Excelsior GENE201 Autosomal DNA Ethnicity Predictions Discussion

Question Description

Now that you have read about ethnicity estimates, let’s check your knowledge. The following discussion questions evaluate your ability to analyze ethnicity estimates provided by the testing companies and third-party tools. Read the following and, based on your understanding of ethnicity estimates, answer the discussion questions:

Mary T. received her ethnicity results from 23andMe, which show an estimate of 7.0% French and German. However, her father is at least 50% German, since her grandfather was a German immigrant with known German roots.

Image of a world map heavily highlighted in various shades of blue over Europe to depict ancestry composition. The key reads: 100% European broken down into Northwestern European and Southern European. Of Northwestern European, 49.5% is British & Irish, 7 % French & German, 5.8% Scandinavian and 34.8% Broadly Northwestern European. Of Southern European, .4% is Broadly Southern European and 2.5% is Broadly European. Bar graphs surrounding the world map provide corresponding visual display of ethnicity percentages.

Discussion Question: What are some of the several reasons that Mary’s self-predicted ethnicity might be different from her 23andMe test results? What steps might you recommend Mary take to learn more about her ethnicity results at 23andMe? What steps might you recommend Mary take to learn about her ethnicity in general?