How does DNA help when trying to trace your family history?

How does DNA help when trying to trace your family history?

Alastair Greenshields (Principal) gives expert video advice on: What is gentic genealogy?; How does DNA help when trying to trace your family history?; Who invented it? and more...

DNA helps because it's a very good record kept by the body, whereas papers can get lost, burned or simply not copied accurately. The DNA is a very good recorder of which family line you're part of, so that's why we look at DNA. We focus on a type of DNA that's very precisely passed down a known line, so we know where it's come from, and because of that, we can accurately trace those lineages.