Living DNA: Your Ancestry

The MyHeritage DNA test pinpoints your origins across more than two thousand geographic regions and top-level ethnic groups. Learn how to explore, analyze, and interpret your results to gain insights about where you come from.

DNA Painter is a popular website for genealogists who want to explore their autosomal DNA test results. Join site creator Jonny Perl for this update on new features for tree visualizations and chromosome mapping, as well as other recent releases and tools.

One of the most important keys to making breakthroughs in genetic genealogy is determining which ancestors you have in common with your DNA Matches. Discover the tools MyHeritage offers that can help you do this and learn how to make the most of them.

Finding an adopted child's biological family is especially challenging for genealogists. This presentation list the steps one can take to identify an unknown parent or grandparent and dissects a successful case to show how good methodology combined with document research and DNA matches can put a decades-old question to rest.

Sometimes when trying to solve family mysteries using DNA, we discover that the best matches on the mystery line also have recent mysteries of their own and the connection between the two lies on their respective mystery lines. It's exciting when there are close DNA matches on a mystery line but, equally, it can be frustrating if those matches also have recent blanks or brick walls and it's tempting to treat these kinds of matches as dead ends. In this presentation, Michelle will outline some extraordinary case studies where multiple mysteries linked together and only by investigating them all could answers ultimately be uncovered. She will demonstrate the best techniques for navigating these tricky situations and provide her top hints and tips for working with interlinked mysteries. Often if you can solve one interlinked mystery, you can solve them all!

According to the genealogical proof standard, part of pursuing thoroughly exhaustive research is seeking the best available evidence to address a research question. In genetic genealogy research problems, the evidence we use is the test results of living descendants of a research subject, and pursuing the best evidence requires targeted testing of those whose DNA is most likely to help address the research question. In this session, learn to identify, prioritize and invite the best testing candidates to address a research question.

When you take an autosomal DNA test, you get a list of people who share DNA with you because you share common ancestors. The Leeds Method uses Shared Matching to create colorful groups of these matches. Each group is likely related to you through one part of your family, and many people get four groups based on their four grandparent lines. This method is based on DNA, not trees, so it is also often effective in cases of unknown parentage. This presentation will help you create a Leeds Method chart, understand your results, and use that chart to learn more about your family tree.

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.

Proving immigrant origins may seem daunting, especially when the family lived hundreds of years ago. This presentation shows how to navigate multiple border crossings, name changes, and cultural challenges and apply DNA techniques to trace a family of Canadian immigrants from town to town. The right combination of documentary evidence and biological evidence, coupled with sound methodology, reveals the origins of this family.