(CBS) Unlike other ethnic groups, many African Americans know little about their personal history before slavery. But thanks to new DNA tests, a simple cotton swab rubbed on the inside of a cheek can help people travel back in time, long before slavery, to discover their ancestral roots in Africa.

The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler decided to take those tests and shared her emotional journey of self-discovery on the broadcast.

Syler says she was about 10 when she started asking questions about her ancestry — and now hears very similar questions from her own son. She turned to her mother for answers, but both women had only a vague idea of their ancestry.

"In fact, me in particular, I was accepted as either French, Indian or Italian even, or Spanish. People have thought of me as all kinds of races," said Syler's mother, Anne.

Syler says she has always wanted to know more about her background because the color of her skin has brought both pride and pain. She recalled a day in fourth grade when every child in the class had a chance to talk about their heritage, except her.

"I can remember coming home and telling my mom that the teacher, by the time they got around to me, they were out of time and the teacher said, 'Well, we all know Rene is from Africa so, we don't need to go into that,'" Syler said.

Africa is huge and Syler, like many others, wanted more details about her roots. In particular, she wanted to be able to teach her children that their history does not begin with slavery.

So Syler submitted a swab from her check for a test that measures genetic material called mitochondrial DNA, which passes unchanged from generation to generation. In taking this test, Syler is one of thousands of African Americans hoping to trace their DNA to somewhere in Africa. The number of people seeking this information has doubled this year, according to geneticist Rick Kittles.

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