Is DNA Ancestry Same as Heritage? Article

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Is DNA Ancestry Same as Heritage?

Oct 31, 2021 | 0 Votes

by Justo - rate Your vote Commercial DNA testing is in high demand today, as many people want to know where they came from and who their ancestors were, but that won't tell you anything about your cultural heritage. DNA Kit Guide - Is DNA Ancestry Same as Heritage?

DNA Kit Guide - Is DNA Ancestry Same as Heritage?

Commercial DNA testing is in high demand today, as many people want to know where they came from and who their ancestors were. But it is important that you take into account that ancestry is not the same as heritage, and this is what we will explain next.

The Differences Between Ancestry And Heritage

When we refer to ancestry, we are talking about our ancestors who lived a long time ago, and it also refers to the origin of our family such as Africans, Europeans, Americans, Asians, among others. While when we speak of heritage, it is all the traits rooted in the culture or place where we grew up that are generally passed down from generation to generation, including customs, practices, places, objects, foods, music, dances, language and values.

These terms tend to be confusing, but they are certainly not the same, and the tests are not specifically designed to show you both ancestry and heredity at the same time.

Let's Talk About Ancestry Through DNA Testing

DNA ancestry testing only results in a geographic probability of your ancestors, meaning that your test will probably result in your DNA being 20% European and 40% African.

A more detailed explanation reveals that the algorithm takes an entire genome and splits it, then compares it to the reference data set. It compares it to the British; it compares it to West Africa; it goes through the entire list and yields a probability. If your test results show that you are 29% African, it is because 29% of your DNA probably comes from a group that the reference database of the company hired for the service has labeled "African".

Where Do The Results Of The DNA Ancestry Tests Come From?

This type of test does not compare your DNA with that of people who lived in the past, but with your contemporaries. The comparison is limited to the people in the database of the company you choose to have tested.

DNA Tests Don't Teach You About Your Heritage

When we talk about our family heritage we not only talk about their geographical location but also about their customs, language, the food they ate, whether they were persecuted and more. Human history or heredity is very complicated to evaluate simply using our DNA because it is a messy migratory issue. For this reason many scientists and biologists are not attracted to the idea of studying heredity through DNA.

Certainly DNA ancestry opens a minimal door to the past and allows us to know curiosities such as the probabilities of which ethnic groups are compatible with our own DNA. But this is only a small door that is often not accurate. However, this has not prevented this curious test from being carried out more and more by humanity.