23andMe Announces Beta Testing of New Ancestry Features

According to the Your Genetic Genealogist blog, 23andMe is announcing several new Ancestry-related features at the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree today in Burbank. All four of these new features will be in beta testing by customers this summer.

The new features include:

1. Ancestry Painting Update
Currently 23andMe's Ancestry Painting displays three major world regions (European, African and Asian). This feature is being updated to offer more detailed results based on approximately 20 world regions, drawn from both customer data and academic reference populations.

2. My Ancestry Page
This new feature will be a huge improvement for genealogists and, especially, those new to DNA testing. It will present the highlights from each individual's ancestry summarized on one page, encouraging engagement and increasing the ease with which customers can access the ancestry related labs and tools. Information presented on this page will include things like Ancestry Painting details, match totals, haplogroups, top Ancestry Finder countries and links to educational resources.

3. Relative Finder Explorer Map
This feature illustrates from where your 23andMe Relative Finder matches originate. Details that are added to profiles will be automatically included to show where your matches are living now and also known locations of ancestors. You can filter by the predicted cousin level and have the option to cluster matches or to see them individually. It summarizes your top locations and allows you to zero in on specific regions.

4. Family Tree
This long-awaited and often-requested feature is finally being introduced. You can manually add details for individuals that include places, life events, traits, skills and fun facts, but don't worry, this feature will be GEDCOM upload enabled, so you genealogists will not have to retype your entire family tree.

You can read more and see screen shots of the proposed new services at http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2012/06/23andme-announces-beta-testing-of-new.html.

My thanks to CeCe Moore for telling me about the new features.

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