINEPLUS.GOV
Y CHROMOSOME TESTING
VARIATIONS IN THE Y CHROMOSOME CAN BE USED TO 
EXPLORE ANCESTRY IN THE DIRECT MALE LINE. ONLY 
INDIVIDUALS WITH A Y CHROMOSOME (TYPICALLY 
MALES) CAN HAVE THIS TYPE OF TESTING DONE. 
5
SOURCE:  MEDLINEPLUS.GOV
Y CHROMOSOME TESTING CONT.
BECAUSE THE Y CHROMOSOME IS PASSED ON IN THE 
SAME PATTERN AS ARE FAMILY NAMES (SURNAMES) IN 
MANY CULTURES, Y CHROMOSOME TESTING IS OFTEN 
USED TO INVESTIGATE QUESTIONS SUCH AS WHETHER 
TWO FAMILIES WITH THE SAME SURNAME ARE RELATED.
6
SOURCE:  MEDLINEPLUS.GOV
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA TESTING
THIS TYPE OF TESTING IDENTIFIES GENETIC VARIATIONS 
IN MITOCHONDRIAL DNA. ALTHOUGH MOST DNA IS 
PACKAGED IN CHROMOSOMES WITHIN THE CELL 
NUCLEUS, CELL STRUCTURES CALLED MITOCHONDRIA.
7
SOURCE:  MEDLINEPLUS.GOV
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA TESTING CONT.
MITOCHONDRIAL DNA TESTING CAN BE USEFUL FOR 
GENEALOGY BECAUSE IT PRESERVES INFORMATION 
ABOUT FEMALE ANCESTORS THAT MAY BE LOST FROM 
THE HISTORICAL RECORD BECAUSE OF THE WAY 
SURNAMES ARE OFTEN PASSED DOWN.
8
SOURCE:  MEDLINEPLUS.GOV
SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE POLYMORPHISM TESTING
THESE TESTS EVALUATE LARGE NUMBERS OF 
INDIVIDUAL VARIATIONS (SINGLE NUCLEOTIDE 
POLYMORPHISMS OR SNPS) ACROSS A PERSON’S ENTIRE 
GENOME. THE RESULTS ARE COMPARED TO SIMILAR 
SNPS IN A  TESTING DATABASE TO PROVIDE AN 
ESTIMATE OF A PERSON'S ETHNIC BACKGROUND.
9
SOURCE:  MEDLINEPLUS.GOV
EXAMPLE
FOR EXAMPLE, THE PATTERN OF SNPS MIGHT INDICATE 
THAT A PERSON'S ANCESTRY IS APPROXIMATELY 50 
PERCENT AFRICAN, 25 PERCENT EUROPEAN, 20 
PERCENT ASIAN, AND 5 PERCENT UNKNOWN. 
1 0
SOURCE:  MEDLINEPLUS.GOV
THANK YOU