Learning about DNA basics can help you understand your complex genetic story—your DNA connections to people and places as well as inherited traits.
Selecting a DNA Testing Kit
Thinking about learning more about yourself with a DNA testing kit? There are a few things to consider. From the type of test, to privacy, to what taking the test involves, here are a few of the top factors in choosing a DNA testing kit.
Featured AncestryDNA Articles
Reading Your Ethnicity Estimate
DNA ancestral regions results are reports that use DNA testing to provide information about a person's ancestral origins. AncestryDNA analyzes a person's genetic makeup and compares it to reference populations from various regions around the world to estimate the person's genetic origins.
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AncestryDNA Test Accuracy and Precision
Your AncestryDNA test results are the product of a multi-step process. There is no single measure of AncestryDNA test accuracy. Instead, the accuracy and precision of each step can be measured independently.
Read more about test accuracy
How does AncestryDNA test differ from other DNA tests?
AncestryDNA uses an autosomal DNA test that surveys a person’s entire genome at over 700,000 locations. It covers both the maternal and paternal sides of the family tree, so it covers all lineages.
Read more about AncestryDNA
Types of DNA Testing
There are multiple types of DNA tests. The three most common are Y-DNA testing, autosomal DNA testing, and mitochondrial DNA testing, (mtDNA testing). To understand the differences between these tests, it can help to know how DNA is organized.
Learn more about DNA tests
All About DNA and Genetics
Genetic Testing
- What is Genetic Testing?
- Types of DNA Testing
- Autosomal DNA Testing
- Selecting a DNA Testing Kit
- Adoption & DNA Tests
- Bone Marrow & Stem Cell Transplants
DNA and Genetics
- What is DNA?
- Interesting Facts about DNA
- What Are Genes?
- Genome
- Genotype
- Phenotype
- Heritability
- Imputation and Genetics
DNA History
How Does the AncestryDNA Test Work?
- How Does AncestryDNA Work?
- AncestryDNA Test Accuracy
- AncestryDNA Test Processing Time
- What to Expect from a DNA Test
- How Is AncestryDNA Different?
- 5 Myths about AncestryDNA Tests
- Polygenic Risk Score
- Why AncestryDNA Results Aren't Mailed
- The Ancestry Privacy Philosophy
- Other Common Questions About AncestryDNA
Understanding Your AncestryDNA Results
- Reading Your Ethnicity Estimate
- Ethnicity Estimates Update
- DNA Match Explainer
- Cousins Chart and Centimorgans
- Family Tree + DNA Together
- Parents' DNA
- Discover Family Heritage through DNA
The Science Behind DNA
Going Beyond AncestryDNA®
What makes you, you? Learn how certain characteristics may be passed down in your DNA.
Discover the meaning and history behind your last name. Your last name gives you a sense of identity and helps you discover who you are and where you come from.
Discover your family history through more than a billion birth, marriage, death, census, miltary records, and more.
AncestryDNA® Learning Hub
AncestryDNA® Learning Hub
AncestryDNA® Learning Hub
AncestryDNA® Learning Hub
AncestryDNA® Learning Hub
AncestryDNA® Learning Hub
AncestryDNA® Learning Hub
AncestryDNA® Learning Hub
AncestryDNA® Learning Hub
Featured Articles
Featured Articles
What to expect from your AncestryDNA test results
If you’re not sure what to expect, here is a quick run-down on several of the features you can look forward to.
Take a look...
How does AncestryDNA work
You may know that AncestryDNA can tell you about your family history using nothing more than a small saliva sample. But exactly how do we do it?
Take a look…
Counting cousins—explaining second, third, and fourth cousins.
What do people mean when they say “fourth cousin,” or “third cousin twice removed”?
Take a look…
How AncestryDNA Can Take You Beyond the Adoption Registry
If you hit a dead end with an adoption registry, an AncestryDNA® test could be a good next step.
Take a look…
Featured Articles
Featured Articles
What to expect from your AncestryDNA test results
If you’re not sure what to expect, here is a quick run-down on several of the features you can look forward to.
Take a look...
How does AncestryDNA work
You may know that AncestryDNA can tell you about your family history using nothing more than a small saliva sample. But exactly how do we do it?
Take a look…
Counting cousins—explaining second, third, and fourth cousins.
What do people mean when they say “fourth cousin,” or “third cousin twice removed”?
Take a look…
How AncestryDNA Can Take You Beyond the Adoption Registry
If you hit a dead end with an adoption registry, an AncestryDNA® test could be a good next step.
Take a look…
Getting Started with AncestryDNA®
Getting Started with AncestryDNA®
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DNA 101
DNA History
Genetic Testing
Glossary
DNA 101
DNA History
Genetic Testing
Glossary
DNA 101
DNA History
Genetic Testing
Glossary
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Discovery
How does it work?
How do I understand my results?
Discovery
How does it work?
How do I understand my results?
Inherited Traits Continued
Inherited Traits Continued
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Inherited Traits Continued
Inherited Traits Continued
Inherited Traits
Inherited Traits Continued
Inherited Traits Continued