Category Archives: Autosomal

Autosomal Matching – Is Great-Grandma’s Brother Really Her Brother???

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Do you remember story problems from grade school?  You either loved them or hated them.  There was no in-between.  Here’s a modern-day story problem, and love them or hate them, if you participate in autosomal DNA testing, you’ll need to know how to work this story problem.  The good news is, I’ll show you how.  Yep, I was one of those “loved them” people.

I received the following query about how to determine relationships between distant relatives, and what should be expected.  It’s hard to know how interpret results if you don’t know what they “should” look like.

“I have conducted traditional genealogical research on my father’s maternal side.  I have researched back to my great, great grandmother.  Her parents were enslaved yet it appears that her parents cohabitated since 1864 according to a document that was produce well after that actual time.  My genealogical concern is because the date of 1864 is well after the oldest child (my great, great grandmother) and two other children were born.  This lead me to believe that the three oldest children within this family were perhaps the father’s from a previous relationship.  The lady who appears as his wife since 1864 would have been 13 when my great, great Grandmother was born.

Though my great, great grandmother married and remained in North Carolina, her parents and the remaining siblings migrated west.  I am presently researching the siblings to present day descendants.  One such person I have contacted, I believe is the grandson of my great, great grandmother’s brother.  I have been talking with him and his family.  Unfortunately, they know very little to nothing regarding his grandfather.  I have just conducted an autosomal DNA test on this grandson of the person I believe is my great, great Grandmother’s brother.  I have a total of four participates within my father’s side to compare him against.  The comparison is against myself, my 1st cousin and my uncle and my aunt.  Yet, none of us are showing an autosomal match to this grandson.  The only thing that I notice is that I as well as my uncle match another person who in turn also matches this grandson.

My question is since I don’t have a match with any of my participates against this person (grandson), should I conclude that there is not common ancestor with him?  Or….since there is another person, of whom I know nothing about, which matches myself and my uncle and also this person(grandson, should I conclude that is still likely a common ancestor? My match as well as my uncles match to this third person is not located on the same chromosomal area as this third person and the (grandson).”

When I receive queries like this, the first thing I have to do is to make a chart of the relationships.  The people who have taken autosomal tests are shown below in bold.

Now that we can see who is related to whom, or who we hypothesize is related to whom, now we can do some useful math.

First we need to look at how far down the path the participants are from the original ancestors.  We know that autosomal tests are fairly reliable until you get to about the 1% range, then it becomes sporadic and more the roll of the dice in terms of how DNA was inherited.

In this scenario, we have 5 generations in total, so the percentage of DNA that the descendants carry of the ancestors is shown in the following chart.  You can count generations in either direction, but for purposes of showing percentages I’m counting beginning with Mom and Dad.

Generation

People

% of DNA of Oldest Ancestor

1

Great grandmother and her brother

50

2

Grandma and child of ggm brother

25

3

Father, Aunt, Uncle and grandson of ggm brother

12.5

4

1st cousin and participant

6.25

Ok, so if indeed these people are all descended from Mom and Dad who were together in 1864, we are well above the 1% threshold.

Now let’s look at how much DNA each of the people who participated can expect to share with each of the other participants.  For this, I’m using the ISOGG DNA Statistics page and the chart that shows percentages of DNA in common between various relatives.

To use this tool, the numbers relate to “self”, so you need to figure out who is the “self” relationship you are calculating.

So let’s build another chart – a relationship chart.  In our chart, we’re going to have two math columns, one that shows percentages of DNA shared if both great-grandma and her brother are descended from both parents, and one if they only share one parent, so are half siblings.  Bolded people below are those who have taken the autosomal test.

Person One Person Two Relationship If Full Siblings If Half Sibling
Great grandmother Great grandmother’s brother Siblings or half-siblings 50 25
Grandma Child of brother First cousins 12.5 6.25
Grandms’s son (Father) or Uncle or Aunt Grandson of   great-grandmother’s brother Second cousins 3.125 1.563
Participant or   first cousin Grandson of   great-grandmother’s brother Second cousins once removed 1.563 0.781

So here we have a quandary.  We are very close to that 1% mark, so let’s look at the various scenarios.  The best chance of a meaningful match are at the third level where the aunt and uncle have both tested to see if they match great-grandma’s brother’s son.  The next generation, the participant and his first cousin are both another generation removed, so less likely to match than the aunt and uncle who are closer genealogically.

  1. Great grandma and her brother are full siblings.  If this were the case, we would expect for the Aunt or Uncle to match the grandson of great-grandmother’s brother at about 3.125%.  Neither do.  It’s not likely, but not impossible that they are full siblings.
  2. Great grandma and her brother are half siblings.  If this were the case, we would expect to see about a 1.5% match.  This is perilously near that magic 1% number.  They don’t match, but because of how close they are to the threshold, I would not call this conclusive.

How to solve this mystery.

The participant states that while they don’t match each other, there is one person (called the stranger, below) who matches himself, the uncle and great-grandma’s brother’s grandson.  This may or may not be relevant to the question at hand.  However, it is worth pursuing. If the match were on overlapping portions of the same chromosome, then it’s a good bet that indeed, it is from the same ancestor, but it’s not.

At this point, there are only three things to do.

1. Test more people.  If the grandson of great-grandma’s brother has siblings, test them.  Better yet, if he has an aunt or uncle, that gets us one generation closer.  If there are more people in the generation of the aunt and uncle who could test, from any descendants of great-grandma, test them.  If another descendant of this family could be found from another line to test, that would be great. Given that DNA is divided in each generation, and is passed in clumps, each person inherits differently.  Therefore, the more people you test in a line, the better your chances of finding a definitive answer.

2. Use GedMatch.  All 4 family members, plus the stranger who matches the participant, the uncle and the grandson of great-grandma’s brother download their results to GedMatch, drop the comparison thresholds, and see if you have matching segments on identical chromosomes between the stranger and the three family members.

3. Have Tim Janzen phase these people and obtain his opinion on the relationship after his phasing.  Phasing is where in essence Tim attempts to genetically “recreate” (on paper) the common relative between the uncle, aunt, participant and first cousin, and then compares that “composite person” to the grandson of great-grandma’s brother.  Tim has written specialized tools to do the phasing and provides the consulting services to compare the results.

There are also some other possibilities that need to be considered, based on the history of this family and America during that time.

  1. It is extremely unusual for children to be with a father during or after slavery.  Children belonged to the mother and the owner of the mother.  The father may or may not have been on the same plantation.  Slavery was an enforced matrilineal society.
  2. 1864, the date given that this couple began to be “married” is likely the date of emancipation. In other words, it could have been that they had children together but were forced to live apart before this, or that they decided when they were freed to become a couple.  If their children had death certificates, that might provide the answer.
  3. The children could have belonged to either the man or the woman of the couple, or the children before 1864 could have all had different “other” parents.  Slaves often formed loving relationships when they could, but they were not allowed to “marry” nor were their family ties always respected when financial decisions came to be made regarding the slaves.  Slave women were not always in charge of their own bodies in terms of the ability to choose with whom they would and would not have children.
  4. The children may not all necessarily belong biologically to the man and woman.  The end of slavery was a difficult time and if there were orphan children, they could have wound up with any family who would take them.  They could also be related, but not as children.  Perhaps nieces, nephews, cousins, etc.

We don’t have a definitive answer today for this particular story problem, but now that we understand how to use the tools and what to expect, I’m confident that this family will find their answer.

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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.

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4 Kinds of DNA for Genetic Genealogy

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Let’s talk about the different “kinds” of DNA and how they can be used for genetic genealogy.

It used to be simple. When this “industry” first started, in the year 2000, you could test two kinds of DNA and it was straightforward. Now we’ve added more DNA, more tools and more testing companies and it’s not quite so straightforward anymore. But’s it’s a LOT better for genealogists.

Four Kinds of DNA

There are 4 different kinds of DNA that genealogists can use to provide information about our ancestors.

1. Y DNA for males only – Family Tree DNA tests the Y chromosome which is passed from father to son, along, in most cases, with the surname. Only men can take this test, because only men have a Y chromosome.

Female genealogists need to ask their fathers, brothers, uncles and male cousins to test for the surnames in question. You can read the article, Concepts – Who to Test for Your Father’s DNA.

Family Tree DNA compares the results of the Y chromosome test between males to see if they match and are related in a genealogical timeframe.

Testers also obtain their haplogroup which is a genetic clan and tells your ancestral story of deep ancestry, such as European, African, Asian or Native American heritage.

Family Tree DNA sponsors free surname, haplogroup and other special interest projects, such as American Indian or regional projects. Projects are indispensable for both genealogy and genetic genealogy research and everyone can join.

Family Tree DNA is currently the only testing company that offers Y DNA testing providing matching, projects and other tools, including the advanced Big-Y test. Y DNA test levels include 37 and 111 markers in addition to the Big Y-700 test which provides a minimum of 700 markers and extremely granular advanced haplogroup testing.

Testing more markers is how one determines who they are related to most closely in time. The Big Y-700 is definitely the best test, but the 37 and 111 marker tests can be considered entry-level. The Y DNA test is great in combination with the Family Finder autosomal test, and advanced matching allows you to see who you match on both tests.

You can read more in my article, Working with Y DNA – Your Dad’s Story.

You can click here to order a Y DNA test.

2. Mitochondrial DNA for everyone – Mitochondrial DNA tracks your matrilineal line and is passed generationally from mother to mother to mother to both genders of her children, but only females pass it on.

Males carry their mother’s mitochondrial DNA but they don’t pass it to their children.

Like Y DNA, mutations are compared to see if testers share an ancestor in a genealogical timeframe, but because the surname changes in every generation, it’s more challenging genealogically to make the connections.

Mitochondrial DNA testing also provides a haplogroup which defines deep ancestry, such as European, African, Asian or Native American.

Family Tree DNA offers free haplogroup and other special interest projects such as the AcadianAmerindian Project.

Family Tree DNA is the only testing company that tests mitochondrial DNA and provides matching, projects, and tools.

You can read my 4 part series about mitochondrial DNA beginning with the first article:

Articles 2, 3 and 4 in the mitochondrial series are useful after you’ve received your test results.

You can click here to order a mitochondrial DNA test.

Inheritance Paths

The paths of inheritance for both the paternal YDNA, blue, and the mitochondrial DNA, red, are shown below.

Autosomal DNA is inherited from all of your ancestors shown in the pedigree chart above, and further back in time as well. Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA are extremely important to inform us about the specific ancestry, both near and deep, of one line each, while autosomal DNA provides us with a different type of information about a wide range of ancestors.

In addition to Family Tree DNA who provides testing, mitoYDNA, a non-profit has begun accepting transfers for matching. Additionally, both WikiTree and Geni allow users to associate Y and mitochondrial DNA with specific ancestors.

3. Autosomal DNA for everyone – Autosomal DNA tests the DNA contributed by both parents on the 23 chromosomes, not just two direct lines as with Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA.

While Y DNA and mitochondrial DNA are never recombined with the DNA from the other parent, you do receive half of your autosomal DNA from each parent. Autosomal DNA is recombined in each generation, so each new generation inherits less DNA from previous generations.

The inheritance paths for autosomal DNA are shown below.  You can see that this includes all of the various ancestral lines, including the lines that also contribute the Y-line and mitochondrial, but those are separate and different tests providing different kinds of information.

Autosomal DNA tests are provided by:

You can order an autosomal DNA test by clicking on the vendors’ links, above.

These tests provide ethnicity estimates and a list of cousin matches from all of your ancestral lines, but it’s up to you to figure out how these cousins are related to you. Various testing companies provide different tools to help in this quest, each having their own strengths.

All four companies provide the ability to download your raw data results so that you can perform further analysis by using several online tools, the most popular being GedMatch, DNAPainter, Genetic Affairs and DNAGedcom.

Many articles on this blog are devoted to working with autosomal DNA and is entirely keyword searchable for your convenience.

4. The X Chromosome – The X chromosome is included as part of autosomal DNA testing. The X chromosome has special inheritance properties that allow people to use these results separately from the rest of the autosomal results.

The 23rd pair of chromosomes defines your biological sex. If a father contributes his Y chromosome, the child will be male. If a father contributes his X, the child will be female. Mothers always contribute an X, because they don’t have a Y chromosome.

The inheritance path of the X chromosome is different for males and females, because males only inherit an X chromosome from their mother (and a Y from their father which makes them male), but women inherit an X from both of their parents. Therefore, an X match with another tester can eliminate several potential ancestors. For males, an X match must come from his mother’s side of his family.

You can read about X matching, along with a helpful X inheritance chart, in the article, Who Tests the X Chromosome?

Getting Started

You need to test before you can receive results to jump-start your genealogy.

I recommend that every genealogist do the following:

  • Test your Y DNA or the Y DNA of your paternal lines by recruiting others
  • Test your mitochondrial DNA
  • Build a DNA Pedigree chart
  • Test with or upload your autosomal DNA to all 4 vendors. Different people test at different locations. I have important matches at each vendor who have never tested elsewhere.
  • Upload your autosomal DNA file to GedMatch for additional functionality. It’s free with Tier-1 advanced functionality requiring a subscription.

Uploads

Family Tree DNA and MyHeritage accept uploads for free, with an unlock fee required for advanced tools. If you subscribe to MyHeritage, no unlock fee is required. You can begin a free trial subscription here.

Ancestry and 23andMe do not accept uploads, so you must test there directly. Ancestry requires an additional subscription for some functionality, such as seeing your matches trees and advanced features. Here are my 4 articles with instructions for how to download and upload your DNA file:

Have FUN! Your ancestors are waiting on you.

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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

Genealogy Services

Genealogy Research

It’s Dick Hill’s Fault…

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Yes indeed – it’s Dick’s fault.  What’s Dick’s fault, you ask?  The fact that I haven’t had enough sleep for the past three days.  That’s what’s Dick’s fault, him and his book, Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA.

What a book it is!  I know Dick Hill, and I thought I knew his story, but I didn’t.  I knew pieces of his story.  Just snippets.  I was missing the best parts.

Dick spent his life, after college, writing for a living in a variety of professional positions, and you can tell.  His writing is precise and skillful,  and it draws you into the story from the first page, even if you do think you know the story line.

In my case, I had commitments during the day, so I took the book to bed intending to read to go to sleep.  Sometime around 3AM, I made myself stop reading so that I could get at least a few hours sleep.  Thankfully, the third night, I finished the book.

Dick’s story begins with a slip up at the doctor’s office where he discovered he was adopted.  He was 18 and on his way off to college, so even though he was quite surprised, he was relatively unconcerned at that time.  However, over the years, and finally with a virtual deathbed confession of his father, his interest grew.  It took his father’s revelation that he had a brother to really light that spark.

As these things go, his brother was relatively easy to find.  His biological father was not.  In fact, he didn’t know who his father was.  He knew that his father was not his mother’s husband.  Are you confused yet?  Well, don’t be….it’s just part of this wonderfully elusive and slippery plot.  Just when you think you have it figured out, I guarantee you, you don’t!

Dick’s story is particularly close to my heart. Dick knew who his brother on his mother’s side was, but he hunted for his father for decades.  I knew who my father was, or I thought I did, and I hunted for my brother for decades.  Dick and I used many of the same early DNA siblingship tools to prove and disprove relationships, and eventually, the newer wide spectrum autosomal chip testing available at both 23andMe and Family Tree DNA, with very similar results.  I’m not going to tell you what those results were or are….you’ll have to read the book to find out.

Let’s just suffice it to say that there were a total of about 13 different candidates to be Richard’s father, all of which Richard had to unweave from the web of intentional deception and state-sanctioned “untruths” one by one.  One by one he would identify candidates and be hopeful.  One by one, he would eliminate them as possibilities.  More than once, he thought sure he had the answer.  More than once, he was wrong.  Some candidates got rejected, reconsidered, rejected, reconsidered…..does this sound repetitive?  You should be on Dick’s roller coaster ride!

I was so relieved to finally reach the end of the book.  Richard found his father, in an unbelievable and ironic twist of fate, and finally, I could go to sleep!  This book is what we used to refer to as a barn-burner!  Gets ahold of you and just won’t let you go!

Congratulations Dick on a wonderfully executed masterpiece.

Whether you are interested in genetic genealogy, adoption searches or just like a good heart-warming mystery, you’ll love this book!  But consider yourself warned…..don’t think you’re going to read it to go to sleep…..

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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.

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Ancestry Autosomal Results are Back

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My cousin, Harold, e-mailed me and asked me to check my Ancesry results to see if I matched a certain nickname (user).  I told him I’d be glad to when my results come in, sometime in October.  He replied that my results are in and have been for a couple days, as I’ve been showing as a match to him.  Hmmm….would have been nice if Ancestry had notified me.  We’ll chalk this up to the internet troll eating the e-mail notification message.  Thank you cousin Harold.

When Ancestry received my kit on August 21st, they said to expect my results in 6-8 weeks.  They beat their own mark by at least 50%.  It took about 3 weeks instead of 6-8.  Everyone is always happy receiving something early.  It’s all about setting expectations correctly, and they did.

I was excited to take a look.  Sure enough, there was cousin Harold, right up at the top of the match list.  Harold and I have been working on a particulary elusive genealogy problem for some time now, so both of us test everyplace we can in the hopes of cracking this tough nut.  In a future blogs, we’ll talk about using genetic genealogy to do focused testing and solve very specific problems.

I only have just a few minutes this morning, so it’s a good thing that Ancestry’s user interface is easy and intuitive.

I was disappointed to see that Scandinavian show up.  I know beyond any doubt that I’m not 12% Scandinavian.  That’s equivalent to one great-grandparent.  I did a pedigree analysis as part of a paper titled Revealing American Indian and Minority Heritage Using Y-line, Mitochondrial, Autosomal and X Chromosomal Testing Data Combined with Pedigree Analysisthat was published in the Journal of Genetic Genealogy.  CeCe Moore has already reported on this false Scandinavian problem at Ancestry.

Given my time constraints this morning, I had to limit myself to a quick test drive.  I have one 3rd cousin match, Harold, nineteen 4th cousins and 90 distant matches.  In total 122 matches and of those, only 14 don’t have pedigree charts, although I’ve noticed that some charts are very skeletal, with only parents and maybe grandparents listed.

I couldn’t resist scrolling down the list and clicking on “review match” links for the 4th cousins.  I find the “nicknames” frustrating.  Some are marginally recognizable.  I use my full name in mine, but others are entirely obfuscated.

I had no idea who Alyssa2309 was, but she is listed third on my 4th cousin list, so I clicked on Review Match.  Much to my surprise, she is truly a cousin.  My great-grandfather is her great-great-great-grandfather.  I was very glad at this moment that I had taken the time to manually enter my pedigree chart information for 10 generations.  Without that information, Ancestry could not have connected our common ancestors on our trees.

Ok, that’s very cool.  This isn’t a brick wall line for me, but it’s still fun to find a new cousin.  Maybe she has some photos that I don’t, or vice versa.  Alyssa2309, I’ll be in touch, count on it!  Here’s a picture of our common ancestors, Lazarus Estes (1845-1919) and Elizabeth Vannoy (1846-1918).

I continued clicking.  It has now taken on an addictive quality and I’m only through about 5.  Oops, I’ve hit my first “private” tree.  How disappointing.  I wish Ancestry had done the common surname analysis so I know whether or not to bother attempting to contact this person.

You can see, above, that Ancestry compares the charts of the two people who match and shows you the shared surnames, in this case, the very common Miller and Moore.  You can then click and go to that surname on the person’s pedigree chart, or you can simply scan down the chart, displayed to the right through 10 generations.  This is a very nice feature.

I finished a quick look at my nineteen 4th cousins.  Of those nineteen, there are three where I can clearly identify our common ancestor, and there are two or three more that with some genealogy digging, we might well be able to connect the dots.  One of those is a dead end brick wall line for me, so I’m hopeful.  More than half show no common surnames.

More than ever, now I really desperately need more information and the raw data to continue with my ancestor matching project.  While the Ancestry match information is a tantalizing teaser, that’s all it is.  They don’t show how or where you match, how much, segment size or number of SNPs, the chromosome(s), start and stop locations, nor the raw data, of course.  No chromosome matching or mapping like at both Family Tree DNA and at 23andMe.  How frustrating. It’s like showing you the tip of the iceberg and refusing to provide you with the rest, although you know full well it’s there and available, because other testing companies using the same test platform provide this information.  This is SO FRUSTRATING!

In essence, we have the shiny user interface (complete with erroneous population data), and the surface matching information, but no substance.  Nothing under the hood.  Knowing there is information there that I need and can’t have is worse than not knowing at all.

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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

Genealogy Services

Genealogy Research

Doug McDonald on Biogeograpical Analysis

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Dr. Doug McDonald developed what is known at BGA software, meaning Biogeographical Analysis, before either 23andMe or Family Tree DNA offered their products.  In fact, Doug contracted with Family Tree DNA to write the underlying code for their Population Finder ethnicity software.

I have worked with Doug for years on several projects.  He has always been very gracious with his time and resources in the genetic genealogy community, for which I am always grateful.

There has been a lot of discussion about the meaning of various descriptions of ethnicity, specifically, Orkney and Middle Eastern, in the Family Finder results. I asked Doug about this and his reply is below.

“The  Family Tree DNA population database was generated before an English comparison panel became available. Hence, Orcadian had to be used. Irish is quite different from English or Orcadian.

So, to fit typical English, something more southern and eastern has to be mixed in. However, the proportion is usually fairly small, unless French fits well, which it frequently does not. Thus the program chooses some place in Eastern Europe or the Mideast, or, rarely, Pakistan or India. There is nothing “wrong” with this genetically. There is, however, something “wrong” genealogically on a genealogical time scale. Pop Finder was designed to do as well as possible on a recent time scale. That it does, but this leads to seeing, sometimes, these “strange” results.

The problem is that the people using these results from FTDNA and Ancestry are genetic genealogists and not population geneticists and at the genealogical level it seems that many people are taking their results far too literally so I was really trying to caution against this approach. If people see that they have this Middle Eastern percentage they are sometimes trying to find explanations in their recent ancestry. They think that the Middle Eastern component might represent Jewish ancestry, Native American ancestry, Moorish ancestry, etc, whereas in reality this is mostly not the case at all, if the rest is Orcadian/Irish.

Mideast won’t represent American! But it does mean something! There are several possibilities.

1)    If a person is shown as mostly Orcadian and just a few percent Mideast, the Mideast probably means that they are, as mentioned above, on average from a few percent of the way from the Orknies to the Mideast.  If the Mideast percentage is getting up to 15% or more then one must start considering that the Mideast is real and recent.

2)    If a person is listed as mostly from somewhere in France or Spain, then the first thought for Mideast is that it is real. Small bits of African listed make it likely that there is North African.

3)    People from far southern Italy (Calabria), Sicily, Malta, Greece, etc. should expect large amounts of Mideast listed along with Spanish/Italian/Tuscan. Part or all of the Mideast in these cases is usually listed as Jewish, for two reasons: these people derive from the same ancestral populations as the Jews, and large numbers of Jews moved to Sicily after the Inquisition.

Also …

4)    Native American is listed as just that. It is quite uncommon for it to be listed in error … except for genuine people from Siberia and Saami. FTDNA does not mistakenly show American as Asian.  “Mayan” is the usual listing for any Native American north of Panama, through all of Mexico, and east of the Rockies in the USA and Canada.

5)    South Asian also sometimes appears in otherwise near-pure Europeans for the same reason as Mideastern.

6)    People who are highly mixed on a continental level are generally fairly accurately represented. However, FTDNA does have a fairly high threshold for listing small components, like Native American in Europeans or Afro-(European)Americans.

For the genetic genealogist, a single “canned” report like provided by FTDNA can provide valuable clues on a continental level.  For a clearer picture on a detailed level, people need more analysis from third party tests on their raw files. There are several ones out there, of varying nature.

The best place to start other than my own reports are those from Dienekes Pontikos, such as “DIYDodecad” and “Dodecad Oracle” which “cover the field” and are very accurate. Some of these are somewhat user unfriendly, however, because they require you to load programs on your computer and run them.

People often suggest that data on more populations will help with the “Mideast in Europe” problem. It would, but only for people who are of one, unadmixed, present-day European population. Otherwise it will just muddy the waters.”

I want to thank Doug for his explanation.  Doug’s analysis is complementary, but you’ll need to contact him at  mcdonald@scs.uiuc.edu and send your raw autosomal data files.

I noticed that at www.gedmatch.com, John Olson offers an admix page where he has included several different software tools to evaluate admixture, including five versions of Dodecad.  This eliminates the need to install software on your computer.  However, you do need to upload your raw autosomal data files to GedMatch in order to be able use his utilities.  You can see instructions for uploading your file from either Family Tree DNA or 23andMe on the home page.

GedMatch is free, but donations are always welcome and needed.  GedMatch really is a very useful tool in many ways.  You can see by the commentary on their main page that they are experiencing significant issues to to high usage and desperately need a new server.  You can scroll to the bottom of the main GedMatch page to donate.  I just did!

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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

Genealogy Services

Genealogy Research

Matches – Family (IBD) vs Population (IBS)

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Recently, I received the following query from one of our blog followers.

“Family Finder matches are based on autosomal DNA inherited from both male and female sides of the family. The FAQ indicates that we may share some autosomal DNA with cousins beyond genealogical times “as remote as 20th cousins.”    Population Finder ethnic admixture percentages are also based on autosomal DNA, but cover a range of 100 to 2000 years (up to 80 generations), according to the Population Finder FAQ.  Why does the ethnic admixture calculation extend over a longer period than the Family Finder matches, since both are based on (the same?) autosomal DNA?”

This is a great question.  Let’s look at autosomal DNA and how DNA works, and we’ll soon see why genealogical and anthropological (ethnic admixture) DNA overlap.  And by the way, kudos for reading the FAQ!

In each generation, the child receives half of their DNA from Mom and half from Dad.  As you look back in time, you can see the inheritance percentages, approximately, in the table below.  Why do I say approximate?  Because when the DNA of Grandma and Grandpa that Mom (or Dad) carries is being selected to be passed on to the child, there may be a little more or less of Grandma or Grandpa’s so while the child does receive exactly 50% from Mom and Dad, they don’t receive exactly 25% from each grandparent.  It could be 60-40 or even just 49-51.  It’s here that things begin to get complicated.

Generation Percent of DNA carried by the current Generation
Parents 50%
Grandparents Approximately 25%
Great-grandparents Approximately 12.5%
GG-grandparents Approximately 6.25%
GGG-Grandparents Approximately 3.125%
GGGG-Grandparents Approximately 1.5625%
GGGG-Grandparents Approximately 0.7813%

You can see that in just 7 generations, we are below the threshold of 1%.  This is why Family Tree DNA says that their ethnicity prediction is reliable through about the 5th or 6th generation.  Beyond that, you’re at less than 1% of any one GGGG-grandparent.

Over time, the DNA from any specific ancestor, especially one from 20 generations ago is likely to “wash out”, meaning that in the next generation, the child is less and less likely to receive anything from that ancestor, and what they do receive would be in increasingly small pieces.  However, that’s not always true, because we clearly do inherit our DNA from someone.

So let’s look at an example using the Family Finder Chromosome Browser from Family Tree DNA which allows you to compare the inherited pieces of DNA of multiple people.

The graphic above shows the comparison of my mother to me, shown in orange, and then to a Miller cousin, shown in blue.  My mother and I share half of all of our DNA, so my orange matches her on every chromosome.

My mother and the Miller cousin, shown in blue, share a great grandparent, John David Miller.  So both the Miller cousin and my mother could expect to inherit approximately 12.5% of their DNA from that Miller great-grandparent.  While they wouldn’t inherit exactly the same DNA from that Miller grandparent, they would very likely inherit some of the same DNA from John David Miller.  In fact, they could expect to inherit approximately 3.12% of the same DNA from him.

Looking at chromosome 5, for example, you can see that Mom and her Miller cousin share a total length of 62.18 cM (centimorgans, a unit for measuring genetic linkage, the distance between chromosome positions).

If you look at my comparison, below, with Mom and the Miller cousin, again, shown in blue, you can see that I inherited 33.13 cM of the same DNA, slightly more than half (53%) of the Miller DNA that Mom shares with her cousin.

You can also choose to view this data in a table.

Mom’s table, above, shows that the length of 62.18 cM is comprised of 14,024 individuals SNPs.  For me, the same table, below, shows that my inheritance on chromosome 5 is really in 2 separate segments.  The 33.13 segment contains 8100 SNPs, so more than half of the number (57%) my Mom’s carries.  A second segment of 2.14 cM carries 500 SNPs for total Miller inheritage on chromosome 5 of 8600 SNPs (61%) .  Why didn’t the second segment show up on the Chromosome Browser?  Because I have the threshold set at 5cM, the default.  In the card shuffle between Mom and Dad that decided which SNPs I received, a little segment of Mom’s other parent’s DNA got inserted in the Miller segment, so the Miller segment was no longer intact, but pieces of it are still there and one piece is large.

You can change the cM threshold, but for people who are not known to be family, 5cM is a reasonable threshold to differentiate between identical by state, IBS which means happenstance or a common root population, and identical by descent, IBD, because you share a common ancestor in a genealogical timeframe.

This Miller comparison is a good example of how SNPs are inherited and shows that while approximately 50% of the DNA from each of your ancestors gets inherited in every generation, it’s never really exactly 50%, either in length or in the number of SNPs inherited.  It also shows how larger blocks of DNA are broken into smaller segments in each generation and how chunks move from being IBD to IBS over time and mutiple inheritances.

SNPs, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, are the basic unit of inheritance.  We look at 4 nucleotides to determine the condition, or state of that SNP.  Sometimes SNPs repeat, are in essence strung together, and these are the STRs, short tandem repeats, we are so familiar with in the Y chromosome in genetic genealogy.  These are our markers and the marker values are the number of repeats at marker location 390, for example.

Most of the time, we’re just looking at one SNP location and the nucleotide held at that location.  The magic of course, is when there are many of these nucleotides that are found in common as a group.  A large grouping indicates a common ancestor, like we’ve seen above.

However, for population genetics, the individual nucleotides and groupings of smaller segments are very important, because just like large blocks indicate families and common genealogical ancestry, smaller blocks indicate common populations.  This is how population geneticists identify populations, and how tools like Population Finder identify specific populations from which we descend.  Populations, however, blend, so this is rarely cut and dried, but occasionally, it is.

The Duffy-Null allele is a great example.  The Duffy Null allele is found only in African populations, and is therefore an important informative marker to determine African heritage.  Currently this marker is found in about 68% of American blacks and in 88-100% of African blacks.  If you have the Duffy Null allele, you have African heritage.  Of course, you don’t know which line or which ancestor it came from, but it assures you that you do in fact have African Heritage  This is one of the factors considered when determining percentage of ethnicity.

The relevance of the Duffy Null allele is determined by the number of other “African” markers that appear in high quantity.  If there are few other African markers, then African ancestry was likely further back in time.  If there are many, then African ancestry was likely more recent.  These statistical calculations are how the importance of autosomal markers is determined and how percentages or estimates of ethnicity are calculated.

Most of the time, SNPs and clusters of SNPs aren’t this specific and are found in many populations in varying frequencies. It’s learning how to put this puzzle together, or rather, tease it apart, that keeps population geneticists busy.

What all of this really means is that genealogical relatedness and population relatedness aren’t really two different things, but two different ends of a continuum where genealogical relatedness is evident by a high number of cMs and contiguous SNPs that match.  We saw that in the Miller example.

We know that if two people only show matches if you adjust the threshold to 1cM, for example, they are likely IBS, or only related via a population or region of the world.

However, it’s the grey area inbetween that becomes confusing.  For example, trying to determine whether someone who might be a cousin really is, or not, based on very small matching DNA segments.  For situations such as these, the best answer is to test more cousins to see if they may have inherited differently.  I guess that’s both the bad news and the good news in autosomal genetic genealogy, there’s always hope (and clarity) if you just test more people!!!

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Is History Repeating Itself at Ancestry?

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Is history repeating itself at Ancestry?

I’ve been thinking about whether or not I should publish this posting.  As I write and rewrite it, I still haven’t made up my mind.  It’s one of those sticky wickets, as they are called.  One of the reasons I hesitate is that I have far more questions than answers.

One of the reasons I feel like I should publish it is because we, as a community, have far more questions than answers.  I’m concerned that we’re being exploited, manipulated and deceived. I feel like we’re already on the way down a slippery slope, and I fear a flush is at the bottom.  If that is true, we’re entirely powerless if we don’t know about it.

Since you are reading this, I obviously decided to publish it, so I’ll let you decide for yourself.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been getting this sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as Ancestry’s most recent DNA testing mess has unfolded like the leaves on the beautifully deceptive skunk plant.  Yes, the skunk plant is named that for the reason you think…things just aren’t what they seem at first glance…and they smell….really smell.  And by the time you figure out that you’ve made an error in judgment, you’re in the middle of a smelly mess.

This isn’t the first time that Ancestry has had some really significant problems with DNA testing and quality.  However, this second time is more complex and includes ethics issues.  I’m not sure where the problem lies, and maybe the answer isn’t in just one place, but multiple problems in multiple places.

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  Let’s take a look.

Ancestry and Sorenson

In 2002 Ancestry introduced DNA testing for their customers by partnering with Relative Genetics, an arm of Sorenson, which had just been formed.  Of course, this was not autosomal testing, but Yline and mitochondrial DNA.   To say this was unsuccessful is an understatement and being kind.  Ancestry lost kits, having to eventually give refunds, “predicted” haplogroups dramatically incorrectly (paternal cousins in haplogroups R and G, respectively), and generally made a  mess of DNA testing.  Thankfully, they didn’t last long and one day – poof….gone.  No more Ancestry.com DNA testing.  The lab?  Sorenson.  What or where was the problem or problems?  I have no idea.  Just like the young girl who went away to live with “Auntie” and had a baby, it was never publicly discussed.

Let’s take a look at Sorenson.

Sorenson and GeneTree

Sorenson, www.smgf.org, was founded as a nonprofit research organization in 1999 by Mormon philanthropist, James Sorenson (deceased in 2008) in order to study the relationship between DNA and genealogy.  Unlike other testing companies, initially there was no charge to submit your DNA, but you were required to include a 4 generation pedigree chart.  You did not receive personal results.  Your results were, in time, added with your pedigree to their data base.  Their project to acquire DNA samples and pedigree charts came to an end in June 2009, and free testing was no longer available.  They began selling DNA testing services through GeneTree.

In 2007, in a somewhat controversial move, since Sorenson was supposed to be nonprofit and research only, they reconfigured and “launched” GeneTree, a DNA paternity testing company that they had acquired in 2001.

In 2009, they began to offer a resource for people to be able to obtain their Sorenson results and matches for a fee.  I was excited about being able to “unlock” my Sorenson matches as they advertised.  I ordered this “unlock” for $39 the very first day it was available, and sure enough, I had several matches, BUT, none of them were unlocked, so I couldn’t “see” them. I was encouraged to contact my matches through an internal message system and ask them to also pay the $39 to unlock their results so we could “see each other.”  I clearly didn’t understand the nature of ‘unlock”, or really, half-unlocked, when I spent my $39.  However, I figured if I just waited, eventually, others would unlock theirs too.  After all, it was the first day.

I didn’t have a good feeling about how this unfolded.  I felt like they were just using their customers to recruit other customers AFTER they had paid their unlock fee.  Kind of a mini dna pyramid scheme.

I checked back periodically, and one day, I could no longer access my results.  I contacted GeneTree and was told I had never ordered the “unlock.”  I sent them screen shots of my matches, which I had taken on the first day, but to no avail.  I could either try to find my original receipt and use that as my next form of argument, or simply give up.  I decided that since very few people were unlocking results, and none, of course, were full sequence, it was pretty much futile anyway and I didn’t spend any more time fighting with them.  They obviously had no motivation to find my records and make it right.  I went from feeling somewhat used by Sorenson/GeneTree to disgusted.

Ancestry’s ComeBack with Relative Genetics

After Ancestry’s first entrance and exit from the genetic genealogy playing field, they linked search-result surnames to Family Tree DNA’s projects.  One day in 2006, we noticed the link was gone and suspected that they were preparing to reenter the DNA testing space, and indeed they did in 2007 by purchasing Relative Genetics, their earlier partner.

I never tested at Relative Genetics, but I do understand that their clients were notified and there was an opportunity to opt out of that transfer.  Many people felt this should have been handled the other way – that you should have had to “opt-in” instead of opting out.

The Relative Genetics results were transferred into an Ancestry data base.  Ancestry simultaneously began their own testing program, and allowed people who tested at other labs to manually enter their data as well.  This increased Ancestry’s data base so that people who tested through Ancestry had results to compare to.

Ancestry still has issues with haplogroups because they don’t test SNPS.  Until they do, they will never be able to correctly assign haplogroups.

Their mitochondrial DNA matching is chronically wrong.  I have no idea how they do that, but anyone could do better with a simple spreadsheet, or even visually looking at the list.  Quality controls are apparently absent, in this, the most simple of tasks, and it surely calls into question the level of quality control in place for more complex tasks and matching where we can’t see all of the data.  This continual problem engenders no confidence at all, and the worst part is that it has been like this now for years and they have never fixed the issues.  Either their quality control is sorely lacking, or they simply don’t care.

As far as I was concerned, I was thoroughly disgusted by this point.  It had become apparent that adding people to their data base, in spite of clerically introduced mutations (typos), and generating revenue was a much higher priority than providing correct data on the back end.  But then again, Ancestry, in their other businesses, has never been known for accuracy or quality – only for barely-acceptable levels of mediocrity.

Of course, Ancestry has been on a shopping spree – buying up anything that smells like competition.

Ancestry Buys Sorenson and Genetree

In May of 2012, Ancestry purchased GeneTree and the genealogical and anthropological  assets of Sorenson, including their DNA data base.  Those of us who had contributed our DNA to Sorenson for research purposes felt betrayed and exploited.  Never did we imagine, in our wildest dreams, that our DNA would wind up with a commercial entity that would use our data, that was never “released” to us, to profit.  Nor were we notified.  If you managed to hear about this through the genealogy grapevine, there is apparently an “opt out” option if you contact Ancestry.com.  I could not find a link, but calling their support number should do it.  It’s unclear whether Ancestry actually bought the Sorenson lab.  Sorenson still does Forensic work and the management team at Sorenson Forensics is different than the Ancestry team.

Ancestry and Autosomal DNA Testing

In 2012, concurrent with the Sorenson/GeneTree purchase, Ancestry began to offer autosomal DNA testing, presumably using Sorenson’s lab, although I have been unable to verify that and Ancestry themselves are very tight lipped about the topic.  Given the history of quality and confidence issues, many old-timers in this field were skeptical.  We had hoped that perhaps Ancestry had spent enough time and investment up front that they would “get it right” this time.  CeCe Moore’s first posting was exciting, and we hoped that once again, one of the companies would set a new standard for everyone to leapfrog to.  It didn’t take long to discover that wasn’t the case.

If you haven’t already seen the series of blogs about Ancestry’s quality issues with autosomal testing, take a look at CeCe Moore’s blog postings about Scandinavian admixture and more recently, the horribly discouraging adoption sibling match mixup.

To me, the worst part of this mixup issue isn’t that a mistake was made.  It has happened before at other labs, but the difference is that in the other case, the company, 23andMe, stepped right up to the plate, took responsibility, and fixed the issue along with the underlying problem.  They didn’t try to make it someone else’s issue or pass the buck…and they were truthful.

In this case, when Ancestry was notified by the customer that an issue existed, apparently Ancestry did not take significant notice of the situation.  If there is a link or escalation procedure between the support department and the lab, it apparently wasn’t initiated or didn’t work.  After the customers persisted, Ancestry said they would send them a new kit, but it would be about 2 months or so before they got results.  Clearly, Ancestry wasn’t concerned that they had an issue within their system someplace…or that 2 months would have shrunk into overnighting kits and an immediate lab run.

Because Ancestry does not allow people to access or download their actual raw data, as does Family Tree DNA and 23andMe, the participants were unable to verify or dispute the findings and had to rely solely on Ancestry’s fatally flawed comparison.

Out of sheer frustration, and a sense of ethics since she had initially encouraged autosomal testing through Ancestry, CeCe Moore then reported what happened on her blog.  It took Ancestry another 3 full days to “discover” her post, call her and finally offer an explanation that was, in fact, significantly different than that given to the actual client whom CeCe is working with.  Had Ancestry paid attention, it would never have gotten to this point.  Had they listened to the customer, it would never have gotten to this point. If they allowed people access to their own data, we would have tools to help these people and it would probably never have gotten to this point.  Looks like we don’t have to wonder anymore about Ancestry’s quality controls.

However, we’re not done yet.  To add insult to injury, Ancestry then claimed that they discovered this error themselves, through their “quality control procedures.”  Really?  When did CeCe’s blog become part of Ancestry’s quality control procedure?

Here is their reply on CeCe’s blog.

“AncestryDNA, and the laboratories we work with, take the quality and accuracy of our DNA test very seriously.  Through our quality control procedures, we recently discovered that a small number of customers had a problem with their DNA results due to a laboratory error. In the rare case where there is an error, we work directly with our members to correct the results, which in some cases requires a new DNA sample. We have contacted all the individuals affected by this error and are in the process of correcting it. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and confusion that can be a result of an error and are working hard to make this right for our members in a timely manner. We appreciate everyone’s patience as we continue to fine-tune this exciting new product.”

Compare the above statement about how important quality is to Ancestry to the following section from their mandatory release that everyone has to sign when they activate the AncestryDNA autosomal DNA kit.

“In addition, we do not make any representations as to the accuracy, comprehensiveness, completeness, quality, currency, error-free nature, compatibility, security or fitness for purpose of the AncestryDNA Website, Content or Service.”

Instead of stepping up to the plate, thanking CeCe for discovering THEIR problem, apologizing and accepting responsibility, Ancestry tried to make this uncomfortable situation CeCe’s fault, saying CeCe should have called them personally instead of blogging, and then misrepresented what happened to cover the ugly truth.

CeCe discusses this phone call in a second blog about this topic.  Be sure to read the comments.  She is obviously not making any friends at Ancestry, but bless her for being our advocate!  David staring up into the face of Goliath.

Consent and Release

In the midst of all of this, we also discovered that, according to Ancestry’s release and consent forms for autosomal DNA testing, that they can aggregate and sell our data.  So they can sell our data, including our medical data, but they won’t provide the same raw data to us so we can provide at least a minimal check on their “quality control.”  All of a sudden, the low price for the kit and their focus on amassing large amounts of data start to make a little more sense.  Who are the customers for purchasing our data?  What do they want to do with it?

Ancestry obtains consent by what could be construed as a “shady” practice of positioning the research consent and testing release agreements adjacent, not stating that the research consent is optional and inferring by industry standards that one must click to proceed.  The release to sell our data is not optional. And none of this consenting happens when ordering, or prior to ordering, the kit. It happens later, after you’ve paid and received your kit, and there is a $25 charge at that point to cancel the order.  Ah yes, the slippery slope.

If you’d like to hear what Dr. Ken Chahine has to say, you can see him testify before the Presidents Commission for the Study of BioEthical Issues.  A transcript is here.  Dr. Chahine is the senior vice president of Ancestry.com and general manager for Ancestry DNA where he leads the development and commercialization of population genetics.   He is also professor of law at the University of Utah and has held various positions in the biotechnology industry including president and CEO of Avigen.  He holds a PhD in Biochemistry along with a law degree.  In this testimony, he says that Ancestry’s customers own their own data, but then he says the following:

“My thing — what’s interesting from a commercial standpoint is we — a lot of customers get data from either us or from other services.  And what I see that’s a little disturbing sometimes is that they upload their data to sites that quite frankly I can’t even have — I try to research who these individuals are that are doing additional research on people’s data.  And I’m not even sure who they are or how they’re qualified and if the data that they’re getting back are even, you know, valid, right?  So the point is that I think that we are moving in a direction where consumers feel comfortable, rightly or through ignorance, uploading their data to other sites.  So I do think that restricting sort of the end I think is important just to be able to take care of that issue.”

Ironic, given Ancestry’s current adoption sibling mixup, that Ken is concerned about “the data they’re getting back are even, you know, valid, right” from other resources, when the information from Ancestry itself isn’t.  So apparently Ancestry is being the benevolent parent to all of us, restricting us from having access to our own data, that they say we own, while they retain the right to sell it to others.  Hmmm….I smell a rat…or maybe it’s that skunk plant. Ancestry is afraid we might do something “bad” with our data, like, for example, catch their errors.

The True Cost Isn’t $99

And there is more too.  It also appears that if your Ancestry subscription expires, that you no longer receive matches that you can contact.  If in fact this is accurate, and there is really no way for any of us to test this right now, that was never made apparent when purchasing the kit.  Apparently, you will receive the match, but you cannot contact your match unless you subscribe minimally to “Ancestry Connections” which allows limited access to family trees, photos and DNA results for $4.95 per month which equates to $59.40 per year.

So the real cost of the AncestryDNA test isn’t $99, but $99 plus either an Ancestry subscription for $155 per year for the US or $299 for the world or alternately, the cost of Ancestry Connections, $59.40 per year.  It’s unclear whether or not if you only subscribe to the US Ancestry package if you only get US matches.

In any event, this subscription requirement was not made apparent up front and it dramatically changes the landscape of the cheap $99 test.  It adds strings that weren’t evident up front and if you no longer maintain your subscription in some way, you lose the benefit of your DNA test and any other DNA tests you’ve paid for and are associated with your account.  Ouch.  How many people would have tested if they knew their results would be held hostage for the price of a subscription?  And what happens to those results when you can no longer maintain your subscription?  Are they just gone to you forever, but still available for Ancestry to sell and for others to see?  Can someone else “adopt” them under their subscription so they can still be available for family members?

In my opinion, this is very ugly and the only benefit to anyone is to Ancestry to be able to extort subscriptions from people who want to maintain access to their DNA results, something they didn’t know they had to do when they purchased the autosomal DNA kits initially.  After all, that’s not the way the Yline and mitochondrial results worked, and there was no reason to suspect that autosomal testing would work any differently.  This amounts to genetic entrapment.

This is a very different model than at Family Tree DNA where results are available forever with no additional cost, and in perpetuity for the family through either private arrangements (account number and password sharing) or the Beneficiary Assignment on your personal page.

As we unearth the truth, morsel my morsel, I’m sure more information will be forthcoming as people discover what does and does not work, and under what circumstances.  But isn’t it sad that we have to do this at all.  Whatever happened to being forthright and upfront?  I think that is called integrity isn’t it??

How Many Strikes Til You’re OUT???

By now, I’ve lost count of how many strikes Ancestry has.  Where is the umpire?

Everyone and every company makes mistakes.  But the difference is in how (and if) they handle those errors when they do occur.

Given that Sorenson and Ancestry had the original debacle that ended Ancestry’s early DNA testing foray, and they, together, are having another very similar-feeling debacle in 2012, I have to wonder if history is repeating itself.  This difference is that this time, Ancestry is now publicly held and has invested so much money, just considering their initial give-away of 10,000 autosomal kits (about $250-300 market price each, a total of 2.5 to 3 million dollars) to build their database, that they are unlikely to exit.  The DNA testing marketplace has too much potential and they have a captive audience of about 2 million subscribers.  If every subscriber orders just one test of some type for about $100, that equals 200 million dollars.  And corporate profit is about expending as little as possible for as much revenue as possible.  Better yet, for Ancestry, DNA is a permanent hook to keep people from letting their subscriptions lapse.  The percentage of people who abandon their subscriptions has declined in the past year from from 4 to 3.4%.  Perhaps that is part of the reason why they are willing to sell their AncestryDNA product for $99, less than their cost of processing this test, that their two competitors sell for $289 (www.familytreedna.com) and $299 (www.23andme.com), respectively.  The other reason, of course, could be that they plan to sell aggregated DNA data.

The thing I find interesting is that at least one individual was at Relative Genetics, at Sorenson/Genetree and is also now at Ancestry.  Initially I thought this was a good thing, bringing Ancestry some much needed experience.  Now, I’m not so sure.  Like I said initially, I don’t really know where there problems lie….I just know they exist and have at some level chronically.  On top of this, it seems that things are just never exactly what they seem.

The part of this that I find the most distressing is the positioning – Ancestry experienced a lab error which “they discovered and notified the people”.  Not true, at least not in the adoptee’s case.  Ancestry couldn’t be bothered to pay attention until CeCe blogged and embarrassed them, and then they distorted the facts.  And then they had the audacity to be upset with CeCe.  What is wrong with this picture?

Ancestry has positioned themselves to absorb as many DNA results as possible by purchasing other companies and nonprofits, and from the general public entering results into their data base, with little focus on accuracy, and a lot of focus on building their data base and selling kits.  They are presuming that most of their customers, being DNA novices, won’t know the difference.

Ancestry has also positioned themselves to sell our results, aggregated, including those we contributed to Sorenson, a nonprofit at that time, but will not release those results to us.  I’m referring here to both the Sorenson results and autosomal raw data from the AncestryDNA test.

And whatever happened to all those Genetree people who paid the $39 unlock fee?  What about the records they paid to unlock and see?  Maybe they just lost all the records and it’s no longer a problem.

This behavior has gone from disheartening to discouraging to disgusting to shady to reprehensible.  This is the kind of behavior that eventually will cause this industry to be federally regulated, which will literally drive it out of business.  Who would visit a physician to obtain a prescription for genetic genealogy testing?  In order to avoid this, it’s important to self-regulate ourselves by bringing pressure for unacceptable behavior to stop.

Call to Action

So, what can we do?

  1. Communicate with Ancestry that their behavior regarding these issues is not acceptable. Neither is their paternalistic attitude on one hand while exploiting their customers on the other.  It’s one thing, and bad enough, when dealing with submitted genealogy trees and substandard offshore records translations, but DNA testing must be held to the highest of standards.  It is the sacred gift of our ancestors, the ultimate truth.  As you are probably aware, Ancestry is encouraging everyone to connect their genealogy trees to their DNA results so they can be populated up the trees.  It’s only a matter of time, on the present course, until they have a mess that can’t be unraveled.
  2. If you have taken the AncestryDNA autosomal test, request your raw data results from Ancestry.  They think CeCe is a lone renegade voice.  She is not.  We’re a community.  Call them at 800-262-3787 (regular support) 800-958-9124 (DNA support) or click on the “Beta Send Feedback” button at the top right of your DNA page.  They have stated that feedback through these avenues, especially the Beta Feedback button, is how they are prioritizing their next steps for DNA.  This data is yours and you have a right to have it. Furthermore, you can never verify the accuracy of what they report without it.
  3. Vote with your money and buy either at Family Tree DNA or 23andMe.  While both have their advantages and disadvantage, neither the ethics or quality of either of those companies is being called into question.  Neither requires a subscription.  Family Tree DNA never has.
  4. Tell your friends, family and project members to do the same.  Those 2 million subscribers that will potentially order DNA tests are all related to someone.

If Ancestry can’t get it right, then they shouldn’t pollute this industry for the rest of us.  I hope they get it right and recover their credibility.  I hope I’m wrong about the slippery slope and the flush.  But I know I’m not wrong about the skunk-plant.

In the mean-time, I leave you with the saying that’s been on the wall for years at  Baskin-Robbins:

“There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person’s lawful prey.”

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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.

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Marja and Me

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Sometimes things just don’t go as we have planned.  Some people just refuse to stay in the box where they are supposed to be.  Marja is one of those kind of out-of-the-box people.  As it turns out, that is a very good thing!

Marja is Finnish and started e-mailing me in March.  She was referred by Family Tree DNA, and she had lots and LOTS of questions.  In one long paragraph, she asked me 17 different questions pertaining to 4 different kits.  And that was one of her shorter e-mails!

To say I was a bit overwhelmed is probably an understatement. However, I could tell that her questions were a result of exuberance and a desire to learn about this fascinating new field, all in one large bite if possible.  She had been doing her homework.  Seldom do I have a new client using words like Genbank and understanding what it is.

So, we sorted the questions into groups pertaining to specific kits and Marja ordered two reports, one for her father’s Y-line, and one for her mitochondrial.

Normally, I send a form to each new client for them to complete.  They send me the completed form which includes their questions, with their photos, and when their results are all back from the lab, I schedule their work.  Simple, structured, and everything works.

Like I said, Marja operates outside the box.  Marja is history buff and a communicator.  Given that I’m a history buff and a sponge, and I knew little about Finland, I welcomed the opportunity to learn.  By the time I began the first report, I had over 100 e-mails to sort through from Marja, all with tidbits of information about Finnish history, farm names, which is how people take surnames there….and by the way, the surnames change when they changed farms.  Now that’s a genealogists headache.  I learned wonderful things from Marja and she learned from me.

Over the ensuing months, we became friends.  We made some fascinating discoveries.  We both love maps.  I did graduate work in GIS Systems back in the 1990s.  We both particularly love antique maps.  I always include maps in reports.  She sent me a beautiful, ancient map of Finland to include in her reports.

Marja and I both love bridges too, especially really unusual bridges.  Marja and I both love and use math and statistics.  Marja is a physicist with a degree in experimental physics, topped by an MBA.  It was at that moment I truly understood Marja and appreciated all of her questions.  Her specialty is error theory.  My undergrad is in Computer Science, topped by an Information Systems MBA.  One day Marja and I stumbled across the fact that we both love space.  She met her husband at a space exhibit.  My husband and I do geeky things like visit the old Mission Control at the Johnson Space Center and stay awake half the night to watch the Mars Curiosity land.  The list of uncanny coincidences was growing.

But then, it happened.  Surely, it was inevitable.  I received an e-mail from Marja and she asked if I had noticed we were related.  What?  Really?  Well, the cobblers kids have no shoes and I had not been keeping track of my Family Finder matches nor those at GedMatch.  She had.

But how could we possibly be related?  Marja is Finnish, through and through.  I am a Heinz 57 mutt, but with no Finnish.  On my Mom’s side, lots of German and Dutch, but nothing in Scandinavia at all.  Or so we thought.  But there it was, a segment of matching DNA, big as life.  There was no doubt….Marja and I are related.  I’m convinced that on that segment lies the bridge/map/space/geeky-female genes.

When I finished Marja’s father’s report, I had included a photo of an archaeological site that I though was relevant to her father’s story.  Kuninkaanhauta, the King’s Grave, is the largest bronze-age barrow in Finland and likewise amongst the most eminent in the Nordic countries.  These hillgraves are made of very large piles of stones and this one is very near where her father’s ancestors lived.

After I delivered the report, Marja asked me to replace that photo with another.  I was kind of disappointed, as I was so pleased to have found that archaeological site and photo.  But then I looked at the photo Marja had sent me.  It was exactly the same mound, but WITH her father standing alongside.

Marja and I also discovered that we share a love of archaeology and the ancient history it unearths.

We began to mine the history of Germany, Finland and the Netherlands, along with our families, to see how we might connect.  It may be through the Mennonites, as we both have some matches there.  Perhaps before they were Mennonites.  My mother’s family was Brethren, another Anabaptist faith, not terribly far removed from the Mennonites.

And it might be through Marja’s Finnish Fleming family who may have been German originally.  It might be through the people from what is now the Netherlands who settled in Finland.  It might be from the Saxons who greatly influenced the Finnish culture, although that is an awfully long way back to have an unbroken segment of DNA of this size.

As we went through this process, I finished her reports and our client/customer relationship had long since evolved into one of friendship.  We also discovered our love of jewelry and of hearts.  I think jewelry is an international language among women.

One day, Marja wrote, “This I want to share with you, Euran sydän Eura’s heart. I bought it from Kalevala Koru. Based on the archaeological findings in Eura, from the Viking time 850-1150. (Eura  includes Kiukainen again nowadays as it did in the history) . Kalevala Koru is an old company established by Finnish women. They have many fine products based on archaeological findings. More to less every Finnish woman has got Kalevala Koru jewelry. Who knows, it might have been cousin Mike’s and my ancestor who has given this kind of heart to his wife. Funny enough, when I showed this to my sister she remembered she had a similar one in her jewelry box.”

The Kalevala Jewelry company has beautiful items, designed from historical and archaeological finds in Finland.  What a wonderful idea.

You can take a look at www.kalevalakoru.com.

And then one day, I opened my mailbox to find a box from Finland, and inside the box was Eura’s heart.  What a beautiful gift and a lovely gesture.  I felt like a kid at Christmas unwrapping the beautiful box with the bow.  Now, not only are Marja and I connected by our genetic ancestors, whoever they were, some hundreds of years ago, who contributed to us our common DNA segment, but by our friendship and also, now, our Eura hearts.

http://www.kalevalakoru.com/jewelry/catalog/Pendants/1095/2

Thank you so much Marja.  You are indeed a lovely cousin.  I’m so glad we met.  Isn’t genetic genealogy great, and isn’t this what it’s all about?  Finding and meeting family and developing relationships!  And in this case, in the most unexpected of ways.  Marja is herself a gift indeed.

As Marja says, “I love this journey of ours.  It’s absolutely crazy that we found each other…7 billion people in the world….based on things we love…and then to find out we’re related.”  Yes, indeed, it’s almost unbelievable.

But our story isn’t finished yet.  A few days later, I received another e-mail from Marja.  She said, “Did you know that you are related to my cousin on the X-chromosome?”  What?  You’re kidding?  How can that be?  She is Finnish through and through and I am not.  Or so we think.  Here we go again, except with one small difference.  The X chromosome has special properties that make it easier to track.  If you want to know more about how to use the X chromosome, you’ll have to join me for a future blog, “X Marks the Spot.”

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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

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Genealogy Research

Autosomal Results – The Basics

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With more and more people taking the Family Finder test at Family Tree DNA, the 23andMe test and the AncestryDNA test at Ancestry.com, people get their results back, and then wonder what to do with them.  Let’s take a look at why people test and what to do with the results.

Remember, this is just the basics.  If you want a detailed analysis, that too is available. This article isn’t focused on everything you could possibly do and how to do it, but on getting the excited newbie through the first day:)  OK, maybe the first week!

What you Get

These three tests provide you with two basic genealogy related items, aside from the health information at 23andMe which we are not discussing here.

1. Percentages of ethnicity.  These tests are the most reliable way to obtain your ethnic breakdown.  Remember, these tests test all of your DNA, inherited from all of your ancestors.  By testing the Y-line and mitochondrial DNA, you can determine the ethnicity of those specific lines, but autosomal determines the ethnicity breakdown of all of you, not just those two genealogical lines.

2. Lists of people you are related to.  How each company provides this information varies a bit, but the essence is that you receive a list of people you match, and estimates of how closely.  Figuring out your common ancestry is up to you.

Why you Test

There are, in general, only 4 reasons, again, aside from the health information at 23andMe, to test autosomal DNA.

  1. You want your percentages of ethnicity.
  2. You want to see who you match and you’re willing to do the work to find out how.
  3. You have a theory that you’d like to test.
  4. You’re an adoptee or someone who doesn’t know who both of their parents are, and you’re hoping for a close match.

In reverse order, Providence will take care of number 4.  You can increase the odds of Providence helping you by fishing in multiple pools.  Remember that Providence has a sense of humor.

A good example of a theory that’s easy to test relative to reason number 3 is to see if two people are really half-siblings vs whole siblings or not siblings at all.  The results will provide you with the answer to this question easily.  This example only requires testing the two people directly involved.

A less straightforward testing theory example is attempting to determine which of 4 brothers born in the 1750s produced your ancestor who was born in the 1780s.  This scenario requires lots of hard work to find people whom you match who carry the surnames of the wives of the four brothers.  In addition, you may also want to do some of what is called “directed testing” where your find descendants of specific individuals or families and test several people to see if any of them match you, or any of your cousins in that line, using these autosomal tests.  This is a much more involved project and can be expensive.  However, if it’s your last best hope, or your only hope, somehow the cost doesn’t matter so much.  It’s probably less than a trip to another state.

Many people think the test does the hard work.  It doesn’t.  It does the easy work.  The hard work is left up to you….the genealogy research that must go along with these matches.  All the DNA test can do is to tell you that you DO match.  It can’t tell you how.  Your match could come from any of your ancestral lines and it’s up to you and the person you match to figure out how you match and who your common ancestor is.  Every single match is a new opportunity for research, work and discovery.

Results

Let’s take a look at the results at Family Tree DNA.

Click on Family Finder, then on Matches.  The first mistake people make is that they don’t realize you’re not initially seeing all of your matches, just the “close and immediate” ones.

In the drop down box  for “relations,” you’ll see “show all matches.”  Choose that option.

Matching Surnames

If you have entered your surnames under Account Setting, Most Distant Ancestors and then Surnames, or if you have uploaded your Gedcom file, you will see your matching surnames with your matches in bold.  In the example above, Barbara is my mother.  Harold is my third cousin on my father’s side.  Harold has entered his surnames, and the ones we match “float to the top” and are bolded.  You can see the beginning of that list; Brown, Crumley, Lowery.

This is where the work for you begins, determining how you and your match connect to these surnames and if they are the same family.

Relationship Predictions

You can see that Family Tree DNA predicted that my mother was either my mother or my child.  They use the amount of shared DNA to make that calculation.  You share 50% of the DNA of each parent, and your child shares 50% of your DNA, so someone you match at 50% has to be either a child or a parent to you.  It’s that simple.

Of course, in each generation, after your parents, the percentage of DNA that you receive from any given ancestor is not exactly 50% of the previous generation.  But it’s close, and it’s the only number that we can accurately use for predicting relationships.

The following percentages show how much DNA is shared with different family members.

  • 50% mother, father and siblings
  • 25% grandfathers, grandmothers, aunts, uncles, half-siblings, double first cousins
  • 12.5% first cousins
  • 6.25% first cousins once removed
  • 3.125% second cousins, first cousins twice removed
  • 0.781% third cousins

You may be able to see these relationships easier on the following graphic.

You can read more about autosomal inheritance on the ISOGG “Autosomal DNA Statistics” page.  At the bottom of that page are some other good articles about working with autosomal DNA results.

Family Tree DNA and 23andMe both use calculations that involve the total centimorgans shared and the longest contiguous block.  You don’t need to understand these calculations.  (Remember, this is just the basics.)  What you need to understand is that the relationship predictor can get close, but the further back in time you go, the less accurate it will be.  Remember that every generation, DNA is passed at random to the next generation.  You can see on my match page that my third cousin Harold is predicted to be a second cousin, but the range is 2nd to 3rd cousin.  That means that Harold and I share a little more DNA than most third cousins.

If you need help, you can always click on “page help”.

Ancestor Fishing and the Chromosome Browser

Let’s say I think that I might have found a new surname in my line.  It want to see everyone who has the surname Hickerson who is on my match list.  I enter that surname in the “ancestral surname” box, and click on “run report.”  The results returned will all carry the Hickerson surname, which you can see by scrolling for the highlighted names.

Now I want to see if these three people share common DNA not just with me, but with each other.  If we all share a common segment of DNA, then that confirms a common ancestor and attributes that DNA at that address on that chromosome to that specific ancestral family.

In my case, the known ancestral family is Vannoy, so let’s look at the Vannoy cousins as compared to me.

Each of the participants results are color coded.  On the page below, you can see that each matching segment of the chromosomes are colored.  It turns out that all of us share a fairly large segment on Chromosome 15.  So now we can attribute that segment to Elijah Vannoy, our oldest proven ancestor in that line.  You can also see some areas where one or two of my cousins match my DNA, but not all of us.  Those can also be attributed to Elijah Vannoy’s line since we share no other (known) common ancestors.

This cousin match is simple because the men share the same surname, but if this was 3 women with different surnames, the matching would still work.  The challenge of course would be to find the common ancestor.  In this case, if all 3 women had Elijah Vannoy in their tree, we could still tell that this segment of Chromosome 15 was attributed to the Vannoy family.

You can also download the results into a spreadsheet so you can do this matching without selecting 5 at a time.  Of course on a spreadsheet, there is no pretty and graphic chromosome browser.

Color your Chromosomes

You know, using these simple tools, you could “color in” your own DNA on your chromosomes so you can identify which part of your DNA was contributed by which ancestor.  Yes, I know, this is terribly geeky.

Reconstruct a Virtual Ancestor

Conversely, you could also “reconstruct” an ancestor. In fact, I think we’re well on the way with Elijah Vannoy.  Heck, I’ve already got most of chromosome 15 completed and parts of 3, 5, 11, 18 and 20!

Find a Guide – Consulting

If you’re trying to do something more complex, or have a specific goal in mind, you probably need some level of guidance if you are the proverbial Newbie.

There are three of us in the genetic genealogy community that provide various autosomal consulting services.

I provide DNA test planning, meaning helping you figure out who to test to achieve your desired results, and also after testing follow-up in the form of a Quick Consult.  I also write specialty reports upon request.  You can see the various options on my webpage or you can e-mail me directly at robertajestes@att.net to discuss.

Cece Moore is another consultant in this space.  She works with a lot of adoptees and beginners.  You can reach Cece at cecemoore@hotmail.com.  You’re probably familiar with Cece through her blog, http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/.

Tim Janzen, MD, provides consulting as well.  His specialty is called phasing which determines which part of your genome came from which parent/ancestor.  Now this is easy if you have parents yet alive, but if not, and you have to try to figure this out by piecing together matches from various cousins, it’s not straightforward at all.  Tim uses the phased DNA data in conjunction with data from known relatives to create chromosome maps of your genome.  These maps are very helpful when you are trying to figure out how you are related to your matches at 23andMe and in the Family Finder database.  You can reach Tim at tjanzen@comcast.net.

You might be surprised to see me recommending other people on my blog in what might be considered a competitive arena.  Don’t be.  We work together.  We know who is the best at which aspects of genetic genealogy and we refer people routinely to the best resource for their needs.

The Magic of Connecting

Your level of success with autosomal testing and finding cousin matches is directly proportional to the amount of work you’re willing to invest in contacting your matches and sometimes helping them with their genealogy.

However, the results can be incredibly rewarding.  One of my clients is an adoptee.  She, of course, was hoping for a half-sibling match, but she’s not that lucky….at least not yet.  In the mean time, three of her matches also matched each other, and 2 of them share part of the same chromosomal segment with her.  The surname involved is very unique, French Canadian, found initially in only one family in one location.  So while we don’t know who her parents are, or her hoped-for siblings, we were able to gift her with one ancestor that is, absolutely, positively, hers.  This is a gift she has never had in her entire life.  She has never known one biological family member, ever.  And she has cousins too, an entire list of them.  For her, autosomal DNA has provided the ability to put her family tree together backwards, working our way forward in time from distant ancestors, slowly…..while still hoping for that “lottery winning” sibling match!

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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

Genealogy Services

Genealogy Research

Ancestry’s Consent Form for AncestryDNA Autosomal Test

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When I ordered my Ancestry autosomal kit, called AncestryDNA, I said that I’d blog my way through the process so you can join me.  The kit arrived in about ten days, and then it laid on my desk for the next two weeks, looking at me accusingly every single day, silently nagging me.  Today, I capitulated, like I had  been meaning to do every single day for the past two weeks.

I opened the kit and followed the instructions to register the kit.  Easy enough.  Enter the bar code on the vial.  That bar code connected the kit with my account at Ancestry, and after I entered the code, I saw this next form as part of the activation process.

They ask for my birth year, which they indicate they use in relationship calculations.  That certainly seems kosher, so I entered mine.  And no, the year displayed above is not my birth year.  I’m pretending just for today:)

I clicked on gender and then I clicked in both the Consent Agreement and the Terms and Conditions boxes.  I was just about to click on the “Activate this test” button when that little voice started to speak to me.

Now long ago, I used to ignore that little voice, much to my own detriment.  When I was younger, it used to say things to me like “you should do what your mother said.”  I hated it.  When I was in college, it used to say things like “you really should go home and study statistics rather than have another beer.”  I REALLY hated it then.  I won’t even tell you what it said when I got engaged the first time.  You get the idea.

But that little voice said to me, “Hmmm, that’s odd.  Why two things to click?”  And having always suffered when I ignore the little voice, I’ve finally learned to pay attention, for the most part.

So I went and clicked on both the “Consent Agreement” and the “Terms and Conditions” links, and was I ever glad that I did.

The words “Consent Agreement” look so benign, especially after working with Family Tree DNA’s consent agreement which is about 2 sentences and very straightforward.  This one is anything but, AND, I was mortified to see what I was consenting to, other than what I expected, which was to process my kit for genealogy purposes. 

Let me say right here and now that you do NOT have to agree to the Consent Agreement to activate your kit, although it doesn’t say that on this page.  And given where this box is placed, it certainly gives the impression that you need to click both these boxes to activate the kit, but you don’t.  The word “optional” doesn’t appear.  There is also nothing to alert you, on this page, that what you are consenting to is research, not simply consenting for your test to be run.  Whoda thought???

I did not agree to the Consent Agreement.  I did agree to the Terms and Conditions, which are required, and my kit was activated.  I’m betting most people don’t even read this verbiage, and I’m betting Ancestry is counting on that fact.  In this techno-world, people have come to expect that you have to “click” to agree to whatever, so they click because they feel they have no other option if they want the product…in this case…to activate the kit which they have aleady purchased.  While this is the case for the Terms and Conditions, it’s not for the Consent Agreement, which should really be termed optional.

What You’re Giving Consent For

  1. Unnamed and unidentified research projects that Ancestry can identify so long as they fall under their “Human Genetic Diversity Project.”
  2. Ancestry will be using, and potentially SELLING your DNA results, including MEDICAL and genealogical information.
  3. In the Terms and Conditions, which is required to activate your kit, you are granting them a TRANSFERRABLE LICENSE to any information you put into ancestry, plus your DNA results.  See items 4 and 7 in the Terms and Conditions section, below.

Oh yes, and just for grins and giggles, here is what they have to say in section 10 about quality, just in case you were wondering:

“In addition, we do not make any representations as to the accuracy, comprehensiveness, completeness, quality, currency, error-free nature, compatibility, security or fitness for purpose of the AncestryDNA Website, Content or Service.”

The Issue

When I gave consent at 23andMe, I signed something very similar to this.  But 23andMe is a company that specializes in health traits and risks.  I EXPECT them to be doing research.  In fact, they are very up-front about the fact that they are doing this.  I WANT them to make advancements in science based on crowd-sourcing.

But Ancestry.com is not 23andMe.  Their primary purpose in life is not medical testing or health traits.  It’s genealogy and family history.  I ordered this test to discover more about my family history, to be matched against others who also took the test, not to make my DNA available outside of that realm.

I had to agree to the Terms and Conditions, so whether I want my DNA and genealogy records to be transferrable to whomever, wherever, whenever, or not, they will be.  That is apparently the price of admission to genealogy testing, at least autosomal testing, at Ancestry.com.

When I saw that Ancestry gave away thousands of kits initially, followed by selling several thousand more at $99, I wondered how it was that they could afford to do that when the same test, in essence, was being sold by Family Tree DNA for $289 and by 23andMe for $299.  Maybe the verbiage that includes medical information tied to genealogy information and the requirement to give up rights to your information in order to test is part of the reason that they can afford to sell this test for $99.  Hmmmm….

Maybe that little voice that was saying to me, “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” is right.

Of course, the next step in the kit activation process are prompts to begin your genealogy tree or to upload your GEDCOM file.  If you’re going to take the autosomal test, Ancestry’s matching would be very ineffective without the tester providing genealogy information about themselves.  I did enter a few generations, as I wasn’t about to upload my entire GEDCOM file, but I also realize that I’ve forever released the information I entered, including the names of my parents and my birth year, into the great transferrable abyss.  The little voice is not happy with me.  I’m just not convinced that this is ultimately in my best interest.

Below, Ancestry’s Information and Consent Form as well as their Terms and Conditions are copied directly from their webpage.  All verbiage, links, highlighting, etc., from here down, is entirely theirs.

Information and Consent Form

We would like you to be part of a research project. This Consent Form gives you information to help you decide if you would like to participate in the research project to be performed by Ancestry.com DNA, LLC (“AncestryDNA,” “us” or “we”). We believe in being transparent so you can understand this consent form and what we are attempting to accomplish through the research project described below. If you have any questions, please contact us using the information below and feel free to discuss your participation with anyone you choose in order to better understand this research project and your options.

Anyone who is using the AncestryDNA service to find out about their genetic ancestry may also voluntarily participate in this research project. You do not have to be in this research project if you don’t want to.

If you are the parent or guardian of a minor who may wish to participate in this research project, you should talk with your child and go over the information in this form with him/her before you and your child make a decision about whether to participate. Your child does not have to participate if he/she does not want to.

Please read this Consent Form carefully; you should print out a copy and keep it somewhere safe. A copy of it is also always available on our website.

1. What is the research project?

The AncestryDNA’s Human Genetic Diversity Project (“The Project”) will collect, preserve and analyze genetic information, genealogical pedigrees, historical records, surveys, medical and health records and other information (collectively, “Information”) from people all around the world in order to better understand human evolution and migration, population genetics, ethnographic diversity and boundaries, genealogy, and the history of our species. Researchers hope that the Project will be an invaluable genealogic tool for future generations and will engage the interest of a wide range of scholars interested in genealogy, anthropology, evolution, languages, cultures, medicine, and other topics. The Information will not be used for medical purposes in the treatment or diagnosis of any individuals.

This Consent Form is consistent with National Institutes of Health Regulations and Ethical Guidelines and explains:

2. What information will be collected?

The Project will collect genetic, genealogical and health information that has been stripped of any personally identifiable information in order to study the history of our species. Genes are in your cells, and they are what make you different from anyone else. Some genes control things like the color of your hair or eyes. Genetic information includes your genotype that is discovered when AncestryDNA processes your saliva or is otherwise provided by you to AncestryDNA (the “Genetic Information”) when you choose to use the AncestryDNA service. Genealogical information is your pedigree, ethnicity, family history, and other information about you that is either provided by you or is gleaned from publicly available documents on Ancestry.com’s website and other locations (the “Genealogical Information”). Health information includes self-reported information from you such as medical conditions, diseases, other health-related information, personal traits, and other information that is either provided by you or is gleaned from publicly available sources, documents on Ancestry.com’s website and other resources (the “Health Information”).

In all cases for this Project, personally identifiable information about specific study participants (such as name and birth date) is removed from the Information before it is compiled as part of this Project.

The Project will take all of this information (that is already stripped of personally identifiable information) and compile it into a single data summary to minimize the possibility that any individual participant can be identified by any researcher or other individual from the Information.

3. How will the information be used?

Your Information will be combined with others and used to further the Project’s objectives of increasing our understanding of the components that define the history of our species. Discoveries made as a result of this research could be used in the study of genealogy, anthropology, evolution, languages, cultures, medicine, and other topics. In any publication of the studies or results, the genetic, genealogical and health information will be stripped of any personally identifiable information.

4. How do I take part in the Project?

To participate, you need to follow the instructions on our website to submit a Test Kit (i.e., a cheek swab sample).

Once you send your DNA samples to us, you must then register the Test Kit with AncestryDNA. During that process, you will be asked to click “accept” at the end of this Information and Consent Form which will allow AncestryDNA to use your samples and information for this Research Project. You will also be required to read and accept our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Study staff may contact you to ask you to complete a questionnaire or to ask you if you are willing to be interviewed.

5. What are the costs and will I receive compensation?

The costs of participating in the Project and having your DNA analyzed are the same as having your DNA analyzed on Ancestry.com and not participating in the Project. You will not be charged for participating in the Project.

You will not get paid for being in this Project. The sample(s) you provide for this genetics Project might benefit AncestryDNA in the future. AncestryDNA will own the results of the research and any subsequent publication of the results. You will remain the owner of the samples you provide. Your samples will be stored until AncestryDNA destroys them.

6. What are the benefits of participating?

Participating in this Project may not benefit you directly. But your participation in this Project will assist scientists to better understand our species, including our shared anthropology and medical and genetic traits. Your individual DNA results will be communicated to you regardless of whether or not you consent to be in this Project, including information about genetic relatives, geographic origin, and ethnicity.

7. Are there any risks to participating?

Presently, there are no known health risks involved in obtaining a DNA sample. Your test results may reveal information about members of your biological family (blood relatives). But there are no physical risks for having your sample and information used in this Project. As in any research study, there is a risk that private personal or health information could be compromised and/or that other means could be used to identify you. But, as described herein, we will not disclose your personally identifiable information except as required by law. Please note that a federal law called the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) generally makes it illegal for health insurance companies, group health plans, and most employers to discriminate against you based on your genetic information. Be aware that this new law does not protect you against genetic discrimination by companies that sell life insurance, disability insurance, or long-term care insurance. There may also be additional risks to participation that are currently unforeseeable. We do our best to ensure that this does not happen and you should read our Privacy Policy and FAQs for more information.

8. How will you protect my information?

AncestryDNA uses a range of physical, technical, and administrative procedures to protect the privacy of your Health Information, your Genetic Information, and your Genealogical Information. For example, we restrict access to our data center and databases by using industry standard passwords and pass cards, your connections to the AncestryDNA website are encrypted, and all Internet computer servers have firewall protection in place. Although AncestryDNA may collaborate with external third parties, these parties will only have access to pooled information stripped of personal identifying Information. AncestryDNA will never release your individual information without asking for and receiving your explicit authorization to do so, except as required by law, and your identity will not be disclosed by us in any publication of the research. Genetic Information will be segregated from other information and only specifically authorized individuals will have access to the Genetic Information. These measures are described in more detail in the AncestryDNA Privacy Policy.

Be aware that your study records (which include your genetic and other information as described above) will be shared and copied as needed for the Project.

9. Could my participation end without my consent?

AncestryDNA has the ability to terminate the Project in its discretion without your consent. AncestryDNA will protect your Information even after the study is terminated.

10. How do I withdraw from this Project?

Participation in this study is purely voluntary. You can decide not to be in this Project and, at any time, you may choose to withdraw some or all of the Information provided by sending a request to consent@ancestry.com. There will be no penalty to you, and you won’t lose any benefits. AncestryDNA will cease using your Information for the Project as soon as it reasonably can after receipt of your request. Any research using your Information that has been performed or published prior to this date will not be reversed, undone, or withdrawn.

If you choose not to participate in the Project, you will still receive your genetic information (i.e., genetic relationships/matching and ethnicity).

11. Further Information and FAQs.

You can ask questions about this research Project at any time. You can contact AncestryDNA at any time if you have any concerns or complaints or if you have questions about the Project. If you wish to contact us then you can do so as follows;

AncestryDNA Member Services
Memberservices@ancestrydna.com
360 W. 4800 N.
Provo, Utah 84604
801-705-7000 or fax to 801-705-7001

If you have questions about what it means to be in a research study, you can call Quorum Review (a research ethics board that reviews this study) at 888-776-9115 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              888-776-9115      end_of_the_skype_highlighting, or visit the Quorum Review website at www.quorumreview.com.

Ancestry.com DNA, LLC

US Terms and Conditions – Revision as of May 3, 2012

Welcome to AncestryDNA. We offer DNA testing and genealogical analysis to help users discover, preserve, and share their family history. Below are our detailed terms and conditions which you must read and accept before using our services.

These Terms and Conditions apply to users visiting or registering on or after May 3, 2012. For existing Users (as defined below), these Terms and Conditions will be come effective on June 3, 2012. For the previous version of the Terms and Conditions, please click here.

Please note that hyperlinks embedded in these terms and conditions (this “Agreement”) may only be accessed through our website. If you are reviewing this Agreement through mobile devices, you may need to visit the website to use the hyperlinks.

1. Overview

Before using this website, ordering a DNA testing kit or having access to the results of the DNA testing, you must review and accept this Agreement which defines your rights and responsibilities as a user of the website and DNA testing service (“User”) operated by Ancestry.com DNA, LLC (“AncestryDNA” or “we”) and located at AncestryDNA.com or via the section of Ancestry.com’s website located at dna.ancestry.com (the “AncestryDNA Website”). The AncestryDNA Website is operated and services are provided in the United States of America. DNA testing and access to the AncestryDNA Website are governed by this Agreement, which, in turn, is governed by the laws of the State of Utah and the United States. Registering as a User and having DNA tested as a part of this service results in your personal and genetic information being stored and processed in the United States, and you specifically consent to AncestryDNA’s storage and processing the DNA and other personal data you submit. The AncestryDNA Website and services provided herein are intended for adults. If any minor gains access to the AncestryDNA Website, the parent or guardian of that minor will be held strictly responsible for that minor’s actions. If you submit a DNA sample of a minor, you must represent that you are the minor’s parent, legal guardian and/or have explicit permission from the minor’s parent or legal guardian. If you do not agree with any provision of this Agreement, or if you have any objections to the AncestryDNA Privacy Statement, you must not use the AncestryDNA Website or be a User.

2. Description of Service

AncestryDNA is part of the Ancestry family of websites, which includes, among others, ancestry.com, rootsweb.com, and familytreemaker.com, as well as international websites such as ancestry.co.uk, ancestry.de, ancestry.fr, ancestry.it, ancestry.se. AncestryDNA offers both a DNA test to help discover your ancestors and an online service where Users view the results of their DNA test (together the “Service”). The AncestryDNA Service can be used in conjunction with the Ancestry family of websites to enable Users to discover, research, and save family history by searching extensive databases of records on www.ancestry.com’s website (or through certain other websites in the Ancestry family of websites) and by utilizing Ancestry.com’s family tree services. AncestryDNA Users and users of the Ancestry family of websites may also communicate with each other in order to collaborate and exchange family history related information (the “Ancestry.com Community”).

3. Limited Use License

The AncestryDNA Website contains graphics, information, data, user generated information, editorial and other content accessible by users (the “Content”). All Content is owned, licensed to and/or copyrighted by AncestryDNA and may be used only in accordance with this limited use license. The AncestryDNA Website is protected by copyright as a collective work and/or compilation, pursuant to U.S. copyright laws, international conventions, and other copyright laws. You may use the Service, access the Ancestry Website, use the graphics, information, data, editorial and other Content only for personal or professional family history research. Republication or resale of any of the Content or other protected data is prohibited. You may use the software provided on the AncestryDNA Website only while online and may not download, copy, reuse or distribute that software, except where it is clearly stated that such software is made available for offline use. AncestryDNA and its licensors retain title, ownership and all other rights and interests in and to all information and Content on the AncestryDNA Website. Bots, crawlers, spiders, data miners, scraping and any other automatic access tool are expressly prohibited. Violation of this limited use license may result in immediate termination of your membership and may result in legal action against you.

Each of the Ancestry family of websites is subject to terms and conditions different from those found here and it is your responsibility to ensure that you have read and understood them before using those websites.

4. DNA Testing

All DNA testing performed by AncestryDNA on samples submitted for testing or by uploading a digital version of a DNA analysis is done for genealogical research only, including population and ethnic group-related analyses, and not for individual medical or diagnostic purposes. Before providing a DNA sample for testing, you represent that you are eighteen (18) years of age or older. In addition, you represent that any sample you provide is either your DNA or the DNA of a person for whom you are a legal guardian or have obtained legal authorization to provide their DNA to AncestryDNA. By submitting DNA samples to AncestryDNA, you give permission to AncestryDNA to extract the DNA from the samples, perform genetic tests on the DNA using test methods available now and developed in the future, to disclose the results of the tests performed to you and others that you authorize, to store the samples for additional genetic testing and archiving purposes, and to store the results of the DNA tests in accordance with this Agreement and with the AncestryDNA Privacy Statement. Any DNA sample submitted to us cannot be returned and shall be stored by AncestryDNA or its agents. AncestryDNA does not claim any ownership rights in the DNA that is submitted for testing. Any genetic information derived from the DNA continues to belong to the person who submitted the DNA sample, subject only to the rights granted to AncestryDNA in this Agreement. In addition, you understand that by providing any DNA to us, you acquire no rights in any research or commercial products that may be developed by AncestryDNA that may relate to or otherwise embody your DNA.

By submitting DNA to AncestryDNA, you grant AncestryDNA a transferable license to use your DNA, and any DNA you submit for any person from whom you obtained legal authorization as described in this Agreement, and to use, host, sublicense and distribute the resulting analysis to the extent and in the form or context we deem appropriate on or through any media or medium and with any technology or devices now known or hereafter developed or discovered. You hereby release AncestryDNA from any and all claims, liens, demands, actions or suits in connection with the DNA sample, the test or results thereof, including, without limitation, errors, omissions, claims for defamation, invasion of privacy, right of publicity, emotional distress or economic loss. See indemnification provision below.

If you are a User residing outside the United States and providing a DNA sample, you confirm that this submission is not subject to any export ban or restriction in the country in which you reside. You also agree that you have the authority, under the laws of the state or jurisdiction in which you reside, to provide the representations in this Agreement and you explicitly waive any laws or regulations relating to DNA testing and storage from the state or jurisdiction in which you reside. You agree that the sample will be tested and stored in the United States as provided in this Agreement. You further agree that you may only be accessible through the AncestryDNA Website and that you may not be able to use the results in a website targeted to your country of residence or hosted outside the United States.

5. Rules of Conduct

Before using the AncestryDNA Website, you agree to comply with all applicable laws and refrain from infringing any third-party rights or interests (for example, privacy and intellectual property rights). You must also agree that you will provide valid and complete contact information, and that you will always have a valid email address on file with AncestryDNA. In addition, the following policies are part of this Agreement and must be followed anytime you access the AncestryDNA Website:

A. You must not post or publish any information that you know is false or misleading, such as impersonating any person or entity, falsely misrepresenting your affiliation with any person or entity, falsely claiming an endorsement that you do not have, or misrepresenting that you are an employee or representative of AncestryDNA or otherwise affiliated with AncestryDNA.

B. You must not reproduce, copy or sell any portion of AncestryDNA or AncestryDNA database contents or systematically download the Content and data of the AncestryDNA database to make or populate another database or for any other purpose.

C. You must not interfere or attempt to interfere with the AncestryDNA Website in any manner. For example, you may not use any software program, virus or routine to block, obscure, overwrite or modify any Content or web pages or to destroy the software, hardware or telecommunications equipment of the AncestryDNA Website or another person.

D. You must not use the information from the AncestryDNA website or DNA tests in whole or in part for any discrimatory or otherwise illegal activity (for example, to make insurance or employment decisions).

These Rules of Conduct are not exclusive. If we believe, in our sole discretion, that you are in breach of this Agreement, are acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of this Agreement or otherwise interfering with the efficient management or delivery of the AncestryDNA Website, Service or Content, we may limit, suspend or terminate your access to our AncestryDNA Website. In such a case, no portion of your subscription payment will be refunded. Should we decide to suspend or terminate your access for any reason other than your actions or omissions which we believe to be inconsistent with this Agreement we will refund to you any unused portion of your payment, which will be your sole and exclusive remedy upon such a suspension.

6. AncestryDNA Fees and Payments

Users of the AncestryDNA Website may be unregistered visitors or paying members. The different payment options and services offered will be published on the AncestryDNA Website or at the time a DNA test or other service is offered. The terms and conditions applying to such items or services will be incorporated into this Agreement.

You must be 18 years or older to order the AncestryDNA Service. You must provide AncestryDNA with accurate, complete, and up-to-date registration information. Failure to do so will constitute a breach of this Agreement.

Cancellations and Refunds Cancellations may be made by calling AncestryDNA at 1-800-958-9124 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1-800-958-9124      end_of_the_skype_highlighting and providing the same information that you provided when you ordered your AncestryDNA Service. If you cancel within the first 30 days of placing your order, and before you returned a DNA sample to AncestryDNA, you will receive a refund equal to the price paid for the AncestryDNA Service minus $25. If you cancel within the first 30 days of placing your order but after you have returned a DNA sample to AncestryDNA, you will receive a partial refund equal to one half of the price paid for the AncestryDNA Service. AncestryDNA does not refund shipping & processing charges or any applicable taxes paid. Your credit will be provided via the credit card you used to purchase the AncestryDNA Service. Please allow a reasonable time for the credit to reach you.

Replacement Testing Kits Should you require a replacement DNA testing kit, you may call AncestryDNA at 1-800-958-9124 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1-800-958-9124      end_of_the_skype_highlighting and providing the same information that you provided when you ordered your AncestryDNA test. Replacement kits are $25 per kit (plus applicable shipping and handling).

Prices Subject to Change. Prices may be changed by AncestryDNA at any time.

7. User Provided Content

Portions of the AncestryDNA Website allow you and other Users to contribute material to be displayed on the AncestryDNA Website (“User Provided Content”). For User Provided Content, AncestryDNA is merely hosting and providing access. We cannot, and expressly do not, accept any liability with regard to such User Provided Content (including with respect to its accuracy). While we cannot preview or monitor User Provided Content, we may apply, at our discretion, automated filtering tools to monitor and/or delete any content that AncestryDNA believes to be in violation of this Agreement. We reserve the right to act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any User Provided Content that we believe violates this Agreement. We are also sensitive to the copyright and other intellectual property rights of others. For complaints regarding copyright infringement, illegal or inappropriate content, click here.

The decision to upload information to the AncestryDNA Website is your responsibility and you should only submit content that belongs to you or that will not violate the rights of others. Be aware that content belongs to the creator of that content and you should not reproduce or submit anything without permission of the owner. By submitting material to the AncestryDNA Website, you represent that you have the right to do so or that you have obtained any necessary third party consents (e.g., under privacy or intellectual property laws). Upon the request of AncestryDNA you agree to furnish AncestryDNA with any documentation, substantiation and releases we deem necessary or appropriate to verify and substantiate your compliance with this provision.

By submitting User Provided Content to AncestryDNA, you grant AncestryDNA a transferable license to use, host, sublicense and distribute your submission to the extent and in the form or context we deem appropriate on or through any media or medium and with any technology or devices now known or hereafter developed or discovered. You hereby release AncestryDNA from any and all claims, liens, demands, actions or suits in connection with the User Provided Content, including, without limitation, any and all liability for any use or nonuse of your User Provided Content, claims for defamation, invasion of privacy, right of publicity, emotional distress or economic loss. Except for the rights granted in this Agreement, AncestryDNA acquires no title or ownership rights in or to any content you submit and nothing in this Agreement conveys any ownership rights in the content you submit to us.

8. Promotions

Any sweepstakes, contests, raffles or other promotions (collectively, “Promotions”) made available by AncestryDNA may be governed by rules that are separate from this Agreement. If you participate in any Promotions, please review the applicable rules as well as our Privacy Statement. If the rules for a Promotion conflict with this Agreement, the Promotion rules will apply to those specifically conflicting sections only.

9. Modifications to this Agreement

AncestryDNA has the right, at its sole discretion, to modify this Agreement at any time. Changes will be posted on the AncestryDNA Website and by changing the date of last revision on this Agreement. If any portion of this Agreement or any change to the AncestryDNA Website is unacceptable to you or will cause you to no longer be in compliance with the Agreement, you may cancel your subscription by following the instructions in this Agreement. Continued use of the AncestryDNA Website following posted changes in this Agreement means that you accept and are bound by the changes.

10. Liability Disclaimer

No Warranty. We make no express warranties or representations as to the quality and accuracy of the Content, AncestryDNA Website or Service, and we disclaim any implied warranties or representation to the maximum amount permissible under applicable law. We offer the DNA testing and AncestryDNA Website on an “as is basis” and do not accept responsibility for any use of or reliance on the AncestryDNA Website, Content or Service, or for any disruptions to or delay in the AncestryDNA Website, Content or Service. In addition, we do not make any representations as to the accuracy, comprehensiveness, completeness, quality, currency, error-free nature, compatibility, security or fitness for purpose of the AncestryDNA Website, Content or Service. AncestryDNA does not guarantee the adequacy of the Service or AncestryDNA Website or compatibility thereof to your computer equipment and environment and does not warrant that this AncestryDNA Website, the Content, the Service, its servers, or any emails which may be sent from AncestryDNA are free of viruses or any other harmful components. AncestryDNA does not control or endorse any actions resulting from your use of the AncestryDNA Website, Content or Service and specifically disclaims any liability regarding any actions that may result from your use of the Service or AncestryDNA Website.

Limitation of Liability; Exclusive Remedy.We limit our liability to the maximum amount permissible under applicable law. In particular, we shall not be liable for any damages that we cause unintentionally and we shall not be liable to you for any actual, incidental, indirect, special, punitive or consequential loss or damage howsoever caused, provided that nothing in this Agreement will be interpreted so as to limit or exclude any liability which may not be excluded or limited by law. If you are dissatisfied with any portion of the AncestryDNA Website, or with any clause of these terms, as your sole and exclusive remedy you may discontinue using the AncestryDNA Website.

Third Party Services. AncestryDNA may, from time to time, provide opportunities to users of the AncestryDNA Website to purchase services from third parties. The websites of those third parties are subject to terms and conditions different from those found here and it is your responsibility to ensure that you have read and understood them. AncestryDNA makes no warranty concerning, is not responsible for and does not endorse any third party provided goods or services, and you agree that any recourse for dissatisfaction or problems with those goods or services will be sought from the third party provider and not from AncestryDNA.

11. Disputes

If a dispute arises between you and AncestryDNA, our goal is to provide you a neutral and cost effective means of resolving the dispute quickly. To that end, you agree to first contact AncestryDNA Customer Support at 1-800-958-9124 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1-800-958-9124      end_of_the_skype_highlighting to describe the problem and seek a resolution. If that does not resolve the issue, then you and AncestryDNA agree to the following methods to resolve any dispute or claim between us. First, you agree that this Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Utah, without regard to its principles on conflicts of laws, and the federal law of the United States of America. Second, you agree that you will seek arbitration consistent with the rules set forth below before initiating any litigation. If arbitration cannot resolve the issue, you agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located within Utah County, Utah for the purpose of litigating all such claims or disputes.

Any arbitration will be governed by the Commercial Dispute Resolution Procedures and the Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes of the American Arbitration Association (collectively, “AAA Rules”). The AAA Rules and costs are available online at www.adr.org or by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              1-800-778-7879      end_of_the_skype_highlighting. YOU AND ANCESTRYDNA AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. Further, unless both you and AncestryDNA agree otherwise the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims, and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding. Notwithstanding the foregoing, this arbitration agreement does not preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state, or local agencies. Such agencies can, if the law allows, seek relief against us on your behalf. This arbitration provision shall survive termination of this Agreement.

12. Miscellaneous

We reserve the right to assign or transfer our rights and obligations under this Agreement. These terms are personal to you and, as a result, you may not without the written consent of AncestryDNA assign or transfer any of your rights and obligations under this Agreement.

You acknowledge and agree that AncestryDNA may disclose your information to third parties subject to this Agreement, the AncestryDNA Privacy Statement and if AncestryDNA believes that it is required to do so by law or a court order or when you give permission to make such a disclosure.

In the event that any term of this Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this Agreement shall remain valid and enforceable. Any failure by us to enforce any term of the terms of this Agreement shall not affect our right to require performance at any subsequent time, nor shall the waiver by us of any breach by you of any provisions of these terms be taken to be a waiver of the provision or provisions itself.

You agree to indemnify us against all liabilities, claims and expenses that may arise from any breach of this Agreement by you or otherwise as a result of your contribution of User Provided Content or your use of the Services or AncestryDNA Website.

Official correspondence must be sent via postal mail to:

Ancestry.com DNA, LLC
Attn: Member Services
360 W 4800 N
Provo, UT 84604

This Agreement, including any terms, conditions and policies expressly referenced herein, shall constitute the complete understanding and agreement between you and us, and shall supersede and cancel any prior or contemporaneous understandings and agreements, except as expressly provided otherwise by AncestryDNA.

______________________________________________________________

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