Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Medical Marvel Creates a Genealogy Puzzle

How would you enter this into your genealogy database? A Dallas woman gave birth some time ago to a set of twins. That's not unusual but the details are anything but normal. It seems the two boys did not even resemble each other. The mother had the DNA of both boys tested and this is where things get strange. Lab results showed there is a zero percent chance that the two 11-month-old boys have the same father.

Archives.com Partners with Family Tree DNA to Offer DNA Testing

The following announcement was written by Archives.com:

DNA Tests Available Through Archives.com for the First Time Providing Access to the World’s Largest Genetic Genealogy Database
 
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Nov. 22, 2011 -- Archives.com, a website devoted to making family history simple and affordable, announces another exciting way users can explore their family heritage. Archives has partnered with Family Tree DNA, the world leader in genetic genealogy, to enable users to purchase DNA tests through its website for the first time. These are being offered at up to 30 percent off the regular price for a limited time. Archives recognizes that DNA testing plays a critical role in family history research, and is glad to offer a simple, convenient way for  users to get started with genetic genealogy.

African-Americans to Reunite with Ghanaian Ancestry

Thanks to DNA, descendants of Africans who were taken into slavery in America during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade will be reuniting with their ancestors in one of the biggest ever home coming events to be held next year. The Centre for African American Genealogical Research, Inc. (CAAGRI) is spearheading the home coming event aimed at reuniting as many African families in the Diaspora with biological families in Ghana.

You can read more in an article in The Spectator at http://goo.gl/gi0yJ

Report from FTDNA's 7th International Conference for Group Administrators of DNA Projects

Dave Dowell attended Family Tree DNA's annual Conference for Group Administrators, held in Houston this past weekend. He has written a report that will interest many who are involved in DNA projects. He also writes of a new sale on DNA tests to be announced later this week.

You can read Dave's report if you click here.

Secrets of Long Life Sought in DNA of the Elderly

This is a follow-up to last week's article of Who Wants to Live to be 150? at http://goo.gl/bPpmW. The Associated Press has an article about a study being conducted by Dr. Thomas Perls, a geriatrics expert at Boston University. He is trying to find secrets to long life in the DNA of centenarians, people who are more than 100 years old.

The entire article is interesting but what caught my eye was a brief mention of another study by Dr. Nir Barzilai of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. His own study of how centenarians live found that "as a group, they haven't done the right things."

Announcing the Irish DNA Atlas Project

The following announcement was written by the Genealogical Society of Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland:

This afternoon at the ‘Back To Our Past’ show at the RDS, the Genealogical Society of Ireland and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland launched an important All-Ireland project to create a collection of DNA samples from individuals of Irish origin, which will be used to explore human genetic variation in the Irish population.

A Fatherless Child Explores His Genetic Genealogy

Writing in the "Your Genetic Genealogist" blog, CeCe Moore describes the search by a brother-in-law for his heritage. He never knew his father and also knew nothing of his father's ancestry. A DNA test revealed some surprising results, including connections to Thomas Jefferson's family.

You can read the interesting story about the use of DNA in genealogy at http://goo.gl/HjKeb

23andMe African American Genetic Research

According to the 23andMe web site at https://www.23andme.com/roots/:

Roots into the Future: A New 23andMe Research Initiative for African Americans

23andMe is inviting 10,000 individuals to be part of a movement to power genetic research for African Americans. The $399 DNA test and membership fees are to be waived.

DNA Identifies the Body of Infamous Aussie Outlaw Ned Kelly

The headless remains of the infamous Australian outlaw Ned Kelly have finally been identified, officials said Thursday, solving a mystery dating back more than 130 years.

Considered by some to be a cold-blooded killer, Kelly was also seen as a folk hero and symbol of Irish-Australian defiance against the British authorities. After murdering three policemen, he was captured in Victoria state in 1880 and hanged at Old Melbourne Gaol in November of the same year. But his body went missing after it was thrown into a mass grave.

Family Tree DNA Confirms Two NFL Players Are Half-siblings

I am always amazed at the capabilities of DNA matching. Here's the latest example from an announcement written by Family Tree DNA:

Houston, TX – August 31, 2011 - Family Tree DNA, the pioneer and largest DNA testing company for genealogy purposes, through its Family Finder test, provided the conclusive proof that two National Football League players are half-siblings.

Until a few months ago, Xavier Omon, from the San Francisco 49ers and Ogemdi Nwagbuo from the San Diego Chargers did not have a clue that they were related. Early August, at the request of ESPN, Family Tree DNA performed the Family Finder test on both, and the result was unequivocal: definitely half-siblings. More of the story can be found at the ESPN website, under the “Brother’s Tale” story.

DNA Testing Guide for Genealogists and Adoptees

Richard Hill is the creator of the DNA-Testing-Adviser.com web site. He recently created a 12-page overview of DNA testing that may be of interest to genealogists and adoptees alike. The full title is "How to Identify Ancestors and Confirm Relationships through DNA Testing."

The booklet gives a short description of each of the four major types of DNA tests of interest to genealogists and adoptees and then provides a side-by-side comparison of each.

I found the booklet to be easy to read. That is, it is not full of medical and biological mumbo-jumbo that is common to other books about DNA. This won't help anyone who is already a DNA expert. However, if your are new to the subject and are trying to learn the basics, "How to Identify Ancestors and Confirm Relationships through DNA Testing" should give you a great start.

Genetic Genealogy Q&A for Beginners

A newsletter reader asked a question today: "Can you give me a source for getting more information about DNA testing for genealogical purposes?"

I was going to write something until I found an excellent introduction to the subject on the International Society of Genetic Genealogy's web site. If you are new to the topic of DNA, you might want to read Genetic Genealogy Q&A for Beginners at http://www.isogg.org/ggfaq.htm

Family Tree DNA Now Accepting Third Party Results

The following announcement was written by Family Tree DNA:

HOUSTON TX — AUGUST 5, 2011 - Family Tree DNA is pleased to announce the launch of a new feature: Y-DNA "Third Party" uploads.

This will allow for the upload of 33 and 46-marker Y-DNA test results from Ancestry, GeneTree and Sorenson's SMGF. This comes as a natural development since the necessary tools were created to import the customer database it recently acquired from DNAHeritage after that company ceased its operations.

Illumina Ships the Omni5 BeadChip

DNA testing is expanding rapidly. The various genealogy DNA testing companies used to test for 25 markers. Then they expanded to 37 markers. Now some test for 67 markers. Not enough? Hardware is now available that tests for up to 500,000 custom markers. That should be enough for a while.

While this hardware is not yet available for genealogy testing, I suspect it will be within a few years. Today's announcement comes from Illumina, Inc., a company that supplies testing machines to DNA laboratories. This machine is not designed solely for genealogy testing, but for many medical purposes as well. Even so, I suspect that at least one of the genealogy DNA testing labs will be purchasing this device or a similar device before long. There is no need to test 500,000 markers for genealogy purposes, but such a machine could be used to test "only" 100 or 200 markers or some such limited number for genealogy purposes.

Here is the announcement from Illumina, Inc.:

Sperm Donor's 24 Kids Never Told About His Fatal, Genetic Illness

Here is a serious problem created by technology. Many couples who otherwise might be childless now have the joy of children, thanks to today's technology. However, that joy might also bring occasional problems. Genealogists may have a role in notifying people of life-threatening genetic illnesses.

Rebecca Blackwell and her 18-year-old son Tyler of Maryland tracked down sperm donor ‘John’ three years ago. The supposedly anonymous man was Tyler's biological father. While the sperm donor didn't respond to their letter for contact, his sister found them online via Ancestry.com and, unaware her brother had donated sperm, asked why they wanted to get in touch. When she found out he had a son, she told them of the fatal genetic disorder that had ruptured the sperm donor's aorta at the age of 43.

Some of Your Ancestors were Neanderthals

Unless perhaps all of your ancestors came from Africa.

Neanderthals are believed not to be humans but to have evolved separately from what we now refer to as homo sapiens. However, scientists have now identified a piece of Neanderthal DNA (called a haplotype) in the human X chromosome and believe this haplotype is present because of mating between our ancestors and Neanderthals.

FamilyTree DNA Upgrade Sale

FamilyTree DNA is repeating last summer's Upgrade Sale. You must be a present FamilyTreeDNA customer who has already had a DNA test performed. To upgrade to the latest tests, with more markers, go to http://www.FamilyTreeDNA.com and log in to your personal page and click on the special offers link in the left hand navigation bar.


The sale ends at midnight on June 22.

Are You My Mother?

DNA is changing a lot of "documented facts" concerning family relationships. A startling example is that of Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman. He is not the son of the woman he thought was his mother, not even biologically related to Karin Bergman. She also apparently was not aware that Ingmar was not her biological child.

This is the sensational result of a new DNA test by the National Board of Forensic Medicine. Freelance journalist Eva Hernbäck has uncovered a story that sets the film director's life and work in a whole new light.

Population Genetics Reveals Shared Ancestries

Want to study your deep ancestry? That's "deep" as in "thousands of years." A new study by Harvard Medical School researchers casts new light on the intermingling and migration of European, Middle Eastern and African and populations since ancient times.

The Gene Code on BBC 4

A recent U.K. television program called The Gene Code provided a great deal of information about DNA. Dr. Adam Rutherford explored the consequences of one of the biggest scientific projects of all time - the decoding of the entire human genome in 2000. Every human carries the entire story of life on earth hidden in his or her DNA and Dr. Rutherford explains how we are all linked directly to the origins of life and to the first creatures with backbones. He also investigated the implications of the fact that for much of its existence, the human race was an endangered species.

Anyone in the U.K. can watch this show on the BBC web site at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010j64w