Old Bones Family Research of New England: Testing Services

29 March 2014

One of the many reasons to share your DNA results

This is the story of David Dyson, a retired teacher, who found a relative he knew very little about and wasn't looking for. Actually, it would be more accurate to say the relative found him.

: An overview of the structure of DNA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I have my DNA posted at a few legitimate DNA testing companies which has certainly shown me hundreds of possible relatives scattered around the world. However, I've had no solid hits.

But this story is quite different from the usual story of finding matches in the growing pool of DNA results. What it does is underscore the importance of DNA technology and how far it has advanced in what seems to be a very short period of time. Here's the link to Kent Online so you can read about David Dyson and his truly long lost relative!

09 October 2013

Hope for Ancestry DNA Testing???

The title of their blog is "Coming Soon - Ancestry DNA is Evolving". So I'll post this for the benefit of those who have paid the piper and came back with far from satisfactory results: Native Americans who are told they are 97% Scandinavian, for example! If I had a nickel for every complaint I've seen....well, you know!!

It seems to me that the first rush of tests that were done at Ancestry produced results based on a very small data base. Eventually, they were able to purchase a large data base from Sorenson Molecular Genetic Genalogy to help them fine tune their analyses. We'll see!

There's a DNA blog which I've recommended before. II have to mention Roberta Estes who, I believe, is one of the premiere experts and writes a very down-to-earth blog called "DNAeXplained-Genetic Genealogy". She has fielded hundreds of the complaints about AncestryDNA and handles them well. She the right one to follow for your own "personal" course in genetic DNA. Most of her blogs are not only informative but they're written in the English that most of us speak (not highly technical "scientist-speak") and always injects a bit of humor.