Back in December, 23andMe updated the algorithms behind their Ancestry Painting feature. I posted my original results in October 2011. Thanks to a comment from a blog reader, I’m going to share my updated results.
My original results had me as 84% African, 13% European and 3% Asian (likely Native-American).
My new results are now 85.9% Sub-Saharan African, 11% European and 0.8% Asian (most of this Native American).
Overall, not much different from what it was before 🙂
Both of my parents have done the 23andMe test, so I’m able to get my Split View. As I’d suspected previously, the Native American/Asian DNA comes from my father’s side of the family, as does most of the European-origin DNA I have.
My Chromosome View is also updated and what is so nice is that now, each of my parents’ strands are shown separately. In the old version, I was able to approximate what half came from which parent, but now I don’t have to guess. Just as I’d hypothesized, the bottom strand is my father (I know b/c the bottom strands have more European DNA than the top strands).
And, to coincide with all of this, today I was contacted by someone who is a DNA match to both sides of my family AND he has identified common surnames from both sides that are in his tree, just as they are in mine. More as it develops!
(If you would like to read my other 23andMe posts, you can find them here.)
My Updated 23andMe Ancestry Painting
Thank you for sharing. But I wonder if the Native American /Asian percentage is truly Native American because I’ve been hearing that just about black folks are still getting Native American Asian percentages,albeit even smaller.I wonder if it is “statistical noise”.I don’t really trust these tests can tell for sure if AAs actually have Native American ancestry (except for the old Ancestrybydna 2.5 test from DNA Diagnostic Center,because most black folks got “0% Native American and Asian on that one)
In my case, some of the Native American is true but, I wouldn’t discount some of it as being noise either. These things are not always precise 🙂
First let me say I love your blog. Thank you so much for sharing your family history with the rest of us. Why do you say that most of your Asian is Native American when the percentages are higher for East Asian? Is it because you know for sure the migration history of your family?
Hi Danie – you are right! That was oversight on my behalf as indeed most of that is East Asian after all. Thank you for pointing it out.
You are so lucky to have both of your parents tested! I wonder if the paternal dna is always on the bottom. I’m going to check mine against a paternal aunt and some maternal cousins. Both of my parents were gone before dna testing came out.
Hi Kristin – yes, I do feel lucky in that regard. I was very glad both agreed to do it. My grandmother-in-law also did it and she just passed away on the 6th at 89 years old. Her sample will hopefully help us make more discoveries. I don’t know if paternal results are always on the bottom when both parents test; I would certainly not bet on this if only one parent is tested. But checking against your paternal relatives as you plan to do might help you figure that out. Thanks!
VERY Impressive TK!!! 🙂
Just now seeing your comment – thanks! 🙂