Can a person trace their ancestries through DNA tests?

Question

I am brazilian, so as you might imagine I am very mixed, but I am mostly white. I know for a fact that I am part portuguese, italian, german, spanish, and native american. But, there is a possibility I could have even more ethnic backgrounds I never knew I had. If I take a DNA test can I go even deeper into my ancestry?

Answer 1

Yes. But you need their DNA to compare too.  

Answer 2

A DNA test could tell you if you have some of the markers of other racial peoples, but it is a very expensive process.  Try to find a research institute working on DNA inventories, as they may offer the service free or for a reduced cost.  The more diverse your racial makeup, the more difficult it is to figure out who you are using DNA (I think).  However, there are advances every year.

The best way is still to try to search through geneologies.  

Answer 3

Only if Your Ancestors Were In Something Like The Army Because Otherwise They Wouldn't Have DNA Records.

Hope I Helped, X.

Answer 4

Yes they can do that now and tell you from what area of the world you come from.DNA patterns will pin point the exact area.

Answer 5

Yes, and no.

A man's paternal ancestry can be traced using the DNA on his Y chromosome (Y-DNA) through Y-STR Testing. This is useful because the Y chromosome, like many European surnames, passes from father to son, and can be used to help study surnames. Women who wish to determine their paternal ancestry can ask their father, brother, paternal uncle, paternal grandfather, or a cousin who shares the same paternal lineage to take a test for them.

The Y DNA lineage from father to son can have complications including mutation and false paternity (i.e. the father in one generation is not the father in birth records), a discovery that might upset some people. Maternal DNA is generally harder to correlate with surnames because the mother displaces the father's maternal DNA (from his mother). Also, a daughter cannot transmit her father's Y DNA to her sons and a son cannot transmit his mother's maternal DNA to his children.

The most common complaint from DNA test customers is the failure of the company to make results understandable and meaningful to them. This was the primary reason cited for customer dissatisfaction in a June 2006 nationwide telephone survey conducted by Shapiro and Associates.[citation needed] According to an earlier survey, 1 in 6 Americans (16.6%) said they were aware of the ancestry-tracing capability of a home DNA test but when probed, most knew little about the details, reliability or differences between tests.

A further drawback, at least with autosomal tests, is their present state of imperfection and large margin of error (up to 15%, according to some genomics experts), with significant blind spots, such as confusion of Mongolian ancestry with Native American.

Conclusion: Some of us want to know where we came from but Science isn't there yet, and who knows when it will be. They do offer test out there that can match you up with people who have the same Y chromosome as you.