Most of us have been told before that we look like our father or mother. Physical similarities with relatives are often a catalyst that inspires many to trace their family roots.

• It Begins at Birth

The birth of a child always come with the question: Who does he/she look like? I completely devastated my sister a few weeks ago when I told her that her one year old son was starting to look more and more like his father. I thought I was saying a good thing, but our desire to look like relatives we like and to have our children look like us is a strong one.

This desire probably stems from being compared to our own parents much of our lives. It can lead to a desire to perform our own genealogy research and find out more about those ancestors that we resemble.

• Like Father, Like Son

Growing up I was regularly compared to my father and told how much I looked like him. I adamantly denied any similarities as I was sure someone as young as I was could not look like someone so old. With the passing of time though, I have come to see just how valid those comparisons were.

I think it all clicked when I was in high school and saw an old photograph of my father when he was 14 years old. Upon seeing the photograph my sisters had a hard time believing it was my father and not me. That was when I first became interested in genealogy research and my family roots.

• DNA Testing

We are all familiar with DNA testing these days thanks to TV law shows and talk shows. A simple DNA test can do more than just catch a criminal or determine paternity. It is now being used to perform genealogy. You can trace your family roots through DNA!

Given time the old methods of genealogy research will be a thing of the past, quite literally! Paper documents will be replaced by family DNA projects that will link relatives with guaranteed proof. The future of Genealogy has arrived.