The Book of Mormon and DNA Studies

https://www.lds.org/topics/book-of-mormon-and-dna-studies?lang=eng

During the past few years, I have been reading extensively about DNA testing and particularly about its relationship to genealogy or family history. I have been reading through all of the Gospel Topics recently and read this one about the Book of Mormon and DNA Studies. I found it to be a very helpful summary of the limitations of genetic DNA testing and ascribing or designating a genetic history. Obviously, the subject is more complicated than the short summary but the overall perspective of the article helps to establish a point of reference.

The intent of the article is to discuss the utility of referring to DNA tests within the context of "proving" or "disproving" the Book of Mormon. However, from the standpoint of genealogy, the same issues raised in considering whether or not DNA testing can apply to the migration of a small group of people from the Middle East to America also apply to establishing a genetic connection with an individual remote ancestor.

Although the article is rather short, it does introduce the reader to some of the fundamental problems with projecting DNA testing back into antiquity. My own current ethnicity estimate from MyHeritage.com is a good example. According to the current status of the results, I have connections with North and West Europe, South Europe, East Europe, and West Asia. The highest percentage of my ethnicity comes from English, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh ancestry with a small percentage of Scandinavian included. This is entirely consistent with my own research, but the entire list of connections extends well outside any historical documents I have yet to discover. This anomaly may arise from the simple explanation of the English heritage, including the centuries-long occupation of England by the Roman Empire.

For example, the initial results from my DNA test indicated a significant Ashkenazi Jewish component. But current results show no percentage at all. This is despite the fact that I have research that shows that I do have Jewish ancestry. Which one is right? Several other possible ethnicities also show up in my paper research that are not reflected in the DNA testing.

The best lesson learned from reading about DNA testing as it applies to ethnicity is that we shouldn't get too caught up in drawing any current conclusions. The whole subject of DNA testing is in a state of flux. Right now, it is best to focus on only a few, less than six, generations of ancestry as having any applicable help in determining relationships. Read the article and see what you think.