Ethnicity and race can be problematic. On the other hand, DNA testing can be useful to:
There are some pitfalls with regard to genetic testing to determine if you “belong” to one ethnicity or other. If the tests are run on the DNA in the Y chromosome (passed through the paternal line) or the mitochondria (maternal line) the results will probably be more exact. The downside to these tests is that they will only tell you about one lineage, either the paternal (father’s father’s father’s, etc.) or mother’s mother’s mother’s, etc.). This represents only a small portion of your many, many ancestors (see the information page about deep ancestry testing).
Admixture testing, on the other hand, looks at genetic markers from your entire genome. Unfortunately, this type of testing is in its infancy, and the results should be taken with a grain of salt. Because of this, unscrupulous companies may promise more than they can deliver, in terms of what ethnic groups you may “belong to.”
There are also providers that offer services specialize for different ethnic communities:
