My Genetic Journey

So a few months ago, I sent away for my DNA sampling kit that would allow me to participate in The Genographic Project, sponsored by National Geographic.

Because I'm a woman, they can only study my mitochondrial DNA, which is passed on from woman to (female) child, and so on. By studying mutations in your DNA (for men) and mitochondrial DNA (in women), and the mutations that become evident in your DNA sequence, geneticists can trace the path your ancestors took when they left East Africa some 170,000 years ago.

My results are back, and while I'm only getting one side of the story, it's still pretty interesting. I expected a lot more mutations in my mitochondrial DNA, but only have two. (Or is it one?) In any case, it's pretty cool.