The advantage of a DNA ancestry test kit is that relevant information that pertains to your family tree can be traced with a high level of precision. Some of the vital details that can be ascertained using this kit include

1. Unfamiliar Relatives

Consider a child who is adopted and is trying to find his biological relatives. Such a child becomes clueless about his/her full heritage after many years go by. This is one of the solutions that a DNA ancestry test kit will provide you. It is capable of showing a proportion of relatedness and DNA matches among a large number of people who take the test. In this process, you can accurately discover people who are related to you but have been separated from you for so many years due to some reasons.

2. Ethnic Background

This is often used by people who were abducted and enslaved for so many years in a foreign land. Many people do not know their ethnic background and this DNA ancestral test kit can provide genetic estimates and help you trace it accurately. It can show you if you from Scotland, Africa or Native American descent.

3. Complete Family Tree

A DNA ancestry test kit can build a family tree for you providing a starting point for your genealogical research. This provides a depth of information in addition to helping you discover your living relatives that you have not seen before.

4. Health Details

You can know about your general wellness status and if diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and celiac disease are common in your family tree. This kit shows you important health information in addition to ancestral details. This can help you manage some diseases that you are at risk for. Also, information about lactose metabolism can be traced using a DNA ancestral test kit. This detects if your body is lactose tolerant or not and whether you should consume milk products or not. Many other health details can be fully understood with this kit and this can be a life-saving approach to a healthy living.

Types of DNA Tests

There are many tests that can be conducted using the DNA ancestral test kit. They include the following

Mitochondrial DNA test

You can clearly determine your ancestral line from your mother’s side. A DNA kit will show you the several branches of the family tree using the DNA from the mitochondrion. This test can be taken by both men and women since the mitochondrion is a common nuclear component of both sexes.

Y chromosome test

Another useful test that can be conducted using a DNA test kit is a Y chromosome test. This test can clearly show a man’s direct ancestry line only from the paternal side. It does not show details from the mother’s side because the Y chromosome is exclusively carried by the male gene. So women are exempted from this particular test because they carry only XX chromosome.

Autosomal DNA test

This test is just perfect to trace genealogical information from both the father and mother’s side. Autosomal DNA test can be taken by both men and women and it doesn’t just focus on a single ancestral line. So, if you intend to trace your complete family tree, this test is just appropriate to give you full details.

DNA/Ancestral Test Kit Feature Considerations

There are some requirements for each ancestral test kit and the most common ones are

Sample Type

Not all sample types can be used on a kit. Most times the required DNA sample would be specified by the maker of the kit. Sometimes, a cheek swab can do a great job. It’s simple to collect and only requires the use of a cotton swab. You can collect cheek swab, insert it in a protective tube and seal it. You can then transport it to a competent testing company. Another sample type that you be efficient for a DNA test is a saliva sample. This sample is also simple to collect and all you have to do is spit into a collection tube until it crosses the fill line a bit. Then, you stabilize the sputum within 30 minutes of collection using a buffer. Seal and ship the sample to a testing company. Saliva samples can be ineffective for elderly relatives because the result may not be accurate enough. In such cases, the cheek swab is just appropriate for DNA tests.

Waiting Period

Don’t be in haste to get the result of A DNA test because it’s actually not a fast process. Testing companies may take several weeks to completely process and analyze your DNA sample but some companies may offer shorter waiting periods. If you intend to get a fast result, ensure you make enough inquiries about the waiting periods of the testing company you are working with before they can give a reliable result. Most companies require an eight-week waiting period but some DNA ancestral test kits can provide result within four to six weeks waiting period. It’s very important you make enough research into delivery time of testing companies.

DNA Database Size

Not all testing companies provide a large DNA database but very detailed information can be gotten from a larger database. Make sure the DNA ancestral test kit of your choice can provide accurate ancestral information including some health or genetic issues. Consider the proprietary database of the testing company and know if it can handle samples as much as two million. Some companies accept DNA results from other testing companies and charge a small fee to enter it into their database.

Ethnicity Regions

If you are interested in discovering your ethnic origin, it is important to know the range of ethnic regions that the DNA/ancestry kit you are using is capable of covering. Not all kits can give you a comprehensive genetic ethnicity estimate so chose one that can cover the greatest number of ethnic region. This is vital for in-depth information about your ethnic background. Some test kits carry information about the range of ethnic groups that it can effectively test for so ensure you clearly understand its working specifications before using it.

Family Tree and Relative Matching

Many testing companies use a family tree feature to construct genetic matches based on the information contained in their database. They use the DNA ancestral test kit to build a family tree and they can show you if you share DNA with another user. You can get to know about your relatives and where you came from through genetic matches constructed on the website of such companies. This can be helpful if you are adopted and want to trace your biological relatives although, tribal affiliations can be hard to decipher.

Raw Data Upload/Download

One of the advantages of using a DNA ancestral test kit is its ability to share your DNA result with other companies that run databases as possible. You can as well download test results from some companies and enter it into the database of other companies. But make sure the company also allows upload of DNA test result from other companies to their own database. This is a fast and easy way to share genetic information to ensure better processing and analysis for better and reliable result.

Privacy Policies

Not everyone is comfortable with providing DNA samples to testing companies that they are not sure of. You need to ensure the privacy policies of the test kit you are choosing is okay by you in terms of how safe your data is, who can see your test result and what information is shared with other users. Every DNA/ancestry testing company has a fine print, read it carefully to know their privacy policies when you sign up.

DNA Ancestral Test Kit Prices

The price of DNA ancestral test kits varies depending on the depth of information it can provide. The price of Kits for ancestral and ethnic information only range between $70 and $100, whereas kits that will carry both ancestral and health information is more expensive and range between $100 and $200 in price.