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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Blue eyes, brown hair, freckles.
We all have unique features, a combination of our relatives past and present.
But the way we look is just the tip of the iceberg, as who we are is written in our DNA.
A complex set of instructions that we inherit from our parents.
With the help of GeneTree, a genealogy research company, I set out on a journey to find my roots, and the origin of my family tree.
Getting started was easy.
I received a DNA kit in the mail from GeneTree.
Inside was a set of instructions, mouthwash, and a baggie.
After swishing for several minutes, I spit my DNA into the cup and sent it on its way, back to GeneTree for processing.
Then, after eight weeks, my results arrived.
Of course, I already had an idea of who, and where my ancestors were from, but the results were still surprising.
"You, out of all the ones (reporters) we have done so far, show two major extremes," Scott Woodward said.
To help me break it all down, I enlisted the help of Woodward, a genealogy expert and founding member of GeneTree.
We began by looking at my mother, and her family.
"When we put your mitochondria DNA into the database, we literally found a thousand people that connect to you," Woodward said.
One of 12 kids, my mom's roots extend back to Europe, the birthplace of many of her ancient relatives.
"If we look at the world today we find people that share your DNA almost exactly, and we find them in the United States, in Switzerland, in Russia, in Yugoslavia, and in Mexico," Woodward said.
And what about famous relatives?
Woodward said I share an ancient maternal ancestor with Marie Antoinette.
"You have a line that goes back to an ancestor, she (Antoinette) has a line that goes back to an ancestor, and they meet somewhere back in the past," he said.
Now for my dad, Richard Regalado (my maiden name).
Where are his predecessors from?
"On your father's side you belong to a group this is called O-3, and O-3 is an Asian type, and we see a lot of people with O-3 in the Philippines," Woodward said.
Which is exactly where my grandfather, Eduardo Regalado, was born and raised.
From there, his roots extend all the way to South East Asia.
"The DNA type is actually older than the use of surnames," Woodward said. "We really did not use surnames until relatively recent, the past 400 to 600 years."
In other words, Regalado is most likely a surname.
An important fact, because Woodward said I have a close connection to a person with the last name Espinoza in Peru.
"There are a lot of interesting possibilities there, and that is where DNA and genealogy can lead to very interesting stories," Woodward said.
So now it is up to me to continue my journey back in time, armed with the knowledge given to me by GeneTree.
If you are wondering how it all works, basically the founders of the company spent years gathering DNA samples from around the world.
For pricing and additional details on the DNA test, click here.
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DNA: The map to your past