DNA Group News and Topics of Interest 

1. The next DNA meeting will be on Thursday, Mar 21, 2019 at 7 pm at the LDS Church.

In the first part of the meeting we will again have an open forum where members will be able to ask questions and share their stories of successes or difficulties that they have encountered while pursuing Genetic Genealogy. Come prepared to participate.

In the second part of the meeting, we will continue with exploring

Getting Started with DNA Testing - the Basics.

In February we dealt with AncestryDNA, and in March we will look at the other DNA companies, including Family Tree DNA, My Heritage, and 23andMe.

This is intended to help beginners understand what they see when they logon to see their DNA results for the first time.
Learn how DNA will unlock a wealth of information about you and your ancestors. See how your ethnicity can often include regional detail and modern migration information. You will have 1000s of DNA matches to research. These are people who share a common ancestor with you. Some of these will be quite recent and some will be distant. These sites have tools to help you discover how you connect.

We have members with a range of experience levels and we want to accommodate everyone, so come and ask your questions or share your experiences no matter what level you are at.

If you have something that you would like explained, do not be afraid to ask. We encourage everyone to speak out, no matter what level of experience they have. Those with more experience love the opportunity to discuss these issues, and we all learn something.

Please contact Vernon Smith if you would like to request a topic for this or any other meeting.

2. We have a number of Handouts covering various topics of interest to this group which can be accessed here.

    A Handout on Downloading and Uploading Your DNA Data is now available.

3. Useful DNA Video Lectures
a)  Videos from lectures given at  "Who Do You Think You Are" conferences held in Birmingham, England.
b)  Videos from Genetic Genealogy Ireland conferences. Two from the most recent conference are
Using DNA to identify offenders & victims of violent crime by Barbara Rae-Venter and

What are the odds? – A tool for fitting a DNA match into a family tree

4. Blog Spot

Latest suggestions (updated 3/13/2019)
Posts for previous months, click here.

5. DNA Tools

a) AncestryDNA Helper App for chrome browser

b) MedBetterDNA App for chrome browser

c) Autosomal DNA Analysis Tools by Tim Janzen

6. Resources
a) A good resource has been provided by Kitty Cooper as 'DNA Newbie FAQ'

b) Stream a video on "DNA for Beginners: The Three Tests" by Debbie Kennett.

c) Kelly Wheaton offers a "Beginners Guide to Genetic Genealogy"

d) CeCe Moore has a four part series on "DNA Testing for Genealogy"

e) FTDNA eBook "Interpreting Genetic Genealogy Results"

f) John A. Blair provides a basic discussion with "DNA 101"

g) Donna Rutherford provides "DNA - What, when, how, why - FAQ's for beginners"

h) Discussion of "ICW vs. Triangulation" (download)

i) Which DNA tests to take - “Which DNA testing company should I use?”,
      “Sorting out the DNA Tests Available for Genealogy” , and
      "The Best DNA Ancestry Testing Kit"

j) Tips for Using GEDmatch

k) A video on GEDmatch basics from Angie Bush

l) A beginners guide to "DNA Genealogy Using GEDmatch"

m) Basics of DNA "Focus University: Understand DNA in 10 Minutes".

n) This has recommendations that some would argue with, "A Practical Guide to Using Autosomal DNA (atDNA) for Genealogical Purposes"

o) Handout for Downloading and Uploading Your DNA Data

p) Visual Phasing by Blaine Bettinger

q) Links to "Finding Biological Family With DNA Testing" (download)

r) References for X-DNA Testing and Matching (download)

s) Links to "Finding Lisa" story (download)

t) Lots of information, courtesy of NIH, on Genetics

u) Lots of useful links on "ISOGG Wiki" This has an interesting discussion of "Identical by Descent"

Please send comments or suggestions to Vernon Smith

Note that I am available to answer your questions when I volunteer at the Family History Center (LDS Church) on the 2nd and 4th Tuesdays of the month from 6 pm to 9 pm.