23and me credibility for Portuguese people.

[Igordr]

Hello everyone,

I got my aunt's DNA tested on 23andme. Her parents were from tras-os-montes, however, all the cousins shown to us are from the Azores, and her results have come like someone from the Azores as well. Are you guys experimenting the same thing?

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

Yes it's normal, most Portuguese used to have the Azores as their first region in 23andMe. I say used to because after the latest update they've improved and refined the results, but if you've tested with a chip before the V5 (as is my case) the Azores will likely still appear as the first region.

My own results, I tested with the V4 chip and the region is inaccurate (Azores).




My father results, he tested it with the V5 chip and the region is accurate (we are from Central Portugal).

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

As for the matches being mostly from the Azores, you have to take into account that DNA tests are not popular in Portugal, it's still a niche market, and most of the people who do the tests are immigrants or descendants of Portuguese living in the US. A very significant portion of our diaspora in the US have roots from the Azores. The fact that the Portuguese are an extremely homogeneous population, whether on the mainland or the islands, doesn't make it any easier either.

[Igordr]

As for the matches being mostly from the Azores, you have to take into account that DNA tests are not popular in Portugal, it's still a niche market, and most of the people who do the tests are immigrants or descendants of Portuguese living in the US. A very significant portion of our diaspora in the US have roots from the Azores. The fact that the Portuguese are an extremely homogeneous population, whether on the mainland or the islands, doesn't make it any easier either.

She also scored 0.3 sub Saharan, Senegambian, do you think it's from the former colonies? She's from trás-os-montes.

[Brás Garcia de Mascarenhas]

She also scored 0.3 sub Saharan, Senegambian, do you think it's from the former colonies? She's from trás-os-montes.

The Portuguese were indeed the first Europeans to discover and settle in what is now Senegal\Gambia\Guinea but it's difficult to know for sure where 0.3% of anything comes from. Quite a few Portuguese get these residual levels of Sub-Saharan, it is not something out of the ordinary if that's what you're thinking.