Best ancestry DNA tests for exploring your family history, tried and tested

At-home DNA tests have become hugely popular. Offering insights into how we all came to be, the tests give us context for our health and genetic make-up, trace our lineage, and even connect us with distant relatives. Owing to the broad range available, we put the best DNA tests through their paces, to find out which ones are worth your money.

With additional costs and automatic subscriptions, signing up for a DNA test can be complicated. But, we’ve been blown away by just how much information our DNA can hold. Family mapping and geological heritage are the main features, but tests have diversified in recent years, claiming to be able to tell us everything from our genetic disposition to health conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease to which flavour ice cream we prefer.

There are several different types of DNA tests, including Y-chromosome, mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal. Louise Hodges from Ancestry.com explained the difference between each one: “Autosomal DNA tests survey a person’s entire genome at over 700,000 locations. It covers both the maternal and paternal sides of the family tree, so it covers all lineages.” Chromosome tests “reflect the direct father-to-son path in your family tree, and the mtDNA test only reflects the direct mother-to-child path in your family tree,” Hodges told The Independent.

She went on to explain how different ‘markers’ in our DNA strands can tell us details about who we are and what we like. “Scientists have found that some markers are