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Originally Posted by Nancy
My report ended up being boring AF. I almost felt disappointed that I didn't have a genetic disease, a high amount of Neanderthal DNA, or an illegitimate cousin.
Also, the ancestry part is more art than science. They keep changing their minds about my ancestry, and it doesn't line up with my actual ancestry, or what is reported for my siblings or cousins.
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The issue with ancestry is that all they can really do is compare your DNA to people living in X place right now. The problem is people move. There are specific portions of genes and chromosomes they have traced to specific ancestral populations, but even then with genetic drift, founder effects, population bottling, etc... how do you trace those genes directly back into ancestral populations. For example, a caveman 10,000 years ago might have banged a women 1000 miles away. That single event throws everything off.
There are exceptions, for example, the Basque people are relatively isolated. You can distinguish them from the rest of Europe's DNA fairly easily. But that doesn't tell you where they came from. Only that, for example, an individual may be genetically related to the Basque population that lives where it does now.