Are you related to all your ancestors?

How much DNA do you actually share with previous generations?

April 9, 2026

Original photo by © vulkanismus/stock.adobe.com You aren’t genetically related to all your ancestors. Since you’re a descendant of your ancestors, it makes sense to assume you’re genetically related to all of them — right? As it turns out, that’s not the case. A bit of math combined with the passage of time from one generation to the next shows how, after a certain point, it’s simply not possible to share genetic material with all of your relatives. Continue Reading

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You inherit more genes from your mother than your father.

You inherit more genes from your mother than your father. FACT FIB

Your mother’s cousin’s child is your __.

Your mother’s cousin’s child is your __. REVEAL ANSWER

Numbers Don't Lie   Percentage of DNA that doesn’t encode proteins 98% DNA letters contained in every cell 3 billion Genes possessed by each individual human 25,000 Year Friedrich Miescher identified DNA 1869

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There are more than four DNA bases. You may be familiar with the four main DNA bases, but there’s more to our genes than ATGC, aka adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. (Fun fact: The sci-fi movie Gattaca got its name by artfully combining those four letters.) At least 17 modified DNA letters (aka bases) have been found to date, including 5-formylcytosine (5fC), which was discovered in 2011. Technically a transitional form of cytosine that was corrected by repair enzymes, 5fC is an intermediate base that was found by researchers from the University of Cambridge to exist in tissue as a stable structure.

Today's edition of Interesting Facts was written by Michael Nordine and edited by Brooke Robinson.

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