Lou’s View

My columns have a tendency to fall into a couple of categories. There are the ones where I write about local history, taking some incident from Clinton County’s past and explaining it in seven hundred words. There are the ones where I write about paranormal legends. And there are the ones where I just get annoyed and complain about something that relates to my research.

This one is one of those complaining ones.

I deal with a lot of genealogy. I field a lot of those questions, and I am able to explain how to search obituaries, look through marriage records. I am able to recommend which documents to use, which cemeteries to check out.
One thing I don’t recommend is DNA testing.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had someone come to me upset, some people practically in tears, because they always thought they were Native American, but the DNA test shows they’re actually Brazilian or something. People get highly upset because their grandmother told them she emigrated from Germany, but the DNA test says they’re Polish.

In this case, listen to Grandma. Especially if she can back it up with naturalization records.

Let’s start with the obvious: All DNA companies are not created equal. Some of them are way better than others, so you may be getting a somewhat accurate result, or you may be paying money for little more than an educated guess.

Even the good ones are limited as to what they can actually tell you, however. I realize that television gives people funny ideas about this—A cop gets a DNA sample, runs it to the good-looking but nerdy lab assistant, and within minutes, the cop has the person’s height, weight, home address, cell phone number, and favorite ice cream flavor.

Here’s a tip: Absolutely everything that you see on TV is wrong.

DNA is pretty good for things like hair color or possibly inherited diseases. The lab can tell you that, yes, your family has a history of cancer, and possibly you’re at risk. But otherwise, often, DNA is answering a yes-or-no question: Is the person related, or not?

Here’s what DNA definitely cannot tell you: Where, precisely, your ancestors were living at any given time.

People move around. Borders change. Nations get conquered. DNA knows none of this. Genetically, there’s really not that much difference between Paris, Geneva, or Munich. Oddly, the DNA testing actually works better on dogs—While there’s not much genetic difference between a French citizen and a German citizen, there’s considerable difference between a French Poodle and a German Shepherd.

So how do they send you those precise-sounding results where they narrow it down to a single country? As I mentioned earlier, there’s some guesswork involved.

DNA is good for physical characteristics, so the genealogy aspect builds on those. Blonde hair? You might be Swedish. Dark skin? South American or African. A tendency toward cholesterol problems? Maybe French. The DNA testers take all of those little indicators, and put them together to form a guess as to where Grandma and Grandpa were living.

Look, if you want to try a DNA test, feel free. I’m not here to tell you how to spend your money. But I do want you to understand the limitations of such a test, what it can and can’t tell you. And I also want you to understand that you’re far better off doing the research, and looking for the documents, which give you a better sense of your heritage.