Akar NusaAkar Nusa / Shelves / The science
The science
How a family line is read, and what DNA can and cannot tell you.
WHERE THE STORIES ON THIS SHELF HAPPENED. SHAPES ARE SCHEMATIC.
Stories on this shelf
16 written, 5 coming soon
What is DNA ancestry, in one page
A plain picture of what ancestry tests read.
The science · 3 min readWhat DNA can and cannot say about you
DNA shows ancestry, not race, faith or citizenship.
The science · 4 min readWhy DNA does not prove race, religion or bumiputera status
Race is a social idea; ancestry is a family map.
The science · 4 min readYour mother line (mitochondrial DNA): a thread from your mother's mother
A mother-line thread goes back thousands of years.
The science · 4 min readYour father line (Y chromosome): a thread from your father's father
Only sons carry this thread.
The science · 4 min readRegion estimate: how the percentages are made
Compare your DNA with reference groups to find the best match.
The science · 5 min readWhy Malaysians are so mixed
Trade winds and borders made Malaysia a crossroads.
The science · 3 min readHaplogroups: family trees of mother and father lines
A haplogroup is a branch name, like a surname for a very big family.
The science · 3 min readWhy a haplogroup is not a nationality
A branch can sit in many peoples.
The science · 3 min readHow far back can a line go?
A mother line can reach 70,000 years; a normal paper trail reaches 400.
The science · 3 min readHow many ancestors do you really have?
You have more than a thousand ancestors in 10 generations.
The science · 3 min readAdmixture: how two peoples become one family
A neutral guide to mixed ancestry.
The science · 3 min readCan a DNA test find a long-lost relative?
Shared DNA can find cousins, with consent and care.
The science · 3 min readPrivacy and consent: who sees your DNA story
Our rules about privacy and the Personal Data Protection Act.
The science · 3 min readHow reliable is a region estimate?
Estimates are best guesses with a range.
The science · 3 min readWhy different companies give different percentages
Different reference sets, different answers.
Why DNA from your 5th great-grandparents may be missing
Some ancestors never gave you a single piece of DNA.
Two siblings can have different region estimates
Each child gets a different half of each parent.
Genetic drift and bottlenecks: why small peoples look different
Small groups shift more and show old patterns.
Archaic ancestry: Neanderthal and Denisovan bits
Tiny ancient pieces still live in us.
Ancient DNA: how old bones are read
The science of reading 8,000-year-old DNA.
12 family lines linked to this shelf
A line being common in a place does not mean everyone there carries it, and it never settles who anyone is.
