AncestryDNA Fathers Day Sale

AncestryDNA is having a Fathers Day Sale ... 20% off (or $79) thru June 18, 2017 ...

More good news: I've joined AncestryDNA's affiliate sales program! So if you purchase your kits using the banner above or the link below I will get a small commission. NOTE: the banner above will go to your AncestryDNA's country of origin so for U.S. customers it is still 20% off of $99 = $79.

You can also purchase your kits using this link: AncestryDNA Father's Day Savings

Thanks so much for your support.

23andMe MtDNA Haplogroup report gets facelift

Just when I was beginning to get thirsty for something, anything, new, upgraded and/or exciting in DTC DNA testing product features, I logged onto my 23andMe account this evening and spotted a "new report" for my Maternal Haplogroup. Did 23andMe finally update its antiquated genomic build for maternal haplogroup assignments?

I liked the old-version format of 23andMe for haplogroups — the haplogroup assignments for all shares were arranged on two separate pages (one for mtDNA and one for Y-DNA); we could conveniently see the haplogroup assignments of our DNA relatives next to their names, and we could easily find 23andMe online forum topics related to our haplogroups. 

This "new" report is yet another 23andMe attempt to reorganize the way our information is displayed  like its other recent offerings (see my "Explore Your DNA Family" blog here). It's much more visually stimulating than the last 23andMe haplogroup report but offers nothing substantive. Essentially a mirage. I'm still thirsty. But take a look anyways:

The next few screenshots show the migration timeline of my maternal haplogroup:

By clicking on the "L1" tab (left) shows another screen of my maternal haplogroup's probable migration route: 

There is another section featuring a historic highlight about how my maternal haplogroup migrated along with the Bantu Expansion: 

The last section shows an illustration explaining the genetics of Maternal Haplgroups (and course you can click on the "Scientific Details" tab at the top of the page to see more information):

By clicking on the tabs to the left reveals two more screenshots: 

Of course I'd much rather 23andMe work on: 

• updating its Ancestry Composition tool and Haplogroup predictions, including the outdated genomic build platforms (23andMe is on Build 7 while Build 17 was released February 2016), and really all DNA companies should be offering full mitochondrial sequence tests only; 
• restoring our ability to see the Chromosome Paintings of people with whom we're sharing;
• implementing an in-house family tree utility; 
• adding an "Ethnicity" segment element to the chromosome browser/mapper tool where customers can see displayed the location, size AND ethnicity(s) of shared DNA segments. 

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23andMe new Explore Your DNA Family coming soon

On or about April 24, 2017, DTC personal genome company 23andMe began advertising yet another "ancestry tool, "Explore Your DNA Family," scheduled to be released in near future. The new announcement is on the  23andMe products/ services page (which you can view here). Currently there's no timetable on the tool's release but it's "Coming Soon" according to 23andMe. New testers will reportedly receive the feature with their results, and I assume the rest of us will be updated shortly thereafter. [See new **UPDATE APRIL 28, 2017 below.]

23andMe's "Explore Your DNA Family" apparently allows customers to see an anonymous list of their genetic relatives (who also tested at 23andMe) plotted on a map of regional origins. According to 23andMe, the tool encourages users to Opt-In to DNA Relatives (the actual list of your genetic matches) to fully explore the ancestry shared with their "genetic family." This new tool has the potential to be extremely helpful for adoptees and those looking to find and/or piece together their biological genealogy.

The only two graphics shown so far are the first (above) and last screen-shots utilized for this blog. I can't really glean anything from them in terms of functionality of the new tool; supposedly there was a blog post but 23andMe allegedly removed it.

At this time it's unclear if "Explore Your DNA Family" will entice 23andMe's customers to join DNA Relatives. It has been problematic wooing them in the past because 23andme's rather cumbersome invitation system requires customers to Opt-In to participate in DNA Relatives; a sizable portion of 23andMe's customers are primarily interested in health, and customers with a strong interest in genetic ancestry rarely take the extra effort to invite relatives to share test results or to contact them for any reason.

Even now with DNA Relative's "Open Sharing" feature — 23andMe testers can automatically see and compare their genetic ancestry reports and overlapping DNA segments with all of their DNA relatives (read more at here) — customers rarely take advantage of it. Perhaps customers participating in Open Sharing will be shown in an  "Explore Your DNA Family" display of matches. [See new **UPDATE APRIL 28, 2017 below.]

Of course I'd much rather 23andMe work on: 

• updating its Ancestry Composition tool and Haplogroup predictions, including the outdated genomic build platforms (23andMe is on build 7 while Build 17 was released February 2016); 
• restoring our ability to see the Chromosome Paintings of people with whom we're sharing;
• implementing an in-house family tree utility; 
• adding an "Ethnicity" segment element to the chromosome browser/mapper tool where customers can see displayed the location, size AND ethnicity(s) of shared DNA segments. ...  For example: bring back or incorporate the outstanding Countries of Ancestry (CoA) tool, but just limit the customer's view to the DNA Relatives with whom they are sharing; previously we could see the CoA's of all our relatives and any 23andMe customer sharing profiles with us. Here's a screen-shot of the now retired CoA tool:

**UPDATE APRIL 28, 2017
From the 23andMe's Forum Moderator: 
Hi everyone,

As some of you have noticed, we’ve released a new report, Your DNA Family, to a small number of customers. Those of you who do not yet have access to this feature will see it under the Reports tab in your account shortly - I’ll post an update once everyone can view their DNA Family report. 

Using Your DNA Family, you can see:
- Where your relatives are located around the world.

- How many of your relatives have ancestry from a particular region. For customers who had results on the old website experience, this is similar information to what was shown in Countries of Ancestry.

- See what traits your relatives are likely to exhibit compared to other 23andMe customers. 

Let's see what the future holds...

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Your AncestryDNA Range Score

Sometimes a grain of salt can turn out to be a granule of sugar. When a lot of you receive your AncestryDNA Ethnicity Estimate results, you instantly take the percentages you see displayed at face value.

Too often this leads to disappointment especially if the percentages of certain a genetic ethnicity or biogeographical region is lower than expected, absent or inconsistent with your test results from other sources. There are even situations where one parent is the sole contributor of a certain ethnicity, but somehow the child's results show a higher amount than the contributing parent!

What if I told you that you were looking at your AncestryDNA Ethnicity Estimate all wrong?

I was actually surprised by the number of AncestryDNA testers who never realized the Ethnicity Estimate percentages they see displayed are NOT set in stone, including some regions for which they received 0% (zero percent). How is this possible?

What you're really "looking at" is an AVERAGE SCORE that was calculated from a broader RANGE SCORE, the latter of which may reveal the presence of ethnicity admixture you thought was missing. In this blog I'm going to discuss AncestryDNA's Ethnicity Estimate:

(1) Average Score;
(2) Range Score;
(3) How the Range Score is Calculated, and for you ethnicity admixture geeks,
(4) Brief Comparison Between My Two AncestryDNA Kits.

For this lesson I will present my two AncestryDNA Ethnicity Estimate results: Kit 1 (2012) and Kit 2 (2014). I will focus on West African (Nigerian), Native American and European Jewish (Ashkenazi) admixture, all of which was previously detected in my genomic data by other DNA companies, third-party utilities, and independent Biogeographical Ancestry analyses.

23andMe FREE African Genetics Project

23andMe blog screenshot 

Dear African Brothers & Sisters,

You're in a pivotal and unique position to help your African-American relatives (including myself) learn about their Motherland roots, and to help understand more about where the descendants of your ancestors branched out in the Americas; a net-net gain. So if you're of recent African descent and currently reside in the United States, I humbly request you consider participating in the 23andMe African Genetics Project. If you qualify (see full eligibility requirements below), then you will receive a FREE 23andMe ancestry & health kit, and much more (value: $199). 

The 23andMe African Genetics Project kicked off October 16, 2016, and is the direct-to-consumer DNA company's continuing efforts to understand genetics of the Africa diaspora. Past efforts have included the African Ancestry Project and Roots Into the Future, which tested 10,000 African-Americans for free. I've actually received most of my genetic African matches(Fula-Guinea, Douala-Cameroon, Igbo-Nigeria, Merina-Madagascar) at 23andMe, but I had to pay ... it was totally worth it. (Read my 23andMe review here.) 

Once you sign up for 23andMe African Genetics Project and meet eligibility requirements — all four grandparents must be born in the same African region or from same ethnic/tribal group within certain countries — and submit your saliva sample, then you will receive ancestry (ie ethnicity composition breakdown, haplogroup assignments) and health reports, as well as a list of real genetic relatives from Africa and abroad. You may also be asked to be included in 23andMe's African reference population panel, which sorely needs more people like you who KNOW their roots. Of course the 23andMe test can help you build your own personal genealogical pedigree, too.

I highly recommend joining 23andMe African Genetics Project. Remember it's FREE of charge. JOIN NOW HERE. 

In order to be eligible, you:

• must reside in the U.S., 
• be 18 years or older,
• have internet access,
• speak and write English fluently,  
• have all four of your grandparents were born in the same African country or come from the same ethnic or tribal group within one of the following countries: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Cote d'Ivore, Liberia, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Sudan and Togo.(NOTE: West African countries such as Nigeria were covered in the first phase of this project.)

23andMe blog screenshot 

Please note that you control your data and all of your information is secure. No blood tests or trips to the testing lab is required; it's a saliva (aka spit) test. Of course you should read the fine print (ie terms of service) and ask questions if you must by contacting 23andMe. I, and many of 23andMe's 1.5 million testers, can vouch that this company is notorious for protecting the privacy of its customers. 

The whole process takes about 20 minutes in total. You will be asked to send in your saliva sample and complete a 15 minute service about your family's origins: 

23andMe blog screenshot 

This is what the start of the survey looks like: 

23andMe blog screenshot 

As you can see below, 23andMe had a number of initiatives geared toward Africans and African-Americans:

23andMe blog screenshot

Don't delay, participate in the 23andMe African Genetics Project TODAY HERE. 

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FTDNA Exciting New Autosomal Transfer Program

FamiltyTreeDNA screen-grab

Genealogical DNA testing is coming full circle now with the great news offered by FamilyTreeDNA. You can now transfer most versions of your 23andMe and AncestryDNA autosomal results (raw data) to FamilyTreeDNA and receive genetic matches for free as well as full access to FamilyTreeDNA's tools for only $19. And finally a FamilyTreeDNA  myOrigins ethnicity admixture update is imminent! 

This is exciting news because customers traditionally testing at one of the other major DTC DNA services (23andMe, AncestryDNA) will now be able to enjoy the sweet fruits of FamilyTreeDNA, which has long been considered the best site for serious genetic genealogists. Collaterally at present FamilyTreeDNA seems to have the lowest amount of African-descended and diaspora DNA testers resulting in a more tepid experience for them, but I expect that to drastically change for the better with this new transfer program. 

I'm going to share with you the email I received on February 16, 2017, from FamilyTreeDNA below (emphasis in bold and additional commentary in red added by me). After you finish indulging I highly recommend you transfer your other test results to FamilyTreeDNA's new Autosomal Program here. Enjoy: 

• Customers can now transfer 23andMe© V4 and AncestryDNA™ V2 files in addition to the 23andMe© V3 and AncestryDNA™ V1 files that FamilyTreeDNA accepted previously. MyHeritage and Genographic transfers will be supported in the coming weeks.
• FamilyTreeDNA still does not accept 23andMe© processed prior to November 2010. A Family Finder test will need to be purchased.
   
• 23andMe© V3 and AncestryDNA™ V1 now receive a full list of matches and the ability to use the Matrix feature FOR FREE. For only $19, the customer can unlock the Chromosome Browser, myOrigins, and ancientOrigins. This is the best value yet. 
• 23andMe© V4 and AncestryDNA™ V2 receive all but the most speculative matches (6th to remote cousins), also for free. After transferring, if the customer wants to receive speculative matches, they will have to submit a sample and have a Family Finder run at the reduced price of $59. NOTE: 23andMe customers who tested after November 2013 are on V4, and AncestryDNA customers who tested after May 2016 are on V2. In my opinion it's very generous of FTDNA to provide all but 6th to remote cousins (that's up to 5th cousins) for respective V4 and V2 customers who don't want to provide a new sample and pay the reduced price of $59 (or $20 off regular Family Finder), and a nice savings for customers who prize those solid distant matches. 
• Matches should take somewhere between one and 24 hours to appear, depending on the volume of tests in the autosomal pipeline.
• myOrigins update will be released in the coming weeks. Until then transfers will include only broad populations. FTDNA previously announced back in November 2015 that a myOrigins update was going to be released first quarter of 2016; see my blog here. Maybe it was a misprint. At any rate this is great news. 
• Additionally, all previously transferred files that have not been unlocked will receive their matches and have access to the Matrix feature for free as long as the release form is signed. These kits will be also be able to unlock the other Family Finder features for $19. If the transfer was on a kit with another product where the release form has already been signed, then the matches will appear with no further action necessary.
• The Autosomal Transfer webpage has been enhanced to include a new image and a FAQ section. The FAQ section is displayed towards the bottom of the page. You should look at the FAQ section first before you flood online forums with questions.

• If a customer tries to transfer the same autosomal file a second time, a message will be displayed that the file is a duplicate and will list the kit number of the original kit. So please don't inundate the FTDNA transfer program with duplicate results. It is far better to test and transfer more family members. 

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23andMe Sweetheart SALE

Yes it's true, genealogical DNA testing company 23andMe is now offering $20 off of kits thru February 14, 2017 Valentines Day --- that $79 for it's ancestry-only service and $179 for ancestry and health service. This is so sweet because 23andMe very rarely goes on sale. You can for order here. 

You can also read my reviews on 23andme here and here. 

Happy Testing!