Ancestral Testing
Genetic testing can help identify the ancestral origin / ethnic origins
of a person, based upon tribal and geographic genetic distributions.
It can aid genealogists in determining family tree ancestors.
One type of autosomal STR genetic markers has been developed by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for identification of individuals.
Each person’s DNA profile serves as a genetic fingerprint for that individual, with a theoretical accuracy of less than one in a trillion of sharing an identical genetic profile with anyone else in the world. Since these autosomal STR profiles are so unique, these genetic testing markers are the industry standard for legal, court-admissible paternity (baby daddy) and maternity testing.
DNA analysis can be accomplished through two types of DNA testing, SNP and autosomal testing.
- Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP, or "snip") refers to the change that occurs when a single nucleotide (A, T, G, or C) in the DNA is changed. The list of a person's SNPs constitutes a unique DNA pattern usable to identify deep ancestral origins from either the paternal or the maternal genetic material.
- Autosomal genetic testing (sometimes referred to as Admixture or Bio-geographical Assay) is the DNA that you receive from both of your parents...50% from each parent.
Companies that do ancestral DNA
analysis attempt to show which regions of earth your genes are likely
to come from. Some attempt to narrow down to a particular African
cultural group, or Native American tribe, or Hebrew / Jewish origin.
Jewish origin can be categorized thusly: Ashkenazi, Chuetas (descendants of Jewish converts to Catholicism in Majorca, Spain), Israeli (of diverse origins), North African (from Morocco, Tunisia, and Libya), Oriental (from Iran and Iraq), Sephardi (from Turkey).