We’re always being asked who we are. Labour or Conservative? Brexiter or Remainer? United or City? Our identities are the subject of constant questioning and investigation. One scan of social media reveals dozens of links inviting us to learn more about ourselves. “Which history-making Queen are you?” or “Jedi vs Sith: which is your personality more like?”
Jedi. Of course.
But is that enough? How much does a seven-question quiz or a box on a voting ballot really say about you? Surely, your identity is more than just who you cheer for and how you’d prefer to use The Force.
It’s in your DNA
The true key to your identity is your DNA. Passed down through generations of your family, constant and unmoving throughout your life, your DNA provides the fundamental detail that genuinely makes you, you.
Of course, you build on this detail over time. Your family, friends, school, haircuts, fashion choices, life experiences – these all help to shape your identity. But at the heart of it, your DNA is the scientific picture of who you are.
Unlocking your identity
Imagine if you could get up close and personal with your DNA and actually see how your makeup has helped inform who you are; how your DNA has travelled from all over the world to make you into the person you are today; how your ancestors’ lives – their choices and life events – have manifested in you and shaped your identity. Your DNA could unlock the secrets of your past, present and future.
It could be the revelation you never knew you needed. Like Liz, who thought she was just your average Brit from Northampton until her DNA revealed she’s from Italy, Greece and Russia – explaining her life-long love of Tchaikovsky and rousing a new zeal for travelling.
Or Cherry Healey who, positive she was as British as they come, discovered her DNA is not only just 1% British but that her ancestor, Sir John Lubbock, was a rockstar scientist of the 19th century – a celebrity of his time and not unlike herself.
The result that matters
As the world finds all new ways to define what your identity is, your DNA provides a fixed and unchanging definition.
By taking an AncestryDNA test, you’ll get essential answers about who you are and where you come from. You’ll see the parts of the world that are reflected in your DNA; the specific peoples and places from your family’s past; and crucially the living people that share your DNA – the relatives you know nothing about.
You’ll become part of an emerging movement to better understand who we are as individuals and as a collective. 4 million people have already taken the AncestryDNA test, and as this number grows – and the science develops – you’ll have increasing opportunities to connect with others, and discover yourself.
So forget that seven-question social quiz, and take a test that really means something.