Any reliable tests out there?
Which DNA test is more suitable for finding East Asian ancestry?
Unfortunately for people of Asian descent is quite hard to get specific results due to the fact that not a lot of people have taken genetic testing kits. This means that databases from Ancestry or 23andMe don’t provide a lot of results.
However, Ancestry’s genetic testing is fairly thorough. But do keep in mind there is a huge margin for error. They utilise autosomal DNA through a saliva sample in order to get your genetic results. To predict your ethnicity and cousin matching, they compare that sample against their database of over 2 milion samples. Although there are a good amount of Asian people in that database, it is a fact that white or black people are more common.
23andMe offers good results on Haplogroup and Mitochondrial DNA testing. One is for male to male ancestry on Y chromosome. Mitochondrial DNA is more stable over time as it is passed exclusively from mother to daughter.
My advice is to use any company that allows you to download your raw data and then upload it to Gedmatch or WeGene. Keep in mind that your results will be different depending on which admixture calculators you use. For example, Ancestry DNA results will vary depending on which reference populations you use. Gedmatch results use underlying statistically significant world regional populations. This means that they tend to be more reliable. One thing to note when we talk about the ancient population of East Asia is that finding out which country your ancestry comes from is nearly impossible. This is because population structure is not organised based on current borders or on groups created over the past three milenia of ethnogenesis.
For East Asians, I recommend doing a 23andMe DNA test and then uploading your RAW data on WeGene, a platform prodiving genetic testing and analysis services, specialised in East Asia populations. It could be that 23andMe is enough depending on what type of East Asian you are. Bear mind though that large samples might always be needed for homogenous populations.
The DNA test itself is not the most important element in this process. It’s very important to upload your raw data to various comparative websites. The smart thing to do is to look for websites with lots of Asian members so that your DNA can be compared with theirs.