Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

DNA Ancestry with Pinpoint Accuracy

Until a few years ago, most ancestry tests for individuals relied on short stretches of DNA in cell-powering organelles called mitochondria, which are inherited through the mother, or on the Y chromosome, which a father passes down to his sons. While providing very accurate information about father/son relationships, these tests were not always so accurate about the geographical origins of earlier ancestors.

For example, a set of Y-chromosome markers called Haplogroup R1b is common among Western European men, but a small fraction of North Africans have it, too. Similarly, “if men have a Y chromosome that is more common in Scandinavia than England, they’re convinced they’re a Viking”, says Mark Jobling, a geneticist at the University of Leicester, UK. But that is not necessarily the case. Such nuances are not always conveyed by the companies that offer such services, notes Jobling. What’s more, Y-chromosome or mitochondrial markers trace only one strand in a person’s ancestry.

The Ghost in Your Genes

An article in the BBC web site claims that biology stands on the brink of a shift in the understanding of inheritance. The discovery of epigenetics – hidden influences upon the genes – could affect every aspect of our lives.

At the heart of this new field is a simple but contentious idea – that genes have a "memory." That the lives of your grandparents – the air they breathed, the food they ate, even the things they saw – can directly affect you, decades later, despite your never experiencing these things yourself. And that what you do in your lifetime could in turn affect your grandchildren.

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:

Status of the Sorenson Molecular Genetic Genealogy DNA Databases and GeneTree

The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation has been a major vendor in genealogy DNA. The company recently announced a new partnership with Ancestry.com. I published the announcement in an earlier newsletter article at http://goo.gl/STMyX. The announcement states, amongst other things, "In March, Ancestry.com DNA, LLC acquired access to an extensive collection of DNA assets from Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, a non-profit organization."

Writing in the On-line Journal of Genetics and Genealogy, Steven Perkins quotes a letter he received from Sorenson that clarifies the plans for databases that have been on Sorenson's service. This will be especially important for any customers of the Sorenson Molecular genetic genealogy DNA Databases. It also states that the GeneTree.com web site "will not be continuing."

Quick and Cheap DNA Sequencing On the Horizon?

Will we soon see much cheaper DNA tests? Especially for autosomal DNA testing? It is a bit too early to say for sure, but today's news about lower testing prices certainly is encouraging.

When the human genome was first sequenced about a decade ago, the achievement took years and cost $1 billion. Now, scientists and entrepreneurs are predicting that the task will soon take just under 6 hours, with a price tag of just $900. A company called Oxford Nanopore Technologies claims it will accomplish this feat using a device that can plug into your computer’s USB port.

23andMe Eliminates Subscription Model and Announces New Price

23andMe has listened to its customers and decided to eliminate the subscription model beginning on Thursday, announcing the new price going forward will be $299. Existing customers who have already completed their subscription commitment of 12 months will not be required to pay the ongoing subscription in order to remain part of the 23andMe community and the rest of us will only be required to finish out the remaining portion of our initial 12 month subscription. This eliminates the concerns of genetic genealogists who were worried about the impact of losing Relative Finder matches with subscription lapses.

You can read more on CeCe Moore's Your Genetic Genealogist blog at http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2012/05/23andme-eliminates-subscription-model.html

Ancestry.com Launches New AncestryDNA Service

Ancestry.com has greatly expanded its DNA offerings with a new service called "AncestryDNA." It should become very popular at the modest price of $99, although that price is offered by invitation-only to present Ancestry.com subscribers. After the introductory period, the price is expected to go up.

The AncestryDNA test is designed to determine geographic and ethnic origins but will not say whether or not you are related to a specific individual. Those tests are available elsewhere, typically at higher fees.

Here is the announcement from Ancestry.com:

Mixed Roots Foundation Announces First-Ever Global Adoptee Genealogy Project (GAGP)

The following announcement was written by the Mixed Roots Foundation:

Mixed Roots Foundation has partnered with two DNA testing companies, 23andMe and Family Tree DNA, that will help adoptees and their families discover their biological and cultural roots through DNA testing.

“We know, from both research and experience, that access to one’s own information is a vital part of life, including shaping a positive identity."

In celebration of its one-year anniversary, the Mixed Roots Foundation today proudly announces the creation of the first-ever Global Adoptee Genealogy Project (GAGP) and the establishment of the Filling in the GAGP Fund to help adopted people and their families discover their biological and cultural roots through DNA testing. Mixed Roots will launch the Fund at the Adoptee Comedy Show on Monday, May 21, 2012, at the Punch Line Comedy Club in San Francisco, CA.

Study Reveals "Extraordinary" DNA of people in Scotland

The DNA of people living in Scotland has "extraordinary" and "unexpected" diversity, according to a new study. The Scotland's DNA project, led by Edinburgh University's Dr Jim Wilson, has tested almost 1,000 Scots in the last four months to determine the genetic roots of people in the country. The project discovered four new male lineages, which account for one in 10 Scottish men.

You can read more on the BBC web site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-17740638.

Toronto Man Claims to Have up to 1,000 Siblings through Single Sperm Donor

How many brothers and sisters do you have? And let's count half-brothers and half-sisters. A Toronto man claims to have about 1,000 siblings.

Barry Stevens, a Toronto filmmaker, has been researching the late Bertold Wiesner, an Austrian Jew who ran a fertility clinic in England. Wiesner not only was Stevens' biological father, but also a father to hundreds of others.

Are Your Politics Determined by Your Genetics?

Chris Mooney has written an article, published by CNN, that suggests some people are liberals or conservatives because of their inherited genes. Blame it on your ancestors!

Mooney states that studies of adult identical twins and fraternal twins show that the former tend to be far more politically similar to one another than the latter. This “twin study” methodology certainly has its limitations, but it is a well established way of studying the degree to which genes influence traits, since “identical” twins share all of their DNA but fraternal twins share only half of it. The left-right twin studies suggest that 40% or more of the variance in our ideological views may be ultimately rooted in genetic influences. However, the subject is more complex than it first appears.

Extracting DNA Information from Postage Stamps

Would you like to obtain the DNA information of an ancestor who died years ago? Do you have any letters that he or she wrote? If so, you may already have the DNA information available.

Postage stamps and envelope flaps have been licked for more than 150 years, with saliva DNA being transferred to the item in question. DNA typing has been possible for about twenty years, but has rapidly developed to an immensely powerful technique for personal identification.

The possibilities of identifying a deceased person's DNA include crime solving, genealogy, and genetic disease identification. Many opportunities for further research exist.

$900 USB-powered DNA Sequencer

This new device won't allow you to analyze DNA tests at home. After all, a DNA lab needs more than a sequencer to deliver test results. However, with Oxford Nanopore about to release a $900 sequencer, the prices for DNA tests performed by commercial labs should drop significantly. In fact, the manufacturer predicts that the price of the sequencer will drop well below $900 once volume production begins.

French Canadian Genetic Disorder Can Cause Killer Cholesterol Levels in even the Healthiest Person

Do you have abnormally high cholesterol levels, even at a young age? Blame your ancestors!

Familial hypercholesterolemia, known as FH, is a genetic disorder that causes extremely high cholesterol levels at an extremely young age. FH is found most often in people of Native American or French Canadian descent. In America, experts say, about 1 in every 300 to 500 people has the disorder. However, in Lewiston, Maine, with a high percentage of French-Canadian descendants, the ratio is about 10 times the rate of FH as the rest of the country. Anyone with French-Canadian ancestry may have FH, even in other locations.

Early awareness of familial hypercholesterolemia could extend your life for many years.

Family Tree DNA Now Accepting 23andMe Raw Data Uploads

Writing in the Your Genetic Genealogist blog, CeCe Moore describes a new service from Family Tree DNA: the company is now accepting raw data uploads from 23andMe.

Details may be found at http://goo.gl/o3euc.

23andMe Announces New Ancestry Ambassadors Group

If you have been following recent events concerning DNA firm 23andMe, you know the company recently received a "black eye" in the genealogy community. The company apparently has listened and has now formed a new genealogy advisory committee of well-known and respected DNA genealogists to help guide the company's policies.

The following announcement was written by 23andMe:

Today we’re announcing the creation of the 23andMe Ancestry Ambassadors group, composed of ancestry enthusiasts in the 23andMe Community. 23andMe customer CeCe Moore and Product Manager Mike Macpherson, PhD will lead the new group.

Building the best possible personal genetics service has always been 23andMe’s goal, and this group will help to ensure that we take full advantage of our Community’s knowledge and experience to achieve that goal.

The inaugural members of the new group are:

Cold Case Police Trace DNA of 1991 Killer Back to 17th Century Mayflower Family

The 1991 murder of a teenage girl on her high-school campus may now finally be solved - thanks to the DNA of a 17th century family.

Seattle police investigating the death of Washington 16-year-old Sarah Yarborough say they are one step closer to catching her killer. They have matched crime-scene DNA samples to the historic family of Robert Fuller, from Massachusetts, whose ancestors settled in Salem in 1630 after coming over on the Mayflower.

Update on the 23andMe Controversy

As mentioned in this newsletter on January 2 at http://goo.gl/aOOX1, the well-known DNA company, 23andMe, is receiving a lot of complaints from genealogists concerning the company's change in policy regarding their customers' access to the genetic-data-based information in their accounts. The controversy obviously reached senior management at the company. 23andMe co-founder and CEO Anne Wojcicki has now published An Update to 23andMe Customers.

Wojcicki writes, "Let me begin by acknowledging that there are many things we could have done better over the years and there are especially things we could have done better with this recent incident involving the changes to our subscription. We admit that we make mistakes. We will continue to make mistakes. I can personally promise you that we will try to listen more and do better. Dedicating resources to our ancestry product and improving our customer service are top priorities for 2012. We hear you loud and clear and we will be making changes."

23andMe Generates Controversy with New Subscription Policy

The well-known DNA company, 23andMe, is receiving a lot of complaints from genealogists concerning the company's change in policy regarding their customers' access to the genetic-data-based information in their accounts. One well-known and highly respected genetic genealogist, Larry Vick, has even created a petition to make sure this issue continues to get the attention it deserves. As one 23andMe former customer wrote on Facebook, "No one in the genetic genealogy community recommends 23andMe any longer."

23andMe uses DNA Data to Help Attack Parkinson’s Disease

Genealogists use DNA information to help identify ancestral information. However, our uses of this new technology are minuscule compared to the studies of the medical community. One company well-known in genealogy circles, 23 and Me, is doing both. Anne Wojcicki, chief executive of genetics firm 23andMe, says that her company has been able to find a way to attack a rare form of Parkinson’s disease that her husband, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, is susceptible to. The genetics information collected from volunteer subjects has yielded some useful information about diseases and our genetic predisposition for getting them.

You can read more in an article by Dean Takahashi at http://goo.gl/DQOdm