Not related to Genghis Khan after all

When PBS television showed stories of famous people and their ancestry based on genetic testing, no one on the show ever asked, "How sure are you the results are accurate?" I remember wondering about that when a person who had always considered himself African American found little genetic connection to that ancestry.

Today, we learn that the University of Miami professor who was in the news because Bryan Sykes [of Oxford Ancestors] informed him he was a descendant of Genghis Khan, may not be able to claim that connection after all. According to today's Miami Herald, "Robinson helped debunk the link himself. In preparation for an appearance in a documentary that would have taken him to Mongolia, he asked Greenspan [of Family Tree DNA] to re-examine a DNA sample he had submitted to that firm in 2003."

The author of the Herald article was unable to contact Sykes, but offered the following reasoning for the different results:

Sykes' . . . testing revealed a link -- seven of nine genetic markers -- between Robinson's genes and a genetic signature that has been commonly associated with Genghis Khan.

Further testing revealed that markers not tested by Sykes put Robinson's ancestors on a different ''sub-branch of the Y chromosome DNA tree of mankind,'' . . . Greenspan said Sykes' initial results did not provide enough information to make a claim to Khan's genes.

The different results found by different companies reflects a variety of factors and doesn't necessarily reflect on the quality of genetic testing conducted by either Oxford Ancestors or Family Tree DNA. However, the failure to substantiate the initial results--do we even now know which results are correct?--has, in this case, resulted in some disappointment and a lost trip to Mongolia. And this testing was "identity" testing, believed to be far more accurate than testing for active genes.

I wonder how Robinson would feel if a body part had been removed, not just an ancestor.

Marie Godfrey, PhD