Caroline Shaver knows where her family came from.

Well, at least part of her family.

Her mother has a genealogy bulletin that, before her grandfather passed it down, “came from some family reunion that took place before I was born,” Shaver, an undeclared freshman, said. It’s within these sheets of paper where she has found information about her family’s ancestry.

Her great grandfather traveled from Ireland through Ellis Island, and he came out with an immigration certificate that serves as physical proof of his voyage.

She knows less about her father’s side of the family, which she said has “some German in it.”

“I know from my grandmother telling me,” she said, “but I don’t know much about it because both of my grandparents’ parents died at early ages.”

Shaver’s mother also tried an online ancestry, which confirmed that her relatives originated from France and Ireland.

And her mother is not alone in looking toward an outside source for information about her family. More than 460,000 people have purchased genetic ancestry tests that can reconstruct family trees and pinpoint geographic origins of their ancestors, according to a study published in Science Magazine last October.

The American Society of Human Genetics released a report on, as well as five recommendations for, genetic ancestry testing Nov. 13.

These tests can range in price from $100 to $900, but scientists who wrote the study prefaces genetic testing with a warning, writing that such tests might negatively impact communities.

“Assumptions and limitations” of genetic ancestry tests might also make the results less informative, and such tests’ commercialization has “led to misleading practices that reinforce misconceptions,” the article states.

Although many people who request genetic ancestry tests do so recreationally, others take test results seriously. In searching for a “homeland” — a mission that is especially prevalent among African-Americans –  or filling in missing parts of a family’s history, these testings could “have serious consequences,” the article states.

One such consequence is that, in reshaping an identity, a person might “suffer emotional distress if test results are unexpected or undesired.”

Shaver, for instance, said she found out a fact from her family history that she preferred not to talk about.

Test results can also influence how people fill out their races on college and job applications, government forms or medical questionnaires, the article states, continuing to state that this could “make it more difficult to track the social experiences and effects of race and racism.”

And as for accuracy, genetic ancestry tests use either mitochondrial DNA or Y-chromosomes to determine a person’s haplotype — a set of alleles, which are parts of genes — and compare it to other tested individuals. In this case, the article states, genetic tests can find information on one member of each generation.

More reliable tests, like AncestryByDNA, exist, but they still have flaws.

AncestryByDNA, a test that measures 175 autosomal markers (traits that are inherited by both parents), suggests most people whose ancestors originated from the Middle East, India and the southern region of Europe have Native American ancestry, according to the testing agency’s Web site.

However, no evidence exists to support these findings, the article states.

“Thus, these tests should not be seen as determining the race or ethnicity of a test-taker,” the article states. “They cannot pinpoint the place of origin or social affiliation of even one ancestor with exact certainty. Although wider sampling and technological advancements may help, many of the tests’ problems will remain.”

Another problem lies in the genetic ancestry testing companies themselves, which the article states can mislead customers into thinking the test results will accurately determine race. A person’s race, though popular thought indicates race is “rooted in one’s DNA,” is not genetically determined, the article states.

But such tests have helped Shaver confirm where her mother’s relatives came from — and it’s something that adds to her identity.

“Knowing the history throughout the family is very interesting,” she said. “I mean, I’m not exactly proud of aspects to it, but at the same time it all has its place in how my family came to be the way it is.”