Finding your genetic background

[dave_c]

I'm interested to pursue my ancestral trail, not in terms of backtracking the family tree, but through my genetic background. So can one go about it (and the less cash i spend the better)?

[cazzz1975]

wouldnt that be similar to doing your ancestral trail??, you need to elaborate more on what specifically you would be looking for as opposed to a regular family tree

[spudqueen]

I believe there is a blood test you can do which shows your genetic makeup. Colin Jackson (the athlete - I hope that's his name!) had one done on one of those ancestry programmes last year.

[dave_c]

That's exactly what I need to find, what my genetic make up is, an family tree cannot really tell me much, whilst a blood test can be more specific.

[smudge]

My husband's also been talking about having a blood test, to find out what genetic background he's 'really' from.

He's been told that his Grandfather on his Father's side was Jewish & his Mother looked mediterranean, as does my husband, so it would be very interesting to see what the results were!

[smudge]

Just as an aside - my husband read an article last year, which stated that a proportion of white males in Yorkshire, carried a gene most common in black Africans.

This was attributed to the fact that the Roman Army of occupation, were accompanied by African Slave/Warriors & presumably some of these were assimilated into our native population.

[dot.hawkes]

There are several US organisations that are offering these tests now virtually in the highstreet, in the Uk it is still developing:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/4559253.st m

[dave_c]

Anyone remember that Channel 4 documentary last year? it was revealed to upper class old lady that she had some mongolian/chinese ancestry. And for one suspiciously racist looking lady (who claimed to have pure anglo saxon blood and ancestry trailing even before the norman invasion) it was revealed to her amazement that she had romany/gypsy blood, the face she pulled when she heard that was priceless!

[dot.hawkes]

My children will all have gypsy/romany blood as their great geat grandmother Dianah lee was the daughter of Fighting Zacky lee who's mother was a Boswell of the Epping Forest Boswells. So doing my family history will have answered alot of the genetic issues, they had a Great Grandmother from Saxe Coberg too.