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Totally new feature in autosomal dna released today...

Re: Totally new feature in autosomal dna released today...

Posted: 10 Apr 2015 1:40PM GMT
Classification: Query
They using chromosome data in a complicated way..there are several papers that explain their methology in the help section found by clicking thru help on your circle page..you can only get to these help pages thru circle pages. Yesterday they also posted a further explanation on their blog page that emphasizes these are clues, not proof, to relationships. If they had used those words when this was released last week, there would have been less negative reaction.

With that understanding, I am starting to come full circle (snicker) on these discovery things and circles...they can (stress "can") provide clues to help your research. They aren't providing a chromosome browser to their customers like FTDNA or 23&me or gedmatch, but they are using a chromosome driven analysis behind their curtain...if you take the results as clues, they may in useful in some cases..proceed with caution, but much of genealogy is like that!

Re: Totally new feature in autosomal dna released today...

Posted: 11 Apr 2015 12:33PM GMT
Classification: Query
I was able to figure out one of the new "hints." The supposed ancestor on my brother's DNA results, which I administer, is the great grandson of my 6th great-grandparents. With 7 DNA matches in that group, wouldn't you think that these ancestors would be listed in a DNA circle? They aren't.

Is anyone else finding that the new "ancestors" are all Mormons on the Mormon Trail? Interesting to see what the "cousins" were up to.

Ancestry is on the right track but it needs improvement.

Re: Totally new feature in autosomal dna released today...

Posted: 12 Apr 2015 2:19PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 13 Apr 2015 3:37PM GMT
Here are just a few links to additional information regarding this new feature, the drawbacks, and how to work with/around it. I hope that others will continue sharing their experiences on this thread, and post links to info on the same subject. Most important, be sure to give Ancestry your feedback, and encourage others to do the same. Keep the pressure on to allow us access to the science behind our matches (how we match, not just who we match).

(Edited to include more links and a few notes.)

http://www.legalgenealogist.com/blog/2015/04/05/still-waitin...

http://dna-explained.com/2015/04/09/dissecting-ancestrydna-c...

http://dna-explained.com/2015/04/07/testing-ancestrys-amazin...

http://dna-explained.com/2015/04/03/ancestry-gave-me-a-new-d...

https://digginupgraves.wordpress.com/2015/04/02/ancestrydna-...
(note in comments at bottom how many customers were given the same "new ancestor" - Obadiah Pierce)

https://digginupgraves.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/how-to-use-a...

https://digginupgraves.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/kenny-kenny-...
(how the concept "beta test" went wrong)

http://timflight.com/genealogy/ancestry-clarifies-ancestor-d...

http://dna-explained.com/2015/02/02/getting-the-most-out-of-...

Re: Totally new feature in autosomal dna released today...

Posted: 17 Apr 2015 4:55PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 21 Apr 2015 12:05PM GMT
There is a posting dated April 14 at Roberta Estes DNA eXplained blog that I hope everyone new to family history research and DNA will read and take to heart: DNA Ancestors that Aren't aka Bad NADs

http://dna-explained.com/2015/04/14/a-dozen-ancestors-that-a...

Roberta not only explains the drawbacks to ancestry's New Ancestor Discoveries, she relates it to the drawbacks of merging other people's family trees with your own. If you do this you will end up with a huge mess to clean up. As she points out, and it cannot be stressed enough, just because there are hundreds, if not thousands of family trees out there that state John Doe's wife was Mary Smith daughter of Joseph Smith, does not make it so. Trees are copied over and over, carrying over the same errors, and if you don't do some serious digging you may not get to a tree that has some correct info, if it exists at all. Looking for a tree that has the most sources will not help, because ancestry counts other peoples trees as sources). Other people's trees are NOT sources. They should only be used as clues to find sources. Often there is no actual source at all, the connection is just someone's assumption/guess work stated as fact in a genealogy book (if it's written in a book it must be right!), perpetuated over and over and over..... Roberta talks about all this, and I've found it out myself many times. I've gotten through a number of brick walls by questioning other people's trees, books, etc., hunting down original records. We all make mistakes as we research our ancestors, even the most experienced researchers. That's why it's important to keep revisiting the various branches of our trees, looking to see if they make sense (e.g. we don't have an ancestor marrying after they died), and to see if we can find more original records that may change our interpretations of circumstantially based family connections. Once you put wrong/bad info in your tree you are very unlikely to get "hints" for correct info/records. Keep searching independently of your tree. Do not rely on ancestry's "hint" system to help you find your true ancestors.

(OK, getting off my "soap box" now....)

Re: Totally new feature in autosomal dna released today...

Posted: 6 Jun 2015 3:21PM GMT
Classification: Query
Are you saying in your last paragraph that Ancestry should come up with chromosome mapping tools like Gedmatch.com and provide users with a list of people who are really related by DNA along with their contact information? People being contacted could be anonymous and not reply if they did not choose to.

In other words provide users with a file showing exactly what Gedmatch produces in a "one to many" match? This in my opinion would be more productive and accurate instead of chasing family that may not be related at all.

I read another blog where it was estimated perhaps only 10% of the people who do DNA testing thru Ancestry actually upload their file to Gedmatch.com. We could all benefit if Ancestry results were available or is their a privacy issue here?

Having said all of that which of the top DNA testers does one recommend for testing?

Re: Totally new feature in autosomal dna released today...

Posted: 6 Jun 2015 5:18PM GMT
Classification: Query
A contact system is provided (ability to contact your match through ancestry's message system). What ancestry should, and does not provide, is the basic information to support the match to each person on your match list - a statement of which segments of which chromosomes you share, and yes, similar to what you get from "one to one" comparison at GEDmatch (don't need graphic bar option, although would be nice). Even a statement of the total cM shared with the match (as is provided on FTDNA match lists) would be something resembling science. All they give us is their rating of the confidence of the match (Extremely high, very high, etc.), and a link to that person's family tree, which is useful provided the person has a tree, the tree is not private, etc. I don't see the privacy concern with knowing which segments of which chromosomes you share with your match. Not knowing how you are matching is detrimental to the purpose most people have for testing - getting through those brick walls. Thank goodness for GEDmatch.

I'll leave it to others to make recommendations for testing companies....

Re: Totally new feature in autosomal dna released today...

Posted: 9 Jun 2015 7:08PM GMT
Classification: Query
Edited: 9 Jun 2015 8:02PM GMT
For those of you yet unaware, be advised that in addition to reinventing your ancestors via New Ancestry Discoveries, your family story has been reinvented via New Ancestry. For those who have not tried it out, prepare to be shocked, but not awed. (Unless you are a fan of those wonderful DNA circle ancestor biographies.)

Roberta Estes makes some good points about both in this recent blog post about her disappearing NADs

http://dna-explained.com/2015/06/04/ancestry-reinvents-my-an...

And for those who have not yet heard of New Ancestry:
http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/06/01/announcing-the...
http://blogs.ancestry.com/ancestry/2015/06/05/new-ancestry-f...

Be sure to read the comments, and be aware that the New Ancestry will very soon be the only Ancestry.....
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