Genetic ancestry is sometimes advanced as a "solution" for avoiding complex socially constructed identifiers, and at other times it is seen as a problem, incorrectly suggesting that genes and identity should, or could, be linked. In this forum talk, Dr. Ioannidis will discuss various algorithms we have developed for describing population genetic structure, and how these can be interpreted in terms of genetic ancestry. He will then discuss the context in which these algorithms could play a useful role for helping practitioners understand the diversity of alleles of clinical relevance, drawing from specific examples in Pacific Islanders and in the Mexico Biobank.