Direct-to-consumer genetic testing kits sometimes vary in the results they give, reports NBC Chicago. But it adds that sometimes tests don't even make a key distinction between human and non-human DNA.
Phil Rogers, a reporter from the station, submitted samples from himself and from his Labrador retriever to a number of testing companies. For his sample, Ancestry.com said his ancestors were likely from Ireland, Scotland, or Wales, followed by Scandinavia and a general Western Europe, while My Heritage DNA said north and west Europe, followed by Great Britain and Ireland as his most likely ancestral homes. The companies both tell him that differences in their databases and algorithms likely account for the different results.
Most companies, Rogers says, reported back that Bailey the Labrador's samples weren't readable. But one company, Orig3n DNA, provided a report on Bailey, saying that she likely would be good at sports that rely in quick moves like boxing or endurance sports like running.
The University of California, Los Angeles' Wayne Grody tells Rogers that while ancestry genetic testing is improving, many DTC tests, especially for health, haven't reached the level of sophistication medical genetic testing relies on.