FTDNA has kindly offered special prices for FinnFest 2011 and Finnish DNA Project members.
The coupon code reduces Y DNA 67, mtDNA Full Sequence and Family Finder to a price of $193 each as well as the specials listed below:
Comprehensive Genome, $591 (normally $837)
Super DNA, $392 (normally $548)
Y-DNA 67 + Family Finder $193 x 2= $386 (normally $558)
mtDNA FullSequence + Family Finder, $392 (normally $559)
Y DNA 67, $193 (normally $268)
mtDNAFullSequence, $193 (normally $299)
Family Finder, $193 (normally $289)
(not including $4 domestic and $6 international shipping)
These are really great discounts!
The Coupon Code is valid until 31st of August for all new orders here as well as for subsequent orders from "Order tests & Upgrades" link. You can get the coupon code by stopping by FTDNA's booth at FinnFest August 10th-14th.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
"Your Genetic Genealogist" discussing DNA at FinnFest 2011
Finnfest 2011 will be rolling into San Diego from August 10-14. There is a full schedule of genealogy lectures, panel discussions and workshops detailed here, including a panel discussion moderated by "yours truly" exploring the application of genetic testing to Finnish genealogy. Participating are University of Turku Professor Auvo Kostianinen, FTDNA's Jane Buck, founder and administrator of the Finland DNA Project Lauri Koskinen, and retired MD and genetic genealogy enthusiast Paula Erkkilä.
If you are in the area, please come by. I would love to see my many Finnish genetic cousins and friends.
If you are in the area, please come by. I would love to see my many Finnish genetic cousins and friends.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Known Relative Studies with 23andMe: More Second Cousin Comparisons
Since my last post on second cousin comparisons at 23andMe was so popular, I have decided to expand on it. Another second cousin of mine recently tested at 23andMe. As a result, I have many more relevant comparisons to share with my readers. This cousin is also from my mother's family, but not on her Finnish side. Our common ancestral couple is Daniel Hewitt and Amelia (Travis) Proctor, my great grandparents. Daniel was born in 1866 in Equality, Illinois and Amelia "Millie" was born in 1870 in Sidney, Iowa.
Again, this is a great example of the random nature of autosomal DNA inheritance. My two sisters share 2.56% and 2.98% of their DNA with our Proctor second cousin, while I only share 1.07% of my DNA with this cousin. (The expected percentage of shared DNA with a second cousin would be an average of 3.125%.) Our unique patterns of inheritance can be clearly seen in the chart below. The long gray bars are representative of the 23 chromosomes and the shorter colored blocks signify the shared DNA between each person tested and our Proctor cousin. (For example, toward the end of Chromosome 1, Sister #1 and Sister #3 share the same small stretch of DNA with our Proctor cousin, but Sister #2 does not share any DNA with this cousin until Chromosome 5.)
You can really see here that we inherited very diverse blocks of our Proctor great grandparents' DNA. One of my sisters inherited almost two and a half times more of this "Proctor" DNA than I did, while my other sister inherited nearly three times more than I did. In fact, 23andMe predicts that we are only third cousins, but correctly predicts both of my sisters' relationships to this second cousin.
From this comparison, it would appear that my sisters ended up with significantly more DNA from our Proctor great grandparents than I did. However, since this chart really just illuminates the shared Proctor DNA with this particular cousin, it could be that my sisters happened to inherit much of the same DNA from Dan and Millie that our cousin did and I inherited almost entirely different blocks. To be sure, I would need to test more cousins descended from these ancestors to see if my comparatively low percentage of sharing continues.
This chart shows how my mother compares to her Proctor first cousin once removed (4.56%) and the DNA inheritance patterns of two of us daughters. You can see that the DNA was passed on quite differently to each with only three small areas of overlap between all three.
The chart below shows that my mother's sister inherited significantly more DNA in common with their Proctor first cousin once removed than my mother did: 4.56% vs. 8.55%.
Based on this, it isn't surprising that my aunt's two daughters in the chart below share much more DNA with this cousin than my sisters and I do (#1 = 4.49% and #2 = 4.69%) and with much larger areas of overlap between the three.
It is always interesting to me to see the inheritance pattern as the DNA is passed through the generations. The following charts demonstrate this with each comparing three successive generations to our Proctor cousin.
Lastly, the third generations in the charts above are second cousins once removed from this Proctor cousin. In the charts below, you can see, once again, that the amounts of common DNA inherited at this level of cousinship vary widely with very little overlap. (The only difference between the following two charts is the dark blue comparisons.)
The percentages of DNA in common for the second cousins once removed in this study were 2.91%, 1.22%, .76% and .33% (expected average = 1.563%). For second cousins, the percentages were 4.69%, 4.49%, 2.98%, 2.56% and 1.07% (expected average = 3.125%).
Again, this is a great example of the random nature of autosomal DNA inheritance. My two sisters share 2.56% and 2.98% of their DNA with our Proctor second cousin, while I only share 1.07% of my DNA with this cousin. (The expected percentage of shared DNA with a second cousin would be an average of 3.125%.) Our unique patterns of inheritance can be clearly seen in the chart below. The long gray bars are representative of the 23 chromosomes and the shorter colored blocks signify the shared DNA between each person tested and our Proctor cousin. (For example, toward the end of Chromosome 1, Sister #1 and Sister #3 share the same small stretch of DNA with our Proctor cousin, but Sister #2 does not share any DNA with this cousin until Chromosome 5.)
 |
| Click on chart to enlarge |
From this comparison, it would appear that my sisters ended up with significantly more DNA from our Proctor great grandparents than I did. However, since this chart really just illuminates the shared Proctor DNA with this particular cousin, it could be that my sisters happened to inherit much of the same DNA from Dan and Millie that our cousin did and I inherited almost entirely different blocks. To be sure, I would need to test more cousins descended from these ancestors to see if my comparatively low percentage of sharing continues.
This chart shows how my mother compares to her Proctor first cousin once removed (4.56%) and the DNA inheritance patterns of two of us daughters. You can see that the DNA was passed on quite differently to each with only three small areas of overlap between all three.
The chart below shows that my mother's sister inherited significantly more DNA in common with their Proctor first cousin once removed than my mother did: 4.56% vs. 8.55%.
Based on this, it isn't surprising that my aunt's two daughters in the chart below share much more DNA with this cousin than my sisters and I do (#1 = 4.49% and #2 = 4.69%) and with much larger areas of overlap between the three.
It is always interesting to me to see the inheritance pattern as the DNA is passed through the generations. The following charts demonstrate this with each comparing three successive generations to our Proctor cousin.
Lastly, the third generations in the charts above are second cousins once removed from this Proctor cousin. In the charts below, you can see, once again, that the amounts of common DNA inherited at this level of cousinship vary widely with very little overlap. (The only difference between the following two charts is the dark blue comparisons.)
 |
| Dan and Millie Proctor (it's their DNA!) |
Friday, July 15, 2011
FTDNA Sale starts tonight!
FTDNA just announced their summer sale for new customers, including Family Finder upgrades for existing customers. The sale has started and continues through July 21.
- Y-DNA37 for $119 (Regular price would be $149)
- Y-DNA67 for $199 (Regular price would be $239)
- Family Finder for $199 (Regular price would be $289)
- Family Finder + Y-DNA37 for $318 (Regular price would be $438)
- Family Finder + mtDNAPlus for $318 (Regular Price would be $438)
- mtDNA Full Sequence for $219 (Regular Price would be $299)
- SuperDNA for $418 (Regular Price would be $518, includes Y-DNA67 and mtFullSequence)
- Comprehensive Genome for $617 (Regular Price would be $797, includes Y-DNA67, mtFullSequence and Family Finder)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)