How do I interpret my recent ancestry results?

Please note that this video was captured before our recent portal re-design, so although the information about your results is still valuable, your portal will not look like this.

Your autosomal results are what we call your recent ancestry. 

You inherited these pieces of DNA from both your mother and father - 50% from each parent. The combination makes up your basic genetic code.

The typical Living DNA results provide you with your genetic ancestry going back approximately 10 generations. Your test gives you a clear percentage breakdown across the population groups that your genetic code has been compared against. The resulting percentages answer the question "Which populations in the world is my autosomal DNA most similar to?" We are able to establish the percentage similarity of your DNA to the population samples available in our reference dataset, and we’ve built Living DNA to report on your autosomal ancestry breakdowns up to 150 worldwide areas and counting.

As with any DNA test, there are limitations. Please note that at this stage, we are not able to tell you which parts of your family ancestry come from your mother's side or your father's side, nor which parts come from a certain generation.

When you test with us your online profile receives free ongoing upgrades in the ancestry platform. In the future, if, we are able to provide finer detail within our existing regions, or we can offer additional features in the ancestry platform, your online results will be updated automatically (not applicable to printed results).