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12 - Accuracy, Consistency, and Validation of DNA Ancestry Tests

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 March 2022

Sheldon Krimsky
Sheldon Krimsky
Affiliation:
Tufts University, Massachusetts
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Summary

As a recreational activity, with no serious consequences at stake, it barely matters whether the results consumers receive from their DNA ancestry tests accurately represent the percentages of their ancestry from different geographical regions. Given that there are no international standards for such testing, unlike genetic disease tests, it is not surprising that the results from different ancestry testing companies vary. As noted in Chapter 4, there are several stages in the analysis of a person’s saliva or cheek swabs where the criteria, reference frames, or analytics can vary among companies, yielding different outcomes.

Keywords

ancestryancestry informative markers (AIMs)ancient populationsautosomal DNADNA paternityDNA probesDNA testDNA variantsdirect-to-consumer testingforensic DNAF-statisticsgenealogygenetic identitygenetic markersgenetic privacygenetic testingGolden State KillerGrim Sleepermicroarraysmitochondrial DNANative Americanphenotypingracial DNAsingle nucleotide polymorphismsY chromosomal DNA
Type
Chapter
Information
Understanding DNA Ancestry , pp. 118 - 125
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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