Business
African Ancestry Inc., the pioneers of genetics-based African roots tracing celebrates 10 year anniversary
(Black PR Wire) – Washington, DC (March 2013) – Ten years ago, African Americans had no way to accurately or reliably determine where they came from in Africa. In 2003, African Ancestry, Inc. (AfricanAncestry.com) arrived on the scene and things changed forever. Not only did the small, black-owned enterprise establish the first and only DNA-based ancestry tracing marketplace for people of African descent, but this first-of-its-kind venture went on to dramatically enhance the way African Americans see themselves and the rich influences that Africa has in their lives today.
“Our 10-year anniversary is more than a one-time reason to have a party or a fleeting marketing opportunity,” said Gina Paige, co-founder and president of AfricanAncestry.com. “This milestone marks an unprecedented, collective transformation for thousands and thousands of Black people that augments their identities in today’s America and across the world,” said Paige.
Formed by one of the country’s few Black geneticists Dr. Rick Kittles and entrepreneur Paige, AfricanAncestry.com employs the largest collection of indigenous African DNA (collected by Kittles) in a proprietary DNA matching analysis to assess present-day African countries of origins. As with all great innovators, AfricanAncestry.com has spawned a few industry copycats, however, none delivers 99+ percent accuracy in each sample tested, making African Ancestry the most trusted and reliable in the industry.
“I never imagined that my passion for African history and the movements of its people throughout the world would one day manifest in a much-needed product for African Americans,” said Dr. Kittles whose years of research on genetic variation in Africans led to the founding of AfricanAncestry.com, published works in more than 100 publications and break-through advancements in the field of human genetics and genetic anthropology.
Since its inception, African Ancestry has been on the forefront of collecting and analyzing first-time, interesting data from its test-takers. And while it’s clear that there’s a close race between people wanting to trace their mother’s side (53 percent) versus their father’s side (47 percent), African-American women overwhelming outnumber men — two to one — when it comes to tracing their roots. Here’s more interesting facts from African Ancestry’s MatriClan® and PatriClan® testers from 2003 – 2013:
• America’s Top 5 Metropolitan Cities with the most number of test-takers include: 1) Washington, DC; 2) Chicago; 3) Atlanta; 4) Los Angeles; and 5) Philadelphia.
• Maryland ranks the highest as the state with the most number of testers. South Dakota ranks the lowest as the only state in the union with NO test takers ever.
