The basics of DNA testing for genealogists
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By Kitty Munson Cooper
Blogging at blog.kittycooper.com
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3887366/MyHeritageKit.png)
98% shared
DNA with him
99.7% with me
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1372685/MyChimp.jpg)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/kittycooper/images/1054443/Detective.jpg)
are NOT
the same as
personal genome tests
Forensic DNA tests
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1372691/Sky_spectral_karyotype.png)
23 pairs of chromosomes
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1384410/FamilyTree.png)
Three types of personal DNA tests
Y test for father's father's line
mtDNA for mother's mother's line
Autosomal DNA test for all your ancestors
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1384415/YvsX.png)
SNP - Single Nucleotide Polymorphism
a DNA mutation where a single letter chang3s
STRs are short tandem repeats
An extra copy is made of a sequence of DNA
An extra copy is made of a sequence of DNA
An extra copy is made of a sequence of DNA
An extra copy is made of a sequence of DNA
An extra copy is made of a sequence of DNA
2 Types of Y DNA Tests
Deep ancestry - haplogroup
More recent ancestry - surname studies
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/2834196/World_Map_of_Y-DNA_Haplogroups.png)
Y Haplogroups
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/2834196/World_Map_of_Y-DNA_Haplogroups.png)
Y Haplogroups
By Chakazul, via Wikimedia Commons [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1384587/Mitochondria__mammalian_lung_-_TEM.jpg)
Mitochondria under the microscope
Mitochondrial Haplogroups
Mitochondrial Haplogroups
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3221600/AhnentafelHaplogroup_Pedigree_with_X.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1384410/FamilyTree.png)
Three types of DNA tests
Autosomal DNA test looks at the DNA
from ALL your ancestors
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/2834525/SteveMorse.jpg)
Autosomal Inheritance by Steve Morse
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Make a DNA chart from grandparents at https://www.legacytree.com/inheritance
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3887376/genetic-inheritance-chart-legacy-tree-genealogists-002.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1386178/Cousin_tree__with_genetic_kinship_.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1381386/DNArawData.png)
Your autosomal test data
Why Do A DNA Test?
- Am I who I think I am?
- Ancestry Composition, as expected?
- Find some distant cousins
- Break a Genealogical Brick Wall
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1371374/TestingImages.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/2834323/SwitchedAtBirth.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/2834339/BigWords.png)
from Cece Moore's blog at http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2015/02/switched-at-birth-unravelling-century_27.html
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My brother at 23andme.com
My brother at Ancestry.com
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3887343/ShipleyAncestry.png)
My brother at FamilyTreeDNA.com
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3887406/2017myFTDNA___My_Origins.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/2834503/GEDmatch.png)
My brother at GEDmatch.com
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/2834456/ACdnalandShip.png)
My brother at DNA.land
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/kittycooper/images/1053589/JorgenAnnaWold.jpg)
Newly found cousins may have family stories and photos
My 3rd 1R sent me photos of my gg-grandparents
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1440109/FamilyTreeLJM.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1440093/Letter_by_L.J.Munson.png)
http://blog.kittycooper.com/2013/03/we-have-found-our-ancestor-lars-monsen/
Where to test? It depends ...
- 23andme.com
- Ancestry.com
- FamilyTreeDNA.com
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/1371374/TestingImages.png)
http://blog.kittycooper.com/dna-testing/
The Big Three:
New DNA Test Companies
- MyHeritage
- LivingDNA
http://blog.kittycooper.com/other-blogs-and-resources/downloads/
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Ancestry DNA is the easiest to use and it finds how you are related to a match
Ancestry has Genetic Communities
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3887452/DNA_Origins.png)
Family Tree DNA accepts transfers of data from other testing sites
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ftDNA has a Chromosome Browser for Matches
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3576478/KittyAC-23andMe.png)
23andme also has a Chromosome Browser for your admix
and you can download the segment data for your ancestry composition
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3576509/MyHeritageMatches.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3576511/MyHeritageJohn.png)
MyHeritage DNA Cousin Matching
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3887335/KittyMyHeritage.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3887336/ShipMyHeritage.png)
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/3576516/Living_DNA___Ancestry_DNA_Test.png)
Living DNA has a much finer breakdown of ancestral areas in the UK
Health Results: Upload to Promethease.com for $5.00.
For more cousin matches upload to
- GEDmatch.com
- DNA.land
- MyHeritage.com
Also GEDmatch and DNA.land will give you more ancestry composition results
![](https://s3.amazonaws.com/media-p.slid.es/uploads/176516/images/2834456/ACdnalandShip.png)
DNA.land ancestry composition for me and my brother
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DNA Testing Basics
By Kitty Cooper
DNA Testing Basics
How personal genome tests can help a genealogist
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