What can DNA tests really tell us about our ancestry? - Prosanta Chakrabarty
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TEDEd Animation
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Two sisters take the same DNA test. The results show that one sister is 10% French, the other 0%. Both sisters share the same two parents, and therefore the same set of ancestors. So how can one be 10% more French than the other? Tests like these rely on our DNA to answer questions about our ancestry, but DNA actually can’t tell us everything. Prosanta Chakrabarty explores the accuracy of DNA tests.
Many people with European ancestry have a certain percentage of their DNA (roughly 2%) that is from a now extinct human species, Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis). That percentage is more than you likely have from your great-great-great-great-great grandparents, how is that possible given that Neanderthals went extinct tens of thousands of years ago?
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Meet The Creators
- Educator Prosanta Chakrabarty
- Director Igor Coric
- Narrator Adrian Dannatt
- Animator Igor Coric
- Storyboard Artist Igor Coric
- Compositor Igor Coric
- Art Director Igor Coric
- Sound Designer Cem Misirlioglu
- Music Cem Misirlioglu
- Director of Production Gerta Xhelo
- Editorial Director Alex Rosenthal
- Producer Bethany Cutmore-Scott
- Editorial Producer Elizabeth Cox
- Script Editor Emma Bryce
- Fact-Checker Eden Girma
