Newsletter

In 1961, when Swiss author Max Frisch wanted to satirize his fellow Europeans he wrote the play “Andorra.” Our Euro method does not list Andorra among possible matches because we do not have data on it, although we have Austria, Iceland, Ireland, Malta and Switzerland.

Another reason is we do not include fictional populations. Our $99 EURO Special is the only DNA test that reports real countries and actual nationalities, based on up-to-date forensic population literature. Other companies feature artificial populations like “Finno-Ugric.”

European Populations in the DNA Fingerprint

In the days before standardization of railway gauges, passengers were sometimes obliged to get out of the railcar when the tracks reached an end and climb aboard a waiting train on the next railroad system.

In autosomal data, the two main forensic conventions are those of the FBI (CoDIS) and Europe (ENFSI). The two standards are as different as electricity at 120 volts (U.S.) and 220 (Europe).

Introduced in May of 2013, DNA Consultants’ newly launched method for giving customers matches to countries of Europe where they may have ancestry underwent a major overhaul this month aimed at reconciling the different methods.

All full DNA Fingerprint reports now specify European results in several different ways, while the $99 EURO report will only give one result (no. 3, ENFSI).

As for special certificates ordered after you get your report, the match you specify must appear in the top world, European or ethnic panel results in your personal ancestry analysis.

If it does, it will be reproduced exactly according to the nomenclature adopted from the original study, e.g. Italian, Filipino, Sub-Saharan African, East Asian. Customers may choose between American Indian or Native American, whichever they prefer. Only one population match per certificate! Available in hard copy exclusively.

(*) Note: Nineteen of the European Union’s 27 countries are included in official ENFSI data:

• Austria+
• Belgium+
• Switzerland+
• Czech Republic+
• Germany+
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Spain+
• Finland
• France/Lille+
• France/Toulouse+
• Croatia+
• Ireland
• North Ireland
• Italy+
• Netherlands+
• Norway+
• Poland+
• Portugal+
• Sweden+
• Slovenia+
• England/Wales+
• Scotland/Dundee+
• Scotland/Glasgow+

Those countries marked with a + are also included in our world data on a different basis (CoDIS).

Omitted from official ENFSI calculations either because they have not been sampled by ENFSI itself or are not in the European Union are:

• Albania
• Belarusia
• Bosnia
• Bulgaria
• Cyprus
• Greece
• Hungary
• Kosovo
• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Luxembourg
• Macedonia
• Romania
• Russia
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Ukraine

Almost all of these countries are covered in our world data (using the CoDIS standard). For instance, Greek – Northern (n = 318) or Lithuania – Vilnius (n=140).

Included with ENFSI populations are two countries that are not members of the European Union:

• Norway
• Switzerland

Between one dataset or another, a customer can find at least one match for any country on the modern map of Europe they might have ancestry in, even Cyprus, Malta, Iceland and Turkey (often grouped with Europe). Bulgaria and Ukraine, for which no data at all are available, are estimated by neighboring populations across their borders.

Remember, multiple matches do not mean multiple ancestry! For instance, if you get 10 matches to Spanish/Portuguese, that does not necessarily mean you have 10 times the amount of that ancestry than if you received only one match.

The converse is also true. Many Americans are looking for confirmation of Irish ancestry, but there are only two sets of data for Ireland: Ireland (n=300) and Northern Ireland (n=207). Setting aside neighboring populations like Scotland/Glasgow (n=494) and England/Wales (n=437), your Irishman or Irishwoman thus only gets two “lottery tickets” to enter in the Irish Sweepstakes. If Ireland or Northern Ireland comes up, its significance is not diminished by its sole appearance since there are only two possibilities available.

If you did not get your ENFSI matches in a previous order before this change, just call or email us for a complimentary update. We will be happy to break out your top ten European results according to ENFSI. Or you may order the EURO stand-alone product for your top 10 European countries of origin. From now to the end of the year, use your special customer discount dnaplus15 to receive a $15 on this or any other test. But your EURO results are free.

The new EURO is included in all future DNA Fingerprint Plus orders. Tell your friends and family!

Happy ancestry hunting!

Best regards,

The DNA Consultants Staff