MyHeritage’s New Health+Ancestry DNA Kit

by | May 20, 2019 | 01 What's New, DNA, MyHeritage

New on the DNA Front: The new MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry test is now available and provides comprehensive health reports for conditions affected by genetics including heart disease, breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. Plus you’ll still get the genealogy tools for matching and discovering common ancestors. Read on to learn more about what health data is provided, how to order, the privacy policy, and more. Also keep in mind that DNA and health testing are a personal responsibility and decision, and the information provided below is for informational purposes only. 

MyHeritage Expands to Health

From the MyHeritage press release: Tel Aviv, Israel & Lehi, Utah — MyHeritage, the leading global service for family history and DNA testing, announced today a major expansion of its DNA product line with the launch of the MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry test. The test provides a new dimension of genetic insight with comprehensive health reports that can empower future health and lifestyle choices. It is a superset of the current MyHeritage DNA Ancestry-Only test, and includes its pillar features: a percentage breakdown of ethnic origins and matching to relatives through shared DNA. MyHeritage is now the only global consumer DNA company to offer an extensive health and ancestry product in over 40 languages.

new myheritage dna health ancestry testnew myheritage dna health ancestry test

The launch of the Health + Ancestry product distinguishes MyHeritage as the only major service that bridges consumers’ past, present, and future: MyHeritage’s integrated suite of products enable users to discover their family history and ethnic origins, find new relatives, and receive valuable insights to help manage choices regarding their health that may impact their future well-being.
“Our Health + Ancestry test is the next step in the evolution of MyHeritage. After 16 years of changing lives for the better through family history research and genetic genealogy, we are excited to expand our mission and try to improve and save lives as well. Our vision is to integrate our successful family history technologies with the new health product in innovative ways that bridge heritage and heredity to deliver deeper insights for our users,” said Gilad Japhet, founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “We are proud to be part of a movement to democratize healthcare globally and make genetic testing accessible to millions of people, and allow them to discover what makes them unique.”

What Health Data is Included?

According to the company, The MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry test provides health reports that show users their risk of developing or carrying genetic conditions. Reports include conditions where specific genes contribute to the risk, such as hereditary breast cancer, late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, and late-onset Parkinson’s disease; conditions associated with multiple genes, such as heart disease, and type 2 diabetes; and carrier status reports on conditions that can be passed down from a couple to their children, such as Tay-Sachs disease and cystic fibrosis.

In total, MyHeritage’s Health + Ancestry test covers one of the most extensive ranges of conditions offered by an at-home DNA test: 11 Genetic Risk Reports, including a hereditary breast cancer (BRCA) report that tests 10 pathogenic variants; 3 Polygenic Risk Reports; and 15 Carrier Status Reports.

Taking the Test

MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry is a Laboratory Developed Test, processed in a CLIA certified and CAP accredited DNA lab in Texas. The at-home DNA test is an easy and painless cheek swab, and does not require spitting as some other tests do, which makes it more suitable and convenient for all populations, including older people.

Health reports only determine users’ genetic risk for the supported conditions. However, all users are required to complete a personal and family health history questionnaire, to ensure that each user receives the reports appropriate for them. MyHeritage works with PWNHealth, an independent physician network and genetic counseling service, to provide end-to-end physician oversight of the MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry test for all U.S. customers, which includes genetic counseling, if appropriate. PWNHealth’s physician oversight and genetic counseling fee is included in the total price.

 

Your Health Data is Private

Privacy is strictly enforced. All health data is protected by state-of-the-art encryption. Health report data is secured using additional password protection and is so secure that even MyHeritage employees cannot access it. MyHeritage has never licensed or sold user data, and has committed to never do so without obtaining explicit user consent. MyHeritage is the only consumer DNA company that has pledged to never sell data to insurance companies. It also applies a strict policy to prohibit use of its DNA services by law enforcement agencies.

Pricing & Ordering

MyHeritage Health KitThe MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry kit is available at the price of $199 + shipping. Users who have already purchased a MyHeritage DNA test for ethnicity and genealogy matching can upgrade to receive health reports for $120. To order, visit the MyHeritage DNA website. An annual Health subscription is available as an optional add-on to the new DNA kit, which grants users access to new health reports as they are released. As a special benefit for the launch, the Health subscription is currently offered for free for the first twelve months and users can cancel it anytime.

Disclaimer

The new health product is not intended to independently diagnose, prevent, or treat any disease or condition or tell users anything about their current state of health in the absence of medical and clinical information.

The product is also not intended for making medical decisions, including prescription or dosing of medications. Users may need to obtain further services from their physician, a genetic counselor, or other healthcare provider, in order to obtain diagnostic results regarding the conditions or diseases indicated within the MyHeritage DNA health reports.

The health reports provide genetic risk information based on assessment of specific genetic variants but do not report on users’ entire genetic profile. The health reports do not detect all genetic variants related to a given disease, and the absence of a variant tested does not rule out the presence of other genetic variants that may be related to the disease.

For most diseases, currently known genes are only responsible for a portion of the overall risk. Other factors such as environment and lifestyle may affect the risk of developing a given disease and, depending on the condition, may be more relevant predictors.

If a user’s data indicate that the user is not at elevated genetic risk for a disease or condition, this should not be interpreted as meaning that the user is safe from developing the disease or condition. The opposite is also true; if a user’s data indicates that the user is at an elevated genetic risk for a disease or condition, it does not mean that the user will definitively develop the disease or condition. Any findings within the health reports should be confirmed and supplemented by additional medical and clinical testing as recommended by the user’s healthcare provider.

MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry is available globally except in a few countries that do not allow health-related consumer genetic testing. In the USA, it is available in all states except New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island, where separate laboratory certifications are required and are currently being pursued. Altogether, MyHeritage DNA Health + Ancestry is now the genetic test for health available in the greatest number of languages and with the widest global reach.

MyHeritage Ltd.,
P.O.Box 50, 3 Ariel Sharon St.,
Or Yehuda, Israel

Disclosure: This article is a press release provided by MyHeritage. It is intended for informational purposes, and not intended as a promotion of DNA health tests. This article does contain affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). 

Adoption DNA Match Strategy: Combine DNA Test Types

by | Apr 5, 2019 | 01 What's New, Adoption, DNA | 7 comments

Combining DNA test types can give you a better picture of your overall genealogical relationship to someone else. DNA expert Diahan Southard shares an example from her family about how she used different DNA tests to solve an adoption mystery.

Combine your autosomal test results with the results of your mitochondrial DNA or YDNA test to make some amazing connections today!

My family recently visited the Jelly Belly Factory in northern California. Of course, at the end of the tour, they funneled us into their gift shop where we felt compelled to buy jelly beans and other sundry treats.

My favorite part of the big box we bought were the recipes on the side. We could turn the already delicious variety of flavors into even more pallet-pleasing options by eating specific combinations of jelly beans at the same time. Like 2 green apply jelly beans + 1 cinnamon jelly bean = apple pie. Who knew!

Naturally, this got me thinking about DNA.

Combining DNA Test Types

Specifically, I was thinking about the power of combining multiple test types to get a better picture of our overall genealogical relationship to someone else.

If you recall, there are three kinds of DNA tests available for genealogists:

  • Autosomal DNA
  • Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA)
  • Y chromosome DNA (YDNA)

Much of the focus these days is on how to use the autosomal DNA in our family history research. This may be because the autosomal DNA covers both sides of your family tree, so it is seen as a catchall for our family history. While it is a very powerful tool for our research, it can also be a bit overwhelming to try to determine how you are related to someone else.

Let’s look at an example from my own family history.

My mom took an autosomal DNA test at 23andMe and matched with Tom. Their predicted genealogical relationship, based on how much DNA they shared, was second cousins.

To begin to understand how they are related, we need to understand which ancestor could be shared by people who are genetic second cousins. To figure it out, you can count backward like this: people who share parents are siblings, sharing grandparents makes you first cousins, and sharing great-grandparents makes you second cousins.

So, if my mom and Tom are true second cousins (meaning there aren’t any of those once-removed situations going on, but that’s a subject for another time), then we should be able to find their common ancestor among their great-grandparents.

Each of us has eight great-grandparents. Because we can’t usually narrow down shared DNA to a single person, but rather to an ancestral couple, we are really just looking at four possible ancestral couple connections between my mom and Tom.

My mom doesn’t have any known ancestors, as she was adopted, so we can only evaluate Tom’s line. Tom was kind enough to share his pedigree chart with us, and he had all four of his couples listed. But how do we know which one is the shared couple with my mom?

Narrowing Down the Results

Now, for those of you without an adoption, you will have some other clues to help you figure out which of the four (or eight, if you are looking at a third cousin, or 16 if you are looking at a fourth cousin) ancestral couples is shared between you and your match. Start by looking for shared surnames.

If that comes up short, evaluate each couple by location. If you see an ancestral couple who is in a similar location to your line, then that couple becomes your most likely connecting point.

What then? Do genealogy! Find out everything you can about that couple and their descendants to see if you can connect that line to your own.

However, in my mom’s case, we didn’t have any surnames or locations to narrow down which ancestral couple was the connection point between our line and Tom’s. But even if we had locations, that may not have helped as Tom is very homogenous. All of his ancestors were from the same place!

But, we did have one very important clue: the mitochondrial DNA. Remember mtDNA traces a direct maternal line. So my mom’s mtDNA is the same as her mom’s, which is the same as her mom’s etc.

At 23andMe they don’t test the full mitochondrial DNA sequence (FMS) like they do at Family Tree DNA. For family history purposes, you really want the FMS to help you narrow down your maternal line connection to others. But 23andMe does provide your haplogroup, otherwise known as your deep ancestral group. These groups are named with a letter/number combination. My mom is W1 and we noticed that Tom is also W1.

This meant that my mom and Tom share a direct maternal line – or put another way, Tom’s mother’s mother’s mother was the same as my mom’s mother’s mother’s mother. That means there is only one couple out of the four possible couples that could connect my mom to Tom: his direct maternal line ancestor Marianna Huck, and her husband Michael Wetzstien.

Now you can only perform this wondrous feat if you and your match have both tested at 23andMe, or have both taken the mtDNA test at Family Tree DNA.

Just as a Popcorn Jelly Belly plus two Blueberry Jelly Bellies makes a blueberry muffin, combining your autosomal DNA test results with your mtDNA test results (or YDNA for that matter) can yield some interesting connections that just might break down that family history brick wall.

Get your mtDNA and YDNA tested at Family Tree DNA

If you are considering testing your YDNA and/or your mtDNA, then Family Tree DNA is the place for you!

Even if you aren’t trying to solve an adoption mystery, you can utilize these additional tests to break down other brick walls in your genealogical research and learn more about your heritage. You can take their Family Finder autosomal test, YDNA, or Mitochondrial (mtDNA) full sequence test. Click here to shop now!

About the Author: Diahan Southard 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!

This article was originally published on April 17, 2017 and updated on April 5, 2019.

“Results May Vary:” One Family’s DNA Ethnicity Percentages

by | Mar 30, 2019 | 01 What's New, Ancestry, DNA

Four members of a family–mom, dad, daughter, and son–tested with AncestryDNA. Their DNA ethnicity percentages vary. Why?

If you’ve taken a DNA test and received different ethnicity results than you expected and different from your family members, DNA expert Diahan Southard is here to explain why that happens. 

There are limitations to the ethnicity results delivered by the various DNA testing companies.

For the most part, these admixture results are like that short film before the actual feature presentation. That feature presentation, in this case, is your genealogical match list. But, the short film is entertaining and certainly keeps your attention for a while. It can be especially interesting when you have several members of the same family tested so you can compare their ethnicity results.

Understanding Ethnicity Variance Within Immediate Families

Let’s consider the real AncestryDNA test results of a family we’ll call the “Reese family:”

The Reese family has something to their great advantage: their family history indicates that they are mostly from Western Europe. This is a big advantage in the climate of today’s ethnicity results as all of the testing companies have far more data in their reference populations pouring out of western Europe than from anywhere else. (See this article for more information and the latest data on DNA reference populations on each testing company.) That means that in general, they are going to be better at telling you about your heritage from Ireland or England than they are at discovering that you are from China or India.

Looking at the ethnicity results for the Reese family, we are tempted to start applying our knowledge of DNA inheritance to the numbers we see. We know that each child should get half of their DNA from their mom and half from their dad. So our initial reaction might be to look at the dad’s 40% Scandinavian and mom’s 39% Scandinavian and assume that the child would also be about 40% (20% from dad and 20% from mom).

You can see that the daughter did, in fact, mostly measure up to that expectation with 37% Scandinavian. But the son, with only 25%, seems to have fallen short. The temptation to consider the daughter as the far better example of familial inheritance is strong (especially for us daughters, who are so often exceeding expectations!), but of course inaccurate. It is actually very difficult to look at the parent’s numbers alone and estimate the percentages that a child will receive.

A Snippet about SNPs (snips)

Remember that these numbers are tied to actual small pieces of DNA we call SNPs (snips).

Of the near 800,000 SNPs evaluated by your testing company, less than half of them are considered valuable for determining your ethnicity.

The majority of the SNPs tested are working to estimate how closely you are related to your genealogical cousin.

A good SNP for ethnicity purposes has to be ubiquitous enough to show up in many individuals from a given population, but unique enough to only show up in that population, and not any others.

It is a difficult balance to strike. But even when good SNPs are used, it is still difficult for the computer at your testing company to make accurate determinations about your ancestry.

New to using DNA for genealogy? Watch: 
(Click on player to unmute sound)

Take the Great Britain line in the Reese family data, for example. The dad has 21% and the mom has 7%, so it would follow that the largest amount any child could have would be 28%. We see the daughter (of course!) falling well within that range at 10%, but the son is seven points above at 35%. How does THAT happen?!

Let’s go back to some basic biology.

Remember that you have two copies of each chromosome: one from mom and one from dad. These chromosomes are made up of strings of letters denoting the DNA code. That means that at each SNP location, you report two letters (again, one from mom and one from dad).

As the testing company is lining these letters up for comparison, they have to decide which letters go together: which are from the same chromosome and which set came from one single source.

Understanding Phasing

The process of determining which set of values goes on which line is called phasing. Often the inconsistencies you see in your DNA test results, whether it be in the matching or in the ethnicity, are because of problems the company has with this very difficult process.

To illustrate how this works, let’s say we are trying to write two sentences: “The brown dog ate the bone.” and “A black cat scared a mouse.”

In this example, each word in each sentence represents a SNP. However, all the computer sees are two words, and it doesn’t know which word goes in which sentence. You can see in this example that it would be fairly easy to get it wrong. Mixing up a couple of words creates entirely new sentences with very different meanings, as shown in the examples below.

Phasing correct:

Phasing incorrect:

It’s important to understand that ethnicity results can, and will, vary among family members as well as different DNA testing companies for the reasons outlined above.

It can certainly be fun to compare what each family member received, but take it with a grain of salt. As you can see, a lot of genetic data is quickly lost over time.

In the Reese family example, we see that in one single generation this family has lost all traces of ancestry to several world regions. This really highlights the value of having the oldest generation of family members tested, to try to capture all that they have to offer in their DNA code.

Get more DNA help and plain-English explanations

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by DNA testing or struggling to make sense of the complex scientific data, our quick reference guides are exactly what you need!

Author and DNA expert Diahan Southard’s collection of DNA guides offer explanations in plain-English, helpful examples and graphics, and practical genealogical applications so you can make the most of your DNA results. Head over to the Genealogy Gems Store to browse our 10 DNA guides available in both print and digital download. 

About the Author: Diahan Southard 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!

This article was originally published on February 28, 2016 and updated on March 30, 2019. 

New MyHeritage DNA Feature: Shared Ancestral Places

by | Nov 17, 2018 | 01 What's New, DNA, MyHeritage | 1 comment

A brand new DNA test feature has just been launched at MyHeritage: the display of Shared Ancestral Places. This intriguing feature will arm you with more information to identify common ancestors and unlock mysteries in your family tree. Learn more about using this new tool and applying it to your DNA brick walls. 

Shared Ancestral Places

DNA Matching is the core of any genetic genealogy testing service. But sometimes matches leave you with more questions than answers, or simply don’t have enough information for further investigation. MyHeritage DNA is tackling that very problem with their brand new feature: Shared Ancestral Places.

From their recent announcement, “When you review a DNA Match, it’s not always clear how the match is related to you and who your common ancestor may be. Up until now, you may have been able to figure out how your DNA Matches are related to you by looking at the family trees of your matches, the Shared Ancestral Surnames, or Smart Matches™ that exist between your trees. As of this week, if you and a DNA Match have a Shared Ancestral Place, you will be armed with more information to investigate the match further. You may be able to determine which common ancestor you and your match share from whom you both inherited the same DNA segments.”

What are Shared Ancestral Places?

As described by MyHeritage, “Shared Ancestral Places refer to towns, countries, or U.S. states that appear in your family tree as well as in the family trees of your DNA Matches, where birth or death events of your ancestors (and those of your DNA Matches’ ancestors) took place. These places are identified going back up to 10 generations and can play a vital role in family history research.”

When you receive a match and it is unclear what common ancestor you share, having a Shared Ancestral Place can be a wonderful clue that you are indeed related. Having shared origins, whether in a large city or small village, provides evidence of connection and can aid you in pursuing your match further.

Accessing Shared Ancestral Places

To see your Shared Ancestral Places with any of your DNA matches (when they exist), head to your DNA Matches page. To view extended information about any of the common ancestral places, move the mouse over it. A tooltip will open with additional details. There you’ll see how many Shared Ancestral Places you have in common with this DNA Match.

Image from MyHeritage DNA

Click on the Review DNA Match button to see more detailed information about your match. If you and your match have Shared Ancestral Places, this section will show the Ancestral Places you have in common. The map will have pins indicating the cities in which the events took place and below the map, all events in that location from your family tree will be listed side by side with your match’s family tree events. Light gray pins on the map portray events in your family tree, dark gray pins show events in the tree of your DNA Match, and purple pins are used to denote shared places where there are events in both trees that occurred in that specific place.

Image from MyHeritage

Filtering Shared Ancestral Places

Filtering your matches is an indespensible tool, and now at MyHeritage, you can filter your results to show Shared Ancestral Places. Simply use the first entry on the Filter toolbar, which is Tree details, and select “Has shared place.” Isolating the DNA Matches that have Shared Ancestral Places may allow you to figure out how they are related to you.

Image from MyHeritage

This filter can be combined with other multiple filters, to filter matches by additional criteria, and it can also be combined with sorting and search options.

Cost

According to MyHeritage: “Some sections on the Review Match page, such as the new Shared Ancestral Places feature, require a family site subscription to view them in their entirety. Users with a Premium, PremiumPlus, or Complete subscription will have full access to all sections on the Review Match page, while Basic users will have a partial view of some advanced features. Learn more about our subscription plans here.”

Get started with MyHeritage DNA

To take advantage of the Shared Ancestral Places feature, as well as MyHeritage’s robust offering of matches and analysis, pick up a MyHeritage DNA test. They offer one of the most competitive prices on the market, and their powerful matching algorithms can unlock mysteries in your family tree. If you’ve already tested with another testing company, you can also upload your results to MyHeritage! It’s currently a free service, but only for a limited time. So get your results in now to be grandfathered in and receive access to their amazing tools.
Lacey Cooke

Lacey Cooke

Lacey has been working with Genealogy Gems since the company’s inception in 2007. Now, as the full-time manager of Genealogy Gems, she creates the free weekly newsletter, writes blogs, coordinates live events, and collaborates on new product development. No stranger to working with dead people, Lacey holds a degree in Forensic Anthropology, and is passionate about criminal justice and investigative techniques. She is the proud dog mom of Renly the corgi.

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!

Improvements to MyHeritage DNA

by | Aug 15, 2018 | 01 What's New, DNA, MyHeritage | 3 comments

improvements at myheritage DNAYou’ve taken your DNA test for genealogy and anxiously waited for your results. When they arrive, you dive into the ethnicity pie chart. Then matches start rolling in and it can become a little overwhelming to make sense of it all and the benefit it can provide to your genealogy.

Thankfully the DNA testing companies are not only focused on advances in testing, but also in creating tools that make it easier for you to interpret and use your results.

MyHeritage DNA continues to release improvements to their DNA product that are meant to both enhance our experience with their website and make it easier to do our genetic genealogy work. You’ll also find an improved presentation of your genetic information that makes it easier to share with your relatives.

The MyHeritage DNA Overview Tab

Just recently MyHeritage DNA announced the addition of new filters for their match page and a bit of a redesign. The small redesign includes moving the ethnicity estimate into a tab right next to the DNA matches tab, as well as adding an Overview tab.

For any relatives who you have convinced to test, but who only show a passing interest in the actual genetic genealogy research, this Overview tab is a great way to show them their results without overwhelming them. There is a simple rundown of the ethnicity results, and then matches are broken up by relationship level and location.

MyHeritage DNA Overview tab

 

The MyHeritage DNA Location Feature

It is this location feature that will most interest the casual investigator, as well as the serious researcher. This filter lets you see the current location (note: NOT the birth location, though according to the MyHeritage blog post they plan to add birth location in a future update) of your DNA matches. Now, of course, this isn’t an active GPS that is spying on your match, but this tool relies on the location that your match has listed as their location in their MyHeritage account.

MyHeritage DNA Location

First, it is interesting just to scroll through all of the listed countries and see the variety of locations where your DNA is currently residing. Just think about that for a second: If you are DNA matching with someone in Germany, that means that you are sharing some exact pieces of DNA with someone in Germany and a little bit of you is actually there. This can make for a fascinating exercise when you compare this list of match locations to the locations listed in your ethnicity results. Remember that your ethnicity results can represent your ancestral locations recently, or a very long time ago. So if you see locations on your match list that also appear in your ethnicity results, this might be a good indication that the overlapping location might actually belong in your genealogy. Or the absence of overlap might help you weed out those ethnicities that were thousands of years ago. For example, if you see that your ethnicity results list you as 2% Greek, but you don’t have any DNA matches in Greece, this could mean that your connection to this location is before genealogical time. Of course, it could also mean that the right people from Greece haven’t tested yet, so don’t get too caught up in these deductions.

“If you are DNA matching with someone in Germany,
that means that you are sharing some exact pieces of DNA with someone in Germany
and a little bit of you, is actually there.”

MyHeritage DNA Ethnicities

The last section in the Overview, and the last filter for your match list, shows you how many of your matches are reporting at least 10% of various ethnicities. This might be helpful if you are working your Irish lines, as you can click on Irish, Scottish, and Welsh and see all of your DNA matches who report at least 10% in the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh category.

Combining MyHeritage DNA Filters

Another powerful way to use the filters at MyHeritage is to combine them. On the main match page, you can click on two different filters to further refine your results. So perhaps if you are looking for your Irish ancestor, you might click on the Irish location filter, and then also on the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh ethnicity filter. This will give you all your matches who currently live in Ireland, and who score at least 10% in the Irish, Scottish, and Welsh category.

Of course, the matches that show up after all the filtering aren’t necessarily worth your time or attention. Begin by taking a quick look at how much shared DNA you have. You will want to be sure that you share at least 20 cM before you go spending too much time scouring their pedigree charts for evidence of a shared ancestor.

Likely these filters will continue to improve over time. One thing I would like to see is the ability to use the relationship filter to isolate third cousins, instead of always lumping them with the distant cousins. Most of us don’t have very mysteries in the Extended Family (1st cousins once removed – 2nd cousins once removed) category, so I personally don’t find this filter to be very useful. I would like to see them allow us to filter our best third and fourth cousins out from the rest of our distant matches. Hopefully, MyHeritage can make some refinements in those categories, and thereby make their powerful idea of a two-pronged filter even more effective.

Stay tuned to the Genealogy Gems blog where you will hear updates about MyHeritage DNA (and other DNA testing companies) as they are announced. If you want help in getting more from your DNA test results and using the powerful tools at MyHeritage, my new quick reference guide MyHeritage DNA is available alone or bundled with other DNA resources at the Genealogy Gems store here.  Premium eLearning Members can watch the Premium Video Get the Most our of MyHeritage DNA (and download the exclusive handout!) in the Premium Video section here at Genealogy Gems (subscription and sign in required).

What’s your experience using these tools at MyHeritage DNA? Please join the conversation and leave a comment below.

About the Author: Diahan Southard 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!

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