Originally Posted by
Amerijoe
Sitting here at Dr. Slice & Dice, dermatologist, it's great having skin that is camouflage for snow. Back to point, I've tested with geno 2 about a year and half ago and have listed my Genius Matches. I'm chuckling as I read because this is a great marketing tool. The average testee will leave with their chest held high with these remarkable matches. See if you don't agree! Abraham Lincoln is both my maternal and paternal genius match. I didn't know I'm related to such greatness.
(Present - 120,000 Years Ago)
We determine your Genius Matches through the analysis of either mitochondrial or Y-chromosome DNA, two parts of the DNA which are inherited directly, without mixing, from one ancestor in any given generation. Furthermore, if you go back 150,000 years, all seven billion humans share one single, common maternal ancestor: A Mitochondrial Eve. Her male counterpart was Y- chromosome Adam. Actually, any two individual people that ever lived may share a match (an Eve or an Adam) at a more recent point in time. First maternal cousins, for example, share a match at the grandmother level. Although it’s true that every two living people share a common ancestor, in reality we share multiple ancestors. Some of these common ancestors lived centuries ago, while others lived and migrated across the earth millennia ago. Here we estimate when in time you shared a direct female or direct male ancestor with a famous historical genius. Learn about your own Genius Matches below.
0 Matches
12,000 - 0
Years Ago
No results for this time frame.
1 Match
25,000 - 12,000
Years Ago
Abraham Lincoln
1809-1865
Political Genius
PATERNAL MATCH
Most historians consider Lincoln the greatest of all U.S. Presidents. He was a gifted politician, astute at bringing people together in mutual understanding and consensus. This 16th American President kept the young country from splintering during some of the darkest days in American history, the U.S. Civil War.
4 Matches
45,000 - 25,000
Years Ago
Petrarch
1304-1374
Poetic Genius
MATERNAL MATCH
Francesco Petrarca was an Italian scholar, poet, and humanist whose writings arguably ushered in the Renaissance movement across Italy and later throughout Europe in the 14th century. Because of his drive to revisit the scholarly classics of the past, and his ever inquisitive thirst for knowledge, he was regarded as the greatest scholar of his age.
Charles Darwin
1809-1882
Scientific Genius
PATERNAL MATCH
Darwin was a 19th century English naturalist attributed as the first person to propose the idea of evolution by means of Natural Selection. He proposed that all living things evolved from ancestral beings that once lived in the distant past; and that ultimately all species share a common ancestor, or match, in evolutionary history.
Nicolas Copernicus
1473-1543
Mathematical Genius
PATERNAL MATCH
Copernicus was one of the greatest mathematicians and astronomers of all time. He established that the Sun, rather than the Earth, was the center of the Solar System, a concept that set the foundation for our modern day understanding of our place in the universe. Copernicus could also speak multiple languages and dabbled in economics and politics as well.
King Tut
1341 BC to 1323 BC
Pharaoh Genius
PATERNAL MATCH
Not much is known about this young Egyptian leader from the 14th century B.C. other than he was possibly as young as nine when he took power, and that he died by the age of eighteen. Tutankhamun ruled Egypt during the height of the empire, yet he is believed to have rejected some of the radical religious beliefs of his predecessors. Tut is thought to have been the son of siblings, physically weak, and stricken with malaria, all of which may have contributed to his early death.
11 Matches
65,000 - 45,000
Years Ago
Abraham Lincoln
1809-1865
Political Genius
MATERNAL MATCH
Most historians consider Lincoln the greatest of all U.S. Presidents. He was a gifted politician, astute at bringing people together in mutual understanding and consensus. This 16th American President kept the young country from splintering during some of the darkest days in American history, the U.S. Civil War.
Genghis Khan
1162-1227
Military Genius
PATERNAL MATCH
Founder and ruler of the Mongol Empire, which became the largest empire in history after his death in the early 13th century. He was known as ruthless, and grew his empire by absorbing tribes and customs from neighboring regions. Genghis Khan is one of the greatest military geniuses of all time.
Leo Tolstoy
1828-1910
Literary Genius
PATERNAL MATCH
Often cited as one of the greatest authors of all time. This Russian writer has been the inspiration to countless authors since then, most of which eventually did finish reading War and Peace. Many consider him more than just a writer, but also a moral and religious leader. Many of his ideas still influence society today.
Queen Victoria
1819-1901
Royal Genius
MATERNAL MATCH
Victoria was the longest serving monarch of the British Empire, and oversaw some of the greatest advances scientifically, industrially, and across various aspects of society during an age of great advancement and development: The Victorian Era. Her tenure not only changed Great Britain, but had linguistic and societal impacts across the globe that are still lasting today.
Nicolas Copernicus
1473-1543
Mathematical Genius
MATERNAL MATCH
Copernicus was one of the greatest mathematicians and astronomers of all time. He established that the Sun, rather than the Earth, was the center of the Solar System, a concept that set the foundation for our modern day understanding of our place in the universe. Copernicus could also speak multiple languages and dabbled in economics and politics as well.
Benjamin Franklin
1706-1790
Multi-faceted Genius
MATERNAL MATCH
Not only is Franklin celebrated as one of the founding fathers of the United States of America, he was also a writer, publisher, physicist, naturalist, economist and his name is synonymous with gaudy wealth (a Benjamin is a $100 bill). He is also credited with the breakthrough concept of harnessing the power of electricity, a concept that changed the world as we know it.
Marie Antoinette
1755-1783
Historical Genius
MATERNAL MATCH
Marie Antoinette is one of the most famous leaders, turned villains of recent history. To this day she is remembered for her staunch conservatism and displays of wealth. She is attributed with the infamous phrase, “let them eat cake,” supposedly uttered in response to the poverty in France. She’s ultimately remembered for her death by guillotine in the center of Paris.
Thomas Jefferson
1743-1826
Political Genius
PATERNAL MATCH
Jefferson was the third president of the United States, and one of the founding fathers of the country. He was an architect, horticulturalist and an academic scholar, and often a strong advocate for religious freedom and tolerance, while also a slave-owner. Under his leadership the U.S. nearly doubled in size, as he orchestrated the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
Napoleon
1769-1821
Military Genius
MATERNAL MATCH
Napoleon was a political and military leader that rose to power during the French Revolution in the late 18th century. He took France to the position of European power and prominence, before being captured and held in Elba til his death. His military tactics are still studied today, and his liberal political leanings ever influenced Europe and the world for centuries to come.
Maria Theresa
1717-1780
Royal Genius
MATERNAL MATCH
Maria Theresa was a queen among queens. Her titles continuously changed as the geography of continental Europe evolved and populations merged, then split apart during the heart of the 18th century. Maria was at one time Holy Roman Empress, Queen of Bohemia, and Archduchess of Austria. She was mother to sixteen children, the most famous of which was her youngest daughter, Maria Antonia, also known as Marie Antoinette.
Nikola Tesla
1856-1943
Engineering Genius
PATERNAL MATCH
Although his work was historically overshadowed by that of colleague turned nemesis, Thomas Edison, Tesla is attributed with developing the alternating current (AC) and the induction motor. His life’s work, however, remained obscure until the late 1990’s when historians began to uncover the genius of his transformative work in the fields of electronics and magnetism.
1 Match
120,000 - 65,000
Years Ago
Napoleon
1769-1821
Military Genius
PATERNAL MATCH
Napoleon was a political and military leader that rose to power during the French Revolution in the late 18th century. He took France to the position of European power and prominence, before being captured and held in Elba til his death. His military tactics are still studied today, and his liberal political leanings ever influenced Europe and the world for centuries to come.
The Science Behind
Your Matches
The diagram above is illustrative and depicts both paternal and maternal branching to help you understand how the science behind matching works. In this example, the matches show when in ancient history your maternal and/or paternal line diverged or “branched” from that of a famous Genius (For example, Lincoln, 60,000 years ago). Male participants can get get both paternal and maternal matches, whereas female participants can only get maternal matches.
Have a question?
-How did NG define Genius?
National Geographic is very liberal in its definition of genius. Since we are looking predominantly at historical figures, our definition of genius is that of “remarkable” or “historic” figure. But, you know, we are all truly geniuses in our own ways.
-Can my DNA tell me if I’m a genius?
Although there are genes associated with the ability to learn and intelligence, we are not currently analyzing those genes or DNA markers with Genographic.
-Why do I see men in my maternal matches?
Since we all have mothers, we all carry mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited strictly through the mother’s line. So, just like you and your brother have the same mother, you and your first male cousin have the same maternal-grandmother, and you and your male second cousin have the same maternal great-grandmother, you all share a direct maternal ancestor in the past, even if one or both of you are male. The same logic applies for your genius matches.
-Why do I see zero matches for some timeframes?
We compare your maternal and paternal DNA to a limited number of “geniuses,” so it’s quite likely that you don’t have a match that falls into one of our specifically designated time blocks. That is all.
-Why don’t I have any recent matches (12,000 – 0 years)?
In some cases your lineages may not have a match in the last 12,000 years. That doesn’t mean that you don’t share an ancestor with any of those people in that shorter time frame. It just means that you don’t share a direct maternal or direct paternal match within the last 12,000 years.
-My closest match is 45,000 years ago, what does that mean?
Although you likely shared common ancestors with many geniuses in more recent times, we only track your direct maternal (mother’s mother’s mother…) and direct paternal (father’s father’s father…) line for both you and the genius. In your case, your most recent genius match on one of those two lines was 45,000 years ago.
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