I must admit that I was a bit surprised to see an ad for a "DNA Maternal Ancestry Package" at BestBuy stores in Canada. Imagine the concept: stop by the store, pick up a laptop computer, a new dishwasher, and maybe a couple of CDs, and find your ancestry. All this can be done in one quick visit. Well, almost.
In fact, BestBuy of Canada is selling DNA Maternal Ancestry Packages produced by the DNA Ancestry Project of Vancouver, British Columbia. With the maternal ancestry package, a male or female individual can trace their maternal roots (only) and discover their maternal origins.
Quoting from BestBuy's advertising:
"The Maternal DNA Ancestry package allows you to trace your ancestry on your maternal line: Travel back in time 150,000 years and learn about the ancient origins of your ancestry. Use the DNA Archaeology feature to find out if you are linked to royalty! See if you are related to Marie Antoinette, Thomas Jefferson, Queen Victoria, the Ramanovs, Jesse James, and many more. Discover long lost relatives and instantly add branches to your family tree."
I don't think it is quite as easy as that advertisement claims although you certainly should be able to trace your maternal line back several thousands of years. I am not sure how you find the connections to Jesse James or the other people mentioned, however.
I especially enjoyed reading BestBuy's list of "System Requirements:"
- Optical Drive: Information Not Available
- CPU Speed: Information Not Available
- CPU Type: Information Not Available
- Disk Space: Information Not Available
- Display: Information Not Available
- Memory (RAM): Information Not Available
- Operating System Compatibility: Information Not Available
You can read the online advertisement at http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0926INGFS10097030&catid=21225&logon=&langid=EN&test%5Fcookie=1.
The same "DNA Maternal Ancestry Package" supposedly is also available at The Bay stores across Canada, but I could not find it listed on The Bay's web site. I also do not see this kit listed in U.S. BestBuy stores.
