DNA Analysis

RobMc59 wrote: »

Having recently had an ancestry.co.uk DNA test I was slightly confused to receive a revised profile fairly quickly which changed my DNA makeup quite significantly.
As a total novice to the interpretation of DNA,could anyone give me any pointers on how to find out about 'DNA marks'.I saw this on a tv programme which traced people's ancestry,the programme was sponsored by 'ancestry'?

Part of reason for changes is due to better size reference sample. So for example I see:


Jan 2015: 3,000+ reference samples

August 2018: 16,000+ reference samples, 500+ possible regions

August 2019: 40,000+ reference samples, 1,000+ possible regions

Basically their calculators are only as good as the reference samples put into them. Over time one would expect more accurate results as more people in a particular region test. However you will have some people from lesser tested regions who might get very generic results still.

For example they only have 14 regions for asia! (19 if you include west asia)

Africa (108 Regions)
America (86 Regions)
Asia (14 Regions)
Europe (810 Regions)
Pacific Islander (6 Regions)
West Asia (5 Regions)

My other half got 89% for the Philippines and 2% for 'Korea & Northern China' (ironic given her Netflix viewing habits!). In their current iteration they split her European component as been 4% Spanish and 5% England, Wales & Northwestern Europe. (they also had a <1% connection to Nigeria)

Of course in her case we know that one of her Great-Grandfathers was Spanish.

23andme in comparison seems to have more sample Asian populations. They put a potential Chinese input at about 2.2% with potential links to Guangdong and Fuijan. Which would make sense as these are directly north of the Philippines across the South China sea.

They also split the Philippines into at least 10 regions where she shows potential connections. Unsurprising the region with highest probability that they predict is where she is actually from.

Hermy wrote: »

Quick question.

Can I download y-DNA results from FT-DNA with a view to uploading them to GEDmatch?

All I can find is a link to download a spreadsheet from FT-DNA but I don't think that's what's required.

GEDmatch doesn't accept y-DNA, only autosomal.

If you've done the Big Y, you can upload your Y-DNA results to YFull but that cost $49.

Hermy wrote: »

I'm probably confusing surname projects with GEDmatch.

Thanks for the replies.

Generally when it comes to projects in FTDNA all you need to do is login into your FTDNA account and browse to project page, you can then usually do a join request.

Hermy wrote: »

Cheers Dubh.

I've done that for an in-law whose test I'm helping him with.

In the case of that in-laws test, when I click Join A Project there are eight Matching Projects listed.
Do you happen to know what is the criteria upon which this list is based?

Are they the only projects genetically relevant to my in-law or is it rather that some of his matches are also members of these projects?

It's long time since I've join a project personally (8-10 years?) but I imagine you might be getting a list based on ancestral surnames (if you inputed them) or geography?

Obviously you can search for any project and hit join, depending on the project there might be automatic join process or ye'll have to wait for an admin to review application etc.

Cragaun wrote: »

I did a DNA test on ancestry a couple of years back. Some close matches who could perhaps help tie out a project I am working with a few others have not logged in to ancestry in a year plus.

I have sent a message on ancestry including my email contact address. Does anyone know if the message will reach their email if they no longer have an active sub on ancestry?

I still get email notifications about messages I receive on ancestry, even without an active subscription.

Im not sure if this setting can be changed but my guess is that it's possible!

I have a similar situation to you as well, it can be quite frustrating not getting replies, especially when the match appears really close and could be a great help in solving a few brick walls!

pinkypinky wrote: »

I have not received messages in the past when I had no subscription but like Kanadams123, I've heard others say they have.

What I do know is that Ancestry is rolling out a new much improved messaging system. It's launched in the USA so we should have it soon. This new systems looks more modern, with conversation threads and it shows you when the message was read. Search facilities will be much better too.

Interesting about the search options. I missed two children on the baptism record who are core to this search on baptism rrecords on ancestry but a friend found them on roots.

Yes, you can receive messages without a subscription on AncestryDNA. You can also initiate messsages with DNA matches without a subscription. I get notified of new messages by email but there may be a way to turn it off.

Hermy wrote: »

My y-DNA results have just come back and I have no matches.

Obviously not what I was hoping for but is there anything I can infer from this?

That is very odd. Most Irish people seem to get lots of matches at Y-12. What is your predicted haplogroup? R-M269 would be most common for Irish people. My dad has 737 Y-25 matches and, if I remember correctly when I last checked, about 15,000 Y-12 matches. However, at the moment, I get the message:

12 MARKERS - 0 - MATCHES
Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Are you getting this message by any chance? If you are, you might have lots of Y-12 matches if you check later. Unfortunately, they won't be much help either way. My dad is lucky enough to have lots of surname matches but I'd be amazed at someone having no Y-12 matches.

Edit: My dad's Y-12 matches loaded correctly. It might have been because I was trying to do it on my phone. He has 18,331 Y-12 matches.