Welcome! We meet the second Tuesday of most months at 7pm Eastern Time, virtually via Zoom while we’re still social distancing. Come join us! Watch your GRIVA newsletter for registration links a week or two before each meeting.
June 10, 2025: The Men Who Contributed to Our DNA
In honor of Father’s Day, we talked about the men who contributed to our DNA, and how using Y-DNA can help with some of our genealogical puzzles.
Here are some helpful links for both news items being discussed and the night’s topic:
DNA Painter Matrix Tool:
https://dnapainter.com/blog/shared-dna-at-a-glance-the-new-dna-matrix-tool/
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/shared-dna-at-a-glance-the-new-dna-matrix-tool/
23andMe sale
News of original Regeneron bids:
https://investors.23andme.com/news-releases/news-release-details/regeneron-leading-us-biotechnology-company-acquire-23andme-court
https://investor.regeneron.com/news-releases/news-release-details/regeneron-enters-asset-purchase-agreement-acquire-23andmer-256
Anne Wojcicki and TTAM asks court to reopen bidding:
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/jun/05/23andme-ceo-bid-anne-wojcicki
June 13 UPDATE: TTAM and Anne Wojcicki won the bidding! https://investors.23andme.com/news-releases/news-release-details/23andme-reaches-agreement-sale-business-ttam-research-institute
Ancestry clustering tool among RootsTech announcements: https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/using-ancestrydna-to-power-family-history
And now for Y-DNA…
Some links we didn’t discuss but may be helpful:
https://blog.familytreedna.com/how-y-dna-testing-works/
https://blog.familytreedna.com/family-finder-y-dna-haplogroup-guide/
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/foundations-in-dna-2-of-5-understanding-and-using-y-dna-and-mtdna/
And then some links we did discuss:
Blaine Bettinger’s post about haplogroups in his Genetic Genealogy Tips and Techniques group on Facebook
SNP Tracker – http://scaledinnovation.com/gg/snpTracker.html
FTDNA’s Discover Tool – https://discover.familytreedna.com/
FTDNA estimates haplogroups from autosomal DNA: https://blog.familytreedna.com/y-dna-haplogroups-family-finder/
FTDNA Projects – https://www.familytreedna.com/group-project-search
https://blog.familytreedna.com/group-project-categories/
https://blog.familytreedna.com/group-project-types/
23andMe haplogroups – https://blog.23andme.com/articles/23andme-updates-paternal-haplogroup-assignments
Morley Tool to estimate haplogroups from Ancestry autosomal data – https://ytree.morleydna.com/extractFromAutosomal
Clade Finder tool to estimate haplogroups from autosomal data – https://cladefinder.yseq.net/
And we didn’t spend much time on Big Y, so here are some resources from the FamilyTreeDNA blog: https://blog.familytreedna.com/?s=big+y
May 13, 2025: The Women Who Contributed to Our DNA
First we talked about the fact that Family Tree Maker 2024 is now available. See what’s new here: https://www.mackiev.com/ftm/ftm2024_whats_new.html
Tracing our female ancestors can be difficult. We explored how mitochondrial DNA, X-DNA, and autosomal DNA can help.
Here are some helpful links, some of which we discussed.
https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/family-history/find-out-more-about-women-in-family-tree
Learn about the four types of DNA used for genealogy in these short videos here: https://learn.genetics.utah.edu/content/basics/molgen/
Autosomal DNA:
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2009/11/10/qa-everyone-has-two-family-trees-a-genealogical-tree-and-a-genetic-tree/
X-DNA:
Learning about X-DNA and some inheritance charts: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2008/12/21/unlocking-the-genealogical-secrets-of-the-x-chromosome/
Debbie Parker Wayne’s fillable X-DNA inheritance charts: http://debsdelvings.blogspot.com/2013/10/x-dna-inheritance-charts.html
See https://web.archive.org/web/20230312132119/http://debbiewayne.com/pubs.php#quickref if the above gives issues
Using DNA Painter’s trees:
https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/eight-ways-you-can-use-ancestral-trees-at-dna-painter/
Mitochondrial DNA:
The Legal Genealogist’s “Finding Margaret’s Mother” series:
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/04/28/keeping-that-dna-resolution/
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/05/18/finding-margarets-mother-part-2/
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/05/25/finding-margarets-mother-part-3/
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/06/29/finding-margarets-mother-part-4/
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/08/10/finding-margarets-mother-part-5-2/
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/11/16/finding-margarets-mother-part-6/
Read about the Million Mito Project here: https://blog.familytreedna.com/join-the-million-mito-project/
And its updates here:
https://blog.familytreedna.com/updated-mtdna-tree-35000-new-branches/
https://blog.familytreedna.com/mtdna-discover-haplogroup-reports/
You can also upload your mtDNA to http://www.mitoydna.org
Blaine Bettinger’s blog post about not sharing mtDNA with his own mother: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2018/04/21/heteroplasmies-polycytosine-stretches-mtdna-case-study/
Blog post from FTDNA: “Genealogy Secret Weapon: How Using mtDNA Can Solve Family Mysteries” – https://blog.familytreedna.com/mtdna/
Explore information from FTDNA:
https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004592756-mtDNA-Matches-Introduction
https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004592776-mtDNA-Matches-Guide
https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407090183439-mtDNA-Mutations-Guide-
https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407090309263-Understanding-mtDNA-Mutations
April 8, 2025: Your Puzzles and Questions
A tried and true method for solving problems is studying how others solved similar problems. In April we will look at some examples of your genealogical puzzles and how they might be solved using DNA matches and results. Here are some of the links we discussed:
23andMe’s Bankruptcy Filing:
https://blog.23andme.com/articles/open-letter
https://thednageek.com/23andme-is-reorganizing-its-okay/
https://blog.kittycooper.com/2025/03/23andme-dont-panic/
Diahan Southard’s video message: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtAXjFcU5Xk
https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/cases-proceedings/staff-letters/chairman-ferguson-letter-regarding-23andme
https://reason.com/2025/03/26/why-im-not-deleting-my-23andme-genetic-data/
https://fortune.com/2025/04/01/23andme-for-sale-interested-buyers-nucleus-sei-foundation/
How to download/preserve your data, whether you’re deleting it or not:
https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/212196868-Accessing-Your-Raw-Genetic-Data
https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/painting-your-populations/
https://www.genealogyexplained.com/json-to-csv-converter-for-23andme-matches/
https://dnagedcom.com/
By the way, despite reports of long delays with the raw data downloads or even missing downloads, I requested one while preparing this lecture, and received the download within two days.
Other links discussed:
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2016/06/19/a-triangulation-intervention/
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/practical-chromosome-mapping-gaining-insights-from-segments-of-dna/
The McGuire Method for charting match information: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2017/03/19/guest-post-the-mcguire-method-simplified-visual-dna-comparisons/ (though it seems to be down at the moment I prepared this – if that’s the case when you try, use the Wayback machine at https://web.archive.org/ and then paste in the address)
What Are the Odds: https://dnapainter.com/help/wato-faq
Other upcoming DNA SIGs:
May 13: The Women Who Contributed to Our DNA – https://tinyurl.com/GRIVADNAMay2025
June 10: The Men Who Contributed to Our DNA – https://tinyurl.com/GRIVADNAJun2025
March 11, 2025: Paula’s Favorite Tools
In March, Paula will be sharing some of her favorite tools, both at the testing companies and third-party tools. Who knows, maybe this will include new toys announced at RootsTech!
Here are links to learn more about some of the things we discussed:
News from Ancestry:
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Networks
https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/how-to-use-ancestry-networks
https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/using-ancestrydna-to-power-family-history
News from 23andMe:
https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/23andme-premium-unlocking-4000-ancestry-regions-ancient-dna-and-the-future-of-family-tree-tools
News from FamilyTreeDNA:
https://blog.familytreedna.com/family-finder-matrix-update/
https://blog.familytreedna.com/updated-mtdna-tree-35000-new-branches/
https://blog.familytreedna.com/mtdna-discover-haplogroup-reports/
News from MyHeritage:
https://blog.myheritage.com/2025/03/introducing-cousin-finder-gain-dna-level-insights-without-a-dna-test/
https://blog.myheritage.com/2025/02/introducing-ancient-origins-trace-your-origins-back-10000-years/
https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/uncovering-your-story-with-myheritage-dna – has some discussion of the Ancient Origins, among other DNA features at MyHeritage
More information about what Paula called her favorite tools (for now, anyway!):
Ancestry’s SideView parental split: https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/SideView-Technology and https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/DNA-Matches-Split-Up-By-Parent
Using Ancestry’s Pro Tools’ Enhanced Shared Matching: https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/pro-tools-dna-matches/
Custom Groups at Ancestry and at MyHeritage:
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Grouping-and-Filtering-AncestryDNA-Matches
https://education.myheritage.com/article/how-to-use-labels-to-break-new-ground-with-your-dna-matches/
https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/shared-dna-matches-the-only-dna-tool-you-will-ever-need
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/solving-a-virginia-mystery-using-dna/
DNA Painter:
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/practical-chromosome-mapping-gaining-insights-from-segments-of-dna/
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/four-ways-dna-painter-can-help-with-your-family-history-research/
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/what-are-the-odds-an-online-tool-that-can-help-solve-dna-puzzles/
https://dnapainter.com/blog/new-features-you-might-have-missed/
https://dnapainter.com/blog/enhanced-ancestral-trees-brick-walls-pictures-and-dots/
https://dnapainter.com/blog/dna-painter-dimensions-a-new-way-to-showcase-your-ancestral-line/
https://dnapainter.com/blog/eight-ways-you-can-use-ancestral-trees-at-dna-painter/
https://dnapainter.com/blog/introducing-places-new-map-ancestral-tree/
Charts:
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/weaving-dna-test-results-into-a-proof-argument/
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2017/03/19/guest-post-the-mcguire-method-simplified-visual-dna-comparisons/
https://www.lucidchart.com/
https://app.diagrams.net/
Jonny Perl’s list of tools from RootsTech 2023: https://dnapainter.com/rt2023
February 11, 2025: Collaborating with Your DNA Cousins
Make connections with your DNA matches and learn how to collaborate effectively
Here are some of the things we talked about:
MyHeritage’s new ethnicity estimates:
https://blog.myheritage.com/2025/02/introducing-ethnicity-estimate-v2-5-improved-dna-ethnicity-model
Sharing Trees:
Ancestry – https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Sharing-a-Family-Tree
MyHeritage – https://www.myheritage.com/help-center?a=How-do-I-invite-members-to-my-family-site—id–a95Cxgw-SPiDHfNg4JeL7w
Sharing DNA Results:
Ancestry – https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Sharing-AncestryDNA-Results
MyHeritage – https://blog.myheritage.com/2024/03/new-sharing-dna-results-with-a-collaborator/
FamilyTreeDNA – https://blog.familytreedna.com/managing-multiple-kits/
Some blog posts about contacting DNA matches:
https://www.legacytree.com/blog/13-secrets-to-getting-replies-from-dna-cousin-matches
https://blog.familytreedna.com/contacting-dna-matches-strategies/
https://www.yourdnaguide.com/ydgblog/contacting-your-dna-matches
https://whoareyoumadeof.com/blog/what-to-say-to-dna-matches/
Ancestry’s “Family Groups” tool for collaborating on tasks, trees, photos, and communication: https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Ancestry-Circles
A blog post about using Facebook groups to share information with family: https://medium.com/@carlmkadie/five-rules-for-a-family-genealogy-facebook-group-f58dd1271d72
Worldwide crowd-sourced trees:
FamilySearch – https://www.familysearch.org/en/family-tree/
WikiTree – https://www.wikitree.com/
Geni – https://www.geni.com/
Also, Ancestry has a “Family Plan” membership where you can save costs with 5 people. See https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Ancestry-Family-Plan-Memberships for more information.
Happy collaborating!
Also, during the Q&A, we had a question about mitochondrial DNA. Here is some information about FTDNA’s Million Mito Project that may be helpful:
https://www.familytreedna.com/mtdna-million-mito-project
https://dna-explained.com/category/million-mito-project/
January 14, 2025: Our Wacky and Wonderful Families
We don’t all have the same experiences in our families, so we shouldn’t expect to answer every genealogical question the same way. Learn ways to use different tools and approaches to solve different problems.
Here are some things we discussed:
Ancestry custom groups have now expanded to include 64 groups. Here are a couple of articles about using groups:
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Grouping-and-Filtering-AncestryDNA-Matches
https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/dna/sorting-grouping-dna-matches
Leah Larkin’s article about choosing a color scheme for your groups: https://thednageek.com/quick-tip-color-code-your-ancestry-tree/
MyHeritage’s long-awaited ethnicity update is coming in January. Ran Snir talks about it in the “Sneak Peak” section of this webinar: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/leveraging-myheritage-dna-tools-to-make-new-discoveries/
Legacy Family Tree Webinars announced their 2025 lineup. See https://legacyfamilytree.com/blog/2024/12/2025-legacy-family-tree-webinars-series-announced-adds-members-only-ai-series-and-genealogy-guys-learn-library/. It includes several DNA webinars, including one from our own Paula Williams in August: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/5-questions-to-answer-about-your-dna-matches/
We also talked about Reclaim the Records having published the BIRLS database. See https://www.birls.org/
We then talked about the Leeds Method and how it can be a starting point, but its rules don’t always work for everyone. Read more about the method here: https://www.danaleeds.com/the-leeds-method/
We talked about pedigree collapse and endogamy. Here are some resources, including links to a couple of tools used in the presentation:
DNA Painter trees: https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/eight-ways-you-can-use-ancestral-trees-at-dna-painter/
Endogamy visualization tool: https://learnforeverlearn.com/ancestors/
Paul Woodbury’s Dealing with Endogamy webinar: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/dealing-with-endogamy/
Blog posts about endogamy:
https://www.legacytree.com/blog/dealing-endogamy-part-exploring-amounts-shared-dna
https://www.legacytree.com/blog/dealing-endogamy-part-ii-test-multiple-relatives
https://www.yourdnaguide.com/ydgblog/pedigree-collapse-v-endogamy
Outliers and the Shared cM Project:
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2018/12/17/examining-outliers-shared-cm-amounts/
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2019/03/21/examining-outliers-in-shared-cm-amounts-part-2/ – this one shows a grandchild only sharing 9% with their grandparent
December 10, 2024: New Year’s DNA Resolutions
First, a shameless plug – I did a version of the October talk as a webinar for Legacy Family Tree Webinars last week. “Challenging Some DNA Myths: Learn to Separate DNA Fact from Fiction” is available for free to everyone through December 11 and will be part of the Legacy subscriber library afterwards. See https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/dna-case-study-reconstructing-a-family-tree-using-dna/
In the news section, we discussed a few things:
DNA Painter has added a few new features to its Ancestral Trees, including the ability to add photos, a new tree view, and the ability to view a list of your brick walls. Jonny Perl has now written about the new features in a blog post – see https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/enhanced-ancestral-trees-brick-walls-pictures-and-dots
Ancestry Legacy Contact – https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Ancestry-Legacy-Contact
Korean War Draft Registration cards:
https://www.ancestry.com/corporate/blog/this-veterans-day–explore-a-new-collection-of-korean-war-era-dr
https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/62234/
MyHeritage‘s new ethnicity estimates update will (finally!) be released in January 2025 per their Legacy webinar today: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/leveraging-myheritage-dna-tools-to-make-new-discoveries/
MyHeritage’s LiveMemory photo animation tool:
https://blog.myheritage.com/2024/11/introducing-livememory-bring-your-photos-to-life-in-video/
https://www.myheritage.com/help-center?a=What-is-the-Photo-Plan-on-the-MyHeritage-mobile-app—id–H2Zyzp2qSqeM6dAGfBiMtw
Mark Thompson, who co-hosts The Family History AI Show podcast with Stephen Little (see https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-family-history-ai-show/id1749873836 or look for it wherever you get your podcasts), also mentioned a similar tool, Sora that’s part of the OpenAI subscriptions – see https://sora.com/
Here are some of the resources we talked about to help with some suggested new year’s resolutions:
Research questions: https://bcgcertification.org/skillbuilding-focused-versus-diffuse-research/
DNA Painter’s Ancestral Trees and things you can do (written before the new additions mentioned above): https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/eight-ways-you-can-use-ancestral-trees-at-dna-painter/
We talked about marking genetic ancestors and also the tool to view tree completeness, both of which are part of the DNA Painter blog post. Blaine Bettinger also wrote about tree completeness and why it matters: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2015/08/11/how-much-of-your-family-tree-do-you-know-and-why-does-that-matter/
Clustering and sorting matches with custom groups:
https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/shared-dna-matches-the-only-dna-tool-you-will-ever-need
https://blog.myheritage.com/2021/11/introducing-labels-for-dna-matches-on-myheritage/
https://www.danaleeds.com/the-leeds-method-with-dots/
and my Solving a Virginia Mystery webinar from earlier this year: https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/solving-a-virginia-mystery-using-dna/
FTDNA’s Family Matching:
https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413996181391-Family-Matching-Overview
https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/9707263959311-Linking-Matches-On-Your-Tree
The Shared CM Project: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2020/03/27/version-4-0-march-2020-update-to-the-shared-cm-project/
Contribute here: https://tinyurl.com/SCPSubmit
SOME educational opportunities:
https://familytreewebinars.com/
RootsTech 2025: https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/registration-open-rootstech-2025
GRIP Genealogy Institute: https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/
(don’t forget IGHR and SLIG!)
Conference Keeper: https://conferencekeeper.org/
November 12, 2024: Ethnicity Estimates
Here are some of the links we discussed:
News items:
https://blog.23andme.com/articles/update-to-dna-relatives
https://blog.23andme.com/articles/records-and-archives
https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/360036068393-The-23andMe-Family-Tree-Feature has some information about the Records and Archives feature as well
https://blog.23andme.com/articles/working-on-23andmes-african-american-genetic-groups-project
Reference Panels:
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/AncestryDNA-Reference-Panel
https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/212169298-23andMe-Reference-Populations-Regions
Tree Completeness:
https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/eight-ways-you-can-use-ancestral-trees-at-dna-painter/
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2015/08/11/how-much-of-your-family-tree-do-you-know-and-why-does-that-matter/
Inheritance:
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Ethnicity-Inheritance
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Unexpected-Ethnicity-Results
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2009/11/10/qa-everyone-has-two-family-trees-a-genealogical-tree-and-a-genetic-tree/
White Papers and guides:
https://www.ancestrycdn.com/support/us/2024/10/2024ancestralregionswhitepaper.pdf
https://www.ancestrycdn.com/support/us/2024/09/ancestraljourneyswhitepaper2024.pdf
https://www.23andme.com/ancestry-composition-guide/
https://blog.familytreedna.com/myorigins-3-0-white-paper/
DNA Painter and Chromosome Painters:
https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/painting-your-populations/
https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/new-ancestrydna-chromosome-painter-segments/
Ancestry Ethnicity latest update:
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/The-New-Design-of-AncestryDNA
https://www.ancestry.com/c/dna/ancestry-dna-ethnicity-estimate-update
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Subregions
https://dnapainter.com/blog/am-i-actually-a-dutchman/
October 8, 2024: Separating DNA Fact from Fiction
People often turn to social media for DNA and genealogy questions, but frequently repeated quotes aren’t always true. Join us as we learn to separate fact from fiction and bring sense to some misunderstood topics.
Here are some things we discussed:
FamilySearch’s full text search and court records! https://copperminegenealogy.com/court-records-added-to-familysearch-ai-search/
Evidence Analysis Process Map: https://www.evidenceexplained.com/content/quicklesson-17-evidence-analysis-process-map
DNA resources from BCG: https://bcgcertification.org/learning/dna-resources/
The Perils of Source Snobbery: https://bcgcertification.org/skillbuilding-perils-of-source-snobbery/
September 10, 2024: Questions You Should Try to Answer with Every DNA Match
Our DNA matches can’t really help us if we don’t know who they are. But we also need to ask ourselves, “What is the DNA evidence telling me?”
Here are some of the links we discussed:
https://dnapainter.com/blog/new-showcase-your-roots-with-y-mtdna-in-your-chromosome-map/
https://blog.myheritage.com/2024/08/update-to-theory-of-family-relativity-5/
Some helpful blog posts from Blaine Bettinger:
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2016/06/19/a-triangulation-intervention/
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2016/10/03/second-cousins-or-closer-that-dont-share-dna/
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2017/03/05/analyzing-a-lack-of-sharing-in-2c1r-relationship/
Ancestry’s Compare feature for ethnicity and communities/journeys – https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/DNA-compare
August 13, 2024: Case Studies Using Shared Matches and Ancestry’s Pro Tools
Last month, we discussed how shared matching is a powerful tool when working with DNA and explored Ancestry’s Enhanced Shared Matching. This month, we continued to discuss some case studies using shared matches to solve mysteries.
Here are some of the links discussed:
First, we discussed FamilyTreeDNA’s partnership with MyHeritage for tree building and connecting. Read more here: https://blog.familytreedna.com/myheritage-brings-family-tree-tools-to-familytreedna/ and see here for why you might want to link your DNA matches to your tree: https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/4413996181391-Family-Matching-Overview
Here are a couple of blog posts about working with the DNA tools that are part of Ancestry’s Pro Tools:
From Angie Bush: https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/pro-tools-dna-matches/
From Jonny Perl: https://dnapainter.com/blog/ancestry-pro-tools-matches-of-matches-my-experience-so-far/
Ancestry’s RootsTech announcement including some new things to look forward to but we don’t have yet, such as additional match groups and new ways to sort our shared matches: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7QAJjYtXLU
Blaine Bettinger’s blog post that explains shared matching may not always mean everybody shares a common ancestor: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2016/06/19/a-triangulation-intervention/
Blog post about the McGuire Method of charting DNA comparisons: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2017/03/19/guest-post-the-mcguire-method-simplified-visual-dna-comparisons/
July 9, 2024: Working with Shared Matches and Ancestry’s Newest Pro Tool
Shared Matching is a powerful tool when working with DNA, and Ancestry’s new enhanced shared matching makes it even more so. Join us as we explore the new tool and the power of shared matches!
Here are some links to things we discussed:
RootsMagic’s new Version 10 – demo of DNA-related features: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LR0gr9ckwM
23andMe Premium – new distant genetic groups: https://blog.23andme.com/articles/discover-distant-genetic-groups-with-23andme-premium
MyHeritage – help page explaining new ethnicity estimates (I would be surprised if there’s not more information once everybody gets the new estimates): https://www.myheritage.com/help-center?a=What-is-the-difference-between-the-new-Ethnicity-Estimate-v2-and-the-previous-model-v0.95—id–OYWM_kYWTTS8SP8b1_gvgQ
Ancestry Pro Tools:
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Ancestry-Pro-Tools-Membership
Blog post from Angie Bush about the enhanced shared matching: https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/pro-tools-dna-matches/
Blog post from Jonny Perl about the enhanced shared matching: https://dnapainter.com/blog/ancestry-pro-tools-matches-of-matches-my-experience-so-far/
RootsTech announcement of upcoming features – so far only the enhanced shared matching has been released: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7QAJjYtXLU
Blog post illustrating Ancestry’s 20 cM rule when it comes to share matching before Pro Tools. WITH Pro Tools, you can see shared matches who share under 20 cM with YOU, but they still have to share 20 cM or more with the match you’re viewing: http://twigsofyore.blogspot.com/2018/06/quiz-ancestrydna-shared-matches.html
Blaine Bettinger’s blog post that explains shared matching may not always mean everybody shares a common ancestor: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2016/06/19/a-triangulation-intervention/
During the lecture, we talked about the cautions of revealing unexpected relationships, with some stories shared afterwards. Here are a couple of blog posts that may be helpful in deciding what, if anything, to say to people whose identities you be about to shatter:
Blaine Bettinger: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2017/03/13/a-dna-case-study-revealing-a-misattributed-parentage-event-with-dna/
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2019/03/25/putting-the-milkman-joke-to-rest/
Roberta Estes: https://dna-explained.com/2013/05/15/no-dna-bullying/
Brianne Kirkpatrick writes about the father’s perspective: https://www.watersheddna.com/blog/birth-fathers-share-what-it-is-like-to-find-out-they-have-an-adult-child
And if you have the Advanced Genetic Genealogy: Techniques and Case Studies book, read the chapter by Dr. Michael Lacopo.
Next month’s topic is TBD. The meeting will be Tuesday, August 13 at 7pm ET. You can register here: https://tinyurl.com/GRIVADNAAug2024
June 11, 2024: The Men Who Contribute to Our DNA
In honor of Father’s Day, we discussed the Men Who Contribute to Our DNA and Y-DNA. Here are some of the links we discussed:
Ancestry features coming soon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7QAJjYtXLU
New blog post from FTDNA about Y-DNA: https://blog.familytreedna.com/how-y-dna-testing-works/
The haplogroups map I showed is no longer at the URL I had, but the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine to the rescue! https://web.archive.org/web/20231211172120/http://faculty.scs.illinois.edu/~mcdonald/WorldHaplogroupsMaps.pdf
The SNP Tracker tool I showed for comparing ages of haplogroups: http://scaledinnovation.com/gg/snpTracker.html
FTDNA’s Discover tool if you don’t have access in your account: https://discover.familytreedna.com/
FTDNA Projects:
https://www.familytreedna.com/group-project-search
https://blog.familytreedna.com/group-project-categories/
https://blog.familytreedna.com/group-project-types/
23andMe – update on haplogroup assignments: https://blog.23andme.com/articles/23andme-updates-paternal-haplogroup-assignments
May 14, 2024: The Women Who Contribute to Our DNA
In honor of Mother’s Day, we discussed the Women Who Contribute to Our DNA. We explored how mitochondrial DNA, X-chromosome DNA, and autosomal DNA can help with our elusive female ancestors.
Here are some helpful links, some of which we discussed.
Autosomal DNA:
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2009/11/10/qa-everyone-has-two-family-trees-a-genealogical-tree-and-a-genetic-tree/
X-DNA:
Learning about X-DNA and some inheritance charts: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2008/12/21/unlocking-the-genealogical-secrets-of-the-x-chromosome/
Debbie Parker Wayne’s fillable X-DNA inheritance charts: http://debsdelvings.blogspot.com/2013/10/x-dna-inheritance-charts.html
Using DNA Painter’s trees:
https://blog.dnapainter.com/blog/eight-ways-you-can-use-ancestral-trees-at-dna-painter/
Mitochondrial DNA:
The Legal Genealogist’s “Finding Margaret’s Mother” series:
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/04/28/keeping-that-dna-resolution/
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/05/18/finding-margarets-mother-part-2/
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/05/25/finding-margarets-mother-part-3/
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/06/29/finding-margarets-mother-part-4/
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/08/10/finding-margarets-mother-part-5-2/
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/11/16/finding-margarets-mother-part-6/
Read about the Million Mito Project here: https://blog.familytreedna.com/join-the-million-mito-project/
You can also upload your mtDNA to http://www.mitoydna.org
Blaine Bettinger’s blog post about not sharing mtDNA with his own mother: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2018/04/21/heteroplasmies-polycytosine-stretches-mtdna-case-study/
Blog post from FTDNA: “Genealogy Secret Weapon: How Using mtDNA Can Solve Family Mysteries” – https://blog.familytreedna.com/mtdna/
Explore information from FTDNA:
https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004592756-mtDNA-Matches-Introduction
https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/360004592776-mtDNA-Matches-Guide
https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407090183439-mtDNA-Mutations-Guide-
https://help.familytreedna.com/hc/en-us/articles/4407090309263-Understanding-mtDNA-Mutations
April 9, 2024: Take Stock of Your DNA Matches
You’ve identified many of your DNA matches, now what do you do with them? We discussed different ideas for organizing, charting, and documenting your DNA matches. Going through this process often leads to more discoveries and identifying new areas to research.
Here are some of the links that were discussed:
MyHeritage now allows sharing of DNA results with a collaborator or expert: https://blog.myheritage.com/2024/03/new-sharing-dna-results-with-a-collaborator
Ancestry tree tools and custom groups:
https://www.ancestryacademy.com/dna-connecting-your-ancestors-to-the-records
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/MyTreeTags
https://www.danaleeds.com/the-leeds-method-with-dots/
https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/shared-dna-matches-the-only-dna-tool-you-will-ever-need
https://dnapainter.com/blog/eight-ways-you-can-use-ancestral-trees-at-dna-painter
Research Reports:
https://bcgcertification.org/learning/skills/genealogical-work-samples/#RR
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/techniques-for-integrating-documentary-and-genetic-information-in-a-research-report/
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/dear-me-writing-research-reports-to-yourself/
https://familytreemagazine.com/research/genealogy-research-report/
https://dnapainter.com/blog/introducing-wato-a-new-tool-for-investigating-family-mysteries
https://www.lucidchart.com
https://www.drawio.com/
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar/lucidchart-and-other-tools-for-genetic-genealogy/
We didn’t cover this, but it’s worth reading about McGuire charts here: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2017/03/19/guest-post-the-mcguire-method-simplified-visual-dna-comparisons/
Scapple is another diagramming app: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scapple/overview
Coming up:
May 14: The Women Who Contribute to Our DNA – https://tinyurl.com/GRIVADNAMay2024
June 11: Y-DNA: https://tinyurl.com/GRIVADNAJun2024
March 12, 2024: The Shared cM Project
Blaine Bettinger’s Shared cM Project crowdsources shared DNA amounts for known relationships from users like you and me. A Shared cM lookup tool at DNA Painter combines some of the data with probabilities, but the project offers more than that! Inspired by an upcoming update, we explored what the project has to offer, how we can use it for our genealogy, and how we can contribute.
Here are some links to things we discussed.
First, DNA-related news:
DNA Painter’s What Are the Odds Plus has been released! Learn more here:
https://dnapainter.com/blog/what-are-the-odds-v3-sneak-peak/
https://dnapainter.com/help/user-guide/wato-plus
FTDNA has started labeling matches whose autosomal DNA was transferred from another company rather than an upload. This is helpful because it tells us they also tested elsewhere where a tree or shared matches may help, but also because of overlap with other companies and imputation. Read more about those topics here:
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/What-Is-Imputation
https://isogg.org/wiki/Autosomal_SNP_comparison_chart
News from RootsTech:
Ancestry features coming soon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7QAJjYtXLU
Facebook Live video from Crista Cowan: https://www.facebook.com/AncestryUS/videos/1183397173102580
MyHeritage features new and coming soon – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLi65EnnKxk
Even though it’s not DNA, we talked about FamilySearch’s new (experimental) full-text searching capability for U.S. land and probate records. Learn more here:
https://www.familysearch.org/labs/
https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2024/02/29/gamechanger/
https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/session/unlock-the-power-of-full-text-searching-for-historical-records
The Shared cM Project Version 4 (note: Version 5 is coming soon!!):
https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2020/03/27/version-4-0-march-2020-update-to-the-shared-cm-project
The full PDF with TONS of helpful information: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Shared-cM-Project-Version-4.pdf
The Shared cM Tool at DNA Painter, which combines computer-simulated probabilities with data from the Shared cM Project: https://dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4
Submit your cM values for your known relationships with your matches at https://tinyurl.com/scpsubmit
We’ll explore all of the upcoming new features when they become available!
February 13, 2024: Clues, Hints, and Red Herrings: Evaluating Clues to Help Solve Puzzles
Rarely do we solve genealogical puzzles by limiting our DNA focus to surnames or matches with perfect trees. We often have to assemble the puzzle by building trees and trying to use every scrap of helpful information we can find. We’ll talk about using some of those clues and avoiding (or at least recognizing!) the red herrings that lead us astray.
Here are some things we discussed:
Ancestry DNA Communities Update and Community Inheritance By Parent:
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Science-of-Community-Inheritance
New white paper: https://www.ancestrycdn.com/support/us/2024/02/communitieswhitepaper2024.pdf
Ancestry DNA and Membership Options: https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/AncestryDNA-and-Memberships
MyHeritage’s Theories of Family Relativity Update: https://blog.myheritage.com/2024/02/theory-of-family-relativity-update/
DNA Painter: What Are the Odds V3 Sneak Peak: https://dnapainter.com/blog/what-are-the-odds-v3-sneak-peak/
DNA Painter blog post tracking segment-related changes at the DNA companies: https://dnapainter.com/blog/what-is-going-on-with-segment-data/
The Genealogical Proof Standard:
https://bcgcertification.org/ethics-standards/
https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/The_Genealogical_Proof_Standard_-_International_Institute
https://www.familysearch.org/en/blog/understanding-the-genealogical-proof-standard
Paula’s Favorite Genealogical Article – “The Perils of Source Snobbery” from Dr. Thomas W. Jones: https://bcgcertification.org/skillbuilding-perils-of-source-snobbery/
AncestryDNA ThruLines: https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/AncestryDNA-ThruLines
More about Boston Shew’s “missing” daughter that we found via ThruLines and caution taken to avoid confirmation bias: https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2019/11/30/a-likely-candidate/
January 9, 2024: More DNA Resolutions – Collaboration
Here are some links that we discussed.
More information about new Ancestry and AncestryDNA subscription options:
AncestryDNA Plus membership – https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/AncestryDNA-Plus-Membership
Ancestry Pro Tools – https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Ancestry-Pro-Tools-Membership
Crista Cowan’s video about the Pro Tools: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?ref=watch_permalink&v=271607732236293
23andMe – https://blog.23andme.com/articles/addressing-data-security-concerns
DNA Painter’s blog post keeping up with the segment-related changes at DNA companies: https://dnapainter.com/blog/what-is-going-on-with-segment-data/
Some blog posts about contacting DNA matches:
https://www.legacytree.com/blog/13-secrets-to-getting-replies-from-dna-cousin-matches
https://blog.familytreedna.com/contacting-dna-matches-strategies/
https://www.yourdnaguide.com/ydgblog/contacting-your-dna-matches
https://whoareyoumadeof.com/blog/what-to-say-to-dna-matches/
Sharing DNA Results:
Ancestry – https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Sharing-AncestryDNA-Results
FamilyTreeDNA – https://blog.familytreedna.com/managing-multiple-kits/
Ancestry’s new “Family Groups” tool for collaborating on tasks, trees, photos, and communication: https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Ancestry-Circles
and Crista Cowan’s video about it: https://www.facebook.com/AncestryUS/videos/206845762452421
December 12, 2023: New Year’s DNA Resolutions
As we come to the close of the year and look forward to a new one, we discussed some ideas for working with our DNA results, putting to use some of the concepts we’ve explored recently.
Here are some of the links we discussed:
Two-factor or multi-factor authentication for our accounts at DNA testing companies is being implemented, and in some cases, now required. Read more here:
https://blog.23andme.com/articles/addressing-data-security-concerns
https://blog.23andme.com/articles/enhanced-customer-security-at-23andme-with-2-step-verification
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Two-step-Verification
https://blog.myheritage.com/2023/11/securing-your-myheritage-account-with-two-factor-authentication/
NEW SINCE OUR MEETING: https://blog.myheritage.com/2023/12/important-updates-regarding-two-factor-authentication/
Because of the incident at 23andMe, some of the testing companies are temporarily restricting some features. Keep up with the changes at Jonny Perl’s blog post here: https://dnapainter.com/blog/what-is-going-on-with-segment-data/
Geneanet is discontinuing their DNA features on December 20, 2023. Read more here: https://en.geneanet.org/genealogyblog/post/2023/11/geneanet-dna-features-will-be-discontinued
FamilyTreeDNA is beginning to assign high-level Y-DNA haplogroups to autosomal (Family Finder) tests for males. See https://blog.familytreedna.com/y-dna-haplogroups-family-finder and https://blog.familytreedna.com/family-finder-potential-y-dna/ for more information.
Now for the links pertaining to some resolutions we’d discussed!
Dr. Thomas Jones has written a great blog post about using research questions to focus our research, which we can use for both paper-trail research and working with our DNA matches: https://bcgcertification.org/skillbuilding-focused-versus-diffuse-research/
This blog post shows many ways you can use the Ancestral Trees feature at DNA Painter, including the Genetic Ancestors feature we discussed: https://dnapainter.com/blog/eight-ways-you-can-use-ancestral-trees-at-dna-painter/
A few articles about working with Ancestry’s and MyHeritage’s custom groups (“dots”):
https://support.ancestry.com/s/article/Grouping-and-Filtering-AncestryDNA-Matches
https://www.danaleeds.com/the-leeds-method-with-dots/
https://www.familysearch.org/rootstech/session/shared-dna-matches-the-only-dna-tool-you-will-ever-need
https://blog.myheritage.com/2021/12/labels-for-dna-matches-now-improved/
Blaine Bettinger’s Shared cM Project
Read more about it here: https://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2020/03/27/version-4-0-march-2020-update-to-the-shared-cm-project/
Use the tool at DNA Painter here: https://dnapainter.com/tools/sharedcmv4
Submit your cM values for known relationships here: https://tinyurl.com/SCPSubmit
Lots of opportunities for genealogical education (both with and without DNA!):
Legacy Family Tree Webinars – get access to their huge library of recorded webinars, handouts, and members-only lectures and videos by subscribing. New members get 50% off through December 15, but it’s a bargain at full price! https://familytreewebinars.com/
RootsTech is coming up – learn how to attend in-person or virtually (for free!) https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/
The National Genealogical Society Conference will be virtual in 2024 – read more here: https://conference.ngsgenealogy.org/
Institutes are typically week-long, in-depth dives into a particular genealogical topic. Some are in-person and some are virtual. Here are a few:
Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP) – https://grip.ngsgenealogy.org/
Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) – https://slig.ugagenealogy.org/
Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) – https://ighr.gagensociety.org/
Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI) – https://www.maagiinstitute.org/
Genealogical Institute on Federal Records (Gen-Fed) – https://www.gen-fed.org/
One of the best ways of learning how to use genealogical research and DNA to solve complex problems is by reading genealogical journal articles detailing how they solved the problems. The National Genealogical Society Quarterly (NGSQ) is on of the best ways and free to all members of the National Genealogical Society. Issues are often available at genealogical libraries as well. The New England Historic Genealogical Society’s Register and the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society’s Record are also good resources.
Sometimes, authors of these articles share their articles after the initial publication. See https://bcgcertification.org/learning/dna-resources/ for some examples for using DNA to solve complex problems.
Thanks for spending the year with us! Happy Holidays! We’ll see you in 2024!
See https://griva.org/dna-sig/previous-dna-sig-posts/ for 2023 and earlier DNA SIG wrap-up posts.