I was probably about 11 or 12 at the time, and my dad (a biologist), sat me down and taught me about DNA and how to do a gene determinant matrix.

Pretty heavy stuff for a 12 year old.

I'm glad he did. In college, as a mathematics major, I took one of the math elective courses called Calculus for Biology Majors. It also had some very heavy pre-requisites of Calculus I, II and III, and Numerical Analysis.

I will explain some common misconceptions about DNA as it relates to genealogy in the comments. The most common misconception is that DNA can tell you where your ancestors lived.

This is flat-out wrong.

What DNA can tell you is where your current/recent ancestors live.

Here is a simple explanation as to why.

You share roughly 50% of your fathers DNA, and 50% of your mothers. And the same with them in regards to your parents.

Thus, you share 25% with each grandparent, 12.5% with each great-grandparent, 6.25% with each great-great-grandparent, 3.125% with your 3rd-great grandparent, and I think you can see where this is going.

By the time you get back 10 generations (roughly 200 yeas) you only share about 0.1% of your DNA with those 8th-great-grandparents. Go back another 10 generations, and your talking about sharing only 0.00009537% of your DNA with them.

Factor in cousins, and you're sharing even less with cousins, 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins, and cousins removed.

So, what good is DNA for genealogy research if you share such small fractions with your ancestors?

The answer is in the next comment.