EVER WANTED to know exactly where your family came from? You might be able to trace the family tree back a couple of hundred years but now the latest genetic research can trace your heritage back 150,000 years.

With demand for services which trace genealogy and heritage, Eastern Biotech and Life Sciences have developed DNA Solutions based on genetic research and studies in anthropology and archaeology.

A database of several million DNA profiles allows a person’s DNA to by analysed and key markers identified that show that person’s ancestors and their journey across the world.

The service has now been launched in the Middle East and Sales and Marketing Director Daniell Leigh was in Dubai yesterday to discuss the technology.

"Everyone is mixed and everyone has travelled," he said. “It can tell you where your roots started and where they end up.”

The science shows that all humans date back to an African woman known as Mitochondrial Eve whose descendants travelled to various parts of the world on separate paths with different groups evolving and others dying out as the world developed.

For example, DNA markers could show you originated from 'haplogroup' N about 60,000 years ago from descendants from Africa.

Your ancestors’ path might have taken them across Europe until the ice age forced the group back to the warmer Mediterranean climates and so on.

“People are very curious about their origins,” he said.

“However it can’t be broken down to 2000 years in Spain and then 1000 years in France, but the path can be traced.”

But as more people submit DNA profiles to discover their heritage, the database grows and research could help more specificity.

And if you’re a little bit concerned about the existence of an enormous DNA database, Leigh said the samples aren’t used by third parties and can be destroyed after the service is completed.

“450 samples have been processed so far,” he said. “It holds a lot of stock in Europe but it will go global. It’s a brand new concept to this region.”

Also you don’t need consent to investigate your and your family’s ancestry as, unlike a paternity test, this heritage trace isn’t specific.

If you want to trace your roots, the company sends out a swab kit for you to provide a DNA sample by rubbing the inside of your cheek with a swab which is stored in a little container and sent back to the company.

About $300 or Dh1,000 and up to 20 days later, you’re sent a document, which comes in various formats, and highlights your ancestry and their path across the world along with information about the group and influences on their origins.

Daniell said it might make a good gift for a family member and the information could be used against other databases to trace the family tree back further.