Genetic ancestry

Genetic ancestry is a genetics concept that describes the "architecture of genome variation between populations". Genetic ancestry tests exploit the findings of population genetics research to provide inferences about someone's genetic heritage. The tests are also sometimes known as genetic heritage tests or DNA ancestry tests. Genetic ancestry testing is generally distinct from the more rigorous discipline of genetic genealogy which combines a genealogical DNA test with genealogical and historical records.

Sense About Science guides

• Sense about genetic ancestry testing. A briefing from Sense About Science, 7 March 2013.
• Sense about genealogical DNA testing A guest blog post by Debbie Kennett, 15 March 2013.

Scientific papers

• Wagner J, Yu J-H, Fullwiley D et al (2023). Guidelines for genetic ancestry inference created through diverse stakeholder roundtable discussions. Human Genetics and Genomics Advances. Available online 13 January 2023, 100178.
• Coop G. Genetic similarity and genetic ancestry groups. Coop Lab blog, 12 July 2022.
• Lewis ACF, Molina SJ, Appelbaum PS et al (2022). Getting genetic ancestry right for science and society. Science 376 (6590): 250-252. Preprint available on Arxiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2110.05987.
• Mathieson I, Scally A (2020). What is ancestry? PLoS Genetics 16(3): e1008624.
• Hofmann KP (2016). With víkingr into the identity trap: when historiographical actors get a life of their own. Medieval Worlds. 4: 91-122.
• Wagner JK. Yu J-H, Ifekwunigwe JO, Harrell TM, Bamshad MJ, Royal CD (2016). Anthropologists' views on race, ancestry, and genetics. American Journal of Physical Anthropology. Published online 22 November 2016.
• Yudell M, Roberts D, DeSalle R, Tishkoff S (2016). Taking race out of human genetics. Science 351 (6273): 564-565.
• Jobling MA, Rasteiro R & Wetton JH (2016). In the blood: the myth and reality of genetic markers of identity. Ethnic and Racial Studies 39:2, 142-161.
• Scully M, Brown SD & Turi King T (2016). Becoming a Viking: DNA testing, genetic ancestry and placeholder identity. Ethnic and Racial Studies 39:2, 162-180.
• Baharian S, Barakatt M, Gignoux CR et al (2015). The great migration and African American genomic diversity. BioRxiv, preprint published 16 October 2015.
• Wollstein A, Lao O. Detecting individual ancestry in the human genome. Investigative Genetics 2015 6: 7. doi:10.1186/s13323-015-0019-x.
• Bryc K, Durand EY, Macpherson JM et al (2015, in press). The Genetic Ancestry of African Americans, Latinos, and European Americans across the United States. The American Journal of Human Genetics.
• Pickrell J, Reich D (2014). Towards a new history and geography of human genes informed by ancient DNA. Trends in Genetics 2014; 30 (9): 377-389 (subscription required). Available as a preprint from BioRxiv.
• Veeramah KR, Hammer MF (2014). The impact of whole-genome sequencing on the reconstruction of human population history. Nature Reviews Genetics 15: 149-162 (subscription required).
• Templeton AR (2013). Biological races in humans. Stud Hist Philos Biol Biomed Sci 44(3): 262-271.
• Zadik D. Are you a Viking? Yes, but so is everyone else. The Conversation, 16 May 2013.
• Ralph P, Coop G (2013). The geography of recent genetic ancestry across Europe. PLoS Biol 11(5). For commentary on this paper see:
  • Identification of genomic regions shared between distant relatives by Peter Ralph and Graham Coop, The Coop Lab blog, 10 May 2013.
  • Ralph P, Coop G. Our paper: The geography of recent genetic ancestry across Europe. Haldane's Sieve. 5 October 2012.
  • Most Europeans share recent common ancestors by Ewen Callaway. Nature News and Comment, 7 May 2013.
  • Charlemagne's DNA and our universal royalty by Carl Zimmer. National Geographic: The Loom, 7 May 2013.
• Scully M, King T, Brown SD (2013). Remediating Viking origins: genetic code as archival memory of the remote past. Sociology 47(5): 921–938.
• Liu Y, Nyunoya T, Leng S et al (2013). Softwares and methods for estimating genetic ancestry in human populations Human Genomics 7(1): 1.
• Jobling M. The impact of recent events on human genetic diversity Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society London B: Biological Sciences Mar 19, 2012; 367(1590): 793–799.
• Moorjani P, Patterson N, Hirschhorn JN et al (2011). The history of African gene flow into Southern Europeans, Levantines, and Jews. PLOS Genetics Published: April 21, 2011. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1001373
• Ali-Khan SE, Krakowski T, Tahir R and Daar AS (2011). The use of race, ethnicity and ancestry in human genetic research Hugo Journal 5(1-4): 47–63.
• O'Dushlaine CT, Morris D, Moskvina V et al. Population structure and genome-wide patterns of variation in Ireland and Britain. European Journal of Human Genetics 2010 18(11): 1248-1254. Epub 2010 Jun 23.
• Balding D, Weale M, Richards M, Thomas M (2010). Genetic and isotopic analysis and the UK Border Agency. Significance June 2010: 58-61.
• Barbujani G, Colonna V (2010). Human genome diversity: frequently asked questions. Trends in Genetics 26; 285–295
• Royal CD, November J, Fullerton SM et al (2010). Inferring genetic ancestry: opportunities, challenges, and implications. American Journal of Human Genetics, Volume 86, Issue 5, 661-673, 14 May 2010 (ASHG White Paper).
• Lee SS, Bolnick DA, Duster T, Ossorio P, Tallbear K (2009). The illusive gold standard in genetic ancestry testing. Science Jul 3; 325(5936): 38-9.
• Caulfield T, Fullerton S, Ali-Khan SE et al (2009). Race and ancestry in biomedical research: exploring the challenges. GenomeMedicine 1(1): 8.
• Nelson A (2008). Bio science: genetic genealogy testing and the pursuit of African ancestry. Social Studies of Science 38: 759783.
• Bandelt H-J, Yao Y-G, Richards MB, Salas A (2008). The brave new era of human genetic testing. Bioessays 30(11-12):1246-51.
• American Society of Human Genetics (2007). ASHG Statement on Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing in the United States. American Journal of Human Genetics Volume 81, September 2007, pp635-637. For commentary see:
  • Bettinger B (2008). The ASHG Ancestry Testing Statement and Recommendations. The Genetic Genealogist, 13 November 2008.
• Sarata AK (2007). Genetic ancestry testing. Congressional Research Service report for US Congress, 19 October 2007.
• Bolnick DA, Fullwilly D, Duster T et al. The science and business of genetic ancestry testing Science 19 October 2007: Vol. 318 no. 5849 pp. 399-400.
• Sankar P, Cho MK, Mountain J (2007). Race and ethnicity in genetic research. American Journal of Medical Genetics, Part A, May 1;143A(9):961-70.
• Barbujani G (2005). Human Races: Classifying people vs understanding diversity. Current Genomics 6: 215-226.
• Shriver MD, Kittles RA (2004). Genetic ancestry and the search for personalized genetic histories. Nature Reviews Genetics 5: 611-618.
• Tutton R (2004). They want to know where they came from: population genetics, identity, and family genealogy. New Genetics and Society 23:1, 105-120.
• Elliot C, Brodwin P (2002). Identity and genetic ancestry testing ($) BMJ 325: 1469-1471.

Newspaper articles and blog posts

• What is ancestry? by Joe Pickrell, DNA.Land blog, 1 November 2015.
• Can your DNA tell you your ancestry? by Stephen Propatier, Skeptoid blog, 18 August 2015.
• So you're related to Charlemagne? You and every other living European... by Adam Rutherford, The Guardian 24 May 2015.
• Why your race isn't genetic by Michael White, Pacific Standard 30 May 2014.
• Why we are all related to the Vikings by Conrad Quilty-Harper, ampp3d (Daily Mirror data visualisation website), 10 March 2014.
• There is no DNA test to prove you're Native American by Linda Geddes, New Scientist, 13 February 2014.
• Selling roots - Can DNA tests really tell us anything about our ethnic identity? by Elliot Aguilar, The New Inquiry, 22 July 2013.
• Are you a Viking? Yes, but so is everyone else by Daniel Zadik, The Conversation, 16 May 2013.
• Sense about genetic ancestry testing. Debbie Kennett. Cruwys News blog. 8 March 2013.
• To claim someone has 'Viking ancestors' is no better than astrology by Mark Thomas, The Guardian, 25 February 2013.
  • It is unfair to compare genetic ancestry testing to astrology A response from Martin Richards and Vincent Macaulay, The Guardian, 8 April 2013.
  • Rebuttal of Richards and Macaulay's post A response from Mark Thomas.
• Are there human races? by Jerry Coyne. Why Evolution Is True, 28 February 2012.
• Q&A: Everyone has two family trees - a genealogical tree and a genetic tree by Blaine Bettinger, The Genetic Genealogist, 10 November 2009.
• The appliance of science by Ian Sample. The Guardian, 14 April 2007.
• So you think you're English? by Andrew Graeme Dixon, The Telegraph, 5 November 2006.
• Are DNA tests the missing link? by Steve Connor, The Independent, 29 June 2005.
• Why we should give up on race by Steven and Hilary Rose, The Guardian, 9 April 2005.
• Beware the gene genies by Martin Richards, The Guardian, 21 February 2003.

Websites

• Understanding Race A resource provided by the American Anthropological Association

Multimedia

• What race Is, and what It Is not A lecture given by anthropologist Agustin Fuentes at the University of Evansville in Indiana on 11 April 2016
• The business of genetic ancestry BBC Radio 4. A programme produced by the BBC's Science Unit explaining what you can and can't learn from a genetic ancestry test
• 2008: ASHG Ancestry Testing Statement and Recommendations: Guidelines for Understanding the Issues and Implications Involved ASHG video uploaded to Vimeo.

See also

• Biogeographical ancestry
• Understanding genetic ancestry testing
• Genetic anthropology
• Irish DNA Atlas Project
• People of the British Isles
• Phylogeography
• List of DNA testing companies