Moroccan archaeologist Abdeljalil Bouzouggar has criticized commercial DNA ancestry tests as scientifically unreliable and ethically questionable, particularly their use of vague labels like “North Africa” to define genetic origin.
Bouzouggar, Director of the National Institute of Archaeology and Heritage Sciences, said these tests lack transparency, relying on limited genetic databases that lead to broad generalizations.
“When results say ‘North African,’ they often refer to a reference sample from 15,000 years ago,” he told reporters. “That has no direct connection to modern saliva samples.”
He emphasized that true genetic ancestry requires ancient DNA, which remains hard to retrieve in Africa due to technical limitations. Unlike these companies, scientific research anonymizes samples and does not claim to identify personal genealogies.
“The commercial approach has nothing to do with the scientific approach. ,” Bouzouggar said, urging caution as identity discussions grow globally.
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