How Much Can DNA testing Tell You About Your Ancestry?

A new article concerning Otzi, the 5000-year old Tyrolean mummy who was thawed out twenty years ago, indicates that a mitochondrial DNA study of Otzi shows that he was related to a distinct genetic group that mysteriously disappeared.


In addition, another recent study has shown that humans are evolving faster than previously believed. How does this affect whether you should use DNA testing? Not at all, in our opinion. Keep in mind that DNA testing is in its infancy. What it mostly provides at this moment is possible ties to other living relatives who may be able to fill in gaps in your research over the last 400 years. In addition, it may tend to confirm or rule out family legends regarding lands of origin. Beyond that, genealogy still requires detailed paper/microfilm study to establish documentary evidence of ancestral lines. If you are stuck, DNA testing can give you an idea of where to look and it is a useful, rapidly developing tool for such reasons.

Tracing Family Names

The World Names Profiles provides an interesting tool that could also help in narrowing your search for ancestral origins. With its statistical breakdown you can easily work your way all the way down to the provincial level (or equivalent).

Native American DNA Links to Six "Founding Mothers"

Gene-based DNA research is becoming more and more sophisticated, with places like FamilyTree DNA and others offering sophisticated technologies at prices that are attainable by many. It may be that big push that assures you that you are headed in the right (or wrong) direction for people whose ancestry is primarily traced to Europe. For Native Americans, however, it may be that searching for your precise ancestry will get much easier, as this report from National Geographic shows:

Nearly all of today's Native Americans in North, Central, and South America can trace part of their ancestry to six women whose descendants immigrated around 20,000 years ago, a DNA study suggests.