Roberta Estes

The mitochondrial tree of humanity has been rewritten, connecting all of us more closely than ever before on the new Mitotree. Everyone receives mitochondrial DNA only from their mother, who receives it from her mother, and so forth, all the way back in time to Mitochondrial Eve. Mitochondrial DNA is never admixed with the DNA of the other parent, so you never have to sort out which lines it comes from. We are all leaves on the twigs on the branches of the tree of humankind. The mitochondrial tree had not been updated since 2016, but now, with more than a Million samples to work with, 50 times more than before, the tree structure has been expanded eight-fold by combining samples from academic publications, ancient DNA, public sources and testers at FamilyTreeDNA. The new Mitotree and tools provide information never before available to genealogists about their matrilineal lineages. In addition to the vastly expanded genetic tree, FamilyTreeDNA has rolled out the companion MitoDiscover, a dozen fascinating chapters in your mitochondrial book. As a Million Mito Team member, Roberta will explain the challenges we overcame to create the tree of humanity – and how it’s useful to genealogists. All genealogists can benefit from the results of the Million Mito Project, because everyone has mitochondrial DNA that holds keys to information never before available! Let those brick walls fall!!!

Do you have mystery matches? Would you like to figure out how they are related to you? Which ancestors you share? Here are six ways to do exactly that!

In the first part of Tests, Vendors, Tools and You, we will discuss how and where to start your genealogy and DNA testing. Every testing vendor has different tools to help genealogists. We will learn how to best utilize the resources of each vendor. First, we’ll start out by discussing goals, along with an overview and best features of the four major vendors; 23andMe, Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA and MyHeritage. We will also touch on five third party tools that will be more fully explored in the third session of this series. I’ll introduce the four types of DNA for genetic genealogy, when to use each, and a tried and true methodology to create a genetic pedigree chart. We cover the basics of ethnicity, triangulation, why you’ll want to use a chromosome browser to prove ancestors, and chromosome painting. Ancestry offers a wide variety of genetic genealogy features and tools, and we’ll discuss how to get the most out of your DNA test at Ancestry, including ethnicity, Communities, SideView, matching, shared and parental matches, common ancestors and their flagship tool, ThruLines.

FamilyTreeDNA, the first genetic genealogy testing vendor, beginning in 2000, is also the only vendor that provides Y-DNA (paternal/surname line for males,) mitochondrial DNA (direct maternal line for everyone), autosomal and X-DNA testing and matching. Additionally, they provide ethnicity testing and segment chromosome painting, ethnicity match comparison, a chromosome browser, group projects, time trees, advanced matching across product lines, matches map, family side matching, a match matrix of matches you select, and limited triangulation. We will discuss the added tool of X matching, which is includes with autosomal and has a unique inheritance path, creating additional hints as to common ancestors. We discuss why you want to create a genetic pedigree chart, what you will learn, and how to find information for lines that you can’t test either Y-DNA or mitochondrial DNA for directly. Group projects can be and are extremely helpful. FamilyTreeDNA’s flagship Big Y-700 is the only test of its kind in the industry, provides many tools and integrates with the free Discover tool to provide unique information about your ancestor’s paternal lineages – both individually and through group projects. Lineages can often be defined quite granularly, with branches every few generations. Discover also provides both ancient connections via archaeology digs and notable connections documented through other testers. The Million Mito Project is rewriting the maternal tree of humankind and will have its own MitoDiscover soon.

A lot has changed at 23andMe in the past few months, and we’ll review the differences and their new normal. Their best feature, the genetic tree, provides valuable family associations along with hints, as does their ethnicity segment painting. We’ll learn how to use and optimize both. My Heritage provides many helpful features and tools for genetic genealogists, including ethnicity, Genetic Groups, easy triangulation, segment information, smart matching, location and surname info, along with AutoClusters which clusters your matches into groups. They offer many filters to assist with viewing matches in multiple ways. Their leading edge tool, Theories of Family Relativity, combines DNA matches, trees and records information to create theories about your common ancestors. Next, there’s an overview of third party resources, DNAPainter, GEDmatch, Genetic Affairs, WikiTree, and FamilySearch – when and how you want to utilize each one. We close with how to create your own recipe for success. I share my own tools and methodologies.

Great news! FamilyTreeDNA is now using the MyHeritage tree platform. You can easily transfer your existing FamilyTreeDNA tree, create a new tree, or link to your existing MyHeritage tree. Each option has benefits. A handy decision guide is included in the syllabus. This webinar provides step-by-step instructions on both platforms, plus a problem-solving section, aka, “things I wish I had known…sooner.” We close with a 10-point summary.

What are reasonable testing goals for Y-DNA, and why do we want to take Y-DNA tests anyway? What can we discover when we test, and when we encourage our cousins to test? Where and how do we find those cousin? I’m “collecting” Y-DNA testers from each of my ancestral lines to reveal their history that has been forgotten to time – and to assure my recent genealogy is accurate. Who were my ancestors? Where did they come from? How are they related to other people, including ancient burials and notable people who lived more recently? I’m sharing several fun case studies from my own genealogy. Come join me on my journey as I discover that my ancestor is related to a burial along the old Roman Road in France, who lived there before the Romans, and what that means to me today. I’ll also share with you how I solved an adoption case within a generation with JUST Y-DNA, and how I then used autosomal DNA matches to augment and refine that information. In another case, we learned something VERY interesting!!! Oh, and I almost forgot, another of my ancestors appears to have been a retired Roman soldier in England. My Jewish friend provided that his ancestors settled in Spain and exactly when they migrated to Eastern Europe, and another tester discovered that he and a famous lineage match. Their ancestors are found in the baptismal records of the same church in England, but their common ancestor reaches back to the peoples buried beneath the Saxon tombstones outside. How did we Discover all of this??? Once you adopt Y-DNA testing, you’ll have fascinating success stories of your own too.

Stepping through FamilyTreeDNA's fun new Y DNA Discover tool. It's free and all you need is your haplogroup. View your migration path, see ancient and notable DNA connections along with haplogroup ages.

We will learn step by step, how to utilize mitochondrial DNA testing at Family Tree DNA to get the most out of your results. We'll look at little known methods to obtain information, even if your match doesn't have a tree. We'll talk about using resources such as Geni, WikiTree and others to break down mitochondrial brick walls. Lastly, we'll discuss projects and using mitochondrial DNA in conjunction with autosomal for a slam-dunk.

Utilizing MyHeritage autosomal tools such as SmartMatches, Theories of Family Relativity and Autoclusters, learn how to literally paint your way back in time using DNAPainter to determine which ancestors your DNA came from. A great way to confirm your tree and so much FUN!

Utilizing Y DNA, mitochondrial and autosomal DNA in addition to traditional research, let's find Native ancestors. How to leverage your matches at various vendors, ethnicity, and DNAPainter.

Step by step, how to utilize Y DNA testing at Family Tree DNA to get the most out of your results. We'll look at little known methods to obtain information, even if your match doesn't have a tree. Wonder about the Big Y test? We'll talk about why that's important…

Use autosomal DNA, various tools and techniques, sometimes with a combination of Y and mtDNA, to solve genealogical puzzles. Learn to apply knowledge and tools together to address specific types of problems.

Has concern for privacy prevented you from taking a DNA test? What about sharing your data online with strangers (even though you might be related)? We’ll take inventory of the current privacy and genealogy practices, look to future practices, and offer practical advice for hobbyists as well as professionals.