DNA Testing Botched My Family's Heritage

Re:DNA Testing Botched My Family's Heritage by middleclick on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @11:10AM (#16159187)

I am not a scientist but in my limited research I have been led to believe that these things are not entirely accurate.

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Re:DNA Testing Botched My Family's Heritage by LyndsySimon on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @12:17PM (#16159875)

Well, they're accurate but not precise.

What's useful is using the "DNA match" features of various websites to track down genetic relatives and use their research to flesh out your family tree beyond the point they intersect.

What's not useful is to use them to say "I'm 30% ____". It just doesn't work that way. Even the Ancestry results that show I'm like 30% "Ireland/Scotland/Wales" shows a whisker plot when you click in that gives a margin of error of +/- 35%.

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Re:DNA Testing Botched My Family's Heritage by drewmol on Tuesday January 16, 2018 @02:06PM (#16161128)

Hmm, my understanding leads me to expect: these companies to be more likely to deliver repeatedly similar results (precise) upon multiple analysis of the same tested specicime. It's the accuracy of the conclusions drawn from those results that is more difficult to offer... Your thoughts?

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