DNA Tests?

Question

Has anyone ever had a gene DNA test done to see what races/ethnicities you are?If so,what all results did you get?

Answer 1

You mean for genealogy? Yes. I had both the mtDNA test and the yDNA test. The mtDNA test traces my mother's lineage: it is mother to mother to mother, all the way back. The yDNA test is father to father, all the way back. Together they provide an excellent view of your past, even though rather narrow. (Think of a tree with 2 trunks: that is what DNA testing reveals, those 2 trunks, none of the branches.)

What race/ethnicity am I? I found I have ancestors from the Philippines, Malay, Viet Nam, China, Japan, India, Australia...Several Indian tribes, Eskimos, Innuits, natives of Canary Islands and Pacific Islands; Mexico, Central & South America; all over Europe (including Isle of Mann, Greenland, et al), Egypt, Lybia and about 2 dozen other African countries; Iran, Iraq, Israel, etc., etc., etc.

I used www.familytreedna.com. They provide me with my own page, complete with maps showing where in the world (just about all over) my ancestors came from: all "races".

Answer 2

Y DNA is passed from father to son only.

Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to both sons and daughters but only the daughers pass it on to their children.

Most of your DNA is autosomal.  You get it 50-50 from both parents.  It determines your pigmentation(skin,eye, hair) , your height etc.  Also can determine certain genetic defects or tendency toward certain ailments.  I have a hereditary left foot deformity that I did not get through my mitochondrial line but from my maternal grandfather.  Actually, my sister's granddaughter had it until surgery, and it skipped 3 generations to get to her.

If you go back to your 6xgreatgrandparents, barring any duplicates, you are directly descended from 510 individuals. Of those 510 individuals, you get mitochondrial DNA from 8 and if you are a male, you get Y DNA from 8.  However, you share autosomal with all 510.

Genealogy testing is used to match a person's Y and/or mitchondrial against another person's.   You will be in various Haplogroups, but it is not a specific ethnicity.   For instance, I am in Mitochondrial Haplogroup K1 which surprised me.  I knew by maternal grandfather was a Jew but my maternal grandmother's lines are 100% American colonial.  

There are tests that uses autosomall dna to determine percentages of, not necessarily ethnicities, but origins.  For instance, it will show Northern European, West African, East Asian, etc but not a specific national origin or a specific ethnic origin.

None of the DNA tests for genealogy  are good for medical reasons if you want to determine what genes you have that could lead to specific disorders in you or your children.  Those tests are much more detailed and are far more costly.