Where to get dna testing for ancestry

To begin to answer the questions it raises, you need to turn to family documents, public records, and interviews. You may not be comfortable with what you find. Testers should be extremely confident that the former is accurate. The latter should still be taken with a grain of salt, and vetted using the former.

According to Jonathan Marks, anthropology professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, the big unknown for customers is the margin of error with these algorithmic estimates. And although the remarkable growth of reference sample populations over the past few years has allowed DNA testing companies to provide more precise geographical estimates, it may be a mistake to extrapolate these insights out to notions of individual ethnic or racial identity. Notions of ethnicity and race loom persistently large in modern society.

The fact remains , however, that Of the remaining 0. So when you submit a DNA sample to trace your ethnicity, keep in mind that there is a vanishingly small proportion of a really small number of genes that could possibly be different between human beings—0. A bigger issue is that genes rarely correspond exclusively to one part of the world versus another.

Brody noted that, for scientists, ethnicity and race are problematic terms because DNA simply points to biological ancestry. For this guide, we limited our research to companies devoted in large part to human-ancestry DNA testing. We are not covering biomedical DNA analysis that can indicate risk for hereditary diseases.

The privacy and psychological factors to consider before purchasing this type of analysis are significant and fall well beyond the scope of this guide. If you are interested in this sort of DNA testing, we suggest consulting with your doctor to understand the full implications. We further limited our contenders to those with large databases of existing customer DNA. For more information about the services we dismissed and why, see the Competition section.

But ultimately, people interested in testing kits have to decide whether they trust these companies with their genetic information. There are no comprehensive federal laws or guidelines stipulating what a direct-to-consumer genetic-testing company can or cannot do with your DNA data. Unlike a doctor or HMO, the vast majority of these companies are not subject to the HIPAA laws governing the privacy of your health and medical records.

These policies vary wildly in length and readability, and they are subject to change at any time. Worse, the legal recourse you would have should a company or another customer violate those policies is unclear. We strongly encourage you to read the privacy statement of any DNA testing service before purchasing a kit. You can find the privacy policies for our picks at the time of this reporting at the following links:.

However, given the close involvement of the GEDmatch platform and DNA test data privacy concerns, you may also want to take a look at its terms of service and privacy policy. Since the publication of our original guide, a series of news stories surrounding DNA testing companies has brought increased scrutiny of their privacy and security practices.

Despite these eyebrow-raising developments, there has been some movement toward standardizing security and privacy practices in the DNA testing industry. Though 23andMe, another of our picks, does share genetic data with pharmaceutical companies, it says it does so only when customers opt in. In , we asked about privacy and the sharing of customer data with law enforcement.

Moore also emphasized that investigators must abide by policies protecting the individual's choice concerning whether their DNA data can be used.

The primary difference between companies like AncestryDNA and 23andMe which do not work with law enforcement and companies like FamilyTreeDNA which does is that the former group requires its customers to opt in to participate in any kind of sharing, while the latter requires them to opt out to avoid it.

Ram cautioned that since the courts have yet to resolve the question of whether customers have a Fourth Amendment right to privacy regarding the use of their DNA testing results for investigative genetic genealogy, they still have to trust that the testing companies will adhere to their own policies. Here are some questions you should make sure to find the answers to before using a DNA testing service, including one of the picks in this guide:. We knew from talking to experts that the customer databases companies use to determine your ancestral roots can vary widely in their representation of ethnicity but tend to overrepresent European-descended populations by a large margin.

This means that people with ancestry from anywhere else in the world are less likely to get detailed or even useful results from their testing.

To see how this bias plays out in actual results, we recruited a panel of testers three men and four women who collectively had known ancestry from Africa, East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, native North America, Polynesia, and South Asia. Because of the sensitivity involved with DNA test results, in this guide we are withholding the names of our test participants. In early , the seven participants convened at the The New York Times building, where they registered their kits online and provided DNA samples either by swabbing the inside of their cheeks or spitting into a tube.

After we shipped a total of 29 physical DNA samples back to the testing companies, our wait times for the results ranged from three to eight weeks. Once the results were available, we asked each tester to complete a survey comparing how the companies conveyed basic ancestry information and how easy or difficult it was to navigate to more detailed analyses of the results. AncestryDNA is the service we recommend for most people who want to learn about their ethnic heritage or connect with unknown relatives.

AncestryDNA, like all of the services we tested, also relies on DNA samples from its own customers who have consented to participate in such research. The upshot is that each company has its own mix of DNA reference samples to draw from, which is why you get slightly different ethnicity percentages from different companies. Beginning the testing process is easy. The next step is to collect your DNA sample by filling the provided tube with saliva.

The directions state that you must refrain from eating, drinking, smoking, or chewing gum for at least 30 minutes prior to collecting your sample. Both the registration and the DNA-collection process are straightforward and well documented. The whole thing takes about 10 to 15 minutes. Our panel of testers shipped their samples from California, New York, and Texas. The earliest results were available in nine days, and the longest took four weeks.

Once the results are ready, you receive an email with a link to your page. From there, a single click takes you to an overview of your ethnicity estimates, as well as potential relatives the site has flagged among its customer base due to the similarity of your DNA makeup.

To get a clearer sense of what the numbers mean, you can click on any subregion to get a more detailed view of your ethnicity estimate. AncestryDNA estimates the amount of your DNA that is linked to a geographical region and compares it with the amount of DNA that those with deep ancestral ties to that region possess.

This is the reality of DNA ancestry testing when it comes to ethnicity. No matter which company you test with, you have to dig into the data on the website at least a little to truly understand your results. And once you do, the picture often becomes less precise than you may have originally assumed.

AncestryDNA makes accessing additional detail and context more intuitive than most of its rivals do. Additional information is usually just a click away, easily identified by well-designed icons with plainly worded text. In addition, AncestryDNA automatically builds what it calls Communities —collections of customers who share some DNA—that can identify migration routes that have occurred within very recent generations.

Through the process of analyzing historical records such as customer-provided family trees and other paper-trail documentation relevant to this collection of individuals, the company can piece together the geographical movements of that community over time. This genealogical crowdsourcing combines the science of DNA with historical context to give a fuller picture of your family history. The company does provide a free trial, however, to help you decide if this data is worth the additional expense.

In October , the company launched AncestryHealth , a health-oriented service immediately available for existing AncestryDNA customers for a one-time upgrade fee and to new customers for purchase.

At this writing, we have not evaluated AncestryHealth. Among other things, the service offers to screen for breast cancer, colon cancer, and heart disease. Ancestry has added a range of other features over the past few years, including DNA-specific ones like ThruLines , which draws on Ancestry public member trees to systematically hypothesize the names of common ancestors that you and your DNA matches might share.

AncestryDNA was the only service we tested that is limited to autosomal testing. It cannot track your maternal and paternal heritage independently, nor can it tell you about your ancient ancestors and their migration out of Africa. At one time the company provided Y-DNA and mitochondrial tests, but it dropped those in to focus exclusively on its ethnicity and family-matching services.

We think that for most people getting started in researching their ancestry, the current offerings are sufficient, but those wanting a more granular look at the past may want to try 23andMe or FamilyTreeDNA. This has obvious benefits for people who are looking to expand their family tree. FamilyTree also offers a number of higher-end tests, for those interested in digging deeper, including a range of Y-DNA tests that will trace the path of your male ancestors and the history of your surname.

The company also allows you to upload raw DNA data files from other services and transfer your autosomal information to its database to expand your universe of matches and relationships. The company does its own DNA testing in house, processing and storing your sample in its lab. Posted prominently on the front page of its website is a promise that the company will never sell your DNA to third parties. Like most other companies, however, FamilyTreeDNA may use your aggregate genetic information for internal research and may comply with requests from law enforcement -- unless you opt out.

The three services above are our top choices for the best DNA test. But they weren't the only ones we tested. Based in Israel, MyHeritage was founded in , and like a number of other services profiled here, started out as a genealogy software platform. Over time, it acquired a number of historical databases and eventually added DNA testing in In , MyHeritage experienced a security breach , exposing the email addresses and hashed passwords of more than 92 million users.

MyHeritage offers a free tier of service that includes some basic family tree-building and access to excerpts of historical documents. It won't get you too far. Yes, that's expensive -- a free day trial is available -- but the company maintains an impressive online database of historical documents that includes 3.

This enormous database is powered by Geni. According to the New York Times , Geni. In , MyHeritage launched a health test similar to the one offered by 23andMe. I was required to complete a personal and family health history questionnaire -- it was 16 questions -- which was then ostensibly reviewed by a doctor.

Though the company says it may recommend a "genetic counseling" session administered by PWNHealth, my health results were simply delivered along with my ancestry analysis.

On the plus side, I like MyHeritage's straightforward access to a range of comprehensible privacy preferences. Still, overall, I found MyHeritage's user interface far less intuitive and more difficult to navigate than others.

Though the company's offering is broad -- it's one of the few to offer a comprehensive research database of historical documents, DNA analysis and health screening -- I found the integration among them to be a bit clumsy. Living DNA describes itself as a "consumer genealogy DNA service that does not sell or share customers' DNA or data with third parties," which gives you a sense of its priorities -- or, at least, its sense of customers' concerns.

LivingDNA's headquarters in the UK may also be a factor in its distinctive mission statement, as it's subject to the more stringent data and privacy regulations of the GDPR. LivingDNA divides its offerings in a different way than others.

Recent ancestry results are presented with a breakdown of percentage by country as well as the percentage attributable to more detailed regions, as well as the origin and migration path of haplogroups. In February , LivingDNA introduced an African Ancestry DNA test report that features data on 72 regions in Africa and, according to the company, "five times the detail of any other test on the market.

That noted, the company has a very limited family match database; a company representative declined to give me a specific number but said that it contained less than 1 million profiles. My wife, who took the test, returned exactly zero matches. So, if you're looking to identify and make connections with relatives, there are better choices in the market. That noted, LivingDNA has a very solid reputation for both the quality of its DNA analysis and privacy terms among experienced genealogists.

This level of analysis is appropriate for advanced users only. Not only is it expensive -- these tests can run into the thousands of dollars, in some cases -- it requires a sophisticated understanding of both genetics and a range of technical tools required to explore and interpret your results. For example, Full Genome's 30X test -- which scans every targeted location of your genome 30 times on average -- is considered the standard for a clinical analysis.

For most people, the main rationale for sequencing the whole genome is to dive deep into your genetic health outlook. You can glean your personal risk factors for diseases, drug sensitivities and your status as a carrier; that is, what you might pass on to your kids.

But there are also plenty of applications for advanced genealogical projects. All of these efforts can also be undertaken -- to a less intense degree -- with some of the more affordable options outlined above.

But whole genome sequencing provides a significantly more comprehensive, accurate and high resolution analysis. If you want to dip your toe into this realm. The company's tests claim to combine genetic research and "ancestral tracking" techniques that can identify the town or village where your ancestors originated with a high degree of accuracy.

Many experts dispute these claims. I'll note that the HomeDNA test kit contained no warning about not eating or drinking for any period of time prior to taking the test -- unlike every other kit I used. And of the four swabs the company sent, one broke.

The test kit just didn't seem as rigorously hygienic as the others. There are also kits to help you screen your dog or cat for genetic diseases and traits. But this company doesn't have a sterling reputation in the genetic genealogy world. When we recently spoke with Debbie Kennett, a genetic genealogist from University College London, she referenced the company's notoriety for delivering "bizarre results" and expressed doubt about the efficacy of its specialized tests for particular ethnic groups.

And the HomeDNA reports don't stack up particularly well against those returned by other companies. Results are summarized on a single webpage, though you also get a PDF that certifies that you've "undergone DNA testing" and shows the continents and countries where your DNA originates.

The company also throws in a boilerplate page explainer about DNA science and technology. HomeDNA does not offer access to any matching databases -- so there's no obvious next step or any actionable data that comes with your results.

Given this, I'd recommend choosing a different DNA testing service. Claiming to have the most comprehensive database of African lineages, African Ancestry promises to trace its customers' ancestry back to a specific country and identify their "ethnic group origin.

But those boundaries never really existed, and they aren't real things. In some places this is easier. Non-Jewish European populations , he said, tended not to mix quite as much with others as people elsewhere in the world, so companies can easily draw finer distinctions between them. But ultimately, it doesn't mean anything to be 35 percent Irish, or 76 percent Finnish.

So, when 23andMe changed its mind about my ancestry, the percent answer wasn't more true. It was just another way of interpreting the data. In this case, Platt said, the company probably decided that since just about all Ashkenazi Jews have some genes in common with a mix of other European populations, it makes sense to call those genes Ashkenazi as well.

It's not really weird to him that there's a 15 percent Jewishness gap between my results in Nat Geo and in 23andMe, he said. And it's clear that there are sources of error, he said. Neither Stoneking nor Platt was sure exactly why AncestryDNA had a 1 percent difference between its results for different samples, or Nat Geo had a 3 percent difference, or 23andMe had wiggle room that disappeared with the update.

But they agreed that it likely has something to do with their methods for converting a vial of spit into data for the computer to interpret. Live Science asked all three companies to explain the issue, but none gave a specific answer. Each of these companies, Stoneking said, breaks down the DNA in the spit sample into alleles — genetic markers that they use as raw data.

But that process is imperfect and clearly doesn't work the same way every time the companies run the rests, he said — though the errors aren't hugely significant. The real science of population genetics, he explained, is used to figure out how large groups of people moved and mixed over time. And it's good for that purpose. But figuring out whether 3 to 13 percent of my ancestors came from the Iberian Peninsula or Italy isn't part of that project.

Platt said that he had gotten himself commercially tested, and that while he hadn't found anything surprising, it's always possible for someone to learn something new and interesting — particularly if they're of non-Jewish European ancestry and vague on the details. A white non-Jew might learn something specific and interesting about their background, because their ancestors likely come from highly isolated reference populations on which the companies have lots of data.

But folks from other places have lower odds, simply because the data from other places is more limited, fuzzy, and difficult to interpret. When I contacted the companies and asked them to comment on this story and to address the question of why my results may have differed — even when the test was performed by the same company — both Ancestry and 23andMe responded. The consumer genomics industry is in its early stages but is growing fast and we tell customers throughout the experience that their results are as accurate as possible for where the science is today, and that it may evolve over time as the resolution of DNA estimates improve[s].

We will always work to harness evolutions in science to enhance our customers' experience.