What is an ancestry DNA test? After the discovery of DNA, scientists and genetic engineers have come up with remarkable techniques to use DNA for multiple applications. DNA test includes perhaps the most notable and significant testing methods, which are serving several other purposes than medical. Have you ever thought that your DNA can open up your entire genetic history for you? Among the types of DNA testing, genealogical testing can help you find out your ancestry.

What Is DNA?

To understand the DNA ancestry test, you need to have some ground knowledge about the DNA first. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid is a biomolecule that contains all the hereditary information. The genes in the DNA make the genome or the complete genetic make-up of your body. The copies of genes your parents have divide in two to give you a complete set of genes. You possess the same number of genes as your parents.

From the color of your eyes, hair, skin to your blood type, and form skin allergies to the working of your body systems, DNA encodes everything about you and your body.

You must be thinking about what makes the DNA codes and what do we identify in the testing of DNA. Your DNA is composed of nucleotides or nucleic acids. Every individual has a unique sequence of nucleotides that makes the DNA only one of its kind, except for the identical twins.

What Makes DNA Testing Reveal Your Ancestry

DNA is hereditary. Your DNA contains a mix of your parent’s DNA, which contains a mix of their parent’s DNA and so on. Now you can understand how the genes in your DNA can trace out your ancestry. Your DNA is present in every cell of your body. Therefore, a blood or buccal sample can easily determine your ancestry with DNA test.

How Does Ancestry DNA Test Work?

Companies and labs offering ancestral DNA test give genetics-in mail service for this purpose. You buy their home DNA kits and send your buccal or spit sample to their address. The experts running your test will extract your DNA from the sample and digitize it in a long chain of As, Ts, Gs, and Cs. These are the four labels that institutions use to read your DNA. The four letters reveal the sequence of the DNA according to the type of nucleotides (simpler units of DNA) present in it.

The string of these four letters is incomprehensible to you and would not simply code as American, European, or Nigerian. The companies have secret algorithms to make out your ancestral origin through the DNA sequence. Within a week or two, you will receive your test results, which could be surprising or even shocking.

The types of Ancestry test are X-chromosome test, Y-chromosome test (for males only) and Mitochondrial DNA test.

Final Word

An ancestry DNA test can successfully trace back your ancestry. However, ancestry tests from different companies for the same individual have been different, indicating errors in the test. To get highly accurate and error-free ancestry test results, you must send your samples to AABB accredited labs. AB DNA Testing offers the best DNA testing services in NYC. For more information, visit our website or call us at 718-701-0292.