The tellmeGen ancestry analysis includes a database of thousands of individuals belonging to 93 genetic populations spread across 7 major geographic areas:
- Europe: 36 populations, including the Iberian Peninsula, the British Isles, Eastern, Central, Northern Europe, and various ethnicities such as Ashkenazi and Italians.
- Africa: 9 populations, with representations from East Africa, West Africa (Gambia, Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana), Maghreb, and Sub-Saharan Africa.
- West Asia: 14 populations, such as Bedouins, Turks, Arabs, and Caucasian ethnicities.
- Central and South Asia: 9 populations, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, and Sri Lanka.
- East Asia: 17 populations, including Chinese, Mongolians, Japanese, and Koreans.
- Oceania: 3 populations, between Melanesia and Papua New Guinea.
- America: 5 populations, including North, Central, and South Native Americans, and Amazonian natives.
Regarding the assignment of your country of birth, it is important to understand that political countries and genetic populations do not always coincide, as countries are political borders and do not always reflect genetic diversity. Furthermore, many countries are recent in their formation, and a genetic population can be represented in several countries. For example, populations in Central Europe or the Balkans present a complex genetic mix due to the history of migrations and political events (such as the two world wars), which can make precise ancestry assignment within a specific region difficult.
If your genetic population is not included, this may be because quality criteria for that population have not yet been met, such as having enough genetically homogeneous individuals who are distinct from other populations. However, when we have the necessary information, those populations will be added to our study, and users will be notified.
This approach ensures that tellmeGen offers the most accurate results available, continuously improving as research and databases grow.