DNA Ancestry

As you may already know from high school biology, your complete set of genetic information is encoded within 23 pairs of chromosomes in the nucleus of your cells—the 23^rd pair typically being a XX or a XY pattern. Not all cells have a nucleus, by the way. Red-blood cells, for instance, have no nucleus. A chromosome is a single piece of coiled DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid, a biomolecule that holds the blueprint for how living organisms are built. 99% of all DNA in your body is found in your chromosomes. Segments of DNA called genes are passed down from parents to child and confer traits to the offspring. Humans have on average between 25,000-30,000 genes, usually in pairs (one from each parent). More recent research has shown that some individuals have an extra 1, 2, or 3 X chromosomes or extra Y chromosomes. Those additional patterns can alter some typical human biological functions.