Scientists have created a new GPS test that can locate a person's ancestors.
The test, or "sat nav", can show where a person's ancestors lived up to 100,000 years ago, and can even identify a specific village or tribe, according to the Daily Mail.
"Most people live in houses- they have addresses. They may live in castles, they may live in caves, they may live in tents, but although they were born there, their DNA came from elsewhere," said Dr. Eran Elhaik of the University of Sheffield, inventor of the test. "Their DNA was forged through processes of migrations and slavery and victories and conquests but it was not necessarily formed where they currently live. Our question was one of the most basic questions the human species has always been asking- where do I come from?"
Elhaik created the test with researchers from the University of Southern California.
Analysts tested the GPS on residents of 10 villages in Sardinia. The GPS was also used on residents of 20 islands in Oceania, French Tribune reported. The test found that 90 of the residents of the 20 islands were placed on the right island based solely on their DNA.
The researchers said the test is much more accurate than older methods because it uses all 44 diploid autosomal chromosomes. The test has the ability to find genetic admixture, a result of interbreeding between individuals from two or more different populations, which then leads to the creation of a new gene pool.
The test scans a person's DNA for parts dating back to the last time genetic admixture took place. Once the DNA has been found, it is compared with samples from populations around the world that have not moved for centuries. Afterwards, a computer program calculates how close a person's ancestors lived to these populations and finds a location, the Daily Mail reported.
Elhaik said the test would work for anyone in any place in the world. He added, however, that there were limitations, such as difficulty in finding a result if a person's grandparents were all from different areas.
The details of the test are published in the journal Nature Communications, Daily Mail reported.
"Although we are all very different people, we wear different clothes, we like different food, there are some questions we all share and the question about where we came from is universal," Elhaik said.
