How do I interpret my Motherline/Fatherline?

Your motherline results

To provide you with your motherline, or maternal deep ancestry, results we look at your mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) which is a smaller genome than your autosomal or Y. You will see this if you choose to download your raw data - there are far fewer markers in the mtDNA file than the others.

Your mtDNA is passed down directly to you by your mother and to her by her mother and so on without undergoing any changes.

This means your mtDNA is identical to your mother and because of this, we can tell you about your ancestral information following your maternal line. Your mitochondrial haplogroup is a code that describes a group of people that share a common ancestor and tells you the storey of your ancestors from 10,000 of thousands of years ago.

Your fatherline results

The Y chromosome which we look at to provide you with your fatherline, or paternal deep anceestry, results is one of a pair of sex chromosomes. It is passed from father to sons, relatively unchanged which allows us to explore your paternal lineage.

As females do not carry a Y chromosome they cannot test their paternal ancestry themselves. Your Y Haplogroup provides you with a unique code that is used to describe a group of people who all share a common ancestor.

Your migration maps

Your ancestors began in East Africa, where humanity evolved. Through the generations, they journeyed from their original home and spread across the world - this map proposes a route they may have taken over tens of thousands of years right through to the modern-day.

Clicking on each haplogroup along the way - from Africa to wherever your own haplogroup is thought to have arisen - will give you more information about the steps your ancestors took on their long migration.

Your distribution maps

Your distribution map shows you where in the world today people with your haplogroup are living. This means that if you were to visit these regions you may bump into someone with whom you share a common ancestor.

In the example above, 60% of men in Ireland share Joseph Tremblay's haplogroup, meaning that they are all descended from the same ancient individual along (in this instance) the paternal line.