Genetic genealogy is the use of
genealogical DNA test
A genealogical DNA test is a DNA-based test used in genetic genealogy that looks at specific locations of a person's genome in order to find or verify ancestral genealogical relationships, or (with lower reliability) to estimate the ethnic mixt ...
s, i.e.,
DNA profiling
DNA profiling (also called DNA fingerprinting) is the process of determining an individual's DNA characteristics. DNA analysis intended to identify a species, rather than an individual, is called DNA barcoding.
DNA profiling is a forensic tec ...
and
DNA testing
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
, in combination with traditional
genealogical methods, to infer
genetic relationships between individuals. This application of
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
came to be used by family historians in the 21st century, as DNA tests became affordable. The tests have been promoted by amateur groups, such as
surname study groups or regional genealogical groups, as well as research projects such as the
Genographic Project
The Genographic Project, launched on 13 April 2005 by the National Geographic Society and IBM, was a genetic anthropological study (sales discontinued on 31 May 2019) that aimed to map historical human migrations patterns by collecting and ...
.
As of 2019, about 30 million people had been tested. As the field developed, the aims of practitioners broadened, with many seeking knowledge of their ancestry beyond the recent centuries, for which traditional pedigrees can be constructed.
History
![George Darwin sepia tone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/George_Darwin_sepia_tone.jpg)
The investigation of
surname
In some cultures, a surname, family name, or last name is the portion of one's personal name that indicates one's family, tribe or community.
Practices vary by culture. The family name may be placed at either the start of a person's full name ...
s in genetics can be said to go back to
George Darwin
Sir George Howard Darwin, (9 July 1845 – 7 December 1912) was an English barrister and astronomer, the second son and fifth child of Charles Darwin and Emma Darwin.
Biography
George H. Darwin was born at Down House, Kent, the fifth chil ...
, a son of
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
and Charles' first cousin
Emma Darwin
Emma Darwin (; 2 May 1808 – 2 October 1896) was an English woman who was the wife and first cousin of Charles Darwin. They were married on 29 January 1839 and were the parents of ten children, seven of whom survived to adulthood.
Early lif ...
. In 1875, George Darwin used surnames to estimate the frequency of
first-cousin marriage
A cousin marriage is a marriage where the spouses are cousins (i.e. people with common grandparents or people who share other fairly recent ancestors). The practice was common in earlier times, and continues to be common in some societies toda ...
s and calculated the expected incidence of marriage between people of the same surname (
isonymy). He arrived at a figure of 1.5% for cousin-marriage in the population of London, higher (3%-3.5%) among the upper classes and lower (2.25%) among the general rural population.
Surname studies
A famous study in 1998 examined the lineage of descendants of
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
’s paternal line and male lineage descendants of the freed slave
Sally Hemings
Sarah "Sally" Hemings ( 1773 – 1835) was an enslaved woman with one-quarter African ancestry owned by president of the United States Thomas Jefferson, one of many he inherited from his father-in-law, John Wayles.
Hemings's mother Elizabet ...
.
Bryan Sykes
Bryan Clifford Sykes (9 September 1947 – 10 December 2020) was a British geneticist and science writer who was a Fellow of Wolfson College and Emeritus Professor of human genetics at the University of Oxford.[Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...]
, tested the new methodology in general surname research. His study of the Sykes surname, published in 2000, obtained results by looking at four
STR markers on the male chromosome. It pointed the way to genetics becoming a valuable assistant in the service of
genealogy
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kins ...
and history.
Direct-to-consumer DNA testing
In 2000,
Family Tree DNA
FamilyTreeDNA is a division of Gene by Gene, a commercial genetic testing company based in Houston, Texas. FamilyTreeDNA offers analysis of autosomal DNA, YDNA, Y-DNA, and mitochondrial DNA to individuals for genealogical purpose. With a database ...
was the first company to provide
direct-to-consumer genetic testing
Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
for genealogy research. It initially offered eleven-marker Y-chromosome STR tests and HVR1 mitochondrial DNA tests but not multi-generational genealogy tests.
[ In 2001, GeneTree was acquired by ]Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation
The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF) was an independent DNA and genealogical research institution with the goal of demonstrating how the peoples of the world are related. SMGF collected DNA samples and genealogical information from i ...
(SMGF), which provided free Y-chromosome
The Y chromosome is one of two sex chromosomes (allosomes) in therian mammals, including humans, and many other animals. The other is the X chromosome. Y is normally the sex-determining chromosome in many species, since it is the presence or abse ...
and mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial D ...
(mtDNA) tests. GeneTree later returned to genetic testing in conjunction with its Sorenson parent company until it was acquired by Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
in 2012.
In 2007, 23andMe
23andMe Holding Co. is a publicly held personal genomics and biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, California. It is best known for providing a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service in which customers provide a saliva sample t ...
was the first company to offer saliva
Saliva (commonly referred to as spit) is an extracellular fluid produced and secreted by salivary glands in the mouth. In humans, saliva is around 99% water, plus electrolytes, mucus, white blood cells, epithelial cells (from which DNA can be ...
-based direct-to-consumer testing, and the first to use autosomal DNA for ancestry testing. An autosome
An autosome is any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome. The members of an autosome pair in a diploid cell have the same morphology, unlike those in allosome, allosomal (sex chromosome) pairs, which may have different structures. The DNA in au ...
is one of the 22 chromosomes other than the X or Y chromosomes. They are transmitted from all ancestors in recent generations and so can be used to match with other testers who may be related. Companies were later also able to use this data to estimate how much of each ethnicity a customer has. FamilyTreeDNA entered this market in 2010, followed by AncestryDNA in 2012, and the number of tests grew rapidly. By 2018 autosomal testing had become the predominant type of test, and for many companies the only test they offered.
MyHeritage
MyHeritage is an online genealogy platform with web, mobile, and software products and services, introduced by the Israeli company MyHeritage in 2003. Users of the platform can obtain their family trees, upload and browse through photos, and sear ...
launched its testing service in 2016, allowing users to use cheek swabs to collect samples, and introduced new analysis tools in 2019: autoclusters (grouping matches visually into clusters) and family tree theories (suggesting conceivable relations between DNA matches by combining several MyHeritage trees and the Geni global family tree). Living DNA
Living DNA is a UK-based company that specialises in DNA testing and analysis whose head office is in the UK with facilities in the USA and Denmark. The service is to provide deep ancestry details from all around the world, using a unique proc ...
, founded in 2015, uses SNP chip
In molecular biology, SNP array is a type of DNA microarray which is used to detect polymorphisms within a population. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), a variation at a single site in DNA, is the most frequent type of variation in the geno ...
s to provide reports on autosomal ancestry, Y, and mtDNA ancestry.
By 2019, the combined total of customers at the four largest companies was 26 million. By August 2019, it was reported that about 30 million people had had their DNA tested for genealogical purposes.
GEDmatch said in 2018 that about half of their one million profiles were American. Due to the limited geographical distribution of DNA tests, there is inherent racism in the databases and results. The CEO of 23andME, Anne Wojcicki, said in 2020 that her company is "part of the problem." Experts in genetics and health inequities believe the inherent racism of these DNA analyses can be addressed by building diverse ethnocultural teams and encouraging Black, Indigenous and People of Color to get their DNA tested.
Genetic genealogy revolution
The publication of ''The Seven Daughters of Eve
''The Seven Daughters of Eve'' is a 2001 semi-fictional book by Bryan Sykes that presents the science of human origin in Africa and their dispersion to a general audience. Sykes explains the principles of genetics and human evolution, the parti ...
'' by Sykes in 2001, which described the seven major haplogroup
A haplotype is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent, and a haplogroup (haploid from the el, ἁπλοῦς, ''haploûs'', "onefold, simple" and en, group) is a group of similar haplotypes that share ...
s of European ancestors, helped push personal ancestry testing through DNA tests into wide public notice. With the growing availability and affordability of genealogical DNA testing, genetic genealogy as a field grew rapidly. By 2003, the field of DNA testing of surnames was declared officially to have "arrived" in an article by Jobling and Tyler-Smith in ''Nature Reviews Genetics''. The number of firms offering tests, and the number of consumers ordering them, rose dramatically. In 2018, a paper in ''Science Magazine
''Science'', also widely referred to as ''Science Magazine'', is the peer-reviewed academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and one of the world's top academic journals.
It was first published in 1880, ...
'' estimated that a DNA genealogy search on anybody of European descent would result in a third cousin or closer match 60% of the time.
Genographic Project
The original Genographic Project was a five-year research study launched in 2005 by the National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world.
Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...
and IBM, in partnership with the University of Arizona and Family Tree DNA. Its goals were primarily anthropological. The project announced that by April 2010 it had sold more than 350,000 of its public participation testing kits, which test the general public for either twelve STR markers on the Y chromosome or mutations on the HVR1 region of the mtDNA.
The phase of the project in 2016 was Geno 2.0 Next Generation. As of 2018, almost one-million participants in over 140 countries had joined the project.
Typical customers and interest groups
Genetic genealogy has enabled groups of people to trace their ancestry even though they are not able to use conventional genealogical techniques. This may be because they do not know one or both of their birth parents or because conventional genealogical records have been lost, destroyed or never existed. These groups include adoptees, foundlings, Holocaust survivors, GI babies, child migrants, descendants of children from orphan trains and people with slave ancestry.
The earliest test takers were customers most often those who started with a Y-chromosome test to determine their father's paternal ancestry. These men often took part in surname projects. The first phase of the Genographic Project brought new participants into genetic genealogy. Those who tested were as likely to be interested in direct maternal heritage as their paternal. The number of those taking mtDNA tests increased. The introduction of autosomal SNP tests based on microarray chip technology changed the demographics. Women were as likely as men to test themselves.
Citizen science and ISOGG
Members of the genetic genealogy community have been credited with making useful contributions to knowledge in the field, an example of citizen science
Citizen science (CS) (similar to community science, crowd science, crowd-sourced science, civic science, participatory monitoring, or volunteer monitoring) is scientific research conducted with participation from the public (who are sometimes re ...
.
One of the earliest interest groups to emerge was the International Society of Genetic Genealogy
The International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) is an independent non-commercial nonprofit organization of genetic genealogists run by volunteers. It was founded by a group of surname DNA project administrators in 2005 to promote DNA te ...
(ISOGG). Their stated goal is to promote DNA testing for genealogy. Members advocate the use of genetics in genealogical research and the group facilitates networking among genetic genealogists. Since 2006 ISOGG has maintained the regularly updated ISOGG Y-chromosome phylogenetic tree
A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spec ...
. ISOGG aims to keep the tree as up-to-date as possible, incorporating new SNPs.[ However, the tree has been described by academics as not completely academically verified, phylogenetic trees of Y chromosome haplogroups.][
]
Uses
Direct maternal lineages
mtDNA testing involves sequencing at least part of the mitochondria. The mitochondria is transmitted from mother to child, and so can reveal information about the direct maternal line. When two individuals have matching or near mitochondria, it can be inferred that they share a common maternal-line ancestor at some point in the recent past.
Direct paternal lineages
Y-Chromosome DNA (Y-DNA) testing involves short tandem repeat
A microsatellite is a tract of repetitive DNA in which certain DNA motifs (ranging in length from one to six or more base pairs) are repeated, typically 5–50 times. Microsatellites occur at thousands of locations within an organism's genome
...
(STR) and, sometimes, single nucleotide polymorphism
In genetics, a single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP ; plural SNPs ) is a germline substitution of a single nucleotide at a specific position in the genome. Although certain definitions require the substitution to be present in a sufficiently larg ...
(SNP) testing of the Y-Chromosome, which is present only in males and only reveals information on the strict-paternal line. As with the mitochondria, close matches with individuals indicate a recent common ancestor. Because surnames in many cultures are transmitted down the paternal line, this testing is often used by surname DNA project
A surname DNA project is a genetic genealogy project which uses genealogical DNA tests to trace male lineage.
In most cultures, there are few or no matrilineal surnames, or matrinames, so there are still few or no ''matrilineal'' surname projects ...
s.
Pedigree family trees
Pedigree family tree
A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms.
Representations of ...
s have traditionally been prepared from recollection
Recall in memory refers to the mental process of retrieval of information from the past. Along with encoding and storage, it is one of the three core processes of memory. There are three main types of recall: free recall, cued recall and serial ...
s of individuals about their parent
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...
s and grandparent
Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic gra ...
s. These family trees may be extended if recollections of earlier generations were preserved through oral tradition
Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another. Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (1985 ...
or written documents. Some genealogist
Genealogy () is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinsh ...
s regard oral tradition as myth
Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
s unless confirmed with written documentation like birth certificate
A birth certificate is a vital record that documents the birth of a person. The term "birth certificate" can refer to either the original document certifying the circumstances of the birth or to a certified copy of or representation of the ensuin ...
s, marriage certificate
A marriage certificate (sometimes: marriage lines) is an official statement that two people are married. In most jurisdictions, a marriage certificate is issued by a government official only after the civil registration of the marriage.
In som ...
s, census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
reports, headstone
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. It is traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases, it has the deceased's name, da ...
s, or notes in family bibles. Few written records are kept by illiterate
Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, hum ...
populations, and many documents have been destroyed by warfare
War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular ...
or natural disaster
A natural disaster is "the negative impact following an actual occurrence of natural hazard in the event that it significantly harms a community". A natural disaster can cause loss of life or damage property, and typically leaves some econ ...
s. DNA comparison may offer an alternative means of confirming family relationships of biological parent
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male ...
s, but may be confused by adoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...
or when a mother
]
A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...
conceals the identity of the father
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
of her child.
While mitochondrial and Y-chromosome DNA matching offer the most definitive confirmation of ancestral relationships, the information from a tested individual is relevant to a decreasing fraction of their ancestors from earlier generations. Potential ambiguity
Ambiguity is the type of meaning in which a phrase, statement or resolution is not explicitly defined, making several interpretations plausible. A common aspect of ambiguity is uncertainty. It is thus an attribute of any idea or statement ...
must be considered when seeking confirmation from comparison of autosomal DNA. The first source of ambiguity arises from the underlying similarity of every individual's DNA sequence. Many short gene segments will be identical by coincidental recombination (Identical by State: IBS) rather than inheritance from a single ancestor (Identical by Descent: IBD). Segments of greater length offer increased confidence of a shared ancestor. A second source of ambiguity results from the random distribution
In probability theory and statistics, a probability distribution is the mathematical function that gives the probabilities of occurrence of different possible outcomes for an experiment. It is a mathematical description of a random phenomenon ...
of genes to each child of a parent. Only identical twin
Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...
s inherit exactly the same gene segments. Although a child inherits exactly half of their DNA from each parent, the percentage inherited from any given ancestor in an earlier generation (with the exception of X chromosome DNA) varies within a normal distribution
In statistics, a normal distribution or Gaussian distribution is a type of continuous probability distribution for a real-valued random variable. The general form of its probability density function is
:
f(x) = \frac e^
The parameter \mu ...
around a median
In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...
value of 100% divided by the number of ancestors in that generation. An individual comparing autosomal DNA with ancestors of successively earlier generations will encounter an increasing number of ancestors from whom they inherited no DNA segments of significant length. Since individuals inherit only a small portion of their DNA from each of their great-grandparent
Grandparents, individually known as grandmother and grandfather, are the parents of a person's father or mother – paternal or maternal. Every sexually-reproducing living organism who is not a genetic chimera has a maximum of four genetic gra ...
s, cousin
Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, " ...
s descended from the same ancestor may not inherit the same DNA segments from that ancestor. All descendants of the same parent or grandparent, and nearly all descendants of the same great-grandparent, will share gene segments of significant length; but approximately 10% of 3rd cousins, 55% of 4th cousins, 85% of 5th cousins, and more than 95% of more distant cousins will share no gene segments of significant length. Failure to share a gene segment of significant length does not disprove the shared ancestry of a distant cousin.
The best autosomal DNA method for confirming ancestry is to compare DNA with known relatives. A more complicated task is using a DNA database to identify previously unknown individuals who share DNA with the individual of interest; and then attempting to find shared ancestors with those individuals. The first problem with the latter procedure involves the relatively poor family history knowledge of most database populations. A significant percentage of individuals in many DNA databases have done DNA testing because they are uncertain of their parentage, and many who confidently identify their parents are unable or unwilling to share information about earlier generations. It may be easier to identify a shared ancestor in the fortunate situation of shared DNA between two individuals with comprehensive family trees, but finding multiple shared ancestors raises the question of from which of those ancestors was the shared segment inherited. Resolving that ambiguity typically requires finding a third individual sharing both the ancestor and the gene segment of interest.
Ancestral origins
A common component of many autosomal tests is a prediction of biogeographical origin, often called ethnicity. A company offering the test uses computer algorithms and calculations to make a prediction of what percentage of an individual's DNA comes from particular ancestral groups. A typical number of populations is at least 20. Despite this aspect of the tests being heavily promoted and advertised, many genetic genealogists have warned consumers that the results may be inaccurate, and at best are only approximate.
Modern DNA sequencing
DNA sequencing is the process of determining the nucleic acid sequence – the order of nucleotides in DNA. It includes any method or technology that is used to determine the order of the four bases: adenine, guanine, cytosine, and thymine. Th ...
has identified various ancestral components in contemporary populations. A number of these genetic elements have West Eurasian origins. They include the following ancestral components, with their geographical hubs and main associated populations:
Human migration
Genealogical DNA testing methods have been used on a longer time scale to trace human migratory patterns. For example, they determined when the first humans came to North America and what path they followed.
For several years, researchers and laboratories from around the world sampled indigenous populations from around the globe in an effort to map historical human migration patterns. The National Geographic Society's Genographic Project
The Genographic Project, launched on 13 April 2005 by the National Geographic Society and IBM, was a genetic anthropological study (sales discontinued on 31 May 2019) that aimed to map historical human migrations patterns by collecting and ...
aims to map historical human migration patterns by collecting and analyzing DNA samples from over 100,000 people across five continents. The DNA Clans Genetic Ancestry Analysis measures a person's precise genetic connections to indigenous ethnic groups from around the world.
Law enforcement
Law enforcement may use genetic genealogy to track down perpetrators of violent crimes such as murder or sexual assault and they may also use it to identify deceased individuals. Initially genetic genealogy sites GEDmatch
GEDmatch is an online service to compare autosomal DNA data files from different testing companies. The website gained significant media coverage in April 2018 after it was used by law enforcement to identify a suspect in the Golden State Kille ...
and Family Tree DNA
FamilyTreeDNA is a division of Gene by Gene, a commercial genetic testing company based in Houston, Texas. FamilyTreeDNA offers analysis of autosomal DNA, YDNA, Y-DNA, and mitochondrial DNA to individuals for genealogical purpose. With a database ...
allowed their databases
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spa ...
to be used by law enforcement and DNA technology companies to do DNA testing for violent criminal cases and genetic genealogy research at the request of law enforcement. This investigative, or forensic, genetic genealogy technique became popular after the arrest of the alleged Golden State Killer
Joseph James DeAngelo Jr. (born November 8, 1945) is an American serial killer, sex offender, burglar, and former police officer who committed at least 13 murders, 51 rapes, and 120 burglaries across California between 1974 an ...
in 2018, but has received significant backlash from privacy experts. However, in May 2019 GEDmatch made their privacy rules more restrictive, thereby reducing the incentive for law enforcement agencies to use their site. Other sites such as Ancestry.com
Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.
In November 2018, ...
, 23andMe
23andMe Holding Co. is a publicly held personal genomics and biotechnology company based in South San Francisco, California. It is best known for providing a direct-to-consumer genetic testing service in which customers provide a saliva sample t ...
and MyHeritage
MyHeritage is an online genealogy platform with web, mobile, and software products and services, introduced by the Israeli company MyHeritage in 2003. Users of the platform can obtain their family trees, upload and browse through photos, and sear ...
have data policies that say that they would not allow their customer data to be used for crime solving without a warrant from law enforcement as they believed it violated users' privacy.
See also
*Allele
An allele (, ; ; modern formation from Greek ἄλλος ''állos'', "other") is a variation of the same sequence of nucleotides at the same place on a long DNA molecule, as described in leading textbooks on genetics and evolution.
::"The chro ...
*Allele frequency
Allele frequency, or gene frequency, is the relative frequency of an allele (variant of a gene) at a particular locus in a population, expressed as a fraction or percentage. Specifically, it is the fraction of all chromosomes in the population that ...
*Electropherogram
An electropherogram, or electrophoregram, can also be referred to as an EPG or e-gram. It is a record or chart produced when electrophoresis is used in an analytical technique, primarily in the fields of forensic biology, molecular biology and ...
*Genetic recombination
Genetic recombination (also known as genetic reshuffling) is the exchange of genetic material between different organisms which leads to production of offspring with combinations of traits that differ from those found in either parent. In eukaryo ...
*Haplotype
A haplotype ( haploid genotype) is a group of alleles in an organism that are inherited together from a single parent.
Many organisms contain genetic material ( DNA) which is inherited from two parents. Normally these organisms have their DNA or ...
*Human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup
In human genetics, a human mitochondrial DNA haplogroup is a haplogroup defined by differences in human mitochondrial DNA. Haplogroups are used to represent the major branch points on the mitochondrial phylogenetic tree. Understanding the evolu ...
*Human mitochondrial genetics
Human mitochondrial genetics is the study of the genetics of human mitochondrial DNA (the DNA contained in human mitochondria). The human mitochondrial genome is the entirety of hereditary information contained in human mitochondria. Mitochond ...
*Human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup
In human genetics, a human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup is a haplogroup defined by mutations in the non- recombining portions of DNA from the male-specific Y chromosome (called Y-DNA). Many people within a haplogroup share similar numbers of sh ...
*Most recent common ancestor
In biology and genetic genealogy, the most recent common ancestor (MRCA), also known as the last common ancestor (LCA) or concestor, of a set of organisms is the most recent individual from which all the organisms of the set are descended. The ...
*Non-paternity event
In genetics, a non-paternity event (also known as misattributed paternity, not parent expected, or NPE) is the situation in which someone who is presumed to be an individual's father is not in fact the biological father. This presumption of NPE is ...
*List of Y-chromosome haplogroups in populations of the world
The following articles are lists of human Y-chromosome DNA haplogroups found in populations around the world.
* Y-DNA haplogroups by ethnic group
*Y-DNA haplogroups in populations of Europe
*Y-DNA haplogroups in populations of the Near East
*Y- ...
*Y-STR
A Y-STR is a short tandem repeat (STR) on the Y-chromosome. Y-STRs are often used in forensics, paternity, and genealogical DNA testing.
Y-STRs are taken specifically from the male Y chromosome. These Y-STRs provide a weaker analysis than autosom ...
(Y-chromosome short tandem repeat)
References
Further reading
Books
* ''Early book on adoptions, paternity and other relationship testing. Carmichael is a founder of GeneTree.''
*
*
*
*
*
* ''Survey of major populations.''
*
* ''Out of date but still worth reading.''
* ''Early guide for do-it-yourself genealogists.''
*
* ''Guide to the subject of family medical history and genetic diseases.''
* ''Names the founders of Europe’s major female haplogroups Helena, Jasmine
Jasmine ( taxonomic name: ''Jasminum''; , ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family (Oleaceae). It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are widely cultiva ...
, Katrine, Tara, Velda
Velda is a name given to the hypothetical ancestress of the Cantabrian people and Haplogroup V (mtDNA). She was coined in the book ''The Seven Daughters of Eve'' by Bryan Sykes. Theoretically, based on DNA studies, she lived in the region of t ...
, Xenia, and Ursula.''
*
*
*
* "Highly recommended book for beginners by various professional genetic genealogists and advanced amateur genealogists, and on genetic genealogy Facebook groups".
Documentaries
Journals
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External links
Shared cM Project
– how to determine ones relationship based on Centimorgan (cM) values
{{Genetics
Human population genetics
DNA
Citizen science