Download DNA Consulting Introduces Home DNA Fingerprint Test for Ancestry

News Release
Contact:
Donald Yates
Tel. 505.473.5155
Fax: 505.473.5157
[email protected]
DNA Consulting Introduces Home DNA Fingerprint Test for Ancestry Tracing
SANTA FE, N.M. – (September 29, 2006) – DNA Consulting has introduced a home DNA test
based on the same genetic markers used by law enforcement officers and popularized by TV
crime-solving shows. The company’s DNA Fingerprint Test determines the 16 markers that
make each of us unique and compares them to a database containing scores from ethnic groups
all around the world.
This new addition to the existing range of genetic genealogy tools allows consumers to
see their Top Ten matches in 180 populations. According to owner and principal investigator
Donald N. Yates, Ph.D., it represents the first test to answer such questions as, “Why do I have
the physical appearance that I have?” and, “Do I have any Scandinavian, Chinese or English in
my total genetic makeup?”
"This is a very exciting time for researching one's personal ancestry. There is so much we
can learn from testing our autosomal DNA," said Terry Carmichael, founder and vice president
of GeneTree, DNA Consulting’s supplier of autosomal (non-sex-linked) DNA testing services.
Previous tests were capable of revealing only a person’s direct male or direct female
lineage based on Y chromosome markers we receive from our father and on mitochondrial DNA
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DNA Consulting Introduces/ pg. 2
Sept. 29, 2006
passed to us by our mother. While it is true that other tests, known as autosomal, sampled one’s
entire ancestry, producing percentages of Caucasian, African, Asian and Native American, the
DNA Fingerprint Test has the advantage that results are linked to other people living now, not to
the deep history of human migrations. “The accuracy of this approach in predicting physical
resemblances to other ethnic groups is what has made the markers attractive to law enforcement
officers,” said Yates. “Sometimes they can draw an expected portrait of a crime suspect based
solely on these markers.”
The set of 16 markers analyzed by the test includes the so-called CODIS markers that the
FBI and other forensic specialists developed as a standard in their profession beginning in the
early 1990s. Each individual configuration of test scores is input into a public database
containing thousands of such profiles, called OmniPop, developed by Brian Burritt of the San
Diego Police Department. Customers need not fear that their fingerprint will be put into any
database, however. All matches are anonymous, and all results are confidential.
What Are CODIS Markers?
CODIS markers are also used in home paternity tests and relationship tests such as those
for siblingship. They can be important for adopted persons searching for their biological parents.
CODIS stands for Combined DNA Index System.
Inspiration for harnessing forensic markers for the purpose of genealogical research came
from the Melungeon DNA Project, founded in 2001 by Rutgers University professor Elizabeth
C. Hirschman. Melungeons comprise a multiracial ethnic group who likely were present in their
Appalachian homeland when the first English settlers arrived in America. Using the OmniPop
program enabled Hirschman to learn she had Sephardic-Spanish, North African, Native
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DNA Consulting Introduces/ pg. 3
Sept. 29, 2006
American, Sub-Saharan African, and several Indian subcontinent ethnic groups in her ancestry.
“The results helped me identify ancestries that I believed were in my background due to
genealogical, historical and anthropological evidence, but required genetic confirmation”, says
Hirschman.
Sample Results for Adopted Child
Suspected To Have Native American Father
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
African American (64)
ABI-ID African American (23)
ABI-ID Minnesota Native American (23)
ABI-ID Hispanic (23)
Podlasie (NE Poland) (50)
Caucasian (64)
ABI-ID Caucasian (23)
Hispanic (64)
Chinese (71)
Japanese (70)
Comment: The mixture shows that the child is tri-racial
and does have a high degree of Native American blood.
Asian matches are probably to be interpreted as Native
American, since these groups share deep ancestry.
Because the Native American ancestry was “hidden” in
the family tree, it would not have been revealed by
conventional tests that look only at the direct male and
direct female lines.
Source: OmniPop
DNA Fingerprint Test sells for $250.00 from DNA Consulting, the exclusive provider.
DNA Consulting is a Santa Fe, N.M.-based DNA test company and customized report writing
service partnered with high-throughput genomics laboratory Sorenson Genomics in Salt Lake
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DNA Consulting Introduces/ pg. 4
Sept. 29, 2006
City, Utah. It offers a comprehensive range of DNA tests, each of which comes with the
industry’s only personalized report. Products include male, female, Native American, African
American ancestry tests, paternity tests and DNA sample extraction services for unavailable
subjects (such as deceased relatives and unknown biological parents for adoptees).
For more information, visit DNA Consulting at www.dnaconsultants.com or call toll free
1-877-473-5155.
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