I took a DNA test hoping for surprises, but I'm exactly who I thought I was | Samantha Gillison

We all dream of being something grander than we seem, making the lure of home DNA kits irresistible. But for the most part, you're in for disappointment

At first glance the DNA ancestry "craze" may seem like yet another navel-gazing fad cleverly monetized by the tech industry. But personal genetic testing is much more than a kind of Snapchat filter for your family album.

By combining the complex science of DNA testing and the data riches uncovered by the Human Genome Project into an accessible, relatively inexpensive self-testing kit, the genetic heritage industry has created an ingenious product: a consumer must-have that tickles one of the deepest, most ancient and potent of human wishes. This wish is not, as it happens, to have scientific proof of your genetic heritage. The beguiling promise that these ancestry kits offer is the possibility that you just might be someone else.