Guidelines for genetic ancestry inference created through roundtable discussions

Finding your roots: Do DNA ancestry tests increase racial (in)tolerance?

“…For instance, there is a potential for these tests to renew the outdated perception that "race" is a useful description of genetic variation (Cornell & Hartmann, 2006) and to impact policy decisions such as those around identity-based claims to citizenship (Rose & Novas, 2005), tribal membership (TallBear, 2013) or, even, affirmative action eligibility. In turn, in line with previous suggestions (see Wagner et al, 2023), it is important to remember that genetic ancestry is not definitive, that inferences continue to evolve and that nongenetic evidence should simultaneously be considered whenever possible (e.g., cultural connections). In addition to continuing to build and disseminate interventions aimed at genetic literacy (see Donovan et al, 2021), we urge DNA ancestry testing companies and the media to indicate just how much DNA is shared between any two humans (for a review, see Templeton, 2013, also see Rosenberg et al, 2002), to emphasize the additional limitations of these tests (see Bolnick et al, 2007; S. S. J.…”

“…In addition to continuing to build and disseminate interventions aimed at genetic literacy (see Donovan et al, 2021), we urge DNA ancestry testing companies and the media to indicate just how much DNA is shared between any two humans (for a review, see Templeton, 2013, also see Rosenberg et al, 2002), to emphasize the additional limitations of these tests (see Bolnick et al, 2007; S. S. J. Lee et al, 2009; also see Wagner et al, 2023), and to avoid using genetic ancestry interchangeably with terms such as race and ethnicity (see National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2023; also see Wagner et al, 2023). We also recommend that future experiments test the consequences of presenting DNA ancestry information in various new ways, how responses to this DNA ancestry results may change over longer periods of time and to examine how racial/ethnic minority groups may be differentially impacted by receiving such information.…”