DNA test someone's origins? Geniuses Inside!
 

OK, a friend of mine asked me this (dont know why he thought i'd know), but for legal purposes he must prove that he's got German blood (in particular of a specified German grandmother).. The thing is, he's not in Germany (He's in Thailand, he's half Thai and looks asian)... He wants to DNA test first, that his father was actually German.. can that be done? one's blood tested to know their ancestor's origin?

enquiring minds wanna know :warning

sure . . why not . but you would need DNA from the proven german ancestor to match it up it seems ?

they can tell an area of a continent sometimes , not a definite nationality i believe.

right now he's not in Germany so he has no access to his relatives DNA, want to broad test that his blood is even German in the first place. If it's not, then he's not related and therefore he may forfeit the estate in question in accordance with German law... or somehting like that

he needs DNA from the grandmother to compare otherwise there's no way he can prove he has German blood (or so my CSI knowledge tells me)

Yes. Males, of course, carry the Y chromosome. He can trace mutations/markings on his Y chromosome to the general level of mutations/markings for the German males.

This is the same way members of the LEMBA tribe of Africa were able to trace their lineage to Middle Eastern Jewry.

See also: http://www.haruth.com/JewsLemba.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemba

Since he think his father's GERMAN, I suggest he try the Y chromosome DNA test first.

If he is claiming GERMAN Matrilineal line, then he can get a MITOCHONDRIAL dna test (mitochondrial DNA is from the mother's side)

Not sure it can prove someone is German especially without DNA from a German relative...... I cant see DNA being of use as a proof of nationality.

Think of Europe more like the States - people have moved into and around Europe for 1000s of years.

Its like trying to prove you are from Texas.

I cant see any official org accepting it.

bump... what if it's a woman?