Who Are We? DNA and the Genealogist's Search

Interesting information on DNA and our common ancestry. Consider this.

• “You share no DNA with the vast majority of your ancestors.”
• “You have more ancestors — hundreds a few generations back, thousands in just a millennium — than you have sections of DNA.”
• You have 64 great-great-great-great-grandparents — but if you are a man, you share your Y-chromosome with only one of them.
• The amount of DNA you pass on to your descendants roughly halves with each generation. It is a matter of chance which of your descendants actually carry any of your DNA.

Alva Nöe, “DNA, Genealogy, And the Search for Who We Are“

Will testing your DNA really tell you who you are? Or are the stories we find about our ancestors much more enlightening than the test tube? What do you think?

• Category: Research