Just Say No: African Ancestry’s DNA Tests
I cannot recommend African Ancestry’s DNA tests. African Ancestry, Inc., a genetic testing company targeting consumers of African descent, claims to use “the world’s largest database of African DNA lineages to determine your country and ethnic group of origin, all with a simple swab of your cheek.” But the truth is not so simple.
Ethnicity is a complex concept, a concept not as rooted in genetics as it is in sociopolitical and cultural constructs. There is no DNA test that can assign anyone to an African ethnic group or what some refer to as an “African tribe.”
Secondly, African Ancestry tests too few DNA markers to determine much of anything, much less substantiate their marketing claims. African Ancestry tests 8 Y-chromosome DNA STRs and about 350-370 mitochondrial DNA markers. That number of markers is insufficient for delivering the level of specificity that the marketing promises.
Moreover, the tests, which cost far more than their value, sell on the basis of deceptive and disturbing promotion practices. An effective marketing machine reliant on half-truths, celebrity reveals, and the lack of genetic literacy and critical thinking among the general public has made this company profitable. Notice how African Ancestry discusses none of the scientific details of their analysis on their website. In misleading advertisements declaring themselves better, bolder, and “blacker” than other direct-to-consumer DNA test companies, African Ancestry reminds prospective customers that the “100% black owned” firm “destroys all genetic information” and enables users to reverse “the original identity theft,” trading on feelings of racial dissension and mistrust among some members of the African American community. The results from African Ancestry consist largely of a certificate claiming that one “shares ancestry with” one or more African ethnic groups from whom the company has received DNA samples.
What African Ancestry marketing literature has historically failed to explain is that, in the vast majority of cases, no single African ethnic group has a monopoly on a genetic signature. African Ancestry avoids explaining that the results of their low resolution tests should show that one “shares ancestry with” many different ethnic groups across the continent. African Ancestry has evaded discussions of how some Africans enslaved and transported to the Americas during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries came from ethnic groups that do not exist now as they did then. African Ancestry, by virtue of omitting these caveats to their overhyped, overrated, and overpriced results, has earned the “scam” moniker among experienced genetic genealogists.
Over the years, African Ancestry customers have delivered testimony expressing disappointment, embarrassment, anger, and family humiliation after receiving less than accurate results. The most common word in these negative reactions: useless. African Ancestry offers no DNA matches and little to no historical context for the results. One cannot use these results to advance genealogical research.
African Ancestry customers previously did not even receive haplogroup determinations with their results; customers had to struggle with rude service to get the haplogroup assignment from the company. That haplogroup assignment African Ancestry delivered was often far less precise than that supplied by other companies who charge far less. In some cases, the African Ancestry haplogroup assignment or the interpretation of that assignment was completely erroneous. Some of the company’s customers were told that they could not get an African ethnicity report because their Y-DNA or mtDNA was not of African origin. Those same customers would test with other companies that test more Y-DNA and mtDNA markers than African Ancestry and learn that their Y-DNA or mtDNA was, in fact, African. For this level of service, customers should not pay anything, much less premium prices.
Professor Henry Louis Gates Junior’s misinterpreted results rank among the most disconcerting examples of African Ancestry’s low quality analysis. African Ancestry’s Rick Kittles told Professor Gates his Y-DNA signature was Egyptian. However, more comprehensive Y-DNA testing revealed Professor Gates had the same Y-DNA haplogroup as Niall of the Nine Hostages, suggesting European ancestry on his direct paternal line. This discrepancy inspired Professor Gates to partner with Family Tree DNA to start African DNA, a company that would provide higher resolution DNA testing for African Americans and include DNA relatives - the most accurate and useful data in genetic genealogy.
Ironically, Gates never used nor promoted his own company, African DNA, on any of his genealogy television programs. Instead, Gates continued to use and promote African Ancestry’s inferior products, before finally shuttering African DNA several months ago. African Ancestry continues to survive, despite the spurious results of their tests, because many who recognize the company’s questionable tactics and the products’ lack of efficacy remain silent and demand silence from others. Now, the industry has lost a far more affordable, more valuable alternative in African DNA. Far too many will fall prey to the marketing messages that have become African Ancestry’s siren song and waste time and resources on a test of no utility or value.
I could never recommend testing with African Ancestry; their racial marketing practices, low resolution products, and high prices raise ethical questions.
Anyone seeking to investigate their Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA for genealogical research ought to respectively pursue Y-DNA (at least 37 markers) or full mitochondrial sequence testing at Family Tree DNA, join relevant haplogroup projects on Family Tree DNA, and research one’s results in academic literature.
My advice on African Ancestry: Steer clear.
