DNA Tools - MyHeritage

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Did you get a MyHeritage DNA testing kit this winter, or give one to a relative? MyHeritage does not have the large database that Ancestry.com does, but much of their customer base is in Europe and Israel, where they are headquartered. So if you have relatively recent European /Jewish ancestry, your time spent using their DNA tools could be valuable to your research.

MyHeritage accepts DNA uploads, so if you have tested elsewhere, you can still match with their database. 
Receiving DNA Matches and contacting them is free and unlimited. Unlocking additional DNA features (Chromosome Browser, Ethnicity Estimate, Shared ancestral places, and more) costs an extra fee. - https://www.myheritage.com/dna/upload
Build a small tree on the site (or upload a small gedcom) and then link you on your tree to your DNA kit or upload. Both a tree and kit are needed to make the tools work for you. If you want to use MyHeritage research tools a membership is needed. And every Family History Center which has access to the FHC Portal will have MyHeritage, among other pay-sites. Find your closest Family History Center: https://www.familysearch.org/help/fhcenters/locations/.


Once you have created a login and submitted a kit or uploaded and paid the small fee, you will have access to the DNA tools. I have found it easy to administer multiple kits on MyHeritage; they are all available from a dropdown menu. 

 If you have bought a kit or paid the fee to unlock the tools, you will have an attractive and useful chromosome browser, autoclusters and if you are lucky, some theories of family relativity.

Part of a recent email from MyHeritage

 I'll illustrate by showing one of my most recent Theories. Theories are created for DNA matches, but they are made up of family trees, as are ThruLines on Ancestry.com. So each match needs to be analyzed and researched to ensure that it is valid. 

 You will see on the left of each Theory part of your own tree, and on the far right, part of your match's tree. In between are other trees, sometimes including Geni and FamilySearch trees to make the connections. 

 The first example is an overview which had to be shrunk to show here.

The left and top-left of the chart are known to me with quite a bit of proof. However, the second marriage of my 4th great-grandmother

Elizabeth Ferguson to Johannes 'John' Thomas Shupe - this is the first I've heard of it. I do have the Ferguson book about her family, and I'll have to do some background reading about this. 

 Nevertheless, it will be interesting and worthwhile to follow up. I share one segment of DNA with this new-found 5th cousin, 9.8‎ cM or 0.1%. If this was a needle in the haystack search, I wouldn't bother with such a small match, but it's tempting because that one segment will be attributable to Elizabeth Ferguson alone, not my 4th great-grandfather Charles Boothe.

MyHeritage also shows a more compact comparison, on the DNA match page:
Elizabeth Ferguson at top-center. Is she the link to my new match?

Because I want to make more use of MyHeritage's tools, I listened to a webinar about how to use Autoclusters: Visualizing Ancestral Lines with DNA AutoClusters on Youtube. There I realized that I was missing out on all the power of both the Theories and Autoclusters used together! The Theories of Family Relativity doesn't always show up, so when you are looking at your DNA matches, use the Filter > All tree details like this:
Unleash the power of the Theory of Family Relativity

 Once you have checked out the reliability of the relationship, even if you don't have the time to put each match into your tree, open up the note field and at the very least write the suggested MRCA names (Most Recent Common Ancestors). When you generate your Autoclusters, you will be so grateful to yourself for taking the time to do so. 

 Thrulines and the Theories deal with matches one at a time. In contrast Autoclusters do not use names or trees, but DNA only, and sort your matches into groups of related people. If you have notes, they will show up in the table called Autocluster Information. Example - (clickable match name left out for privacy):
Shown: cM, Largest cM, Segments, ICW, Cluster Number, PersonsInTree, Notes

 Once you know how each group fits into your tree, brick walls will fall!

 MyHeritage is valuable for your research in many ways. If you have the time to spend on one more site, you will be rewarded with new facts and new cousins!
Valorie Zimmerman

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