AncestryDNA Makes Scientific Breakthrough in West Africa

The AncestryDNA science team presented the results of their latest research today at the Smithsonian Institute’s symposium on The African Diaspora in Washington D.C. Using unique proprietary DNA samples and a variety of statistical approaches, our science team has been able to separate West Africa into six separate population groups based on genetic data. This advancement will provide a finer-resolution genetic ethnicity estimate for individuals with West African ancestry.

AncestryDNA’s six new ethnicity regions of West Africa include Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast/Ghana, Benin/Togo, Nigeria, and Cameroon/Congo, each of which has a distinct set of tribal affiliations. The division of West Africa into these groups marks the first time that West African genetic ethnicity estimates can achieve this level of detail, bringing AncestryDNA’s total number of reported genetic ethnicity regions in Africa to ten.

The announcement of the new genetic ethnicity regions were presented at The African Diaspora event earlier today by Dr. Jake Byrnes, population genomics senior analyst on the AncestryDNA science team. Although these new ethnicity updates will not be made available to all AncestryDNA users for a few more months, we wanted to give the inside scoop on Jake’s Smithsonian presentation detailing the West African ethnicity update as well as additional research findings on the genetics of African Americans.

It can be extremely difficult to research one’s African ancestry using historical records alone, as most African American individuals in the U.S. are unable to find detailed records of their ancestors before the 1870s. Our AncestryDNA test can help family historians use genetics to pick up where the paper trail ends.

AncestryDNA leverages a unique proprietary collection of DNA samples from individuals with well-documented family trees to conduct innovative research in population genetics, human evolution, and migration. The science behind AncestryDNA is continually evolving and improving. During this ongoing process, the science team demonstrated that genetic data reliably shows population structure in Western Africa. What this means is that the DNA of individuals from Western Africa clusters into a number of distinct groups. As a result, AncestryDNA can now more finely define genetic ethnicity regions in Western Africa. (See the visual representations above.)