DNA Information

[garryscotland]

Hi was on chat the other night but would like more info on DNA .
1 what is the best company to go with.
2 how much data do you get back
3 have any of the Rootschat clan had a good experience with the DNA testing.
Will be nice to hear from you

[DavidG02]

Easiest answer is to ask a question

What do you want from your DNA test?

Are you confirming parentage
Do you want to confirm your paper trail
Do you want to find fresh cousins - connections

For me it was a bit of all

There was a parent doubt - dismissed
I wanted to confirm my paper trail - so far so good
I found 2nd/3rd cousins I had played sport with or other hobbies - small town syndrome

Again the best company is what do you seek. Only one company FTDNA ( that I know of) does YDNA testing ie fathers line - Ancestry has the numbers so your connections are larger (but the caveat is I think they data mine a lot of their info from your own input)

I have used both and numbers wise - which helps connections and (semi) confirms paper trail Ancestry is my go to

[Nova67]

I would look at some of the other posts on the DNA forum related to technical issues and/or data breaches with some of the well known DNA testing companies before you make your decision. I would personally recommend Ancestry as the most useful, but you need a broad tree and not just direct ancestors to get maximum benefit.

[Ruskie]

Most people will go with an Ancestry test, but you need an Ancestry subscription in order to see matches trees, though a sub is not essentilal to view your results and matches.

I believe that a lot of people who take this test believe the ads and are just looking for ethnicity percentages, so may not be interested in family history research as such kr making contact with “cousins”. (This has been my experience to date)

If you have Eastern/European ancestry you might get some decent matches with My Heritage as that company seems to be more popular there, though you will get matches from everywhere.

FTDNA are good, but not as popular as Ancestry. They also offer the male and female line tests. See their website for more info.

23and Me have just suffered a data breach. There are some threads about it on rootschat. Apparently it was good but there weren’t very many mentions of it on rootschat, so I don’t know how popular it was with rootschatters.

Ancestry have the largest database. Their continual advertising campaign has definitely worked for them.

You are guaranteed to get matches whoever you test with. I think all or most companies offered regular specials, so you might like to take advantage of one of those when they are next offered. Christmas perhaps.

Good luck.

[Biggles50]

Ancestry have the largest customer database which is expected to be c30M shortly.

23&me are second largest

Mt Heritage have about 50% of Ancestry’s numbers.

OK, Ancestry also has the best DNA Matching, the benefit of using them is that you can download the DNA data and upload it to My Heritage, Gedcom and other sites, you cannot upload to Ancestry.

Hence My Heritage’s lower test cost may seem attractive it is IMO not VFM v Ancestry’s.

To get the best out of any DNA test you need as wide a tree as possible going back to c1750 in all branches.

DO BE AWARE that all your research may come to nothing if you find a very high DNA match that questions that a Direct Genealogical Ancestor who has all the paper trail may not be a Biological Ancestor.

Read the Stickies in this section and buy two books, one by Blair Bettinger, The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy and the other Edited by Graham Holton, Tracing your Ancestors using DNA.  Read Bettinger’s first as it is slightly easier going.

EDIT
We test some six years ago, I now know who my Great Great grandfather was plus I know that there is a Paternal NPE event so that is quite a shock, all my years of research on that line goes out the window.  On the plus side we have over 100 DNA Cousins added to our tree and know a lot more about the various circumstances of the lives of our forebears and their migratory pathways.  Plus having found a Gateway Ancestor we have learned a lot about the trials and tribulations of the family lines.

Hence there are Pros and Cons involved.

Read this thread as a starter to your research.

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=863488.0

[coombs]

Ancestry have the largest customer database which is expected to be c30M shortly.

23&me are second largest

Mt Heritage have about 50% of Ancestry’s numbers.

OK, Ancestry also has the best DNA Matching, the benefit of using them is that you can download the DNA data and upload it to My Heritage, Gedcom and other sites, you cannot upload to Ancestry.

Hence My Heritage’s lower test cost may seem attractive it is IMO not VFM v Ancestry’s.

To get the best out of any DNA test you need as wide a tree as possible going back to c1750 in all branches.

DO BE AWARE that all your research may come to nothing if you find a very high DNA match that questions that a Direct Genealogical Ancestor who has all the paper trail may not be a Biological Ancestor.

Read the Stickies in this section and buy two books, one by Blair Bettinger, The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy and the other Edited by Graham Holton, Tracing your Ancestors using DNA.  Read Bettinger’s first as it is slightly easier going.

EDIT
We test some six years ago, I now know who my Great Great grandfather was plus I know that there is a Paternal NPE event so that is quite a shock, all my years of research on that line goes out the window.  On the plus side we have over 100 DNA Cousins added to our tree and know a lot more about the various circumstances of the lives of our forebears and their migratory pathways.  Plus having found a Gateway Ancestor we have learned a lot about the trials and tribulations of the family lines.

Hence there are Pros and Cons involved.

Read this thread as a starter to your research.

https://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=863488.0

Yes it is a double edged sword, but I have agreed with others on here that it is who raised your ancestors, who played a huge part in your ancestors life.

For instance a woman got pregnant, the father fled or died, another man married her while she was pregnant and bought the child up as theirs. The child had their surname and their ethics and the man who wed the pregnant mother did the hard work raising the child. I would consider them an ancestor, just in every way but DNA. The man would be part of your family tree and family, just not your genealogy. I know the late Guy Etchells said this on several occasions.

[Glen in Tinsel Kni]

Ancestry has the biggest database and is arguably the most portable result as it can be added to more sites but doesn't accept results from others. Another plus is the parent assignment feature but it lacks the chromosome browser option that is available elsewhere.  'DNA Tourists' (those who fall for the marketing and think a DNA test will reveal their ethnicity and ancestry back to Adam and Eve with no effort at all), are a big problem on all the sites.

In the last month I've had 101 matches on Ancestry, only one above 20 cM and I know who they are anyway, the remainder all below 20cM, none have shared matches and only 5 have linked trees. A lack of profile information makes them nigh on useless and as they are so distant there is little point trying to chase any of them up right now. It certainly seems to have become more of an issue since the 'both parent'  scenario emerged recently. On MH I get very few close matches and those who have trees seem to be largely incorrect, as in they are based on family myth and folklore rather than actual research, locations of births and death information in the trees seems far more problematic in MH trees than elsewhere amongst my matches. MH often  insist on predicting relationships through a parent which can be very confusing (and again in my experience), are often inaccurate but I paid a small fee to unlock DNA tools such as the chromosome browser which has allowed me to place some matches to a parent though I can't work out the connection.

Whichever test is taken then exporting the results to other sites is certainly the way to go as it's the only way to find the maximum number of matches and potential links otherwise it's akin to basing traditional research on one type of record and missing out on all the others that are available. 

[Nova67]

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