At the beginning of this semester, I paid $80 to find out I’m a big loaf of white bread, mostly plain, but seasoned with a dash of Adobo and served with a side of olive oil. Or at least that’s how I interpreted the results of my DNA ethnicity test from Ancestry.com when it told me I was 73 percent Western European, 12 percent Spanish, and eight percent Greek, plus a few other trace-ethnicities.
I took the AncestryDNA test, available to the public for $99, as part of Dr. Anita Foeman’s DNA and the Construction of Identity class this semester. In the course, students were given the option to get their ancestral DNA profiled as we explored the impact of genetic data on personal narratives and conceptions of identity.
Ancestral DNA profiling works by searching DNA, usually acquired from a saliva sample, for genetic markers corresponding to specific ethnic groups and geographic regions. According to an article by journalist Ann Gibbons, these markers are discovered by sequencing the DNA of regional natives and searching for commonalities in their genes.
This can sometimes involve the use of DNA from ancient humans. As Gibbons mentions, one study looking for markers of European ancestry sequenced eight hunter-gatherers from Luxembourg and Sweden who lived 8,000 years ago.
With recent improvements in the accessibility of DNA tests, many contemporary studies have begun to explore their social impacts and the early findings are quite intriguing.
Most of the research today indicates that although genetic testing can reveal accurate and often surprising information about ancestry, this data rarely leads to significant changes in individuals’ personal narratives of family history.
In fact, research conducted by Dr. Foeman and her colleagues found most people made no changes to their family narrative or behavior after receiving their DNA test results.
Unsurprisingly, the reaction I had to my results mostly supported these findings. With a name like Detweiler, I figured I had to be at least partially German.
Getting confirmation of this was interesting, but you won’t see me walking around in lederhosen anytime soon. That’s partly because I don’t think I could pull off the look and partly because I don’t feel any closer to my German roots than I did before sending a tube full of spit to a lab full of strangers.
However, if ancestral DNA tests are really having little to no effect on personal narratives other than reinforcing preconceived ideas, what can we gain from them and are they worth it?
This is a question many people are asking as concerns have mounted over the ethics of identifying biological aspects of race and ethnicity. As we have discussed in Dr. Foeman’s class throughout the semester, some opponents of ancestral DNA testing fear that establishing a genetic basis for ethnicity could be polarizing and lead society away from viewing race as a social construction.
In an article from the Journal of Applied Philosophy, ethicist Matthew Kopec explains that many opponents of DNA testing see these implications as especially dangerous in the context of the justice system, where some argue genetic data could be used to target minority groups.
Kopec counters that DNA ethnicity profiling could actually help make the justice system more fair by providing scientific support for eyewitness descriptions of suspects and could ultimately help bring people together, not divide them.
After my experience with the testing process, I agree with Kopec wholeheartedly. Again, the research has shown ancestral DNA tests don’t usually lead to immediate changes in self-identity, but the true value of these tests is much more sublime.
Taking Dr. Foeman’s class and learning my genetic composition may not have drastically altered my self-image, but it certainly revolutionized my understanding of race and ethnicity.
Seeing my ancestral history laid out in pie-chart form conveyed just how complicated ethnicity can be, even for a white male. As the Second Law of Thermodynamics loosely states, order never increases; in a globalized world, the human population gets more diverse with each generation.
Ancestral DNA profiling could do a lot of good by helping us recognize this inevitably increasing complexity and pushing society to reevaluate the broad groupings we place ourselves and others into.
Although humans have incredibly diverse ancestral profiles, it is also important to note that the Human Genome Project, completed in 2001, found that 99.9 percent of our DNA is the same.
The differences used to estimate race and ethnicity are there, but are not significant enough to warrant the attention they’ve been given throughout history.
With our genetic ancestry only affecting 0.1 percent of our gene pool, it’s not so surprising to hear that DNA profiles are having little effect on self-image.
Though perhaps this finding is a good thing, as it shows our personal identity is not solely governed by genetics. It is reassuring, at least to me, that most people are not quick to let their DNA decide who they are or how they define themselves.
Ancestral DNA profiling is still a rapidly emerging field, and the full breadth of its impact hasn’t fully fanned out yet.
However, if my experience is any indicator, this scientific advancement could help bring people together and spur us to see race and ethnicity in a new, less polarizing way.
I may be a mostly plain loaf of white bread, but I know I’m no more than 0.1 percent away from anyone else on the planet, and that is exciting.
Bryce Detweiler is a third-year student majoring in communications studies and philosophy. Contact them at BD846487@wcupa.edu