The following is an edited excerpt.
An increasing number of companies are offering to profile the genetic history of individuals based on a DNA sample for around £200.
But in a public guide, published by Sense About Science, Prof David Balding and Prof Mark Thomas of University College London warn that such histories are either so general as to be “personally meaningless or they are just speculation from thin evidence”.
The scientists say that genetic profiles cannot provide accurate information about an individual’s ancestry.
They say “the genetic ancestry business uses a phenomenon well-known in other areas such as horoscopes, where general information is interpreted as being more personal than it really is”.
Read the full article here: Some DNA ancestry services akin to ‘genetic astrology’
