Robert R.’s Reviews of MyHeritage & more

Robert's Profile

Review 1
First Reviews
0
Votes 0
Thank Yous 0
Fans 0
Profile Views

201

Contributor Level

Total Points

Genealogy

8/20/17

There is no doubt in my mind that I have African ancestry and that is fine. But with my knowledge of genes, for me to be 66% African, either what little European blood I have was so strong that it beat out the vast majority of my African genetics or something is really wrong with how they are reading certain data. Yes, that is me in the picture. Given that, African genes tend to be dominant; it is odd that I can even get a suntan and at 66% you would think that that wouldn't be the case. Living in California, I am the only African American who must put sunblock SPF 100 on when he goes out. I wish I were 66%. I would almost believe you Rafael had I not received completely different results from another DNA company. I have emailed My heritage and received no response, and in fact, I have email My Heritage twice sending the results of the other company with the email and have still received no reply.

Comments (0)
149K Views

Helpful (0)

Thank you

MyHeritage S. – MyHeritage Rep Over a year old

Dear Robert,

I am sorry to read your 1 star review and I regret to find you are unhappy with your DNA ethnicity estimate's results.

As you know, skin color is determined by the number, distribution and type of pigment-producing cells (melanocytes) in the skin. While there is a common assumption that skin tone measures the amount of a specific ethnicity you may have, it is not necessarily the case.

It is important to understand that percentages of ethnicity and genes are not passed down on in equal amounts and a very small amount of your DNA is likely to come from any given ancestor say 5 generations back. Because of this some descendants may inherit more of some genes than others do, while some descendants may not inherit specific genes at all.

To estimate your ancestral ethnicity, MyHeritage compares your DNA with other DNA testers around the globe whose genetic ethnicity is known. We call these people the Founder Populations. Currently our genetic models are based on 42 ethnic groups around the world, but this will improve thanks to our Founder Population project that is ongoing.

Nonetheless, it is a true that Africa is one of the world's largest and most populous continent. There are 3000 distinct ethnic groups and over 2000 languages on the continent making it home to the most genetically diverse people on Earth. The results of our project and these tests will yield a better DNA data set as we constantly work to better our DNA research model.

As we both know, given the history of what African Americans have gone through, especially where many of the traditional methods of genealogy research for African Americans have been complicated by the history of slavery, missing records and names being changed. Also, not to mention, many people were trafficked across state lines and stories were simply not passed down because they were too traumatic. DNA research does offer a way to circumvent these obstacles by measuring and comparing ones genetic makeup to trace roots and find more insight into ones family history to ultimately indicate lineage to specific ethnicities within Africa.

Along with the Ethnicity Estimate, we also offer you tools such as ancestral surnames, comparing trees and measuring ones shared DNA through DNA matches that have also been very valuable in tracing family history.

I'd be happy to go over your Ethnicity Estimate and give you more literature on what your results show and how to research your lineage. Please feel free to e-mail my inbox at rafael.vipsupport@myheritage.com from your registered e-mail address at your nearest convenience.

Warm Regards
Rafael
MyHeritage