Analyse Your Ancestry To See If You Have Assassin Ancestors (Infographic)

Analyse Your Ancestry

Tracing your ancestry offers a fascinating insight into the past, your past.

Tracing your family tree is the first step, establishing names, dates of birth, marriage, adoption, death and so on. But tracing your ancestry is more than creating a family tree.

It is about taking steps back into the past that take you on a bigger and longer journey, but still as fascinating.

Tracing your ancestry with DNA

The discovery of DNA in 1869 was a gigantic leap forward but, it wasn’t until the mid-20^th century that scientists started to unravel its complexities and mysteries.

46 chromosomes – half from your Mother, the other half from your Father – combine to transfer traits from parents to child.

There are many ways in which it is physically obvious who your parents are: you share the same eye colour, for example, or you may be tall and blond, just like your mother or dark-haired, like your Father. There could be other similarities in features too, such as s similar shaped nose or other facial features.

But some of these traits are hidden, and not obvious immediately. This could be your resistance to disease, hitherto undiscovered. Or, if Grandma was allergic to feathers, you may be too.

DNA testing

Until recently, DNA testing was expensive and only really used in cases of disputed paternity. This meant the DNA tests were used as a means of determining a match between one set of DNA and another.

Although humans can share similar traits, the genetics and the message in the chromosomes vary significantly.

But the cost of DNA testing has decreased as the technology has become more sophisticated. Likewise, the way in which DNA is being used is also changing slightly too. As we unravel more of the secrets contained in DNA, we can reveal more about how our ancestors impact on us and future generations.

Does criminal behaviour run in families?

In the 19^th Century and into the 20^th Century, there were all kinds of theories that suggested you could spot a criminal by looking at them. It would be a hooked nose, eyes too close together, or certain lumps and bumps on the skull.

These theories have been debunked but DNA is offering a delightful insight into how traits and characters in your past could be informing you are today.

However, this doesn’t mean that an assassin in your past means you are an assassin-in-waiting. Our behaviour, the way we choose to respond has an impact on criminal behaviour and so on.

What will DNA say about your past? What traits from your ancestors did you inherit?

You can learn more about genealogy with one of our genealogy diplomas