Can you trust ancestry DNA kits? AI transcript and summary - episode of podcast 6 Minute English

Go to PodExtra AI's episode page (Can you trust ancestry DNA kits?) to play and view complete AI-processed content: summary, mindmap, topics, takeaways, transcript, keywords and highlights.

Go to PodExtra AI's podcast page (6 Minute English) to view the AI-processed content of all episodes of this podcast.

6 Minute English episodes list: view full AI transcripts and summaries of this podcast on the blog

Episode: Can you trust ancestry DNA kits?

Author: BBC Radio
Duration: 00:06:33

Episode Shownotes

Are DNA ancestry tests a reliable way to trace your ancestry? Neil and Beth discuss this and teach you some new vocabulary. (Image: Getty)Find a full transcript and worksheet for this episode to help you with your English at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish`/english/features/6-minute-english_2024/ep-241205` SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER: ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish`/newsletters` FIND BBC LEARNING ENGLISH

HERE: Visit our website ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish Follow us ✔️ https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/followus LIKE PODCASTS? Try some of our other popular podcasts including: ✔️ Learning English for Work ✔️ Learning English from the News ✔️ Learning English Stories They're all available by searching in your podcast app.

Full Transcript

00:00:00 Speaker_02
This BBC podcast is supported by ads outside the UK. Hello. This is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Neil. And I'm Beth.

00:00:17 Speaker_02
Nowadays it's popular to find out more about your family history by tracing your family tree – a diagram that shows all the members of a family over a long period of time. What do you know about your family history, Beth?

00:00:32 Speaker_07
Well, my mum actually did our family tree. She found a lot of our ancestors had emigrated to the United States. But yeah, I don't know much more than that. What about you?

00:00:44 Speaker_02
Well, I'm lucky to have an unusual surname, so it's quite easy to trace my ancestors. And somebody in my family has gone back to 1700 and found somebody with my name.

00:00:58 Speaker_07
Wow, that's amazing. Well, the internet has made it easier to find the historical records needed to research your ancestry – the origins of your family. But what if you want to find out about a time before historical records began?

00:01:13 Speaker_07
Luckily, some companies now offer to trace your ancestry using DNA.

00:01:18 Speaker_02
DNA is the cellular information that's passed down from parents to children, telling the body how to create life. Listener Chris from the UK recently took a DNA ancestry test.

00:01:31 Speaker_02
When the test returned some unexpected results, Chris called BBC Radio 4 programme Sliced Bread, wondering how accurate they really were.

00:01:41 Speaker_01
Not so long ago I sent off a home DNA testing kit and the results that came back were broadly in line with expectations but it had some little glitches in there which made me think Is this accurate or is it to be taken with a pinch of salt?

00:01:58 Speaker_07
Chris wondered whether his results were accurate or whether to take them with a pinch of salt. An idiom meaning to doubt something is completely true.

00:02:08 Speaker_07
So, in this programme we'll discuss how accurate DNA ancestry tracing is and, as usual, we'll learn some useful new words and phrases. And remember, you can find all the vocabulary for this programme on our website bbclearningenglish.com.

00:02:24 Speaker_02
First though, I have a question for you, Beth. One reason to be cautious about DNA ancestry tests is that humans are very similar to each other.

00:02:34 Speaker_02
Most of your DNA is identical with every other person on Earth and it's only the tiny amount of difference that accounts for all genetic variations between humans. So, exactly how much DNA do humans share with each other? Is it... a. 79.9%

00:02:54 Speaker_02
b, 89.9% or c, 99.9%? I am going to guess 99.9%. OK, well we'll find out the answer later in the programme. Another problem for research based on DNA is agreeing on the meaning of words like ancestry and ethnicity.

00:03:14 Speaker_02
Here, genealogist Louise Baldock explains the difference between these words to BBC Radio 4 programme Sliced Bread.

00:03:22 Speaker_06
So ancestry is really about people, it's about your actual forebears, your ethnicity, you would probably think of in geographical terms, maybe which continent or which region your people came from.

00:03:36 Speaker_07
Like ancestors, the term forebears means actual people, the relatives in your family from a long time ago.

00:03:44 Speaker_07
But Louise is more interested in the term ethnicity, the shared culture, language and traditions of a group of people, and this is closely connected to a geographical location.

00:03:55 Speaker_02
And it's this question of geography which interested BBC presenter Greg Foot. Greg sent DNA samples to two different companies.

00:04:04 Speaker_02
The results from the first company matched what he already knew about his family – that the past five generations came from England.

00:04:11 Speaker_02
But listen to what happens when Louise Baldock revealed the results of Greg's second DNA test on his BBC Radio 4 show, Sliced Bread.

00:04:21 Speaker_06
It's going to blow your mind. OK. Can I tell you what you're looking at? Yes, please do. It says that you are, first of all, 66% North and West Europe, but explicitly that doesn't refer to the United Kingdom. OK, that's a wide geographical area.

00:04:41 Speaker_06
27.5% Irish, Scottish and Welsh, but again explicitly not English.

00:04:46 Speaker_07
The second company's DNA test blows Greg's mind. It makes him very excited and surprised. There's no evidence of his ancestors being English at all.

00:04:57 Speaker_02
Actually, companies compare DNA with other samples in their database. And since companies use different databases, it's not too surprising that Greg's results were so different, unlike his actual DNA.

00:05:10 Speaker_07
Speaking of which, what was the answer to your question, Neil?

00:05:13 Speaker_02
I asked you what percentage of human DNA is shared by everyone? And what was your answer, Beth?

00:05:21 Speaker_07
I said 99.9%.

00:05:23 Speaker_02
Well, you must be very clever because the answer is correct. Well done. Right, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, starting with family tree – a diagram showing all the members of a family.

00:05:36 Speaker_07
Ancestry refers to the origins of a family.

00:05:39 Speaker_02
If you take something with a pinch of salt, you don't believe it's completely true.

00:05:43 Speaker_07
Forebears are relatives who lived in the past.

00:05:46 Speaker_02
Ethnicity means the social, cultural and linguistic characteristics shared by a group of people.

00:05:52 Speaker_07
And finally, if something blows your mind, it makes you excited or surprised. Once again, our six minutes are up. But why not head over to the BBC Learning English website where you'll find a worksheet and quiz especially for this programme.

00:06:07 Speaker_07
See you there soon!

00:06:08 Speaker_00
Goodbye!

00:06:18 Speaker_08
Thanks for listening to 6 Minute English. Did you know we have a BBC Learning English email newsletter? Subscribe for our latest lessons, worksheets and quizzes and weekly tips to help you study.

00:06:31 Speaker_08
Just search BBC Learning English newsletter or follow the link in the notes for this programme.

00:06:42 Speaker_03
Yoga is more than just exercise. It's the spiritual practice that millions swear by. And in 2017, Miranda, a university tutor from London, joins a yoga school that promises profound transformation.

00:06:56 Speaker_05
It felt a really safe and welcoming space. After the yoga classes, I felt amazing.

00:07:03 Speaker_03
But soon, that calm, welcoming atmosphere leads to something far darker, a journey that leads to allegations of grooming, trafficking and exploitation across international borders.

00:07:17 Speaker_05
I don't have my passport, I don't have my phone, I don't have my bank cards, I have nothing. The passport being taken, the being in a house and not feeling like they can leave.

00:07:27 Speaker_03
World of Secrets is where untold stories are unveiled and hidden realities are exposed. In this new series, we're confronting the dark side of the wellness industry, where the hope of a spiritual breakthrough gives way to disturbing accusations.

00:07:43 Speaker_04
You just get sucked in so gradually. and it's done so skillfully that you don't realise. And it's like this, this secret that's there.

00:07:55 Speaker_05
I wanted to believe that, you know, that whatever they were doing, even if it seemed gross to me, was for some spiritual reason that I couldn't yet understand. Revealing the hidden secrets of a global yoga network. I feel that I have no other choice.

00:08:16 Speaker_05
The only thing I can do is to speak about this and to put my reputation and everything else on the line. I want truth and justice. and for other people to not be hurt, for things to be different in the future.

00:08:37 Speaker_04
To bring it into the light and almost alchemise some of that evil stuff that went on and take back the power.

00:08:48 Speaker_03
World of Secrets, Season 6, The Bad Guru. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.