Discovering true ethnicity through DNA, heard of it?

Question

I know that oprah did. There was a show where they were narrowing down African Americans true make-up through dna, all the way to what tribe they came from in Africa.
Are they doing this for native americans too? Any info on this, because I would really like to get in on it. Apparently I'm just one big mexican american indian mutt and I don't know who to believe anymore.

Answer 1

This is just another form of racism, we are all mutts and some African tribes look like Norwegians in the DNA analysis. It gets quite funny at times. The only thing that is possible is general possibles, not hard proofs, and Oprah often promotes stuff just for market share. You by the your own description are a true and thoroughbred American and that is nothing to be ashamed of.
As for who to believe? Just yourself, nobody knows you as well as you do, trust me on this one.

Answer 2

IBM and the National Geographic Society are working on a project called The Genographic Project.

Here are some excerpts from an article on the project:
"But the question of how we migrated around the planet, how we populated the world, in effect, is still an open one."

See the full article here:
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/science/04/12/genographic/index.html

For $99.95, you can contibute DNA and be a part of the study:
Those interested will have to make a serious investment, $99.95 plus shipping and handling, for a "participation kit."

"It includes a DVD and brochures detailing the five-year global study, plus a cheek swab kit that individuals send back to the study with their own DNA."

""You will be able to see, for example, right off the bat if you are in a particular genotypic group, and where is the population of that particular genotypic group in the world today, and what we think are the ways in which this population ended up in this location in the world. And as this data grows, we will be able to make this map, and this journey and this detail richer in content," Royyuru said."

Answer 3

Yes--as a matter of fact, I think NPR (National Public Radio) may have a link to some company that does it. It's upwards of $300 though. If I ever have the money to do it I will--I'm just as much of a mutt as you are. I heard about it on the Tavis Smiley Show a while ago, but Tavis no longer has a show on NPR.

Answer 4

The look for genetic markers on the Y chromosome if you are male and look at mitochondrial DNA for the female lineage.

The links below provide more info.

Answer 5

Seems pretty cool to me since I'm a mutt too! lol
Here's an interesting page on the topic if you are interested...
http://genealogy.about.com/cs/geneticgenealogy/a/dna_tests.htm

Answer 6

I read something about that with some Irish folks trying to find their ancestors..Slavin/Slevin
Don't know how well it works or how much it costs?

Answer 7

try the site GeneBase.com they can trace your ancestry through dna.....