Already among the most comprehensive DNA ancestry tests on the market, 23andMe is updating its ancestry offerings, adding new populations in South Asia, North Africa, and Western Asia, and an innovative new Family Tree.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-27439" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/35ffff6dd8c2445dd3115a1601aa3c079f4e7361-2-300x219.png" alt="" width="300" height="219" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/35ffff6dd8c2445dd3115a1601aa3c079f4e7361-2-300x219.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/35ffff6dd8c2445dd3115a1601aa3c079f4e7361-2-768x561.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/35ffff6dd8c2445dd3115a1601aa3c079f4e7361-2.png 822w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
This update expands the number of regions covered worldwide to more than 1,500 and introduces a new Family Tree builder that is automatically assembled based on a customer’s DNA. The update will also eventually include more than 30 trait reports for Ancestry Service customers at no additional cost.
“This is another step in our constant push to improve the granularity of ancestry results, as well as folding in even more engaging tools and content for our customers, said Hilary Vance, a 23andMe Ancestry Service product manager.”

<h2>Ancestry Composition Update</h2>
This is 23andMe’s second major update to its Ancestry Composition tool in less than a year, layering additional detail into the tremendous offerings already available to customers.
This new data will give a more granular breakdown of Ancestry Composition results for customers with Central Asian, South Asian, Western Asian, and North African ancestry, breaking those regions into more than a dozen new populations. To provide these more specific results and improve our research, we’ve undertaken a number of programs to diversify the 23andMe database. Data from one of our most recent initiatives, the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/global-genetics/">Global Genetics Project</a>, is now being used to update reference populations in the new regions.
<h2>More Regions</h2>
For example, what was previously the “Broadly South Asian” population will now be broken into seven more granular populations: Central Asian, Northern Indian &amp; Pakistani, Bengali &amp; Northeastern Indian, Gujarati Patidar, Southern Indian Subgroup, Southern Indian &amp; Sri Lankan, and Malayali Subgroup.
We are also expanding the number of populations in North Africa and Western Asia to eight: Peninsular Arab, Levantine, Egyptian, Coptic Egyptian, North African, Cypriot, Anatolian, and an Iranian, Caucasian &amp; Mesopotamian population. 

We previewed these changes in our beta testing program earlier this year, previously on the blog, but we’ve adjusted that beta version based on feedback from some of the customers who tested it.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-27436 size-full" title="Iranian, Caucasia and Mesopotamian Ancestry in Detail" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/8f0e765ac20106a2c2356056fd75850aa0b19708-e1568058586174.png" alt="" width="1409" height="1518" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/8f0e765ac20106a2c2356056fd75850aa0b19708-e1568058586174.png 1409w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/8f0e765ac20106a2c2356056fd75850aa0b19708-e1568058586174-278x300.png 278w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/8f0e765ac20106a2c2356056fd75850aa0b19708-e1568058586174-768x827.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/8f0e765ac20106a2c2356056fd75850aa0b19708-e1568058586174-950x1024.png 950w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/8f0e765ac20106a2c2356056fd75850aa0b19708-e1568058586174-817x880.png 817w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/8f0e765ac20106a2c2356056fd75850aa0b19708-e1568058586174-1095x1180.png 1095w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1409px) 100vw, 1409px" />
Now, customers may also see more granularity in their Ancestry Detail Reports, which look at where your more recent ancestors may have lived within the last 200 years — down to state, county, or even city. That information is displayed on interactive maps near the top of the Ancestry Detail reports.
For example, a customer with Indian ancestry could see evidence of recent ancestry from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, or Delhi in Northern India.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-27438" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/df9a63d7103585019dba744e23ce538a0ffc573e.png" alt="" width="2266" height="885" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/df9a63d7103585019dba744e23ce538a0ffc573e.png 2266w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/df9a63d7103585019dba744e23ce538a0ffc573e-300x117.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/df9a63d7103585019dba744e23ce538a0ffc573e-768x300.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/df9a63d7103585019dba744e23ce538a0ffc573e-1024x400.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/df9a63d7103585019dba744e23ce538a0ffc573e-880x344.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/df9a63d7103585019dba744e23ce538a0ffc573e-1180x461.png 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2266px) 100vw, 2266px" />Beyond this latest update, 23andMe has also been busy adding in more detail and features to its ancestry offerings. Over the last year or so, we’ve added recent ancestral locations, additional African and East Asian populations, and new interactive maps. In addition, we designed a new Ancestry Overview page to help customers more easily explore and access their reports.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-27553 size-large" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Replacement-No-Indian-953x1024.jpg" alt="" width="953" height="1024" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Replacement-No-Indian-953x1024.jpg 953w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Replacement-No-Indian-279x300.jpg 279w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Replacement-No-Indian-768x826.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Replacement-No-Indian-819x880.jpg 819w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Replacement-No-Indian-1098x1180.jpg 1098w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Replacement-No-Indian.jpg 1146w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 953px) 100vw, 953px" />
These pages offer customers an opportunity to not only connect with their own heritage, but also to explore other cultures around the world. 
<h2>Family Tree</h2>
Your family tree is written in your DNA, and 23andMe researchers have developed an algorithm to help you read it.
Instead of relying on customers to painstakingly enter names and dates—or track down records—just to get started, 23andMe&#8217;s new Family Tree does it for you using your genetic connections and DNA Relatives.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-27444" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/for_comms@1x.png" alt="" width="3525" height="2580" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/for_comms@1x.png 3525w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/for_comms@1x-300x220.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/for_comms@1x-768x562.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/for_comms@1x-1024x749.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/for_comms@1x-880x644.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/for_comms@1x-1180x864.png 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 3525px) 100vw, 3525px" />
With the click of a button, your genetic family tree is built automatically by an algorithm that predicts relationships based the DNA shared between you and your DNA Relatives. The size of your family tree depends on how many connections and DNA Relatives you have close relationships with in the 23andMe database. Participating in 23andMe’s DNA Relatives tool helps improve the experience. Customers will also be able to add names of relatives, or ancestors, to the family tree whether or not those individuals are on 23andMe. As the 23andMe database grows, customers may see their trees expand.
We created this new feature because we heard from customers who want to understand their recent family history, but don’t want the hassle of building a traditional family tree from scratch. The team is also working on additional functionality, such as the ability to edit your predicted relationships, which is expected to roll out in the coming weeks. 23andMe’s Family Tree offers a simple friction-free option, and a beautiful way to visualize how you connect with DNA Relatives.
<h2>Traits</h2>
DNA enhances our knowledge of our ancestry and family connections. It can also tell us more about the genetic underpinnings of our traits. Those include traits that affect our appearance, or our senses, or our behaviors.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-27455 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Traits.png" alt="" width="820" height="352" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Traits.png 820w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Traits-300x129.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Traits-768x330.png 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" />
With this latest update, 23andMe is now folding in more than 30 trait reports as part of our ancestry offerings. All Ancestry Service customers will have access to these trait reports in the coming months. These reports — including your genetic likelihood of disliking cilantro, your likelihood of having a dimple or preferring chocolate over vanilla ice cream — offer up a fun way to explore what else you can learn through your DNA.
Your traits are also intricately connected to family, passed down over the generations from your parents and grandparents and often shared with siblings and cousins. So, understanding your traits gives you another dimension to understanding your family connections.
It’s also a great introduction to how lifestyle, environment, and genetics work together to influence who we are.
<h2>Exploring Your Ancestry with 23andMe</h2>
<a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">23andMe’s genetic ancestry</a> offerings open the door to exploring your genetics.
With innovative and scientifically robust features, more than 1,500 geographic regions to connect with, more than 30 trait reports, and an innovative genetic Family Tree, 23andMe offers more specificity, more interactivity, and more to explore. 
23andMe customers can go to their<a href="https://you.23andme.com/ancestry/"> Ancestry Overview</a> to start exploring. Not yet a customer? Find out more about 23andMe’s ancestry offerings <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/"> here</a>.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

23andMe Adds More Diversity to Ancestry Features

Neanderthals may be an ancient species, but their genetics continue to surprise us to this day.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-23459" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Neanderthal-Image-247x300.jpg" alt="" width="247" height="300" />
For instance, new research published last month in <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/5/6/eaaw5873">Science Advances</a> shows that Neanderthal DNA has a longer, more consistent history than previously realized. By comparing the genetic material of two 120,000-year old Neanderthals with specimens from just 40,000 years ago, scientists identified surprising similarities that spanned the 80,000-year gap.
And that’s just one of the discoveries that have us endlessly fascinated!

Consider the following:<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-27256" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neanderthal-Skull-300x177.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="177" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neanderthal-Skull-300x177.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neanderthal-Skull-768x454.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neanderthal-Skull-1024x605.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neanderthal-Skull-880x520.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neanderthal-Skull-1180x697.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neanderthal-Skull.jpg 1202w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<h6>Our Common Ancestor</h6>
The story of modern humans and Neanderthals actually starts together since scientists believe we hail from a common ancestor, <a href="http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/human-fossils/species/homo-heidelbergensis">Homo heidelbergensis</a>. This species inhabited much of Africa, Europe and probably Asia from at least 700,000 years ago until about 200,000 years ago. And it was only at that point that the European branch of Homo heidelbergensis had evolved into a genetically distinct species — Homo neanderthalensis, also known as Neanderthals.
<h6>Not Just a Caveman</h6>
While popular culture depicts Neanderthals as primitive creatures, they were probably a lot like us. For instance, the <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/a-neanderthal-renaissance/">earliest European art</a> — Spanish cave paintings of animals and geometric shapes — dates from more than 20,000 years before the first modern humans arrived in Europe. And Neanderthal remains found throughout Europe suggest <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature21674">diets that evolved</a> to match their surroundings. In what is now modern Spain they ate from pine nuts and moss, but mostly ate reindeer and mushrooms in the region of Europe that is now Belgium.
<h6>A Neanderthal Human reUnion</h6>
Our stories come together again about 60,000 years ago. That’s when modern
<div id="attachment_27253" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27253" class="size-medium wp-image-27253" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/manot_cave_view-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/manot_cave_view-300x199.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/manot_cave_view.jpg 527w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Manot Cave</div>
humans, having evolved in Africa, start to explore beyond the continent. And skeletal remains found in the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature14134">Manot Cave</a> in Israel and elsewhere suggest that modern humans and Neanderthals began to interbreed. Thus linking our genetics.
<h6>The Last Neanderthal</h6>
Neanderthals became extinct about 40,000 years ago. But the reason for their disappearance remains a mystery. Some researchers blame climate change or exposure to unfamiliar human diseases. Others point to a decline in fertility rates in Neanderthal communities. While there may be some truth to each of these hypotheses, the disappearance of Neanderthals may also have come down to pure numbers. If there were more humans than Neanderthals 40,000 years ago, the latter may have simply been absorbed into the former.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-27255" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neanderthal-Migration-300x270.png" alt="" width="300" height="270" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neanderthal-Migration-300x270.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neanderthal-Migration-768x691.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Neanderthal-Migration.png 874w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<h6>Neanderthals, Unearthed</h6>
The first Neanderthal remains were discovered in the Neander Valley in Germany in 1856. However, it wasn’t until 30 years later that scientists realized the skeleton wasn’t just a modern human with bone deformities but a whole new species. Since then, archeologists and others have discovered the bones of more than 400 Neanderthals from Wales to Israel to Uzbekistan.
<h6>Our Neanderthal Inheritance</h6>
As a result of interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans, over 40 percent of the Neanderthal genome lives on today in our gene pool. Non-African populations, in particular, carry that ancestry forward, sharing on average 1-2 percent of their DNA with Neanderthals. However, Sub-Saharan African populations have virtually no Neanderthal ancestry given that migratory paths of Neanderthals spanned from Europe to Western Asia.
<h6>Neanderthal Genes Today</h6>
While our Neanderthal heritage may be limited, it does have a handful of associations with our traits. For instance, Neanderthal genetic variants are associated with having straighter hair and with being less likely to sneeze after eating dark chocolate. And counter to the popular perception, Neanderthal variants are actually associated with having less<a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/back-hair/"> back hair</a>! Perhaps most intriguingly, some scientists believe that interbreeding with Neanderthals <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/the-lasting-legacy-of-neanderthals/">even provided modern humans with evolutionarily advantageous traits</a> as they migrated into Europe.
<h6>How Neanderthal Are You?</h6>
If you’re just as intrigued by Neanderthals as we are, start by digging into your <a href="https://you.23andme.com/reports/neanderthal/">own shared ancestry</a>.
You can explore your Neanderthal Report <a href="https://you.23andme.com/reports/neanderthal/">here</a>. And if you’re not yet a customer, you can find out more <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/#toc-neanderthal">here</a>.

Why 23andMe Loves Neanderthals, And You Should Too

Your DNA offers much more than just insights into your origins, it may help you map out your next travel itinerary.
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23andMe and Airbnb are teaming up to offer customers a new way to connect with their heritage, by showcasing homes and <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/#ancestry-airbnb-travel">heritage travel experiences</a> based on a customer’s DNA.
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“We empower 23andMe customers to <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">learn about themselves and their ancestry</a> through their unique genetic code,” said 23andMe CEO and co-founder Anne Wojcicki. “Working with Airbnb, a leader who is reimagining travel, provides an exciting opportunity for our customers to connect with their heritage through deeply personal cultural and travel experiences.”

<h6><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AIRbnb-3.jpg" alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-27124 size-full" title="Heritage Travel" width="977" height="434" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AIRbnb-3.jpg 977w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AIRbnb-3-300x133.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AIRbnb-3-768x341.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/AIRbnb-3-880x391.jpg 880w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px" />Heritage Travel</h6>
23andMe’s pioneering Ancestry Composition allows customers to <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry">discover where their DNA is from</a> out of 1000+ regions worldwide, while Airbnb offers travelers a way to immerse themselves in the local communities and cultures through enriching experiences. The collaboration, which allows customers to more easily find homes and experiences inspired by their DNA, also offers users the ability to delve into locales even with which they have no genetic ties.
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The new integration also comes as more and more 23andMe customers use insights from their <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">Ancestry Composition</a> to connect to their cultural roots and map out their own Heritage Travel. And this trend goes beyond 23andMe customers. Since 2014, Airbnb has seen a 500 percent increase in the number of guests traveling specifically to explore their heritage.
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In a recent national survey, almost two-thirds of respondents said they thought that heritage based travel offered more valuable experiences. The survey, commissioned by Airbnb, showed that within the last five years 51 percent of those surveyed said they were much more likely to travel to a country of their heritage. And when looking at Airbnb customers that interest jumped to 62 percent. In a recent survey conducted by 23andMe, 53 percent of buyers of genetic kits say they decided to take a test because they want to know information about their ancestry and the ancestry of their family. For those who hadn’t yet taken a test, 73 percent of survey respondents said knowing their heritage by exploring personal DNA made them more likely to take a test.
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“At Airbnb, we believe that authentic travel experiences help you connect with local cultures and create a sense of belonging anywhere in the world &#8212; and what better way to do that than traveling to your roots,” said Joe Gebbia, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer. “We’re proud to team up with 23andMe, the leader in helping people learn about their genes and ancestry, to make it easier for travelers to plan trips as unique as their DNA.”
<h6><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Airbnb-4.jpg" alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-27125 size-full" title="Heritage Travel" width="977" height="433" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Airbnb-4.jpg 977w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Airbnb-4-300x133.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Airbnb-4-768x340.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Airbnb-4-880x390.jpg 880w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 977px) 100vw, 977px" />Finding Inspiration</h6>
Through this collaboration, both 23andMe and Airbnb customers will be able to find inspiration for their next trip based on their heritage. On <a href="http://www.23andme.com/airbnb">23andMe</a>, once a customer receives their ancestry reports, they will be able to click through to their ancestral populations and find Airbnb Homes and Experiences in their native countries. For example, if a 23andMe customer has Southern Italian ancestry, they might be able to find <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/53243">a trullo in Puglia</a> as a home base to explore their heritage. Or someone with Mexican roots could find an <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/166854">experience in Mexico City</a> to learn ancient techniques of natural dye as part of their heritage vacation. Additionally, Airbnb now has <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/heritagetravel">dedicated pages</a> that correspond with 23andMe’s genetic populations, so that travelers coming to Airbnb’s site will be able to easily plan an end-to-end heritage trip. 
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According to 23andMe, some of the top places in which its customers have recent ancestry outside of the United States and Canada are the United Kingdom, Italy, Mexico, Germany, Ireland, Poland, Mainland China, Spain, Nigeria, India and Russia. Most 23andMe customers have at least five populations within their Ancestry Composition report, which presents many opportunities for one to explore heritage travel. 
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But connecting to your roots doesn’t require buying a plane ticket. Through <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/s/experiences">Airbnb Experiences</a>, you can connect with your ancestry by finding culturally specific activities in your hometown. In San Francisco, you could explore a <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/11056">Chinese calligraphy and tea tasting experience</a>, for example, to connect to your Chinese ancestry, or for those with connections to Japan you could learn to make traditional <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/experiences/61279?location=Bay%20Area%2C%20CA%2C%20United%20States&#038;currentTab=experience_tab&#038;federatedSearchId=eb974aba-4590-4d73-994a-75a77e4caa3e&#038;searchId=56ae8a06-6861-45a1-9007-b0fa46125e78&#038;sectionId=d3f07bb5-9537-4020-adce-06c951b034ac&#038;source=p2">Japanese ramen noodles</a>.
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Your DNA may offer more than just personal insight but a new way to map out your next journey, and a way to connect to people and cultures with whom you share ancestral origins. 
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Not yet a customer? Take the first step of your heritage trip by exploring <a href="https://www.23andme.com/airbnb">23andMe</a>, and visit Airbnb to find your next adventure.

Travel as unique as your DNA with 23andMe and Airbnb

By Samantha Ancona Esselmann, Ph.D., a 23andMe Ancestry Scientist
Puerto Rican writer Aurora Levins Morales reflected on what it means to have mixed heritage in her poem, “Child of the Americas,” which concludes:
“I am not African. 
Africa is in me, but I cannot return. 
I am not Taína. 
Taíno is in me, but there is no way back. 
I am not European. 
Europe lives in me, but I have no home there. 
I am new. History made me. My first language is Spanglish. 
I was born at the crossroads 
and I am whole.”
In the poem, Levins Morales acknowledges her diverse roots—a combination of African, European, and Indigenous American—but chooses to celebrate and identify with her Puerto Rican identity.
Today, the Americas are a genetic crossroads, home to many people like Levins Morales, with identities forged by waves of migration and a fusion of cultures.
<h2>A New Feature Which Explores Latino &amp; Caribbean Ancestry</h2>
In our ongoing efforts to deliver a more intuitive and comprehensive 23andMe Ancestry Composition report, we’ve released a new feature called “Recent Ancestry in the Americas” for customers with ancestry from Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. In tandem with <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/23andme-updates-ancestry-composition/">23andMe’s Ancestry Composition</a> report, this new feature enables these customers to explore their heritage in a more recent timeframe — following the mixing of historically separate populations that occurred in the Americas over the last few hundred years.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-27091 size-large" title="Mexico and Central America" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Mexico-Example-1024x366.png" alt="" width="1024" height="366" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Mexico-Example-1024x366.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Mexico-Example-300x107.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Mexico-Example-768x275.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Mexico-Example-880x315.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Mexico-Example-1180x422.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Mexico-Example.png 1216w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
In addition, customers with ancestry from Jamaica, Haiti, and 10 other countries in the Caribbean may see an exciting new level of detail about places their ancestors may have lived. This is in the form of more granular maps. Over time, these maps will continuously update to reflect the growing size and diversity of 23andMe’s database.
<h2>What does the word “Latino” or “LatinX mean?</h2>
We use Latino or the gender-neutral term LatinX to broadly describe any person from, or with roots in, Latin America. That includes a vast area encompassing Central and South America and the Caribbean.
Sometimes, people use the word Hispanic, Latino, or LatinX interchangeably, but Hispanic is a little more specific. Hispanic includes anyone from a Spanish-speaking country in the Americas, but not, for example, someone from Brazil, a Portuguese-speaking country. It’s also important to note that being Latino could mean that a person has European ancestry, African ancestry, Indigenous American ancestry, or often a mix of the three.
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<h6>Recent Ancestry in the Americas 
</h6>
(new countries marked in green)
The Caribbean 
Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Martinique, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago
Mexico &amp; Central America 
Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama
South America 
Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela
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<h2>What’s included in this update?</h2>
In each of the three new reports, customers will see a brief genetic history of the region, a map highlighting sub-country regions where we have found evidence of their recent ancestry, and educational content to provide additional scientific and historical context. We’ve also included short stories that sample aesthetics, flavors, and traditions that may inspire customers to connect with aspects of their heritage.
We encourage customers to contribute ideas for future stories by leaving feedback at the link included in each Ancestry Detail Report.
<h2>How can I find these new Ancestry Detail reports?</h2>
If you have ancestry from one of these regions, this new section will appear below your percentages in your<a href="https://you.23andme.com/reports/ancestry_composition_hd/"> Ancestry Composition</a> report.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-27097 size-medium" title="Central American Food" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Vignette-mobile-282x300.png" alt="" width="282" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Vignette-mobile-282x300.png 282w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Vignette-mobile.png 485w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 282px) 100vw, 282px" />
You can access these new reports through Ancestry Overview, the <a href="https://you.23andme.com/ancestry/all-reports/">all-reports</a> tab, or find them in <a href="https://you.23andme.com/reports/ancestry_composition_hd/details/">Scientific Details</a>.
Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/compare-dna-tests/">Visit our store</a>!
Notably, “Recent Ancestry in the Americas” should complement your Ancestry Composition percentages. Together, both results should help you better understand your ancestry and how it may have changed over time.
<h2>A snapshot of genetic diversity in the Caribbean and Latin America</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-27090 size-medium" title="Caribbean, Jamaican, Puerto Rican ancestry composition" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Caribbean-mobile-240x300.png" alt="" width="240" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Caribbean-mobile-240x300.png 240w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Caribbean-mobile-768x960.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Caribbean-mobile-819x1024.png 819w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Caribbean-mobile-704x880.png 704w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Caribbean-mobile-944x1180.png 944w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Caribbean-mobile.png 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px" />
<h3>The Caribbean</h3>
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The <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">Ancestry Composition breakdown</a> of 23andMe customers from countries in the Caribbean typically reflects southern European, West African, or Native American ancestry. While customers from Spanish-speaking islands generally have a combination of all three of these ancestries, customers from Haiti, Jamaica, Grenada, or other smaller islands have little Indigenous heritage and a much higher proportion of West African ancestry. This is a result of the large numbers of enslaved Africans transported to the Caribbean over nearly four centuries.
<h2>What is the Caribbean?</h2>
The Caribbean, sometimes called the West Indies, includes any islands and surrounding coasts of the Caribbean Sea. The more than 7,000 islands and islets form an arch that spans from the Leeward Islands to the west up through the tip of Cuba to the east. The region&#8217;s rich and diverse culture and history consists of a blend of indigenous, African, European, Indian, and Chinese influences.
</div>
<div>
Did you know?
Native Caribbean ancestry — primarily from the Indigenous Taíino peoples who once called these islands home — is still found in Puerto Rico, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic (former colonies of Spain). But it is almost completely absent on the islands formerly claimed by Britain and France. On average, Puerto Ricans have around 12 percent of this Taíno ancestry, but over 60 percent of their <a href="https://you.23andme.com/reports/maternal_haplogroup/">maternal-line</a> ancestry <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28912065">is of Taíno origin</a>.
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<h3>Mexico &amp; Central America</h3>
<div>
Customers from Mexico &amp; Central America often have a combination of Native American,<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-27102 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/mobile_avg_ancestry_mexico_central_america@3x-248x300.jpg" alt="" width="248" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/mobile_avg_ancestry_mexico_central_america@3x-248x300.jpg 248w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/mobile_avg_ancestry_mexico_central_america@3x-768x929.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/mobile_avg_ancestry_mexico_central_america@3x-847x1024.jpg 847w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/mobile_avg_ancestry_mexico_central_america@3x-728x880.jpg 728w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/mobile_avg_ancestry_mexico_central_america@3x.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 248px) 100vw, 248px" /> southern European, and West African ancestry in their DNA. However, the breakdown varies throughout the region. Native American ancestry generally reaches its highest levels in Mexico, El Salvador, and Guatemala. West African ancestry ranges from an average of 2 percent in Mexico to over 40 percent in Belize. Today, most 23andMe customers with Mexican or Central American ancestry have at least 1 percent African DNA. This reflects admixture many generations ago, early in the Transatlantic Slave trade.
Did you know? 
 Among 23andMe customers from Mexico &amp; Central America, the predominant African ancestry is Senegambian &amp; Guinean. The predominant African ancestry in much of the Caribbean and the United States of America is Nigerian.
</div>
<div>
<h3>South America<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-27100 size-medium" title="South American, Brazilian, Colombian, Venezuelan ancestry composition" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/South-American-mobile-196x300.png" alt="" width="196" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/South-American-mobile-196x300.png 196w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/South-American-mobile-768x1176.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/South-American-mobile-669x1024.png 669w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/South-American-mobile-575x880.png 575w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/South-American-mobile-771x1180.png 771w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/South-American-mobile.png 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 196px) 100vw, 196px" /> 
</h3>
23andMe customers from Ecuador or Peru typically have over 45 percent Native American ancestry. Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay customers tend to have less than 10 percent of this genetic heritage. Indigenous ancestry remains highest where there were once large agricultural civilizations. However, many factors likely contributed to the variable rates of Native American ancestry across the continent.
What about African ancestry?
For 23andMe customers from Colombia or Venezuela, the most common African ancestry is Senegambian &amp; Guinean. Customers from Brazil typically have more Angolan &amp; Congolese ancestry. Between the 17th and 19th centuries, Portugal transported as many as five million enslaved Africans to Brazil. These enslaved Africans were primarily from Angola and the Congo River basin. Today, an African genetic signature peaks among 23andMe customers with roots in the east Brazilian state of Bahia.
</div>
Did you know? 
23andMe customers from Guyana and Suriname have high levels of African genetic heritage? The region is often considered more culturally and politically aligned with the Caribbean than the rest of South America.
<div>
To learn more about these regions&#8217; genetic history and diversity, check out the educational modules near the top of each new report! 
<a href="https://you.23andme.com/reports/ancestry_composition/caribbean/">Caribbean Report</a> 
<a href="https://you.23andme.com/reports/ancestry_composition/central_american/">Mexican &amp; Central American Report</a> 
<a href="https://you.23andme.com/reports/ancestry_composition/south_american/">South American Report</a>
</div>
<h2>Explore Your Latino or Caribbean DNA</h2>
You can go directly to your ancestry reports overview to learn more. Not yet a customer? Check out everything you can learn about your ancestral origins using <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">23andMe’s Ancestry Service.</a>

Caribbean and Latin American DNA – Customer Reports

Last week, a few 23andMe customers came together for a special brunch and a chance to celebrate their first Mother’s Day with the birth moms they discovered, with the help of 23andMe.
<div id="attachment_27074" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27074" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0040-300x200.jpg" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-27074" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0040-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0040-768x513.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0040-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0040-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0040-1180x788.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0040.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />From left, Amanda, her birth mother Julia, her mother Janice, and her biological sister Laura.</div>
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For Amanda, the event was sweeter because she was able to honor not just the mother who gave her life — Julia — but also her adoptive mom — Janice — who raised and guided her through her life.
&nbsp;
“I got to celebrate with both my moms,” said Amanda. “It was a beautiful event.”

<iframe loading="lazy" width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xOO4NU_zagw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
For Jacob, the event was a chance to meet his birth mother, Natalie, in person for the first time. It was a meeting neither of them thought would be possible.
Jacob was raised by loving parents and always knew he was adopted. But the question of who his birth mom was always lingered, and he began searching years ago. Natalie, too, had been looking, even resorting to using a private investigator. Despite all their efforts neither Jacob nor Natalie were able to find each other.
<div id="attachment_27075" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27075" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0002-300x200.jpg" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-27075" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0002-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0002-768x513.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0002-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0002-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0002-1180x788.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190501-0002.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Jacob, on the right, and his birth mother Natalie.</div>
&nbsp;
It wasn’t until Jacob used 23andMe and connected with a close relative that they were able to make a breakthrough. When Jacob finally got her contact information and called her, it was as if Natalie had been waiting by the phone just for his call. Almost immediately after he told her that he thought they might be related, Natalie asked him:
&nbsp;
“Are you my son?”
&nbsp;
Jacob thought he might be, so Natalie asked him if his birthday was November 24, 1990.
&nbsp;
“Yes,” he said.
&nbsp;
They both immediately burst into tears.
As mother and son were getting to know each other through emails and calls, Natalie sent Jacob a parcel that included several birthday cards  for the birthdays she’d missed since giving birth to Jacob and then placing him for adoption. The cards were also a way for Natalie to cope with missing out on her son’s life. 
&nbsp;
“I’ve always wanted to meet my biological mom,” said Jacob smiling after meeting her in person for the first time. 
&nbsp;
For Lorraine, the event was more than just a Mother’s Day celebration; it was more like a family reunion.
<div id="attachment_27077" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27077" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/unnamed-300x200.jpg" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-27077" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/unnamed-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/unnamed.jpg 512w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Lorraine, left, her birth mom Gail, and sister Valerie.</div>
&nbsp;
Lorraine was able to meet not just her birth mother, Gail, but also her birth father David, and one of her full biological sisters Valerie. When Lorraine was born, Gail and David did not think they could not provide for Lorraine and made the difficult decision to place her for adoption. 
&nbsp;
They later married and had two more children, but never forgot about their first child. It was David who used 23andMe, in his effort to find Lorraine. They first connected with Lorraine late last year and spent both Thanksgiving and Christmas with Lorraine and her husband, giving her a chance to meet her siblings, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. The Mother’s Day event offered Lorraine another opportunity to build family memories.
&nbsp;
“I’ve always been curious about where I come from,” said Lorraine, sitting with her birth mom and new found family members.
<div id="attachment_27078" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27078" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190502-0260-300x200.jpg" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-27078" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190502-0260-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190502-0260-768x513.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190502-0260-1024x684.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190502-0260-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190502-0260-1180x788.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/23-and-me-190502-0260.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />From right, Isaac, Julie, Ava, Michael, Dale and Sonia.</div>
As with Lorraine, the event for identical twins, Ava and Sonia, was much bigger than just a Mother’s Day brunch. It was the first time that Sonia and Ava were able to come together not only with their biological mother and father, Julie and Dale, but also with their twin brothers Isaac and Michael. Their story is a bit complicated.
&nbsp;
The twin sisters began searching for more information about their biological mother after learning a few years back that their mother, Carla, had used an embryo donor to conceive. Their biological mother, Julie, had been the donor. She and her husband had used IVF to conceive, and after becoming pregnant with their twins, Isaac and Michael, they decided to donate her leftover embryos to other women who were trying to have children.
In meeting their birth mother and father, Ava and Sonia marveled at some of their shared mannerisms and traits.
&nbsp;
“I can already start picking off the similarities between us with the laugh or the different smirks or mannerisms,” their brother Isaac said.
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<div id="attachment_27076" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27076" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2019-05-08-1-300x200.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-27076 size-medium" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2019-05-08-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/2019-05-08-1.jpg 512w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />We love mom genes. Happy Mother&#8217;s Day.</div>
Both their mothers, Julie and Carla, said they were happy that they have all connected.
&nbsp;
“Now,” their birth mother Julie said, “they have each other.”
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This Mother’s Day, we wanted to celebrate all kinds of mothers — adoptive moms, birth moms, even embryo donor moms. These four families, some of which who had never met before, are now bound because of DNA and through DNA. 
To see all our Mother&#8217;s Day stories go here.
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Have a <a href="https://www.23andme.com/stories/">DNA story</a>? You can share it with us <a href="https://www.23andme.com/stories/#form">here</a>.

Families Come Together For Their First Mother’s Day

Insights gleaned from your DNA can be transformational, but 23andMe results are most powerful when combined with other kinds of information, such as family histories, or observable traits, or sometimes even paper records.
23andMe has seen how our customers have combined their 23andMe<a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/#toc-dnar"> DNA Relatives</a> results, along with family lore, and perhaps a <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/ancestry/family-tree/">family tree</a>, to make discoveries about themselves and their ancestry.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ancestry_B_1800x440.jpg" alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-24194 size-full" width="1800" height="440" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ancestry_B_1800x440.jpg 1800w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ancestry_B_1800x440-300x73.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ancestry_B_1800x440-768x188.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ancestry_B_1800x440-1024x250.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ancestry_B_1800x440-880x215.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ancestry_B_1800x440-1180x288.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1800px) 100vw, 1800px" />

To foster these kinds of explorations, 23andMe is piloting a new offer with Legacy Tree Genealogists, a Salt Lake City-based company that specializes in full-service genealogical research for clients worldwide, helping them discover their roots and personal history through records, narratives, and DNA. .
As part of this special offer 23andMe customers can access a 45-minute consultation with a genetic genealogist, meant to help them navigate their 23andMe Ancestry results, and possibly start on a path to trace their lineage or solve a family mystery.
The consultation, which costs $100, will assist those 23andMe customers who want to do a bit more with their genetic ancestry results. Whether it’s searching for a long lost relative, a biological parent or merely filling in the gaps of one’s family tree, we hope this pilot program will help.
The consultation will focus on customers’ 23andMe Ancestry results, and during the session, customers will have to share their screen with the professional from Legacy Tree Genealogists. 
Customers can find out more about this pilot offer by clicking on the Legacy Tree Genealogists banner located under the Next Steps section on their <a href="https://you.23andme.com/ancestry/">Ancestry Overview</a>.
Not yet a customer? Find out more about 23andMe’s Ancestry Service <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">here</a>.
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23andMe collaborates with Legacy Tree Genealogists

Caroline Wallis, 23andMe Content Writer, Ancestry Product Team 
<div id="attachment_26919" style="width: 235px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26919" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image2-225x300.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-26919 size-medium" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image2-225x300.jpeg 225w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image2-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image2-660x880.jpeg 660w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image2-885x1180.jpeg 885w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/image2.jpeg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />A photo of Mike in front of Bunratty Castle in County Clare, near the Shannon Airport. </div>
Messaging a distant cousin through <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/#dnarelatives">23andMe’s DNA Relatives </a>can feel like a leap of faith, a shot in the dark. You hope a message doesn’t fall on uninterested eyes. You hope it is read by someone like Mike Farragher, an offbeat writer from New Jersey. You hope for someone like <a href="https://www.irishcentral.com/opinion/cahirodoherty/mike-farragher-brings-ireland-and-irish-america-together-in-his-latest-story-collection">Mike</a>, particularly when you are looking for your ancestral connections to Ireland. 
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For Mike, opening one of these messages also holds its own unknowns. Indeed he could never have predicted the profound impact one message from a cousin (and its many consecutive ones) would have on his life, which has always included ties to his roots in Ireland. 
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A second-generation Irish American, Mike grew up listening to his father’s thick Irish brogue and visiting the Emerald Isle every other year to see his grandparents. Mike’s father was one of 10 siblings. As a result, Mike had strong family connections both here and in Ireland, and he wasn’t searching for any more. His first story collection, <a href="http://www.thisisyourbrainonshamrocks.com/">This is Your Brain on Shamrocks</a>, tapped into his Irish American upbringing. Mike, who works as a vice president for sales at a laboratory company when he’s not writing, thought he knew all about his big Irish family.
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Then, he got his first message from a DNA Relative on 23andMe. A cousin, Bethany*, found Mike in the process of doing her own advanced genealogical research. She had discovered evidence that they were related through his paternal side. Mike later connected with Bethany’s four sisters and other cousins, and soon learned that he was everyone’s closest living connection to Ireland. 
<div id="attachment_26818" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26818" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ireland-300x178.png" alt="" class="wp-image-26818 size-medium" width="300" height="178" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ireland-300x178.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ireland-768x456.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ireland-880x523.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ireland.png 993w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Using 23andMe&#8217;s Ancestry Composition tool, you can dig deeper and find where you have DNA in common with more people who report ancestry from those regions.</div>
“These ‘new’ cousins have been robbed of a few decades of that connection and are now making up for lost time,” Mike said. 
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Eager to share that connection with newfound family, Mike connected these cousins with other Irish family members, leading to a mini-reunion in Ireland for Mike’s father’s 80th birthday. 
&nbsp;
Laughing, Mike recalls his dad saying, “Don’t you think they’re after your money?[&#8230;]You better watch out for all these charlatans hiding in all the corners of the dark web!” 
&nbsp;
On the contrary, several of these cousins (many of whom are elderly) started crying upon hearing a brogue made familiar to them by their parents. Hungry to learn more about their ancestral birthplace, Mike’s new relatives would ask questions he had never thought to ask, helping Mike rediscover his own roots in a new way. 
&nbsp;
“I always knew who my family was but it is a lot of fun to watch others discover my family in this way,” Mike said. “Like discovering your life through your children’s eyes, I would liken this experience to much the same thing.”
&nbsp;
A natural storyteller, Mike has explored his Irish roots through his writing, and he even met a cousin while on a book tour. Mike likes to think that he carries on the legacies of Ireland’s famous writers, to keep the memory of his Irish ancestors alive, as well as to capture the contemporary stories of the Irish diaspora. And it all began with meeting a few cousins through 23andMe. 
&nbsp;
As Mike works on his next book — a novel inspired in part by his experience meeting his cousins — we marvel at the watershed power of one tentative message sent on the DNA Relatives platform. Mike is a cousin, a steward, and a storyteller, but also a historian keeping alive the stories of his family. 
&nbsp;
Follow along on Mike’s  entertaining adventures on his <a href="http://mikefarragher.blogspot.com/">blog</a>.
&nbsp;
*The names of Mike’s cousins have been changed to protect their privacy.

The Irish Connection

When it comes to calculating 23andMe customers’ Ancestry Composition results, details are invariably what matter most: more specificity, more interactivity, more <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ancestry-Overview-Square-300x297.png" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-26832" width="300" height="297" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ancestry-Overview-Square-300x297.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ancestry-Overview-Square-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ancestry-Overview-Square-768x759.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ancestry-Overview-Square-1024x1012.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ancestry-Overview-Square-880x870.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ancestry-Overview-Square-1180x1166.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Ancestry-Overview-Square.png 1212w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />opportunities to draw meaning about how we are all genetically connected to people around the globe. 
In service to this idea, 23andMe has added a trove of content-rich new pages called Ancestry Detail Reports, which offer a more granular view of your ancestry, snapshots of the places and people to which your DNA connects you, and more. This update comes in tandem with an array of improvements and new features to the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry">Ancestry experience</a>, including a new interactive map of your <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">DNA Relatives</a> and enhanced look and feel on mobile and desktop.
We are now offering more than 30 new population-specific pages called Ancestry Detail Reports, as well as evaluating each customer’s ancestry based on more than 1,000 specific regions. 
Ancestry Detail Reports provide a closer look at each of the global populations currently included in our Ancestry Composition feature, enabling customers to explore their own genetic heritage while also learning about other populations included in Ancestry Composition. The creation of this additional layer of detail comes in direct response to requests from our customers for more granularity and additional content in Ancestry Composition.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ac_pop@3x-992x1024.png" alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-26813 size-large" title="Ancestry Composition and Ancestry in Detail Pages" width="992" height="1024" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ac_pop@3x-992x1024.png 992w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ac_pop@3x-291x300.png 291w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ac_pop@3x-768x793.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ac_pop@3x-852x880.png 852w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ac_pop@3x-1143x1180.png 1143w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 992px) 100vw, 992px" />

<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 350px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
<h6 style="text-align: center;"> Improvements to 23andMe’s Ancestry Experience</h6>
<ul>
<li>30+ new Ancestry Detail Reports with regional maps for our most refined view of your ancestry.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>1000+ regions now included in Ancestry Composition.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://you.23andme.com/tools/relatives/map/">Interactive map</a> of where your DNA Relatives call home.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://you.23andme.com/ancestry/">Ancestry Overview</a> on desktop and mobile functions like a homepage for all your Ancestry reports, enabling exploration and discovery. </li>
</ul>
<ul></ul>

<ul>
<li>
More African and East Asian populations now available for all customers (first released in September 2018).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h6></h6>
If you are a 23andMe customer, you can find your specific Ancestry Detail Reports (and explore all possible Ancestry Detail Reports) in a few ways. 
<ul>
<li>The easiest path is navigating to your <a href="https://you.23andme.com/ancestry/">Ancestry Overview</a> and clicking on each featured population under your Ancestry Composition summary. </li>
<li>You can also find these pages by clicking on the <a href="https://you.23andme.com/ancestry/all-reports/">All Reports</a> tab in your Ancestry Overview and looking under Ancestry Composition. There, you can easily view all of the more than 30 new reports and learn more about the diverse populations included in Ancestry Composition. </li>
</ul>
On the 23andMe Mobile Apps, you should see a list of featured populations under your Ancestry Composition results in the Ancestry tab. 
&nbsp;
<h6>A Deeper Dive</h6>
Let’s take a deeper dive into the Ancestry Detail Reports, and learn more about what you’ll discover when you view them. 
&nbsp;
If you’ve been assigned one or more “Recent Ancestor Locations” — these are indicated by the country and territory names you may see listed in your Ancestry Composition summary — you will also likely receive a more detailed map of your results on the associated Ancestry Detail Report. These maps may include the specific states or even counties where we have found evidence of your family’s recent ancestry. The stronger the evidence of a given ancestry, the  higher ranking on the adjacent list and darker the shading is for that region. This new “live” map with specific regional breakdowns will continuously update over time to reflect the growing number of individuals from around the world in 23andMe’s database. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/maps@3x-1024x473.png" alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-26822 size-large" title="Ancestry in Detail, India and China" width="1024" height="473" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/maps@3x-1024x473.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/maps@3x-300x139.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/maps@3x-768x355.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/maps@3x-880x407.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/maps@3x-1180x545.png 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
&nbsp;
A number of the Ancestry Detail Reports contain immersive educational materials that provide further context around each population’s genetics, demographics, history, and more. Curated and written by 23andMe’s scientists, these materials aim to help customers learn important information about their genetic ancestry. These reports can also be used to learn about diverse populations with which you are not genetically connected, but may be curious about.
<h6><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/genetics@3x-1024x630.png" alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-26817 size-large" title="Hunter Gathers and Ashkenazi" width="1024" height="630" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/genetics@3x-1024x630.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/genetics@3x-300x184.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/genetics@3x-768x472.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/genetics@3x-880x541.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/genetics@3x-1180x726.png 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Snapshots</h6>
Another layer to the Ancestry Detail Reports are Snapshots — a handful of researched and reported stories that provide glimpses into the many nuances that make each ancestral population unique. Snapshot topics include: Talk the Talk (words and phrases unique to one of the languages spoken by each population), Ancestry Eats (traditional foods and beverages), Sights to See (off-the-beaten-path travel tips and important landmarks), Natural Wonders, Celebrations, Crafts &amp; Traditions, and more. We encourage customers to contribute ideas for future Snapshots by clicking on the Customer Feedback bar located at the bottom of each Ancestry Detail Report. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/snapshots@3x-1014x1024.png" alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-26830 size-large" title="Snapshots, Sudan and Southeast Asia" width="1014" height="1024" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/snapshots@3x-1014x1024.png 1014w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/snapshots@3x-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/snapshots@3x-297x300.png 297w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/snapshots@3x-768x775.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/snapshots@3x-872x880.png 872w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/snapshots@3x-1169x1180.png 1169w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1014px) 100vw, 1014px" />Lastly, at the bottom of each Ancestry Detail Report, customers who have chosen to participate in the DNA Relatives tool can view their relatives who share ancestry from that particular population. For example, a customer with 20 percent Italian ancestry or 55 percent Vietnamese ancestry would see the profile names and profile images of some of their relatives connected to those populations. The content on each Ancestry Detail Report may provide inspiration for starting a conversation with those relatives about your genetic heritage. 
&nbsp;
This new paradigm for exploring Ancestry results on a deeper, more actionable level will set the standard for future updates to the Ancestry Composition experience. Since Ancestry Composition is truly a “living analysis” of your DNA that reflects our growing database, 23andMe will continue to update the  Ancestry Detail Reports at a county and state-level to provide an ever-closer view of your ancestry. Though country and territory maps may not yet be available for every customer, our intent is that this will change as our database continues to expand and diversify.
&nbsp;
23andMe customers can go to their <a href="https://you.23andme.com/ancestry/">Ancestry Overview</a> to start exploring. Not yet a customer? Find out more about 23andMe’s Ancestry service <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">here</a>.

More Regions for Most Refined View of Ancestry To-Date

<div id="attachment_26752" style="width: 236px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26752" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Brian-JJ-226x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-26752 size-medium" width="226" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Brian-JJ-226x300.jpg 226w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Brian-JJ.jpg 385w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px" />Brian, left, and his brother JJ, with whom he recently connected.</div>
&#8220;What&#8217;s going on, my brother?&#8221; said Brian Chavarria. &#8220;Man, it is good to see you.&#8221;
These were Brian’s first words to his newfound biological brother, JJ Peck when they met earlier this year. This life changing moment at the John Glenn International Airport was the culmination of years of ups and downs for Brian, and a lifetime of searching for answers about his biological family. 
Brian Chavarria was born in Dayton, Ohio, but raised in California by his adoptive parents. All he knew of his origins was that as newborn he’d been &nbsp;dropped off on a doorstep in California. He’d been adopted when he was three years old. Life didn’t come easy for Brian growing up in an abusive household in East Los Angeles. He eventually fled that abusive home by bike, and made contact with a foster family he had lived with as a child who took him back in. 
Brian never really knew where he came from or anything about &nbsp;his biological family.
At least not until his wife tried <a href="http://www.23andMe.com">23andMe</a> and then encouraged him to use 23andMe as well. 
“What could it hurt?” he thought.
After years of search unsuccessfully, Brian had given up on finding his birth mother or father. But after four decades of not knowing anything about his birth family — not even their ancestry — his results came back with information not just about his <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">ancestry</a> but also about <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/#toc-dnar">distant cousins</a>. Six months later, he received an email. It was from a first cousin, who sent a message that &nbsp;said: &#8220;This shows you are my first cousin. Tell me your story.”
He shared his backstory, and his cousin messaged back that he would talk to his mom and ask her if she knew anything that would help. Soon thereafter, Brian got another message from his cousin:
“Actually, I think I can fill you in,” his cousin said. 
What followed was something out of Brian’s dreams. After connecting with his cousin, Brian started to learn more about his family, and learn that his family had been looking for him too. He learned that his birth mother had suffered from mental illness, which led to her needing to give Brian up for adoption. 
What he learned next led to him breaking down in tears. His birth mother had passed away in 2015, before he had had a chance to meet her. 
“I was so close, yet so far,” Brian said. 
Then, Brian’s cousin dropped another bombshell. Brian had two brothers and two sisters who had similar troubled childhoods and had been raised by different families. A few of these siblings had been searching for him too. Since connecting with his cousin this past May, Brian has started to build relationships with his biological siblings. Their bond grew so strong that his brother JJ drove to Portland and helped move him back to his home state of Ohio, the place where he was born and where his story began. Since moving to Ohio, he began working with JJ at a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center where they are trying to make a difference in the lives of others. 
“It’s a start of a whole new world really. I get to spend it with my brother and it doesn’t get much better than that.”

Ancestry Service — Page 12