The DNA testing company, which led some to believe that a new field of 'genetic astrology' was being invented, traded under several names, including BritainsDNA, ScotlandsDNA, and YorkshireDNA. Whilst its DNA results themselves were not contentious, the company was never a stranger to controversy in terms of how those results were interpreted, with outlandish claims about who people were descended from. For a while it seemed to be the darling of the British media sector, not least because of the close connections to the sector that one of its founders had with the industry. At one point it even claimed to have found 'Eve's grandson' in Scotland, and nine people related to the Queen of Sheba (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2014/06/bbc-story-featuring-britainsdna.html). Effectively challenging many of the company's more extraordinary claims was University College London, which set up a page to document and refute some of the nonsense at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/mace-lab/genetic-ancestry, whilst industry commentators such as Buzzfeed News's science correspondent even ran a headline stating "This DNA Ancestry Company Is Telling Its Customers “Mostly Total Bollocks” About Their Ancestors".
The full announcement of the company's final demise is told at http://notjustsheepandrugby.blogspot.co.uk/2017/07/britainsdna-thing-of-past.html.
(With thanks to Debbie Kennett via Facebook)
Chris
My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.
For details on my Scottish & Irish genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
For my genealogy research service, please visit http://www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk.
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