23andMe is one of the biggest DNA testing companies. Just this week, they updated their ethnicity reports with new detail. Some reports can define a country within a region or even a sub-region within a country where a tester's DNA is likely to originate. These are just estimates, of course, but as time passes and… Continue reading A Look at the New 23andMe Ancestry Composition Reports, and Comparison of the Four Major DNA Testing Companies
FamilySearch Family Tree is a great source of information. It is one of the first places I turn when doing a survey of previous research. Unfortunately, not everything in the tree is correct. I can fix an error in the tree when I have done thorough research and have strong evidence to contradict a relationship in… Continue reading How to Fix FamilySearch Family Tree
Like much of the genealogy community, I have been excited about the new tool at Genetic Affairs called AutoCluster Analysis. Blaine Bettinger made a very nice overview of the tool Forming and Using Genetic Networks with Genetic Affairs, found at YouTube. After the tool was introduced to the genealogy community, the ability to do AutoCluster… Continue reading Genetic Affairs AutoCluster Analysis
Using DNA analysis to help the police has been in the news a lot lately. An article from NPR discusses using DNA to not only identify criminals, but crime victims also. The article is Using Genetic Genealogy To Identify Unknown Crime Victims, Sometimes Decades Later. This article features the DNA Doe Project. Like major criminal… Continue reading Article, Using DNA to Identify Crime Victims
DNA testing is uncovering more genetic secrets. A 41-year-old woman who was donor-conceived took a DNA test. The matches led her to discover that her mother's doctor was likely her donor, not the medical student her parents chose. The story is described here: Couple sue Vermont gynecologist for fathering child. Unfortunately this was more than… Continue reading Donor-conceived Children, Consider the Doctor
It's Thanksgiving, and that means great deals on DNA kits. This is usually the best time of the year to stock up. AncestryDNA is $49 (plus shipping and tax) through Cyber Monday. 23andMe Ancestry kit is $49 if more than one is purchased, through Thanksgiving. MyHeritage is $49 through Black Friday. FamilyTreeDNA is offering Family… Continue reading Black Friday Sales 2018
AncestryDNA has a new add-on called AncestryDNA Traits. Traits costs $9.99 and is available to people who have already tested with AncestryDNA. Traits gives the user access to twelve appearance traits and four sensory traits. The appearance traits, "Do you have the genes for curly or straight hair? Blue or brown eyes? See what your… Continue reading New AncestryDNA Traits from AncestryDNA
As genealogy researchers, we should aim to write up our research. Our writing will be taken more seriously if we show knowledge of basic writing mechanics. Recently I came across a good guide to using commas. A good refresher: https://www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/commas.asp.
This year's International Genetic Genealogy Conference will be held December 7-9 in San Diego. Registration information is here: http://i4gg.org/registration/. I just saw CeCe Moore speak last weekend, and she is amazing. She will be speaking at this conference along with Blaine Bettinger, Kitty Cooper, Angie Bush, and many others. It sells out, so register sooner… Continue reading 2018 International Genetic Genealogy Conference Next Month
MyHeritage is hosting their first-ever genealogy conference in one week, 2-4 November 2018. Attendees in Oslo, Norway, can see lectures and have the option to sign up for workshops. The lectures, in a Genealogy track and a DNA track, also will be broadcast live. Lectures are on Saturday and Sunday the 3rd and 4th, since… Continue reading MyHeritage Live, 2-4 November 2018
