Why do Kurds often get some Irish on DNA tests?

[Grace O'Malley]

I wonder if the lopsided categories and lack regions is merely a reflection of the the samples they receive. I sometimes feel that people from the British Isles do a disproportionate amount of DNA testing compared to say people from Eastern Europe. So a given company can be very specific on Ireland because it has so many samples, but has to be very vague on East Europe due to lack of sample size. I've always interpreted an imbalance in sample size as the fundamental problem with these tests.

It's overwhelmingly American testers so because Americans are mostly British and Irish these populations are catered for very well in genetic tests. MyHeritage still has a large amount of American testers but they are getting a reasonable amount of European testers which is why you will get a lot more European matches than with 23&Me, Ancestry etc. FTDNA appears to have a lot of British and Irish testers due to their monopoly on ydna, other countries dwarf in comparison. Many areas of the world are very under-represented in dna testing which is why dna companies don't really concentrate on those areas. The majority of dna testing is geared to Americans who want to know their recent ethnic background. Their is a lot of untapped areas for potential dna testing if you look at places like India and China.

What you have said in your comment in spot on.

[Daco Celtic]

It's overwhelmingly American testers so because Americans are mostly British and Irish these populations are catered for very well in genetic tests. MyHeritage still has a large amount of American testers but they are getting a reasonable amount of European testers which is why you will get a lot more European matches than with 23&Me, Ancestry etc. FTDNA appears to have a lot of British and Irish testers due to their monopoly on ydna, other countries dwarf in comparison. Many areas of the world are very under-represented in dna testing which is why dna companies don't really concentrate on those areas. The majority of dna testing is geared to Americans who want to know their recent ethnic background. Their is a lot of untapped areas for potential dna testing if you look at places like India and China.

What you have said in your comment in spot on.

Yes, very good points. I think it often goes unmentioned that DNA testing is phenomenally popular among Americans in general due to accessibility and affordability. I assume it's popular in Australia as well. I would guess a fair amount of East European-Americans take these tests but not enough people take the test in the actual Eastern European countries to get a quality sample size.

[Grace O'Malley]

Yes, very good points. I think it often goes unmentioned that DNA testing is phenomenally popular among Americans in general due to accessibility and affordability. I assume it's popular in Australia as well. I would guess a fair amount of East European-Americans take these tests but not enough people take the test in the actual Eastern European countries to get a quality sample size.

I don't think it's hugely popular in Australia yet. I know some people that have tested but alot of people aren't very aware of it. You don't see much advertising for dna testing here. It will grow in the years ahead. I guess from my own personal perspective I would like to see more testing in France. France is very under tested both for commercial dna tests and scientific studies. It is a bit of a black hole in that regard and would be a very important country genetically for Europe in general but especially for populations closest to it.

[Daco Celtic]

I don't think it's hugely popular in Australia yet. I know some people that have tested but alot of people aren't very aware of it. You don't see much advertising for dna testing here. It will grow in the years ahead. I guess from my own personal perspective I would like to see more testing in France. France is very under tested both for commercial dna tests and scientific studies. It is a bit of a black hole in that regard and would be a very important country genetically for Europe in general but especially for populations closest to it.

I'm also curious about France because I often plot near them on PCAs. I was wondering why there were so few real French people represented on PCAs on this website. I think it might be legal issue related to French law and DNA testing. I agree though, it would be great to see more French examples. French Canadians need to step up.

[Grace O'Malley]

I'm also curious about France because I often plot near them on PCAs. I was wondering why there were so few real French people represented on PCAs on this website. I think it might be legal issue related to French law and DNA testing. I agree though, it would be great to see more French examples. French Canadians need to step up.

There are some French testers so it is interesting to compare their results. A lot of Bretons and Normans are very English like in their dna results. Southern France is very different genetically. I think French Canadians are not really a good substitute for testing of French because they descend from a very small population and so are a bit endogamous which is why if you have French Canadian ancestry you will have loads of matches to all French Canadians. What I would love to see is a good study of ancient genomes in France. It would be great for example to have an ancient Gaul and to compare them to moderns.