AFRICAN ANCESTRY: Reconstructing a Bridge to the Past

Gina Paige
Gina Paige
African Ancestry's novel African Lineage Database(TM) is the largest of its kind in the world. The repository of molecular blueprints of African peoples was created out of extensive research by Rick Kittles, PhD. A renowned geneticist, Dr. Kittles is an expert at the forefront of efforts to use DNA to trace ancestry and also on the faculty at The University of Chicago Department of Medicine. In addition, Kittles is scientific director of African Ancestry. "The bridge to the past collapsed with the advent of the slave trade, and we're reconstructing it by using DNA," says Dr. Kittles. "Tracing ancestry through DNA can lead us to some insight about our potential ancestors and potential places of ancestry. For untold numbers of people, knowing that is a lot better than knowing nothing."

Interview with Gina Paige, President and Co-Founder of African Ancestry, Inc.
Roger Madison, CEO of iZania, spoke with Gina Paige to share the story of how this breakthrough test can help transform the way you define yourself.

Click the play arrow below to listen to the complete interview{mp3}izania.com_africanancestry_interview{/mp3}

iZania: Thanks for speaking with me today about this exciting breakthrough that has received nationwide exposure . . . at PBS, the Today Show, Black Enterprise and other media outlets. Tell us about your background and how African Ancestry was created.
Gina: I have an MBA from the University of Michigan, and spent many years doing product management and general management for brands like Sarah Lee and Colgate Palmolive. I was introduced to Dr. Kittles in 2002. . . when he had completed a database of indigenous African lineages. Quite selfishly, he wanted to know where he had come from. When the community found out that he had this capability, he was inundated with requests to tell them where they were from in Africa. So he and I collaborated – I commercialized his research to make it available to anyone who wants to know. So, I like to say that the community created African Ancestry, not Dr. Kittles or myself.

iZania: Has there ever been anything like this to trace African American heritage?
Gina: No. Actually, this is a one of-a-kind opportunity. There are other companies that use the same processes that we use. However, because they don’t have a database of African lineages, when your results come back African, they just tell you that your ancestry is African. So what makes us different and unique is that we can place African Ancestry in a present day country in Africa. We are often able to identify an ethnic group or groups in that region as well. So, we are providing the tools that transform the way that people view themselves, and the way that they view Africa.

iZania: I understand that this is DNA based. Is that correct?
Gina: Yes. Determining ancestry is a relatively straightforward process. So, what happens is with the test kit that we provide, the person swabs the inside of their cheek, using a long swab that looks like a Q- Tip. . . Then our lab extracts the DNA from that swab and sequences it, looking at a very specific portion of the DNA that you inherit only from your mother (this is when you are tracing maternal ancestry). There is DNA that you got from your mother . . . and what you have is the same as your mother, and the same as your grandmother, and great grandmother, and so on. So there is a very small portion of you DNA that provides an informative record of the history of your maternal line. We then compare your . . . DNA sequence with the sequences that are in our database. Our database has the largest, most comprehensive collection of indigenous African lineages in the world. So we have data similar to yours from 30 countries on the African continent, and about 200 ethnic groups. So we look for matches, and people who share that same small area of the DNA, share maternal ancestry. The same can be done when you are tracing your father’s line – your paternal line. Instead, we look at the DNA of men – only men can do this test – that you have inherited from your father; the Y chromosome. . . .

iZania: Does it always lead to Africa?
Gina: No, it doesn’t. Actually, we know that as African Americans, we are a apart of this great melting pot in the United States. When we trace maternal ancestry, we find African ancestry about 95% of the time. And when it is not African, it tends to be Native American. Less than one percent of the time we may find Asia or Europe. But when we trace the paternal side, it’s a very different story. We find African ancestry only about 70% of the time. And the remainder of those lineages – 3 out of 10 Black men that we test have European ancestry, not African ancestry.

iZania: In the interest of full disclosure, I am a client of African Ancestry. I flipped a coin to determine if I should do the paternal or maternal ancestry. I chose my paternal ancestry and . . . I was a little bit disappointed to find out that my paternal ancestors are from Europe. I am one of those 3 out of 10. . . Now I have to do another test to determine if my maternal ancestors are from Africa.
Gina: It’s important too that you are not alone in your disappointment . . . not necessarily because it’s European, but you were hoping for African ancestry. It’s important to note too that by finding out that your lineage is European, that doesn’t mean you are not a Black man. You’re still a Black man. Socially and culturally, you have created an identity for yourself. It’s just one part of who you are.

iZania: In closing, is there something that you would like to share with the iZania community?
Gina: Yes. In addition to the impact that this has on you personally, and at the family level, I would just like to have your listeners know that going through this journey for people has been extremely transformative and extremely empowering. We now have people who travel to Africa to visit countries that they share ancestry with; they are building schools; they are building hospitals; they are lobbying the U.S. Congress on behalf of issues that affect the countries that they share ancestry with. They are learning languages. They are starting study groups. They are adopting children. They are naming children. People are taking this new found connection and using the power and the passion that is connected to it to do some phenomenal things. And I encourage you to consider that. But if you only do one thing, I would encourage you to share what you know about your family with another family member. Because it is important that we keep the history of our our families alive. And the only way that is by passing down the stories to future generations.

BLOG COMMENTS POWERED BY DISQUS