SAMANTHA
What are Haplogroups?
In this episode of The DNA Download, Halleta meets Samantha Esselmann, PhD, 23andMe Ancestry Scientist, who unpacks meaning of the word “haplogroup.” Check out how you can use haplogroups to trace your ancestry and uncover a piece of your ancient family tree.

Key words:maternal haplogroup, paternal haplogroup, y chromosome, mitochondrial DNA, genetics, DNA

Samantha Esselmann, PhD is a Content & Curation Scientist, who joined the Ancestry Team at 23andMe late in 2017. As a content scientist on the team, Samantha works closely with 23andMe’s population geneticists and content writers to craft an engaging (and educational!) product experience. Samantha became passionate about science communication during her Neuroscience PhD at the University of California, San Francisco, where she produced science podcasts and captained the UCSF Science Policy Group. In 2016, she served as the BRCA Foundation’s Multimedia Science Communications Coordinator, where she produced a podcast series highlighting a diversity of experiences related to hereditary forms of cancer.