BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO DNA
STARTING OUT WITH DNA
A Beginner’s Guide
Which companies provide consumer DNA tests for family history?
• 23andMe www.23andme.com/
• Ancestry DNA www.ancestry.co.uk/c/dna
• FamilyTreeDNA www.familytreedna.com/
• MyHeritage www.myheritage.com/dna
• LivingDNA https://livingdna.com/
Which test should I take?
All the companies above provide autosomal DNA tests. This means that the tests look at the DNA you have inherited from all the branches of your family tree. Other points to bear in mind:
• Check out the DNA test comparison tables at ISOGG (mentioned previous page).
• FamilyTreeDNA is the only company of those listed above that provides Y-DNA (covering direct fatherline only) and mt-DNA testing (for direct motherline only).
• Note that Ancestry and 23andMe do not allow you to upload your DNA test results from other companies – to get into their DNA databases you have to buy a test with them. You may, however, download your DNA from those two companies and upload it elsewhere – thus getting your DNA test results into other databases at no extra charge, though additional fees may apply to unlock certain tools.
How much does a DNA test cost?
Very roughly in the region of £79 for an autosomal test. However, look out for offers, which may enable you to buy an autosomal DNA test at about half price.