Mitochondrial DNA testing

mtDNA test

This test traces your maternal lineage, your mother’s mother’s mother’s people. It uses a segment of DNA known as mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA which is passed down the generations from mother to child. Only females pass on this segment of DNA and so it traces only maternal lineages. There are a large number of different mtDNA lineages and groups of lineages which can be recognised by this test. Ethnoancestry tests a very variable section of the mtDNA (hypervariable region 1), which allows different lineages to be distinguished. We will also infer which group your mtDNA lineage is in from this information and data on two or more other sections of the mtDNA.
The mtDNA test can be used for two purposes:

1: To test whether two people are related in the female line, that is if they are mtDNA matches

e.g. you may have traced your family tree back to one of two women in 1840 whom you suspect were sisters, and you have located a female line descendant of the other sister: if they were sisters you should match.

2: To give information on the deep ancestry (thousands of years ago) of your female lineage

e.g. your mtDNA may be in the J group, indicating that your ancestors moved into Europe with the advent of farming c.9,000 years ago, or you may be in group V, which means that your ancestors were the indigenous hunter-gatherers of Europe who weathered the last Ice Age in a refuge in Iberia.

After submitting your saliva sample we will extract your DNA and sequence the HVR1 region (positions 16001-16389 + H and U SNP tests) of your mtDNA. We will then compare your results to our company's extensive database and infer your mitochondrial group. Unlike some other companies, at EthnoAncestry if there is any doubt whatsoever about the assignment of your mtDNA (we have access to a database with 50,000 individuals in it). Further testing to ensure assignment is carried out free of charge.
This can take longer, particularly if your mtDNA is in a very rare group.

You will receive a certificate in pdf format summarising both your lineage and the group it is in.

This test can be run on DNA from males and females!

Order the mtDNA test!

US$179
US$129

Interested in learning more about our research programme?

Why the difference in price?


HVS2 test

The HVS2 test (covering nucleotide positions 16440 - 16700) adds resolution to the HVS1 test to increase confidence in a previous match. There is also further information with which to identify group and sub-group. Your differences from the Cambridge reference sequence will be presented as a PDF certificate.

Order the HVS2 test!

US$139
US$79

Interested in learning more about our research programme?

Why the difference in price?


HVS combined test

The HVS combined test comprises a combination of both the HVS1 and HVS2 tests. This generates a high resolution haplotype (or signature) which allows identification of related individuals (matches) who share recent common ancestry. We will compare your results to our company's extensive database and infer your mitochondrial group. You will receive a certificate in pdf format summarising both your lineage and the group it is in.

This test can be run on DNA from males and females!

Order the HVS combined test!

US$249
US$199

Interested in learning more about our research programme?

Why the difference in price?


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