Family Tree DNA released a cool new video for everyone who has taken the full sequence mitochondrial DNA test.
I signed in today and discovered this nice little gift.
I clicked, and the first thing you do is to answer a few questions to generate your video.
After selecting a drawing of an avatar, you’ll move on to a couple of questions. Note that you cannot change your answers, so if you eventually want to share on social media, be sure the names and location is something you’ll be comfortable with.
After you click submit, your video takes a few minutes to generate.
You’ll receive an e-mail when the video is ready.
Now, just click on the very same link on your account.
My video was 4 minutes+ in length and began by showing me how mitochondrial DNA is inherited.
Next, the video explains the concept of our ancestor, Mitochondrial Eve.
I must say, the speech is synthetic, and I chuckled every time I heard it say mitochondrial.
The video does a good job of describing the concept of a haplogroup, then proceeds to explain your base haplogroup – J in my case.
Next, your specific haplogroup, J1c2f for me, and where it’s found in the world.
Hapogroup frequency is shown as well as the range, on a map.
One cool stop on your journey is your relationship to a notable figure, even if it’s distant.
King Richard III, whose skeleton was found under a parking lot, also descends from haplogroup J. Who knew!!!
The video provides some quick examples of how to understand your matches and explains mutations. My Swedish matches were really unexpected, given that my ancestor was found in Germany. There’s a story there waiting to be told!
Next, the video encourages people to sign in to view their matches when they receive match notification e-mails. Each match holds the promise of a new discovery.
Last, you have an option to share your video with family and friends on social media.
Here I am on Facebook.
Pretty cool.
The Great Thing About Mitochondrial DNA
The great thing about mitochondrial DNA is that results apply to several people in your family. You, your siblings, your mother and your mother’s siblings all share your maternal grandmother’s mitochondrial DNA – so the information is something that pertains to lots of people – not just you. Unlike autosomal tests, one of you can take a mitochondrial DNA test to represent everyone, so it’s a great value.
- If you have taken the full sequence mitochondrial DNA test, just click here to sign in and generate your video.
- If you’ve taken the HVR1 or HVR2 lower resolution test, you can upgrade to the full sequence by clicking on the upgrade button in your account and you’ll receive your video automatically when your full sequence results are ready.
- If you haven’t yet tested your mitochondrial DNA, it’s the story of your matrilineal line – and it’s a great time to order your mitochondrial DNA test. Mine held surprises I’d never have guessed. Just recently I matched someone from the neighboring village to where my oldest known ancestor in that line lived in Germany in the 1600s. Her genealogy may help identify my ancestors too.
Click here to order.
______________________________________________________________
Disclosure
I receive a small contribution when you click on some of the links to vendors in my articles. This does NOT increase the price you pay but helps me to keep the lights on and this informational blog free for everyone. Please click on the links in the articles or to the vendors below if you are purchasing products or DNA testing.
Thank you so much.
DNA Purchases and Free Transfers
- Family Tree DNA
- MyHeritage DNA only
- MyHeritage DNA plus Health
- MyHeritage FREE DNA file upload
- AncestryDNA
- 23andMe Ancestry
- 23andMe Ancestry Plus Health
- LivingDNA
Genealogy Services
Genealogy Research
- Legacy Tree Genealogists for genealogy research
That’s a neat video, a shame my subclade is so far away in time.
Wait… the table with matches gives the last known ancestress country of origin of each of them (the ones who filled the field, that is). We don’t have that information anywhere else.
So that match who didn’t answer my email trace her mt-line to Canada… I added a note to her profile.
Perhaps it betrays it’s US origins as it has Queen Victoria on the throne from 1876 when it should be 1837. 1876 was when she became Empress of India
How would I get in contact with someone at FTDNA? My video works fine until it gets to the match page and it get to number 2 and goes black.
Call support.
I notice at the end of the video, there is a logo with the statement: “powered by igentify,” with “your health” under the logo. I looked up their website, and it says “The Igentify platform is a total healthcare solution that expedites patient onboarding, increases patient education and retention, enhances efficiency with digital consent forms, education, and analyses for patients. Igentify’s solution is an end-to-end platform for all laboratory, computational, and counseling protocols.”
One of their products is Digital Learning, “educating patients from start to finish.” Also from their website: “Igentify is a timesaving solution that reduces the number of doctor visits involving the genetic testing process. We are a fast, secure, and accurate resource for patients and medical personnel. Igentify is the face of precision medicine.”
I suppose FTDNA could have contracted with this company just to produce the personalized video, but I will not be happy if I am contacted by igentify.
They did contract for the videos. That’s what Igentify does
I looked a bit further, and see that Dr. Doron Behar (FTDNA’s Chief mtDNA Scientist) is also a CEO of Igentify, so that seems to be a connection. I was just curious, since Igentify seems to be more than just a video production company.
Yes, he is.
Thanks, I think I will just look at my 0 matches an see where they led along with your articles as my guide
How long did it take for your video to become available? I’ve been waiting for hours. I even stopped it and restarted it but no change. Maybe the server is overwhelmed?
Check your spam filter. I don’t know because I got distracted for several hours and it was there when I got back.
Mine came within 15 minutes
It took only a few minutes for me, both for my our mt-DNA and my paternal grand-mother’s.
Does it work for 23andMe customers, too? That’s where I had my DNA test.
No, it’s provided by Family Tree DNA for their customers.
I shared my video on Facebook as the link showed I could at the bottom. No one could see the video unless they logged in. I am not sharing my login so how can others see the video?
Hmm, that’s not how mine worked. It does show on the signin page, but all they have to do is click the little play button and it plays. It’s sometimes slow to load.
Roberta, i just receive my mtDNA Result as a member of Haplogroup R*, not B4c my specific Haplogroup. Why?
It’s a bug with haplogroup B video. R is the root of B. It has been reported.
Hmm, i see. The mtDNA Journey Video from FTDNA ia really cool. Thank you. 🙂
Roberta, if mtDNA Haplogroup R is the root of Haplogroup B so my mtDNA more closely related to European Haplogroup HV JT U and K rather than East Asian Haplogroup M CZ D E Q ect?
I’m sorry. I think this is a technical problem. Sorry, Roberta!
You can look at the public tree to see the divisions.
FTNDA already has my autosomal results. Do I need to order another swab kit or do they do the mtDNA from my autosomal results? If so, I assume I just log in to their site and order the kit?
Sign in and order the upgrade. If you swabbed instead of transferred, they can just run the test. If you transferred, they will send you a swab kit.