DNA USA: A Genetic Portrait of America

Bryan Sykes, one of the world’s leading geneticists and best-selling author of The Seven Daughters of Eve, sets his sights on America, one of the most genetically variegated countries in the world. Sykes embarks on a road trip—DNA testing kit in tow—interviewing genealogists, anthropologists, and everyday Americans, tracing America’s history along a double helix that stretches from the last Ice Age to the present day. What emerges is an unprecedented look into America’s genetic mosaic that challenges the very notion of how we perceive race and what it means to be an American.

Crisscrossing the continent, a renowned geneticist provides a groundbreaking examination of America through its DNA.

The best-selling author of The Seven Daughters of Eve turns his sights on the United States, one of the most genetically variegated countries in the world. From the blue-blooded pockets of old-WASP New England to the vast tribal lands of the Navajo, Sykes takes us on a historical genetic tour, interviewing genealogists, research anthropologists, celebrities, and average Americans with compelling ancestral stories. An unprecedented look into America’s genetic mosaic and how we perceive race, DNA USA challenges the very notion of what we think it means to be an American.

Bryan Sykes, a professor of human genetics at the University of Oxford and founder of Oxford Ancestors, is the author of The Seven Daughters of Eve and Saxons, Vikings, and Celts. He lives in England.