DNA Reports
An overview of Genomelink's DNA reports and where to find them.
195 articles
Deep Ancestry Report
Your deep ancestral makeup across broad lineages and long timescales.
- My Deep Ancestry results look very different from 23andMe or AncestryDNA. Is something wrong?Why your Deep Ancestry results can look very different from 23andMe or AncestryDNA.
- My report shows ancestry I'm confident I don't have (e.g., unexpected Native American, East Asian, or Indian percentages). Why?Why a report can show ancestry you're confident you don't have.
- Why don't I see any Communities in my Deep Ancestry report?Why you might not see any Communities in your Deep Ancestry report.
- My Deep Ancestry percentages haven't changed since I first got them. When will they update?Why your Deep Ancestry percentages haven't changed, and when they update.
- Why does my Free Ancestry report show different results from my Deep Ancestry report?Why your Free Ancestry and Deep Ancestry reports can show different results.
- How does Deep Ancestry differ from the Global Ancestry Report?How Deep Ancestry and the Global Ancestry Report differ.
- Why do my ancestry results vary between Genomelink and another DNA company?Why ancestry results vary between Genomelink and another DNA company.
Global Ancestry Report
Your worldwide ancestry breakdown and how the algorithm builds it.
- My Global Ancestry and Deep Ancestry reports show different results. Why don't they match?Why your Global and Deep Ancestry reports can show different results.
- My Global Ancestry shows a region I don't expect (e.g., Northwestern European when I'm Greek). Is this wrong?Why your Global Ancestry can show an unexpected region, and whether it's an error.
- Does Genomelink offer haplogroup information?Whether Genomelink offers haplogroup information.
- What is XGMix?What XGMix is and how it powers your Global Ancestry results.
- What data is the algorithm based on?What reference data the Global Ancestry algorithm is built on.
- What does the Global Ancestry Report show me?What the Global Ancestry Report shows you.
- How is the Global Ancestry Report different from 23andMe or AncestryDNA?How the Global Ancestry Report differs from 23andMe or AncestryDNA.
- Why does each chromosome have a different proportion of ethnicities?Why each chromosome can show a different mix of ethnicities.
Native American Report
What the Native American report shows, and how to read 0% or unexpected results.
- I need to answer a questionnaire before my report can process. Where do I find it?Where to find the questionnaire your Native American report needs before it can run.
- What should I do if I get 0% results?What 0% Native American results mean and what to do about them.
- Why aren't other Native American groups included?Why other Native American groups aren't included in the report.
British Isles Ancestry Report
Your British Isles regional breakdown and how it differs from the UK Breakdown.
- How is the British Isles Ancestry Report different from the UK Breakdown?How our in-house British Isles report differs from the Living DNA-powered UK Breakdown.
- How is this different from other Genomelink reports like Deep Ancestry?How the British Isles report differs from Deep Ancestry and other Genomelink reports.
- Is the 30+ region breakdown based on ancient DNA?Whether the 30+ region breakdown is built on ancient DNA.
- What do the percentages mean in the region and era match sections?What the percentages in the region and era match sections mean.
Northern European & Viking Ancestry Report
What your Nordic Index and era matches mean — and what they do and don't say about Viking ancestry.
- How does the report define "Nordic"?How the report defines 'Nordic.'
- What do the percentages mean in the region and era match sections? (Nordic)What the percentages in the Nordic region and era match sections mean.
- Do my percentages prove I have direct Viking ancestors?Why your percentages don't, on their own, prove direct Viking ancestors.
- Why isn't my Nordic Index 100% if my family is Scandinavian?Why a fully Scandinavian family won't necessarily show a 100% Nordic Index.
- Why do you split results into five eras?Why the report splits your results across five eras.
Celtic Ancestry Report
How to read your Celtic Index, and what modern versus ancient Celtic means.
- My Celtic Breakdown report failed. Why?Why a report can fail when your DNA falls below the minimum ancestry threshold.
- How should I interpret the Celtic Index?How to read your Celtic Index and what it does and doesn't mean.
- I have many ancestors from Portugal, but the Celtic Index is 0%. How could this happen?Why Portuguese ancestry can still give a 0% Celtic Index.
- I have many ancestors from the Irish and British, but the Celtic Index is 0%. How could this happen?Why Irish or British ancestry can still give a 0% Celtic Index.
- What is the difference between modern and ancient Celtic?What separates modern Celtic from ancient Celtic in this report.
- Why does my DNA match at 0% while I have a positive Celtic Index?Why your DNA can match at 0% even with a positive Celtic Index.
Iberian Ancestry Report
A Spain- and Portugal-focused ancestry experience combining regional breakdowns with ancient DNA matches.
- What are "Ancient DNA Matches from Burial Sites"?Which excavated individuals and burial sites your DNA is closest to, across key eras.
- Can this report prove or disprove my family stories?Why this report can refine a family story but can't definitively prove or disprove it.
- Is this a medical or health test?No — this report is for ancestry and education only, not medical or health testing.
- How accurate is the Iberian Ancestry Report?The factors that shape precision: sampling, ancient DNA coverage, migration, and statistical noise.
- Are Basque results treated differently?Why Basque-aligned references form a distinct cluster and act as a separate anchor.
- How do you handle sensitive historical periods (Roman, Visigothic, Al-Andalus, etc.)?How we treat Roman, Visigothic, and Al-Andalus signals with caution and historical context.
- Why not build the regional breakdown purely from ancient DNA?Why we pair living reference panels with ancient DNA rather than using ancient samples alone.
- How do you choose which ancient individuals to include?How we select peer-reviewed, well-dated Iberian genomes balanced across geography and time.
- How are the ancient matches scored?How we combine genetic-distance measures to score and rank your ancient matches.
- What is the Iberian Ancestry Report?What the Iberian report covers and the two ways it reads your DNA.
- Do the Iberian percentages always add up to 100%?How Iberian shares are normalized, and what happens with non-Iberian ancestry.
- My documented family is from a region that shows 0%. How is that possible?Why a region tied to your family can still show 0%.
- What do the Iberian region percentages mean?What your percentages really measure: how your DNA clusters with each Iberian regional pattern.
- How are the Iberian regions defined?How the Iberian regions are built from modern anchors and read through ancient DNA.
- Which areas does the report cover?The Spanish and Portuguese regions the report covers.
- Is this a "modern ethnicity" report?No — what the modern region names mean, and how the anchors are read through an ancient lens.
- How is this different from Deep Ancestry or other consumer DNA tests (AncestryDNA, 23andMe)?How Iberian Ancestry zooms in compared with Deep Ancestry or consumer DNA tests.
Italian Ancestry Report
An Italy-focused ancestry experience combining regional breakdowns with ancient DNA matches.
- What is the Italian Ancestry Report?What the Italian report covers and the two ways it reads your DNA.
- How is this different from standard ethnicity estimates (AncestryDNA, 23andMe)?How Italian Ancestry zooms in compared with AncestryDNA- or 23andMe-style estimates.
- Is this a "modern ethnicity" report?No — what the modern region names mean, and how the anchors are read through an ancient lens.
- Which areas of Italy does the report cover?The Italy-focused regional anchors the report covers.
- How are the Italian regions defined?How the Italian regions are built from modern anchors and read through ancient DNA.
- What do the Italian region percentages mean?What your percentages really measure: how your DNA clusters with each Italian regional pattern.
- My documented family is from a specific region, but it shows 0% (or low %). How is that possible?Why a region tied to your family can still show 0% or a low percentage.
- Do the Italian percentages always add up to 100%?How Italian shares are normalized, and what happens with non-Italian ancestry.
- What are "Ancient DNA Matches from Burial Sites"?Which excavated individuals and burial-site clusters your DNA is closest to, across key eras.
- How are the ancient matches scored?How we combine genetic-distance measures to score and rank your ancient matches.
- How do you choose which ancient individuals to include?How we select peer-reviewed, well-dated Italian genomes balanced across geography and time.
- Why not build the regional breakdown purely from ancient DNA?Why we pair modern-proxy anchors with ancient DNA rather than using ancient samples alone.
- How do you handle sensitive historical periods (Roman era, migrations, Early Medieval, etc.)?How we treat Roman-era and Early Medieval signals with caution and historical context.
- How accurate is the Italian Ancestry Report?The factors that shape precision: uneven sampling, DNA quality, migration, and statistical noise.
- Can this report prove (or disprove) my family stories?Why this report can refine a family story but can't definitively prove or disprove it.
- Why do I have strong "Sardinian" or "Tuscan" signals even without known ancestry there?Why distinctive anchors like Sardinian or Tuscan can show up without recent ties there.
- Will the report change over time?Yes — your matches and anchors can update as new ancient Italian genomes arrive.
- Is this a medical or health test?No — this report is for ancestry and education only, not medical or health testing.
- What DNA data do you use, and how is my privacy handled?How we compute your results, and why we don't publish your raw DNA in the report.
- What should I do if results don't match what I expected?Where to look — region definitions, neighboring anchors, and ancient matches — when results surprise you.
Ancient Eastern European Report
A deep ancestry experience connecting your DNA to ancient people of the Eastern European plain and Baltic corridor.
- What is the Ancient Eastern European Report?What the report covers, the 228 ancient genomes behind it, and the two ways it reads your DNA.
- How is this different from standard ethnicity estimates like AncestryDNA or 23andMe?How this ancient-DNA report differs from AncestryDNA- or 23andMe-style estimates.
- Is this a 'modern ethnicity' report? What do the regional labels mean?What the eight regional anchors mean — and what they deliberately don't claim.
- What countries does the Ancient Eastern European Report cover?The countries this report covers, and the ancient DNA reason each one is included.
- Why don't you include the Balkans (Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Croatia, etc.)?Why the Balkans tell a different genetic story and sit outside this report's scope.
- Why aren't there Caucasus samples in this report?Why the Caucasus belongs to a different genetic story than the Eastern European plain.
- Why doesn't the report include Central Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Slovakia)?Why Central Europe's distinct prehistory keeps it out of the Eastern European anchor set.
- Why does the report stop at the Ural Mountains for Russia?Why the Urals mark both the Europe-Asia line and a real genetic boundary for this report.
- What do my regional percentages actually mean?What your percentages really measure: how your DNA clusters with each regional pattern over deep time.
- Do my regional percentages add up to 100%?How regional shares are normalized, and what happens with ancestry from outside the region.
- My family is from X country, but my percentage there is 0% or very low. How is that possible?The reasons a country tied to your family can still show a low percentage.
- I have a strong signal in a region where I don't have any known ancestry. Why?Why deep, widespread ancient signals can appear even without recent family ties to a region.
- What time periods does the ancient DNA dataset cover?The eight eras the dataset spans, from ice-age hunters to the medieval period.
- Why use modern geographic names as anchors instead of pure ancient DNA regions?Why we use modern-named anchors mapped onto ancient DNA rather than ancient samples alone.
- What are Ancient DNA Matches?The ranked list of real excavated individuals whose DNA is closest to yours.
- How are ancient matches scored and ranked?How we combine genetic-distance measures to rank your closest ancient matches.
- What are Shared DNA Segments with Ancient Individuals?The stretches of your genome, measured in centimorgans, that you may share with ancient individuals.
- What's the difference between Ancestral DNA Affinity and Shared DNA Segments?How overall genetic distance and shared segments differ, and what each one tells you.
- How accurate is the Ancient Eastern European Report?The factors that shape precision: sampling gaps, DNA quality, ancient migration, and statistical noise.
- Can this report prove or disprove my family stories or genealogical records?Why genetic ancestry can support or complicate a family story, but can't confirm specific ancestors.
- Will my report update over time?Yes — your matches and anchors can shift as new ancient genomes and methods arrive.
- Is this a medical or health report?No — this report is for ancestry and education only, not medical or health insights.
- What DNA data is used, and how is my privacy protected?How we compute your results from your genotype data, and why we never publish your raw DNA.
- What should I do if my results don't match what I expected?Where to look — regional definitions, ancient matches, and neighboring anchors — when results surprise you.
- Does this report work if I only have a small amount of Eastern European ancestry?Yes — even a small Eastern European share can reveal meaningful ancient connections.
- How does this report relate to other ancestry reports I may have?How this Eastern European report fits alongside your broader and region-specific ancestry reports.
Greek & Mediterranean Report
A deep ancestry experience connecting your DNA to ancient people of the Greek world, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean.
- What is the Ancient Greek & Mediterranean Report?What the report covers, the 415 ancient genomes behind it, and the two ways it reads your DNA.
- How is this different from standard ethnicity estimates (e.g. AncestryDNA, 23andMe)?Three ways this ancient-DNA report differs from AncestryDNA- or 23andMe-style estimates.
- Is this a 'modern ethnicity' report? What do the regional labels mean?What the thirteen regional anchors mean — and what they deliberately don't claim.
- Which countries does the Greek, Balkan, and Mediterranean scope actually include?The thirteen-country scope, and the scientific reason each one earns its place.
- Why are there no Italian, Iberian, or French samples?Why Italy, Iberia, and France have their own reports rather than anchors here.
- Why are there no Eastern European samples (Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Baltics, Moldova)?Why the steppe-Baltic corridor is covered by the dedicated Ancient Eastern European Report.
- Why is Hungary excluded even though it's so close to the Balkans?Why Hungary's record belongs to Central European builds, and how the Danubian story still enters via Romania.
- Why are there no Levantine or North African samples?Why those regions sit in separate reports, and what the Anatolian samples here cover.
- Why is the Bosnian anchor shown through overlapping Croatian and Serbian maps?Why we read Bosnian ancestry through the Croatian and Serbian maps, given just one ancient sample.
- What do the regional percentages mean?What your percentages really measure: how your DNA clusters with each regional pattern over deep time.
- Do the regional percentages add up to 100%?How regional shares are normalized, and what happens with ancestry from outside the region.
- My family is from a country or region where I show 0% or very low. How is that possible?The reasons a region tied to your family can still show a low percentage.
- Why do I have a strong signal in a region where I have no known ancestry?Why deep, widespread ancient signals can appear even without recent family ties to a region.
- What time periods does the dataset cover?The ten eras the dataset spans, from 43,000-year-old hunters to the early modern period.
- Why not build the regional breakdown entirely from ancient DNA instead of using modern-named anchors?Why we use modern-named anchors mapped onto ancient DNA rather than ancient samples alone.
- What are the Ancient DNA Matches?The ranked list of real excavated individuals whose DNA is closest to yours.
- How are ancient matches scored and ranked?How we combine genetic-distance measures to rank your closest ancient matches.
- What are Shared DNA Segments with Ancient Individuals?The stretches of your genome, measured in centimorgans, that you may share with specific ancient individuals.
- The report shows two match tables — what's the difference between Ancestral DNA Affinity and Shared DNA Segments?How Ancestral DNA Affinity and Shared DNA Segments differ, and what each one tells you.
- How accurate is the report?The factors that shape precision: sampling gaps, DNA quality, ancient migration, and statistical noise.
- Can this report prove or disprove my family stories or genealogical records?Why genetic ancestry can support or complicate a family story, but can't confirm specific ancestors.
- Will the report update over time?Yes — your matches and anchors can shift as new ancient genomes and methods arrive.
- Is this a medical or health report?No — this report is for ancestry and education only, not medical or health insights.
- What DNA data is used, and how is my privacy protected?How we compute your results from your genotype data, and why we never publish your raw DNA.
- What should I do if my results don't match what I expected?Where to look — ancient matches, neighboring anchors, and the era timeline — when results surprise you.
- Does this report work if I only have a small amount of Greek or Balkan ancestry?Yes — even partial Greek or Balkan ancestry can surface meaningful ancient connections.
- How does this report relate to other ancestry reports I may have?How this Greek-anchored report fits alongside your broader estimates and other region-specific ancient reports.
UK Breakdown
Your UK regional breakdown, powered by our partner Living DNA.
- My UK Breakdown shows a different percentage than my Deep Ancestry report. Which one is right?Why the two reports can show different percentages, and which method each uses.
- How is the UK Breakdown different from the British Isles Ancestry Report?How the Living DNA-powered UK Breakdown differs from our in-house British Isles report.
- My UK Breakdown report failed. Why?Why the report needs a minimum British/Irish ancestry share, and our automatic refund.
- My report failed because I "already have a Living DNA account." But I don't think I do.Why a duplicate Living DNA email can block your report — and how to fix it.
- I need to answer a questionnaire before my UK Breakdown report can process. Where do I find it?Where to find the questionnaire your UK Breakdown report needs before it can run.
African Breakdown
Your African regional breakdown, powered by our partner Living DNA.
- My African Breakdown report failed. Why?Why the report needs a minimum African ancestry share to generate results.
- My report failed because I "already have a Living DNA account." But I don't think I do.Why a duplicate Living DNA email can block your report — and how to fix it.
- I need to answer a questionnaire before my African Breakdown report can process. Where do I find it?Where to find the questionnaire your African Breakdown report needs before it can run.
Free Ancestry Report (Bonus Ancestry)
Your free ancestry results and how the weekly bonus ancestry schedule works.
- Where do I find my Free Ancestry report?The direct link to your free ancestry report.
- What does "Other" mean in my Free Ancestry report?What the 'Other' category groups together in your Free Ancestry report.
- My ancestry percentages add up to more than 100%. Is that a bug?Why rounding can push your percentages slightly over 100%.
- My bonus ancestry isn't showing up. Where do I find it?Where to find your bonus ancestry, and what to do if it isn't showing up.
- My bonus ancestry schedule seems stuck, or I'm not receiving new bonuses each week.What to do if your weekly bonus ancestry schedule seems stuck or behind.
- My old bonus ancestries disappeared after the system update. Are they gone?Your old bonus ancestries aren't gone — here's where they stand after the update.
- My Free Ancestry report or traits aren't loading, or the page says "Loading" for days.What to do when your Free Ancestry report or traits are stuck loading.
Y-DNA Paternal Line Report
Trace your direct paternal line deep into prehistory — your Y-haplogroup, ancient matches, and how to read the results.
- Your report shows a region my recent family isn’t from — is it wrong?Usually not — deep paternal regions describe antiquity, not where your recent family actually lived.
- Where does the data come from?The open scientific datasets, public Y-tree resources, and ancient-DNA literature behind your report.
- How often is the report updated?How we refresh the dataset, and how paid customers get updated reports automatically at no extra cost.
- My result doesn’t match my documented paternal genealogy — what could explain that?The usual causes — file coverage, a stray marker, and deep-time lineage — and when to contact support.
- Can my haplogroup change over time?Your biology can’t change — but our reading of it can get more precise over time.
- Why did my result change from an earlier version?Why a newer result is usually more accurate as we improve the calling algorithm and reference data.
- My file has extra markers that don’t match any named branch — what are those?What unrecognized derived markers in your file are, and why we don’t assign them without confirmation.
- Another test or website gave me a completely different haplogroup — a different main branch, not just a deeper one. Which is right?Why calls can differ across tools, how we check the markers, and how to send yours to us for review.
- My FamilyTreeDNA (or other Y test) gives a deeper or a different terminal branch — is your result wrong?Almost always a difference in depth, not a contradiction — the deeper branch usually sits below ours.
- How precise are the formation age and TMRCA dates?These are molecular-clock estimates with a margin — best read as “at least this old.”
- What do “Paleolithic,” “Neolithic,” and “Bronze Age” mean on my timeline?What the prehistoric time bands on your timeline mean, and the rough dates behind each one.
- Can I use this report for regular genealogy or to break through a brick wall in my family tree?Not directly — it’s a deep-history view of one paternal line, not a tool for tracing recent relatives.
- Why do you match me to ancient people instead of showing where my haplogroup lives today?Why we match you to published ancient specimens instead of mapping where your haplogroup lives now.
- Are the ancient “relatives” my direct ancestors — and why are some in places my family isn’t from?They’re distant cousins from deep time, not recent ancestors — and why their locations range so widely.
- Does my haplogroup tell me my nationality, ethnicity, or surname?No — a haplogroup is a deep-time lineage that predates modern countries, ethnicities, and surnames.
- Is my Y-DNA result the same as my ethnicity or ancestry percentages?No — Y-DNA follows one deep line while ancestry percentages blend all your lines. Both can be true at once.
- Will I find living relatives in this report?No — the relatives here are published ancient specimens, not living contacts to message.
- My father (or brother) and I both uploaded — should we get the same result?Yes, along the same paternal line — small depth differences just reflect how much each file covers.
- Can women get a Y-DNA report?Not from their own DNA — but you can use a raw file from a male relative on the paternal line, with consent.
- How accurate is the call?How we place you only on branches your markers support, showing both a confirmed and a provisional depth.
- What if my file doesn’t have enough Y-SNPs?What the free eligibility check does when Y coverage is too low — no charge, plus an upgrade option.
- Do I need to take a new DNA test?No — we read Y-SNPs from a 23andMe raw file or GRCh37 VCF you already have, so there’s no new test.
- What’s the difference between Y-DNA and mtDNA?How Y-DNA traces your paternal line and mtDNA the maternal line — two opposite single threads of your tree.
- Why didn’t my previous DNA tests report this?Why AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and MyHeritage didn’t show this, and what Genomelink surfaces from your existing file.
- How is this different from FTDNA Big Y?How our report differs from Big Y — your existing file and ancient matches, no new test, and when to upgrade.
- Does my report prove an unbroken father-to-son line going back thousands of years?Yes — your Y-chromosome is proof of an unbroken father-to-son line, with two caveats about place and dates.
- Does my Y-DNA result tell me anything about my health?No — this is a deep-ancestry report about your paternal line, not health, medical, or trait information.
- What do the letters and numbers in a haplogroup name mean, like R-M269?What the branch letter and the marker code mean, and why a longer code just means a deeper twig.
- What’s a Y-haplogroup, exactly?What a Y-haplogroup is — a branch of the paternal-line family tree defined by inherited Y-chromosome markers.
mtDNA Maternal Line Report
Trace your direct maternal line deep into prehistory — your mtDNA haplogroup, ancient matches, and how to read the results.
- Where does the data come from?The open scientific resources behind your report — the AADR ancient-DNA dataset, a peer-reviewed mtDNA tree, and published ages.
- My result doesn’t match my documented maternal genealogy — what could explain that?The usual causes — file coverage, a stray variant, and deep-time lineage — and how to send us your file.
- Does my mtDNA result tell me anything about my health?No — this is a deep-ancestry report about your maternal line, not health, medical, or diagnostic information.
- Does my report prove an unbroken mother-to-child line going back thousands of years?Yes — mtDNA records an unbroken maternal line deep into the past, with two caveats about place and dates.
- Is my mtDNA result the same as my ethnicity or ancestry percentages?No — mtDNA follows one deep line while ancestry percentages blend all your lines. Both can be true at once.
- Does my haplogroup tell me my nationality or ethnicity?No — a haplogroup is a deep-time lineage that predates modern countries and ethnic groups by thousands of years.
- Can I use this report for regular genealogy or to break through a brick wall in my family tree?Not directly — it’s a deep-history view of one maternal line, not a tool for tracing recent relatives.
- Will I find living relatives in this report?No — the relatives here are published ancient specimens, not living contacts to message.
- What do “Paleolithic,” “Neolithic,” and “Bronze Age” mean on my timeline?What the archaeological periods on your timeline mean, and the rough dates behind each one.
- How precise are the age / TMRCA dates?These are molecular-clock estimates with a real margin — best read as “at least this old.”
- The report shows a region my recent family isn’t from — is it wrong?Usually not — these regions describe where your maternal line was in deep antiquity, not where your recent family lived.
- Are the ancient “relatives” my direct ancestors — and why are some in places my family isn’t from?They’re distant maternal cousins from deep time, not direct ancestors — and why their locations range so widely.
- Why do you match me to ancient people instead of showing where my haplogroup lives today?Why real, dated, published ancient people tell you more about your maternal line than a modern frequency map.
- What if my file doesn’t have enough mitochondrial coverage?What the free eligibility check does when coverage is too low — no charge, plus a higher-coverage option.
- Do I need to take a new DNA test?No — we read mitochondrial variants from the AncestryDNA, 23andMe, or MyHeritage raw file (or GRCh37 VCF) you already have.
- Why didn’t my previous DNA tests report this?Why AncestryDNA, 23andMe, and MyHeritage didn’t show this, and what Genomelink draws out of your existing file.
- How is this different from a full mtDNA sequencing test?How our report differs from full mtDNA sequencing — your existing file and ancient matches, no new test, and when to upgrade.
- My full mtDNA sequencing test gives a deeper or different terminal branch — is your result wrong?Almost always a difference in depth, not a contradiction — the deeper branch usually sits directly below ours.
- Another test or website gave me a completely different haplogroup, a different main branch — which is right?Why calls can differ across tools, what a different main branch usually means, and how to send us your file for review.
- My file has extra variants that don’t match any named branch — what are those?What unnamed mitochondrial variants in your file are, and why we note them rather than use them to over-call your result.
- Why did my result change from an earlier version?Why a newer result is usually more accurate as we improve the calling method, reference tree, and ancient-DNA data.
- Can my haplogroup change over time?Your biology can’t change — but our reading of it can get more precise as the reference tree grows.
- How accurate is the call?How we place you only on the deepest branch your own variants support — never a guess — after a free eligibility check.
- My mother, sibling, or maternal cousin and I both uploaded — should we get the same result?Yes, along the same maternal line — small depth differences just reflect how much each file covers.
- Can men get an mtDNA report?Yes — everyone inherits mtDNA from their mother, so men get a full report too. They just don’t pass it on.
- What’s the difference between Y-DNA and mtDNA?How mtDNA traces your maternal line and Y-DNA the paternal line — two opposite single threads of your tree.
- What do the letters and numbers in a haplogroup name mean, like H1a1?How each added character marks a deeper split on the same branch, and why a longer name just means a finer twig.
- What’s an mtDNA haplogroup, exactly?What an mtDNA haplogroup is — a branch of the maternal family tree defined by inherited mitochondrial DNA changes.