|
Here's how they know:
Basically your DNA, half from your mom and half from your dad belongs to DNA families called haplogroups. There are several haplogroups which correspond to different geographical areas. So, for instance, if your mom is white and dad is black, their DNA families would correspond to one of the European haplogroups for mom and one of the African haplogroups for dad.
The major haplogroups that show up in these DNA tests would be your closest relatives. But all through history people have migrated and comingled and intermarried and procreated so just because mom is white, that doesn't mean that she might not have Indian haplogroups mixed in or Native American or Iberian. And dad may have European mixed in. Thats how these tests can show minute percentages of unexpected DNA. Somewhere in history, near or, usually, far back, there was a wandering ancestor that made a splash in your genepool.
|