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"People often do not understand that and get confused because they know their ancestors lived in, say, Ireland, 150 years ago."Īnd because each company takes a different snapshot of your genome, ethnicity findings can vary significantly from one kit to another.
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"Autosomal DNA ethnicity estimates really tell us ethnicity from about 500 years ago," she says. Meaning that tests are good at telling you if, say, your ancestors came from Northern Europe or East Africa.īut if you're trying to get information on a more granular level - like finding out exactly how Irish you are - results are less precise, explains Greene, who also teaches a graduate genealogy course at the School of Information at San José State University. "Ethnicity results at a continental or regional level are pretty accurate," Greene says. Most people use an at-home DNA kit to learn about their ancestry and ethnic heritage, says Colleen Greene, a genealogist and librarian at California State University, Fullerton's Pollak Library. That said, due to the growth in the industry, the cost of sequencing an entire human genome is dropping and could be near $100 in the next few years, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. Each DNA home test company may be taking a different snapshot, too. In contrast, $100 at-home DNA tests use technologies that capture perhaps half a million to one million different spots along your genome, he says, explaining that this sample is essentially a snapshot of sections where variations are known to occur. To sequence one person's entire genome - which means determining the order of DNA bases that make up your unique genetic line-up - previously cost upwards of $10,000, Dr. Each human genome is made up of about three billion base pairs - the basic building blocks of DNA that combine in sequences (C + G, A + T, etc.) of complementary pairs to make up a strand of DNA.
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"You can't sequence a human genome for 100 bucks," says Jason Bush, Ph.D., associate professor of biology at California State University, Fresno. These tests won't tell your whole genetic story. Whether you want to learn more about your family heritage, understand your risk for certain diseases, or discover unknown relatives, these autosomal DNA test kits - which range in price from about $60 to $100 - appeal to the curiosity in many of us.īut before you swab and ship in your DNA sample, there a few caveats to keep in mind, say faculty experts in genetics and genealogy at the California State University. Over the past few years, DNA home test kits like 23andMe and have made their way onto the shelves of virtually every drugstore in the country.