by Lisa Cooke | Mar 26, 2018 | 01 What's New, DNA |
Genealogy Gems Premium membership, a leader in online genealogy education, is now Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning! We’ve added more than 20 DNA video tutorials–all for one low annual price. And now make the most of 50+ Premium Videos and 150+ Premium Podcast episodes with the new Premium eLearning Companion Guide book. It’s the ultimate ongoing genealogy education! Big announcements in the genealogy world tend to happen at RootsTech, and this year Genealogy Gems had our own big news: we’ve beefed up our Premium Membership significantly!
GENEALOGY GEMS PREMIUM MEMBERSHIP IS NOW PREMIUM ELEARNING
Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard has joined forces with Genealogy Gems and added 21 DNA tutorial videos to our Premium Membership, which we are now calling Premium eLearning. DNA is a gateway to genealogical discoveries and an integral part of the best family history research plans. So we’re thrilled to offer you hours of her expert guidance and instruction as part of your annual subscription.
Diahan’s comprehensive DNA tutorial series is organized into four categories: start at the beginning or start with the next skill you want to master. You’ll find both full-length classes and quick sessions on the most popular and genealogically useful DNA research strategies, tests and tools:
DNA (General):
- Getting Started with DNA Testing
- Organizing your DNA Matches
- DNA: The Glue that Holds Families Together
Autosomal DNA:
- An Outsider’s Look Inside AncestryDNA
- 3 Tips to Make the Most of your Autosomal DNA
- 5 Tips for Understanding DNA Results
- Gedmatch: Using the One-to-Many Tool
- Ethnicity Tools at AncestryDNA
- Share your Results at AncestryDNA
- 23andMe Match Page
- Ancestry Composition at 23andMe
- Shared Matches Tool at Gedmatch
- Family Tree DNA: FamilyFinder Match Page Introduction
- Shaky Leaf Hints at AncestryDNA
- New Ancestor Discoveries at AncestryDNA
Mitochondrial DNA
- Introduction to mtDNA
- Getting to Know Your mtDNA Match Page
YDNA:
- What is YDNA? Basic principles of yDNA testing
- Navigating Family Tree DNA for YDNA
These video classes have been added to the long list of current Premium videos by Lisa Louise Cooke and other experts on methodology, genealogy records, Google searching, maps and geography, organizing your genealogy, mobile genealogy, Evernote, using the cloud, storytelling, and technology. Remember, Premium eLearning members also still enjoy exclusive access to the monthly Genealogy Gems Premium Podcast and more than 150 archived episodes online. These full-length audio shows take you deeper into the stories, strategies, skills, and inspiration you need to keep going in your quest to know your family history.
PREMIUM ELEARNING COMPANION GUIDE BOOK
Here’s more good news. We have published a brand new Premium eLearning Companion Guide book! This 300+ page workbook has the show notes from the first 100 episodes of the Premium Podcast, which are indexed by topic AND completely updated for 2018 (things have changed a lot over the years!). Plus it has dozens of handouts from our Premium Videos, including the new DNA videos just added. The workbook is spiral bound to lay flat for writing, with space for taking notes throughout. Get the most out of your learning and have all the information you need at-a-glance on the printed page. We launched this brand new book at RootsTech 2018. Now it’s available to all Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning members for just $29.95 (and we’ll even ship it to you for free).
The cost of a full year of Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning is about the same as one webinar from some companies—and MUCH less than attending a genealogy conference in person, where you can only attend a few classes one time. Why not invest in a year-long ongoing genealogy education for one low fee?
Save 20% off a 1 year Premium eLearning membership with coupon code: SPRING
Offer Valid: 3/22/18 – 4/1/18 at 11:59 CST. Applicable to membership only. 1 use per person, valid on both new and renewal.
by Diahan Southard | Mar 24, 2018 | 01 What's New, DNA, MyHeritage
The new MyHeritage DNA chromosome browser offers two different kinds of browsing–and a triangulation tool. Here’s what these tools are and how to work with them.
Just last year, if you had asked me if I thought anyone could catch AncestryDNA in their race to own the genetic genealogy market, I would have been skeptical. However, it is clear that MyHeritage intends to be a contender, and they are quickly ramping up their efforts to gain market share–and your confidence.
MyHeritage began 2018 by making a much needed change to their DNA matching algorithm, which had some errors in it. They were able to adjust it, and now it is humming right along, telling our second cousins from our fourth. Another development, launched in February, is the addition of a Chromosome Browser.
The new MyHeritage DNA Chromsome Browser
Much like you would browse the library shelves for the perfect book, or browse through the sale rack for a great bargain, you can use a Chromosome Browser to look through your chromosomes for the pieces of DNA you share with your genetic cousins. Chromosome Browsers can be everything from a fun way to review your genetic genealogy results, to a tool to assist in determining how you are related to someone else. Let’s go over three tips to help you make use of this new tool:
Navigating to the Chromosome Browser
There are actually two different kinds of Chromosome Browsers in MyHeritage: one to view only the segments you share with one match (the One-to-One Browser), and a browser where you can see the segments shared with multiple matches (the One-to-Many Browser).
To get to the One-to-One Browser, head over to your match page and find a cousin for whom you would like to see your shared DNA segments. Click on Review DNA Match, then scroll down past all the individual match information, past the Shared Matches and Shared Ethnicities until you see the Chromosome Browser.
Using the One-to-Many Chromosome Browser
To find the One-to-Many Chromosome Browser, you can use the main DNA navigation menu at the top of the MyHeritage homepage. Click on DNA, then on Chromosome Browser, as shown below.
In the One-to-Many Chromosome Browser you can compare yourself, or any account you manage, to anyone else in your match page. To choose a match to evaluate, just click on their name and they will be added to the queue at the top:
Clicking on Compare will then allow you to see the actual segments you share with each person:
In this One-To-Many view, each individual match gets their own line for each chromosome. Since we have added 7 people to the Chromosome Browser, there are seven lines next to each chromosome number. Each match not only gets their own line, but also their own color. So you can easily match up the lines on the chromosome to the match that shares that piece of DNA with you. For the majority of people the majority of the time, these Chromosome Browsers are just another fun way to visualize the connection you have with your DNA match. In the end, it doesn’t matter where you are sharing on the chromosome, just how much DNA you are sharing. You can obtain that information from your main match page and never look at this Chromosome Browser image, and still make fantastic genetic genealogy discoveries.
The Triangulation Tool
Another feature of the Chromosome Browser on MyHeritage is the Triangulation tool. To understand how this works, you first need to understand that you actually have two copies of each chromosome. Two copies of chromosome 1, two copies of chromosome 2, etc. One copy is from mom, and the other from dad. However, in the Chromosome Browser image, you see only one line for yourself (in grey). Therefore, when you see someone matching you on chromosome 14, for example, you don’t know if that person is matching you on the chromosome 14 you got from your mom, or the chromosome 14 you got from your dad.
Likewise, if you see two people whose shared piece with you looks to be in the same location on the same chromosome, you can’t tell if they are both sharing on the same copy of that chromosome, or if one match is related to your dad’s family, and the other match is related to your mom’s family. However, this is what the Triangulation tool does for us. It tells us if two (or three or four, etc.) matches are sharing on the same copy of the same chromosome. Be careful when you use this tool, though. Many erroneously assume that when they see a segment shared between multiple people, that indicates the presence of a recent common ancestor for all of those people. However, that is not always the case.
Start Using the MyHeritage DNA Chromsome Browser
Ready to start exploring what the MyHeritage DNA chromosome browser may tell you about your family history? You have two options. Click here to upload your autosomal DNA test results from another company to MyHeritage for FREE. Or click here to order a MyHeritage DNA test kit. Either way, you can start using all the great tools at MyHeritage DNA!
Your DNA Guide
Diahan is Your DNA Guide at Genealogy Gems! She has worked with the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, and has been in the genetic genealogy industry since it has been an industry. She holds a degree in Microbiology and her creative side helps her break the science up into delicious bite-sized pieces for you. She’s the author of a full series of DNA guides for genealogists.
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!
by Diahan Southard | Jan 8, 2018 | 01 What's New, DNA
DNA ethnicity estimates are fun conversation-starters. But the “pie charts” become more meaningful genealogically when you can assign timelines to the places your ancestors were from. Here’s an update to our ongoing conversation about what DNA ethnicity results really mean.
Understanding DNA Ethnicity Estimates
Where did I come from? This is a fundamental human question, and it is driving millions of individuals all over the world to have their DNA tested. Now, we genealogists would like to think that they are being tested to aid their family history efforts, or to connect with us, their cousins. But they aren’t. They are after that pretty pie chart that tells them what percentage of themselves came from where.
Now, I know you have heard me say that these kinds of results are just for fun, and don’t hold much genealogical value. But due to some interesting developments in the world of DNA, my previous assertions of these ethnic origins results being somehow second class to our match list might be changing.
Living DNA and DNA Ethnicity Results
A U.K. company called Living DNA launched their DNA product in the fall of 2016. Right now, all they are focusing on is reporting ethnic origins information. But they are doing it in a manner that changes the way we look at our DNA ethnicity results.
In addition to the standard map that you will see at any genetic genealogy company, Living DNA also offers a tool they call “Through History.” It literally takes you step-by-step back in time to show you how similar your DNA is to others on earth during 11 time periods ranging from 1,000 years ago to 80,000 years ago! In the images shown below, we see a glimpse into my earliest time period, a peek at the middle, and a view of the last. The intensity of the blue on the chart tells you how genetically similar I am to the people in that area.
In the first chart shown here, you can see that since I am 100% European, I share DNA with, well, people from Europe:
But, if we go back not very far, I am sharing DNA with people in the Middle East and Russia, as shown in the second map:
As my DNA marches further back in time I can see that I am sharing that DNA with people in a variety of locations, until we get back to the beginning of man, and I am sharing DNA with literally everyone in the world.
DNA Ethnicity Estimates Over Time
So, how does this work from a DNA standpoint? Well, the fact is, not all DNA markers are created equally. Some markers have developed relatively recently in on our timeline making them helpful for determining recent relationships and modern populations. Others have been around longer, linking us to early settlers of Europe or even Asia. Still others link us together as a human race and help to track our origins back to a single time and place.
Part of the struggle that these DNA testing companies have is trying to figure out the time and place for each of the markers they test. Certainly part of the puzzle is the ability to look not just at modern day populations, but ancient populations.
You may have heard of some recent reports that scientists have completed DNA testing on ancient remains. One example came from Ireland where they were able to determine that one body tested had ancestry in the Middle East, and another had roots in Russia. It is the combined efforts of both ancient DNA testing and your own modern samples that unite to help us improve our understanding of our own personal origins, as well help us understand how humankind developed and evolved.
3 Ways to Better Understand Your DNA Ethnicity Estimates
To get the most out of your genetic genealogy populations report, you may want to:
- View your results in the context of a more historical timeline, as opposed to your own genealogical timeline.
- Try testing at multiple companies (you can transfer into Family Tree DNA from 23andMe or AncestryDNA for only $19). Click here to see recent updates to Family Tree DNA’s ethnicity categories.
- Give the multiple population tools at Gedmatch a try, just to get a better feel for how different companies and tools can provide us a different look at the populations we are carrying around in our DNA. My quick guide for using Gedmatch, shown here, is available as a printed guide or digital download.
Your DNA Guide
Diahan Southard is Your DNA Guide here at Genealogy Gems. She been in the genetic genealogy industry since it has been an industry, having worked with the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation. She holds a degree in Microbiology and her creative side helps her break the science up into delicious bite-sized pieces for you. She’s the author of our popular DNA guide series, which includes Getting Started: Genetics for Genealogists and Y Chromosome DNA for Genealogists (find the full series in the Genealogy Gems Store).
by Lisa Cooke | Oct 9, 2017 | 01 What's New, DNA, Health History
A Vitagene Wellness Report is now available to Family Tree DNA customers. The $49 report just takes a week and promises personalized recommendations for your nutrition, exercise, and supplements based on your genetics and lifestyle. Here’s what Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard has to say about it.
Recently, Family Tree DNA offered its customers a new $49 add-on product: a wellness report that promises to “empower you to make more informed decisions about your nutrition, exercise, and supplementation.” The report comes via a partnership with Vitagene, a nutrigenomics company.
How does it work? When you order the report, Family Tree DNA shares the results of your Family Finder test with Vitagene and gives you a lifestyle questionnaire. According to the site, “this information, along with your DNA raw data results, will be analyzed using the latest research available in the areas of nutrition, exercise, and genomics. You can expect your results to be available on your dashboard within one week of purchase.”
At this point, the test is only available to those who have taken the Family Tree DNA Family Finder DNA test (we called to check with them specifically about those who transfer their DNA to Family Tree DNA, but the Wellness Report isn’t available to them, either). Those who qualify will see a Wellness Report upgrade option on their Family Tree DNA dashboard, as shown below:
What’s included in the Vitagene Wellness Report?
There are several components to the Family Tree DNA and Vitagene Wellness Report. The site describes them as follows:
Nutrition Report. “Personalized, actionable recommendations designed to help you reach your weight goals. Learn how your DNA affects traits such as obesity risk, emotional eating, weight regain after dieting, and more. Included Reports: Obesity Risk, Alcohol Metabolism, Cholesterol Levels, Triglyceride Levels, Lactose Sensitivity, Gluten Sensitivity, Emotional Eating, Weight Regain After Dieting, Fat Intake, Sodium Intake.”
Exercise Report. “Outlines the optimal physical activities for your body to start seeing better results, faster. Included Reports: Power and Endurance Exercise, Muscle Strength, Muscle Cramps, Exercise Behavior, Blood Pressure Response to Exercise, Weight Response to Exercise.”
Supplementation Report. “Reveals which deficiencies you are more inclined to suffer from and recommends a supplement regimen that will help keep you healthy and feeling 100%. Included Reports: Full Supplementation Regimen, Vitamin D Intake, Vitamin A Intake, Folate Intake, Vitamin B12 Intake, Iron Intake.”
And what about your privacy? According to Family Tree DNA’s Q&A, “Your data is 100% secure and protected by industry standard security practices. We will not share your information without your explicit consent.”
A Little More about the Vitagene Wellness Report (and Others Like It)
This is just one of many services that are cropping up or will crop up in the future to offer additional interpretations of our DNA test results. (23andMe was the first major company in the genealogy space to offer these–click here to read about their health reports, and click here and here to read about the company’s long road to FDA approval.)
Essentially, each DNA test you do for family history looks at a certain number of your SNPs, or little pieces of DNA (not your entire genome, which is costly and isn’t necessary for genetic genealogy purposes). A nutrigenomic profile compares your SNPs with SNPs known to be associated with various conditions or ailments. (These genetic markers have been identified by researchers, many in academia, and deposited in ClinVar, a large, publicly-accessible database that itself is part of an even larger genetic database, SNPedia.) In this case of Vitagene, they are likely mining ClinVar for specific places in your DNA that pertain to nutrition, and were also evaluated as part of the Family Finder test.
Of course, many factors affect your health, nutrition, exercise capacity, and other wellness indicators, not just your genes. The purpose of reports like these is to give you just one more piece of information to weigh personally or with your health care provider.
When considering whether to purchase a nutrigenomics report such as this, I’d look carefully at what’s promised in the report, as well as the company providing it and the cost. Vitagene does also sell vitamin supplements, so they have a clear motivation to tell you about what supplements to take. And, for your information, Vitagene also offers this $49 health report for AncestryDNA and 23andMe customers.
Keep Reading: My Picks for DNA Health Reports
Of course, if it is health advice you want, for only $5 you can turn to Promethease.com and receive a health report–based on any testing company’s autosomal DNA report–that includes some nutritional factors. Or, I will just tell you right now, for free, without even looking at your DNA: Exercise more and eat more green vegetables and less ice cream. There. I just saved you some money. You’re welcome.
I’ve blogged recently about Promethease and another inexpensive recommendation for DNA health reports. Click here to read it!
