It seems as though almost every celebrity has traced their family tree in recent years. And, now the public are following suit. DNA testing kits have become increasingly popular, enabling people to find out their heritage and family tree without too much effort. But, why have they become so popular?
Growth of ancestry tests
According to an MIT Technology Review, more people bought consumer DNA tests in 2018 than in any of the previous years combined and, by the start of 2019, over 26 million people had added their DNA to four commercial ancestry and health databases. In this you can see that the exponential growth rate. For 2024, it is expected that this number is even higher.
Driven by continuous television advertisements and online marketing, DNA testing is experiencing an epiphany. The ease in which the test can be done – simply swab your mouth or spit into a tube to send back as a sample to be analyzed – has influenced the rate of DNA checking, because who really wants to spend hours garnering data?
Reviews of myheritage and similar companies have proved how incredible the DNA system is and you can find out more information here. Tests which can be purchased for under $60 can give a person access to their whole historical makeup and it’s no wonder that so many are jumping on the bandwagon. Some do this for the sake of curiosity and some want to know more about their origins.
And, if the growth continues, as many as 100 million people could have their genomes on a database by the end of 2024 with the direct-to-consumer genetic testing industry expected to hit $340 million by 2024.
Increasing desire to connect with the past
To understand your past can help you shape your own future and connect to a deeper extent with your family. Every single person in the world has likely asked their parents or grandparents about their own parents and grandparents because the interest in bringing a name to reality and bringing people to life is often tangible.
A DNA test can have the added benefit of helping a person rekindle relationships from those they have simply drifted away from. Tracing your ancestral past to find someone you have lost touch with and then conversing about your history provides a catalyst for a renewed acquaintance. Every now and then you ask yourself the question of the ancestry. Now you can know everything based on this DNA test, which can and most certainly will answer all of your questions.
Through the sharing of your DNA, you could even discover relatives that had never been known to you, shaping your life and future generations in a way that would not have seemed possible prior. It probably didn’t happen once that you meet someone just to discover that you are distant or even close relatives.
Establishing an identity is key to yourself and your family, but it can also have more pressing concerns – a DNA testing kit can be beneficial in medical terms. Knowing and understanding health issues that ancestors dealt with provides you with information and perhaps warning about developing the same problems.
The pertinent need to monitor and maintain your health or get yourself to a doctor can be brought on by a DNA kit. It is very important to know the medical history of your relatives which can be very important for you in the future. You would know how and what to do to protect yourself.
Continuing of family history
Understanding and empathizing about generations that have gone before and completing the puzzle as to how we got where we are can be beneficial for future generations also.
Recording our own history provides a chance for generations down the line to connect with us when we too are no longer on this earth. After all, they may be as interested and as determined as you to understand their historical past.
Knowing that our children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and more generations besides will get to know who their ancestors were, where they originated from, how they lived their lives and what they did, can be of great comfort. That history will live on as family cultures and traditions are kept alive for future generations is something which we can pride ourselves on.
