Who provides the most value? DNA testing and Beyond As researchers, we have many choices in DNA tests and genealogy websites. Given that both time and money are limited, what strategies and choices help us best reach our research goals? As always, "it depends." Most of my analysis is based on American costs and services, and family history based in Colonial America, Canada and northern Europe. Your needs and circumstances might be different. Ancestry.com is the Behemoth Ancestry's DNA database is as large as all the other testing companies and sites combined . So, most everyone who can afford DNA testing should prioritize Ancestry testing of as many older relatives as possible. Help them set up their accounts; if they are not interested in using their findings for research, have them assign you to manage their kits. Connect their DNA data to their profile in your Ancestry tree as soon as results come in, and begin adding their matches to your tree, along with DNA fact sou...

Many of us who have tested our DNA have done so to satisfy our curiosity about our ethnic origins or to find unknown or elusive relatives.  Some of us learned a little about our ancient origins based on our ethnicity, depending upon the company with which we had tested. People who have gone further in their genetic genealogy study have had their Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA tested.  Usually these tests are used to confirm surname lineage in the case of Y-DNA or maternal lineage through mtDNA.  One outcome is learning one's haplogroup, either Y-DNA or mtDNA, and they are different! Judy G. Russell, the Legal Genealogist, posted this:  " Rob Spencer is a scientist who’s developed a set of tools for use with DNA results — visualizing some of our genetic genealogy. "He calls his website, Tracking Back , a place “for genetic genealogy tools, experimentation, and discussion.” And he offers a lot — to think about, and to play with. "One tool in particular is really neat f...

It's all about the chromosomes (and mitochondria) The 23 chromosomes of a human male . Courtesy: National Human Genome Research Institute X, Y and Mitochondrial DNA are less well-known and not used by many genealogical researchers. Both Y and MtDNA tests are more expensive than the more common autosomal DNA tests.  X is always tested in an autosomal DNA test. However X results are less reported (FTDNA, 23andMe) or not reported at all (Ancestry, MyHeritage, LivingDNA), with the exception of Gedmatch. Rather than covering generations of your ancestry, each of these DNA types cover a smaller portion of your tree, which some see as a weakness.  However, because of that restriction, the researcher gets a focused result, which can be powerful, if the test will help you answer your research question.  Y DNA tests were first offered to the consumer in 2000 by only one company: FamilyTreeDNA. Ancestry also offered Y and mitochondrial tests between 2012 and 2014...

Fish in all the DNA ponds We've heard this advice; do we use it? Most often it is given about DNA testing. No matter what company you choose to test with first, download your raw DNA results and then upload to all the sites which allow uploads that fit your research goals. If you have the funds, test at both Ancestry and 23andMe . Neither allow uploads, and they have the largest databases. If you are using DNA testing for genealogy research, your goal is the most matches possible, and "fishing in all the ponds" accomplishes that goal. You can download your results from either Ancestry or 23andMe or both, and upload to: FamiyTreeDNA  - the earliest DNA testing company, and most often used by researchers. The only choice for Y and mitochondrial testing. Upload is free. MyHeritage  - most used by Europeans and is the top choice by those who do not want law enforcement to have access to their DNA results and matches. Upload is free . LivingDNA  - the newc...

Why I Use FamilyTreeDNA  (FTdna) and You Should Too .... But only if you have family mysteries you have been unable to solve!  Don't we all have such mysteries? Years ago, my father's family had done some family history, then I did some research, and got my dad's Cowan line back to the Borders of Scotland and the tiny village of Yarrow Feus in Selkirshire where they lived before emigrating to Ontario, Canada in 1832.  However, the records before 1700 are scarce, and so the question remained - did the Cowans always live in the Scottlsh Borders? Were they always sheep herders? Y DNA testing When FTdna first introduced Y-DNA testing, I got a kit for my Dad for Father's Day one year. It was thrilling to see matches come in. He had an identical good match at 35 markers, which was what was available at the time. His match Chris Cowan and I compared notes, but his bunch came from Ireland and mine from Scotland. My dad and he both paid for more markers, and they w...