From Diahan Southard, Your DNA Guide here at Genealogy Gems: DNA testing is one of the most personal ways to get involved in your family history. You have DNA from your parents, who have DNA from their parents, and so it goes, back into your greats and great-greats. The technology of genetic genealogy is all about tapping into that DNA record and pulling out information that might be useful in your family history. DNA can do this for you in two ways:
First, it connects you to places. These are places where your ancestors came from a hundred, a thousand, or tens of thousands of years ago.
Second, it connects you to people. These people are your genetic cousins, other living people who have taken the same DNA test that you took. The similarities in your DNA tell you that you share a common ancestor. You can then examine the pedigree of your match and work with them to help verify your family history, or give you new ideas about who your ancestors might be.
Types of DNA Tests for Family History
You have three choices of DNA tests, each with its own unique purpose.
Autosomal DNA – For any ancestor, male or female, who is fewer than 5 generations from you, you can take the autosomal DNA test at either Family Tree DNA, AncestryDNA, 23andMe, or MyHeritage to find out more about that individual. Remember with the autosomal DNA that you always want to test the oldest generation first. So anyone who does not have both of their parents living should take the autosomal DNA test.
mtDNA – If I want to know about a female ancestor, let’s say Mary West, I need to find Mary’s daughter’s daughter’s daughter’s, etc. child (male or female) to take the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from Family Tree DNA.
YDNA – Essentially, if you want to know about a male ancestor, you need to find a direct male descendant to be tested. So if I want to know about my 3X great grandfather Morris Mitchell, I need to find Morris’s son’s son’s son, etc. until I find a living male with the Mitchell surname who can be tested on the Y chromosome DNA (mtDNA) test at Family Tree DNA.
DNA Testing Companies
There are several companies that test DNA for family history including:
Each of these companies offers a very similar autosomal DNA test, but each has its own unique tools and databases. Decide which company you want to test with by evaluating things like:
their website accessibility
their company goals
and especially the size of their database
You can see a table comparing these companies here.
Great (DNA) Expectations
The best thing you can do when setting out on your genetic genealogy journey is set good expectations. You can expect that the test will document the personal genetics of the person who takes it. By so doing, you are creating another genealogy record that will last for generations. This test will link you to your ancestors via your cousins. That means that you may take the test looking for ancestors, but what you get are cousins. It will take traditional genealogy work to turn those cousin connections into ancestral connections. Above all, expect that this is a growing industry, and what we know today is different than what we will know tomorrow, so enjoy the journey!
Genetic Genealogy for the Layman
There are several comprehensive books on Genetic Genealogy out there. However, for the layman who just wants to understand their DNA test results and get some additional value from them, an entire book full of scientific explanations can be overwhelming and daunting. The following email is one we receive regularly:
“Could you direct me to an understandable publication which explains dna results in layman’ terms ? Thank you” – Anne B.
Genealogy Gems Publications is proud to publish Diahan Southard’s wonderful series of DNA quick reference guides for understanding your DNA results in plain language, and helping you get the most out of the investment you made in testing.
8 Guides to Help You Understand and Use Your DNA Results
The complete collection of DNA quick reference guides cover:
The testing companies: AncestryDNA, 23andme, Family Tree DNA, MyHeritage
The tests: Autosomal, YDNA, Mitochondrial
How to find your ancestors using your DNA.
All guides are available in convenient digital download format.
Click here to shop now: Save on the set of 8 DNA quick reference guides at the Genealogy Gems store.
Free Podcast: Diahan has a regular segment on the free Genealogy Gems Podcast where she answers your questions and provides invaluable insights into the latest in genetic genealogy.
Free Articles: You can browse the complete archive of DNA articles at Genealogy Gems. The most recent will appear first and then scroll down to read through the past articles.
DNA in the News
As of March 28, 2017, AncestryDNA customers can see if their ancestors belonged to about 300 different Genetic Communities, small migratory groups that can be identified by DNA. In the next free Genealogy Gems podcast episode #202, you will learn more about it straight from Ancestry’s Chief Scientific Officer, Catherine Ball. For more information on Genetic Communities, watch the video below:
This multimedia kit is a comprehensive and exciting way to learn to trace your Irish genealogy. Priced at just for EVERYTHING, you save nearly 0 on retail for a limited time, it’s a lucky deal, if I ever saw one!
Tracing your Irish roots takes a bit of luck and a lot of patience. But the payoff for those who persist can be huge. The Irish have a rich history and culture that descendants love to embrace. And it’s getting more exciting to be an online Irish researcher, with important new Irish records coming online frequently.
One of the biggest Irish genealogy challenges is the destruction of the Public Records Office during the Irish Civil War. But while many records were lost, there are plenty of ways to find information on your ancestors.
Even better, during March Family Tree Magazine has slashed the price of its Irish Genealogy MEGA Collection. This comprehensive multimedia collection is a family historian’s pot of gold, packed with everything from tips on breaking down your Irish brick walls to finding vital and census records, immigration forms, and a thorough list of useful websites. Plus, you’ll get the historical background that drove emigration and affected your ancestors’ lives – as well as your research.
Here are the incredible tools you will get:
EIGHT on-demand webinars on different aspects of Irish research
A full-length e-book, A Genealogist’s Guide to Tracing Your Irish Ancestors
A digital cheat sheet and an overview article for quick reference.
I love this multimedia kit because you can read, watch and learn at your own pace. The digital format means you can put the entire kit on your favorite mobile device. That lets you learn on-the-go and consult your reference library while you’re out researching. Of course you can use these materials on your home computer, too. The choice is yours–and with the limited-time price on this mega kit, the fabled luck of the Irish is yours, too!
Genealogy Gems Episode 227 This episode is all about the biggest announcements coming out of RootsTech 2019. Highlights include: All the major announcements from MyHeritage and Ancestry at RootsTech 2019 Exclusive interview with MyHeritage DNA Product Manager Ran Snir...
AncestryDNA test kits are now available to purchase in Australia and New Zealand, according to a recent statementfrom Ancestry. These two countries join the UK, Ireland and the US in having access to AncestryDNA’s popular autosomal kits.
DNA testing for genetic reasons isn’t new Down Under. Your DNA Guide Diane Southard blogged on our site last fall about a National Genographic Project that looked at the mixture of genes among residents of Wellington, New Zealand. They determined that “the original Polynesian population and a small East Asian population are certainly the minority among a predominately Western European population group.”
Additionally, Family Tree DNA has a New Zealand DNA Project that anyone with NZ roots can join. It has three DNA groups for Australia: one for adoptees, one for descendants of settlers and one specifically for descendants of early buy medication for depression online convicts (Australia was originally a British penal colony). So AncestryDNA in Australia and New Zealand represents just one more option for this part of the world.
Have you had your DNA tested yet for genealogy? Have you found the results to be meaningful or useful? Diahan Southard is Genealogy Gems’ resident DNA expert. Watch for her posts here that keep up with exciting developments in genetic genealogy and teach you how to use it properly!
Her series of DNA quick guides can get you started on your DNA path and help you navigate your results at Family Tree DNA or AncestryDNA. Grab just the ones you need or the full bundle for a value price!
In this “Blast from the Past” episode, Lisa gives voice to the era of silent films, in a unique approach to understanding her great-grandmother’s life. Her passion for this mostly-forgotten film genre comes through in her conversation with film archivist Sam Gill of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont, California.
Don’t miss these fun segments, too:
A listener writes in after discovering a birth mom’s story in passport records (see what lengths he goes to in order to access the records!).
Just after RootsTech 2018, Your DNA Guide Diahan Southard reports on the latest DNA news you’ll want to know.
NEWS: DNA NEWS ROUNDUP
First up was MyHeritage, showing their support for the 7 million adopted individuals in the United States with their new DNA Quest campaign. MyHeritage will provide 15,000 DNA test kits to eligible participants free of charge, in order to help these adoptees use DNA to reunite them with their biological families. With this initiative they “hope to make this project a shining light for corporate philanthropy and an example to be followed by other commercial companies in their own lines of expertise to make the world a better place.” MyHeritage has assembled an advisory board of genetic genealogists and genetic counselors to help drive this project and ensure it meets the needs of the community. If you or someone you know is interested in participating, you can head on over to the DNA Quest website (www.dnaquest.com) to fill out an application. But you better hurry, the application deadline is April 30, 2018.
Next, addressing the biggest problem in genetic genealogy, namely the looming What Next? question facing millions of newly swabbed participants, MyHeritage announced the Big Tree ? a giant network of genetic and genealogy results that will automate much of the match comparison and tree searching to replace your head-scratching with light-bulb moments. They have already made significant headway on this project, as reported in the journal Science, which MyHeritage’s own chief scientific officer Yaniv Erlich collaborated on. The journal reports that the team of scientists successfully extracted public family trees from Geni.com (a MyHeritage daughter company), and then used a computer program to clean up and link the trees together. It sounds like MyHeritage will be adding genetic data to this kind of tree data in their Big Tree project.
MyHeritage isn’t the only company out to improve the DNA matching experience. UK based LivingDNA announcedthat they plan to add DNA matching to their popular origins test by third quarter 2018. When they launched in October of 2016, LivingDNA was not offering cousin matching, but opted instead to focus all of their resources on providing very detailed origins reports, including breaking down the UK in to 46 categories. In the months since their launch, they have been working on a genetic matching system, called Family Networks, that will appeal to a wide range of users and will “reduce the risk of human error and take away the tedious task of figuring out how each person on a user’s list are related to one another.” They are promising an experience that provides “a level of relationship prediction and specificity beyond anything currently on the market.”
So it sounds like if you are currently struggling with turning your DNA matches into genealogical discoveries, our testing companies want you to know you are not alone, and they are working hard to provide solutions to these problems. Time will only tell if they can succeed.
Diahan also provides answers to questions asked about this blog postannouncing updates to MyHeritage DNA matching technology and its new chromosome browser.
If you’re listening through the Genealogy Gems app, your bonus content for this episode is a marvelous soundtrack of silent film music, played live (you’ll hear audience laughter occasionally in the background) and supplied by Sam Gill at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum. TheGenealogy Gems app is FREE in Google Playand is only $2.99 for Windows, iPhone and iPad users.
GEM: INTRODUCTION TO SILENT FILMS
(Image above: a page from Lisa’s grandmother’s journal)
Genealogy Gems Podcast Episode #2 about transcribing family journals and letters was remastered inEpisode #134.
Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum: the website for this museum is packed with resources: links to Chaplin-Keaton-Lloyd film locations; the International Buster Keaton Society; Classic Images Magazine; a timeline and early history of film and more.
Films mentioned in this episode:
Diary of a Lost Girl starring Louise Brooks (watch trailer)
Shown here: Sam Gill and Lisa Cooke at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum on the day of this interview. Throughout their conversation, you hear the sounds of excited theater patrons filling the auditorium before a screening.
Sam Gill’s interest in silent film dates to 1966, when as a college student he traveled to Hollywood to interview his aging heroes from the silent screen comedy era. For more than 20 years, he was Archivist of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science’s Margaret Herrick Library, where he established the Academy’s Special Collections and helped it grow to its current status as the preeminent repository for the study of American cinema. He is currently a Board Member of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum. Over the years, he has consulted on or otherwise contributed his expertise to numerous film festivals, museum film programs and film history books.
Sam recently sent us these delightful photos (below) of himself over the years:
(Image 1) 1966: His first trip to Hollywood
(Image 2) 1974: A news article about a research trip to Florida
(Image 3) 2017: A birthday party for Diana Serra Cary (Baby Peggy), the last surviving star of the silent screen, held at the Edison Theater of the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum; also shown is Rena Kiehn, the museum’s publicity director and store manager
If you’re looking for a specific movie, start with a Google search with the name in quotations (and, if you like, anything else you know about it, such as an actor or director’s name or the year). You may find lots of results, including a Wikipedia page and film history write-ups, but if you want to WATCH it, limit your search results to Video.
You can also turn to free curated collections online, such as:
Netflix.com: Netflix subscribers can access the service’s little-known collection of silent films by entering the Netflix link for browsing its film categories and then the category specific to silent films, 53310:
Your local public library (search catalog: try searching for an actor’s name as author)
Ebay: May be the right place to purchase a hard-to-find title.Click hereto view current results for a search on silent films, filtered to include only movie/film items.
PRODUCTION CREDITS
Lisa Louise Cooke, Host and Producer
Sunny Morton, Editor
Diahan Southard, Your DNA Guide, Content Contributor
Hannah Fullerton, Production Assistant
Lacey Cooke, Service Manager
Disclosure: This document 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 this free podcast and blog!
time, it’s a lucky deal, if I ever saw one!
format means you can put the entire kit on your favorite mobile device. That lets you learn on-the-go and consult your reference library while you’re out researching. Of course you can use these materials on your home computer, too. The choice is yours–and with the limited-time price on this 
Beginning Irish Genealogy: Free Tips and Records
