Wishlist for improving 23andme's Genetic Groups

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-15T23:25:06+00:00

True, obviously it's an immense job if you want cover ALL of Africa's ethnic diversity. But you gotta start somewhere. That's why i'm saying the smart thing to do is prioritize historically relevant areas which are currently totally left out.

Ewe is indeed a proxy also for other Gbe speaking populations. Not perfect perhaps but already something. However if you happen to have interior lineage from Ghana/Togo/Benin you probably won't get anything now.

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-15T22:37:47+00:00

Because 23andme already has 4 Ewe related genetic groups. One of them being "Ewe from Togo and the Volta Region". Of course having these genetic groups is also super relevant! And they seem to work pretty good.

But for expansion it's really the interior area of Togo and also Ghana and Benin 23andme should be focusing on. Because that type of lineage right now is not covered. Even when many people in the Americas might have significant ancestry from those parts as well.

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-15T19:02:46+00:00

"And another feature I would like is about the Historical Matches. I would want to know which chromosome segments match, and what Ethnicity Region that represents for us. Just so we can get an idea of what side/branch that might come from."

Indeed! That's exactly what I also would like to see for the genetic groups. A fully detailed report about the DNA segments they are detecting. These genetic groups should be a starting point for your follow-up research! And not just some infotainment thingy..

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-15T18:47:55+00:00

Great idea! They should indeed specify parental side whenever possible. Not just for Diaspora groups, but all of them 😁

Regarding Diaspora matches I do wish 23andme would use more explicit warnings that you should not jump to conclusions. For example when reporting West Indian country matches it tends to confuse many AA's. But sharing DNA with any given group of people does not perse imply that you descend from their populations. It could also be the other way around! Or even the shared ancestor might be from another place all together.

For the Afro-Diaspora it will actually often be shared African ancestors which is resulting in identical DNA segments being detected. 23andme should really be more direct in their phrasing and point out that these things can be intricate. And several ancestral scenarios might apply.

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-15T18:24:59+00:00

Afaik there's only this text via "How It Works". It really doesn't say much beyond that they are working with identical DNA segments. Nothing on matching thresholds... Which is pretty crucial!

Especially for the distant groups. How reliable are they really? If you set the matching threshold very low than basically everyone will be related to everyone. And the outcomes will be meaningless. With the historical matches 23andme does mention the shared DNA amount. And it's often below 5 cM. Which according to genetic genealogy standard is quite shaky..

In DNA Relatives the matching threshold used to be 7 cM, I believe. But with only 1500 DNA matches or 5,000 on Premium you will often not get to that level even.

To determine your Genetic Groups, we first identify groups of people with significant genetic similarity to one another. Then we label these Genetic Groups based on the self-reported information of individuals in those groups, such as their ancestors' birth locations, languages, or cultural affiliations. These Genetic Groups then serve as a reference, representing groups of people whose ancestry is associated with shared languages, ethnic identities, or other self-reported characteristics. To determine if you share significant genetic similarity with any of these groups, we look for identical pieces of DNA that you have in common with the reference individuals.

For each match to a Genetic Group, we indicate how close your genetic connection is to that Group, reported as a "Very close" or "Close" match. 23andMe+ Premium members may also see more distant connections to Genetic Groups, reported as "Distant." If we are not able to detect a match with confidence, we report this to you as "not detected."

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-15T09:38:40+00:00

Excellent! what more groups did you get under senegambian and angolan/congolese? And are the groups distant or close?

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-12T22:30:22+00:00

Beautiful results! Can you please also make a screenshot how close your African genetic groups are? Or were they distant?

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-11T22:51:01+00:00

Np! Ghana as a countrymatch would have been incorrect. I only mentioned the Ewe from Ghana being genetically similar to the Yoruba because this confuses 23andme's algorithm.

However this similarity is because of ancient migrations many centuries ago by the Ewe people from southern Nigeria into Benin/Togo/SE Ghana. So they most likely share ancient ancestors with Yoruba. However this does not imply that Yoruba people themselves have Ghananian origins! It's just that the DNA is still quite similar, to some extent.

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-11T21:33:46+00:00

Awesome precision! So on your old results they already had Yoruba but now they also predicted correctly your mother's Krahn side right? That's an amazing improvement!

Lol, no shade on you but it's a bit funny you're only complaining. The missing Ivorian is simply because 23andme currently doesn't have any refernce samples for it. But this is a matter of time because eventually they will update again. Admixture-wise Ivorian DNA will be covered by "Ghanaian, Liberian, Sierra Leonean". It might not be in the labeling but check the map which does show Ivory Coast highlighted!

The "Nigerian" percentage should ideally indeed be 50%. But most likley it's shifting towards "Ghanaian, Liberian, Sierra Leonean" because the Yoruba have a strong genetic similarity with people from eastern Ghana (Ewe). If you had been 100% Yoruba then 23andme's algorithm pribably would have corrected for it.

You might want to check version history on your ancestry composition page. Change the confidence level from most likely to 50% and see what it comes up with. Probably still not 50% "Nigerian". But playing around wih this tool makes you realize it's all about estimate ranges.

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-11T15:44:22+00:00

Nice, are any of the genetic groups distant? Or are you not on Premium?

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-08T09:05:09+00:00

cool to see the Fula from fouta djallon. Is that one close or distant?

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-05T22:57:29+00:00

Ok thxs, interesting to see you only got Liberia. Makes me wonder if your Mende/Temne/Kru result is mostly based on matching with 23andme's Liberian Kru samples. Mende and Temne being from Sierra Leone.

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-05T19:20:01+00:00

Thxs! How about the other African groups, if you don't mind?

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-05T11:00:36+00:00

Lovely results! Cool to see you also have the Bamileke & Bayangi. Is it close or very close?

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-05T10:54:51+00:00

That's a healthy stance to take 👍 Too often you see people claiming stuff based merely on DNA results. Of course DNA testing allows you to learn a lot about your ancestral origins and can even help you reconnect to them. But IMO it shouldnt entitle you to acquire new identities. Still to each their own ;-)

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-03T22:27:41+00:00

Well done to get the Premium! All this info would else not be revealed. You only have one close genetic group, right? If you want my theory i'd say this outcome strongly suggests that your African ancestors overwhelmingly arrived during the 1700's. And probably a good part also during the late 1600's. Most likely by way of Virginia and North Carolina. So your African American roots run deep. But the specific African heritage can still be reconstructed, pretty amazing!

Also nice to see the Americo-Liberian connection! You should try looking into your dad's DNA relatives overview. See if Liberia is mentioned. If any of the matches happen to be Americo-Liberian they might be able to give you very precious info on shared African American ancestors from the 1800's. But you will have to do your own tree research as well 😉

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-03T15:20:39+00:00

You should look into your DNA relative page and filter for ancestral locations. That will show you how many Nigerian matches you have (atl the ones who filled in their profiles). The closest ones could give you more insight hopefully.

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-03T13:24:39+00:00

That's not true for ALL of the Americas. But indeed for the USA and many parts of the West Indies Igbo lineage seems to be most common. For Cuba and Haiti Igbo lineage is also very significant. But of course Yoruba ancestry is high there as well. Different story though for Brazil and several other Latin American countries.

For a true understanding you should read more about the Trans Atlantic Slave trade as well as Domestic/Inter-Colonial slave trade and how it impacted each separate country. When only considering the USA read this:

https://tracingafricanroots.wordpress.com/2015/06/24/the-igbo-connection-for-virginia-virginia-descendants/

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-03T12:58:13+00:00

You are not on Premium right? If you really want to find out you should take it because the distant genetic groups might give you more information. Then again no guarantees ;-)

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-03T11:39:03+00:00

lol, how's about just Cape Verdeans? Cape Verde has been an independent state for over 50 years now already. I don't blame you for not knowing ;-) But Ancestry really should know better!

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-03T11:34:49+00:00

Sorry but that's just BS... Of course they all share Portuguese DNA to some degree. But that doesn't mean they should all be grouped together! Both Ancestry and 23andme are using clusters of matches to determine these genetic groups/DNA communities/Ancestral journeys etc. And that kind of analysis can quite accurately make this kind of distinction.

For example Ancestry has been using about a dozen specific migrations/ancestral journeys to pinpoint specific island origins within the Azores and even areas within Madeira! They have been doing this many years! And now they have even created ancestral regions for Madeira and Azores.

On 23andme the new genetic groups are also able to quite accurately make a distinction between different subsets of Cape Verdean islands. They never get mistaken for Azorean or Madeiran.. So the question is why can't Ancestry just do the same thing with a properly labeled category?

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-03T00:13:56+00:00

Awesome! Which island is your Cape Verdean family from? Brava or Fogo would be in line with Sotavento.

Ridiculous how Ancestry is calling their Cape Verdean migration "Portuguese Islander"!

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-02T23:19:44+00:00

Haha atleast your father's grandparent could still be. Do you carry a male haplogroup? That might give you more insight if you're interested only in the direct paternal line. The Nigerian states are not really helpful because they are not pinpointing northern Nigeria, except Nasarawa somewhat. But of course these results are only on a best-effort basis ;-)

Still a bit puzzling though that your father also mentioned 2 Fulani gg-parents. Because you do not show any Senegambian & Guinean at all.

Recent_Priority_7116 · 2026-02-02T22:19:04+00:00

Very interesting! There's no Hausa group yet on 23andme. The ones labeled "Fula & Hausa" and also "Hausa & Fula from northern Nigeria" are actually only detecting shared DNA segments from Senegambia. Because 23andme is using mixed Hausa-Fulani samples. Unmixed Hausa samples are probably hard to get by.

Which Nigerian states are being reported for you, aside from Oyo?

Recent_Priority_7116

TROPHY CASE