Wednesday, March 7, 2012

New FAQ for AncestryDNA and notes on the "First Look"

It's too early to reach any solid conclusions, but now that I have had some time to spend looking around a bit, I have a few thoughts to share from the "First Look" at Ancestry.com new autosomal product, which apparently they have named "AncestryDNA"- see FAQ below.
[10/26/12: This test is now out of Beta, so you can order it here.]

*The biogeographical ancestry analysis looks superb, hinting that Ancestry.com may indeed have access to Sorenson's extensive reference samples.* -  So far, I have seen British Isles, Central European, Scandinavian, Southern European, Russian/Persian/Turkish (odd grouping), Eastern European, East Asian (includes Siberia/China/Southeast Asia), Finnish/Volga-Ural, Native American and Other, plus the German, French/Swiss and the African tribes that we saw on WDYTYA - Bamoun, Brong, Yoruba and Igbo. I hear there are also Middle Eastern and North African categories. The announcement on my DNA page says, "We expect over time to deliver even more granular results (including regions within a specific country) as we get more data." This tells me that the BGA will continue to be the strongest part of this product. This is fitting since the majority of non-genetic genealogist seem to be most interested in this part of their results.

*No raw data or specific segment information provided.* - The simple, user-friendly interface is an effective method for introducing a complex product to the layman, but the simplicity leaves no room for the advanced genetic genealogist nor growth for the beginner. The lack of inclusion of these fundamental features cripples the genealogist wishing to identify which segments were inherited from specific ancestors. We must be able to triangulate between matches and known relatives to determine our common ancestor and thus identify a specific segment as being inherited from a particular ancestral line. These are exercises that are imperative to advancement in this science. To those of us who have been working with this data since its introduction ("Relative Finder" by 23andMe in 2009), the future of autosomal DNA research for genealogy must include the ability to link specific genetic segments to our ancestors. The goal is for others without extensive knowledge of or access to their genealogy (i.e.- adoptees) to be able to identify these segments in their own genome and thus discover their ancestors. Hopefully, these indispensable features will be introduced in the near future. [Update- In the comments below, one reader reports that he can download his raw data. I am following up to determine if this is the autosomal raw data.]

*Links to and comparisons between the matches' family trees and exploration of shared "ethnicity"* - This feature benefits from a very nice presentation. It is definitely a step in the right direction - to streamline the time-intensive process of investigating autosomal DNA matches and discovering their ancestral commonality. It sounds as if at least half of the users have already attached their results to their Ancestry.com family trees. This is indeed promising.

*Match Lists* - So far I have heard that the current BETA testers have a match list anywhere between low 30's to upper 80's. However, apparently, some of the matches appearing on the lists have not yet received access to their results.

Ancestry.com appears to be have made a decision to appeal to the layman by "dumbing down" autosomal genetic genealogy. It is a good marketing plan to attract the non-genetic genealogist, but I just hope it is not Ancestry.com's end-game.

A new FAQ just appeared on Ancestry.com's site regarding their new test:
What should I know about AncestryDNA™
  1. What is AncestryDNA™?
    AncestryDNA™ is a new DNA product from Ancestry.com that revolutionizes the use of DNA with family history. This test combines advanced DNA technology with the world’s largest online family history resource to provide genetic ethnicity and help discover new family connections.
  2. When can I get the new test?
    The new AncestryDNA™ test will be available on Ancestry.com in the coming months. If you are interested in the new DNA test, provide your email address at www.dna.ancestry.com and we’ll notify you when the new test is available.
  3. I live outside the U.S., when can I get the new test?
    Ancestry.com is currently launching the new AncestryDNA™ test to the U.S. market. We hope to make it available to markets outside the U.S. in the near future; however, we do not have a date for this yet.
  4. Why would I want to take this new test?
    • This new test utilizes some of the latest science & technology in DNA testing for family history.
    • Both males and females can take this test.
    • Your results include genetic ethnicity information, along with matching you to others who have also taken the test and are related to you.
    • It tests over 700,000 markers as opposed to the 33/46 tested with the Y-DNA test.
    • The online experience has been updated to better view your results. 

25 comments:

  1. Curious on the price? Will it be competitive with 23andMe.com's at $207.00/1 year or FTDNA.com's at $289.00? What happens if you already have autosomal-dna results?

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    1. Hi! We don't have any info on the price yet. We also don't know if they will allow uploads from other companies or give discounts for those who have tested atDNA before. Sorry, I wish I knew more!
      Thanks for commenting.
      CeCe

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    2. Ancestry (I know you covered this elsewhere with the release info) is charging $99 for the autosomal for subscribers at this time and it's invite only.

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  2. Hi, I am a Beta participant for the AncestryDNA project, and I received my DNA results two days ago. One can download the actual DNA test results, but there is no guide on how to how to read the code. Is there a resource that can show me how to determine my haplogroup?

    Thank you - interesting blog!

    Robert

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    1. Hi Robert,
      You can download your results? Please send me an email at yourgeneticgenealogist@gmail.com.
      Thanks for commenting,
      CeCe

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    2. Just received my results yesterday, but only a pie chart and some possible 5th cousins. Where is the link to download results?

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    3. I also would be interested in knowing about this "download" available? My results are much like SusanHSG's. If there are more "details" to be read, the nerd in me would love to dive in! Please email me at cditkowski@gmail.com Thanks!

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    4. Unfortunately SusanHSG and Candy, AncestryDNA is not offering downloads with this product (yet). Those of us who are used to working with this data are very disappointed to see that it is not included. The ability to triangulate between matches and link specific DNA segments to our ancestors is impossible. Please let AncestryDNA know how you feel about this through their Feedback button.
      Thanks for your comments,
      CeCe

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  3. Sorry if this is a double post, but I think my previous post was eaten by Blogger but...

    Thanks for posting about this. I looked at my results yesterday but was disappointed that my pedigree ethnicity was so different than my genetic ethnicity, enough to think perhaps there is a problem with my results. For instance, my results state that my genetic ethnicity is 91% British Isles, 6% Russian/Persian/Turkish, and 3% Other. This does not match my pedigree. My pedigree on both sides of parents is predominantly French, as most of my ancestors were French colonists of Canada, Acadia, and Louisiana. Out of the nearly 3,000 people in my family tree, I have none that are from the Russian/Persian/Turkish part of the world… that was a total surprise (although my surname is from southern Spain, perhaps there was a migration or something to that area from way back). Based on my pedigree, I would expect my genetic ethnicity to be around 50-60% Western or Southern Europe and the rest to be British Isles. I just find it really odd that I received no “hits” for Western Europe (France/Spain) given this is the predominant portion of my family tree. I sent feedback to Ancestry, but I was curious if anyone else has something similar to this or could anyone provide some insight for me?

    I just wonder if since most of my ancestry is from French colonists of North America, then perhaps they are confusing the results with the British colonists of North America? I had one person that was a 4th cousin match, and in fact we had some common ancestors. Based on their family tree, many of their ancestors were French Canadian and Louisianan as were mine and their results were 86% British Isles, 6% Southern European, and 8% Other… which again, seems kind of odd.

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    1. I had similar results. My background is Polish/Russian on one side and all German on the other (back 6 generations so far). Ancestry DNA results came back 54% Eastern European (correct) and 46% Scandanavian ??

      Not sure how that could be.

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    2. @JQ and SusanHSG - I think AncestryDNA is having to rework this feature which is not surprising since it is still in Beta. In particular, I have definitely heard from MANY (inc. myself) that the Scandinavian component is overestimated. Don't take your results too seriously quite yet and definitely let them know your concerns through their feedback button.
      Thanks for commenting,
      CeCe

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  4. Like Robert I was able to download a file. It came out on a spreadsheet and I have no idea what to make of it. In case Robert did not forward his file to you I will forward the one I downloaded. I would like to know if this is the information you thought it was, or something else. QR

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  5. Yes, the spreadsheets are quite good and Ancestry does allow for other companies data to be uploaded, its on their home page.

    I too am waiting for more people to link their trees, I think many are hesitant to do so, and until I changed my privacy settings a bit more and called in to talk to their customer service regarding what will be seen, etc I was not sure if I wanted to link either. So just as in the privacy factors on many trees that are placed on Ancestry, the consumer has the right and ability to block their information. Many may change that as they become acclimated to the process.

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  6. The DNA files that are being downloaded are only for Y-DNA and mtDNA and not autosomal DNA.
    @TC - Ancestry does allow for upload of Y-DNA and mtDNA, but I have not heard that they are allowing autosomal DNA uploads yet.

    Thanks for commenting and for the emails!
    CeCe

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  7. Cece thank you so much for all your lobbying and keeping us up to date. I am quite excited and expect I will order the AncestryDNA test as soon as I am able to. I have completely lost faith in 23andMe and FTDNA as it is just too much effort for too little reward, and this gives me some hope. It is a real pity the different parties didn't come up with a plan to share resources and work together to make their products more successful. At least people like us who have tested before will have the benefit of experience and understand what it all means. I have a very comprehensive ancestry family tree, on my mother's side anyway, and even more information offline so this encourages me to expand on some branches.

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    1. Thanks, Helen! Hopefully AncestryDNA will add the specific segment info and raw data downloads so we can really work with their product in the way which we are accustomed. If they do, I agree with you, this product is hard to beat!
      CeCe

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  8. CeCe, do you think we will be able to upload our 23andme data to this dnabeta? I just put myself in the queue, but wonder if it will be enough information from what some of the others have said.

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  9. I am seeing more and more 'matches' as the data is uploaded, etc - I have several 96% confidence factor and a few more at 95% - so far, nothing to say 'YES we are related', so I am hoping (as are they!) that we are the brick walls.

    I also just noticed that I now have over 30 at 50% match. I browsed through a few but didn't have the time to try and figure out if the 'surnames' are going to match up (the higher percentages did not at all).

    And I realized that I never commented previously on the ethnicity part as some others did. Going off what I too know of ggg's my composite, if you will, I think is screwy. With strong danish and norwegian background on both sides, I don't have 'any' Scandanavian, instead it says: 83% British Isles, 13% Finnish/Volga-Ural and 4% uncertain.

    And from what Ancestry is stating on their FB wall, there will be no uploads from other companies for autosomal (hopefully that changes) allowed, but they are still allowing the yDNA and mtDNA from other services.

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  10. I found Ancestry's presentation of the autosomal testing to be too "dumbed down" with no way to compare DNA between matches even by their ID let alone data. One match is to a descendant of slaves but my ancestors didn't own any slaves. We're quite perplexed by this! Ancestry's focus seems to be on creating more trees than anything else. They also provide very poor explanations and no FAQ's with their results which seems to confirm their focus is more on linking trees than valid results.

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  11. Rather confused and somewhat disappointed in my results as well, although admittedly this is partially due to my inexperience with the subject of DNA. My results say 65% British Isle, and 34% Eastern European. Since we've always been told of our German, Dutch and First Nations connections, the Eastern European info was surprising. Have done extensive work one our tree, the English, Scottish & Irish roots were on target. At this point, would be very interested in linking haplogroup or mitochondrial info to see how it all pans out. Not sure where to get a more specific breakdown of results. I did leave Ancestry a comment on the results which provide many more questions than answers.

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  12. Have found a new cousin match and we have 3 common ancestor names in the right region, but so far no definite gggparents to share. This link with the ancestry tree is a good one, but most people including myself have more than one tree. Being able to only link with one at a time is a bit of a bummer. I have to change tree links and then go back and look at my cousin list again to see if we have common names.

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  13. So from what I can discern, Ancestry used to offer different sets of tests, and on these older tests, you were able to download a CSV file of your results from this page:

    http://dna.ancestry.com/viewConsole.aspx

    These results are related to these older (and no longer offered? It's not clear ...) tests:

    http://dna.ancestry.com/buyKitGoals.aspx

    I took the new AncestryDNA test, and though I can see these download links, the CSV files I get are empty.

    In any case, with 23andme lowering pricing to $99 for their test, I believe that Ancestry and FamilyTreeDNA will need to also lower testing, as the number of results over at 23andme is going to skyrocket in 2013.

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  14. does anyone EVER get a reply from Ancestry Feedback? I have left at least 4 comments with questions over the last year, but NO replies have been forthcoming. POOR customer service practices.

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  15. Hi, I am an adoptee (b 1973) and have been looking to no avail for my birthmother. Virginia laws make it near impossible at this time. I hvae ordered the autosomal DNA test from Ancestry.com and I am hoping that it will at least shed some light into "what" I am and maybe even who might be part of me on Ancestry.com. What are my chances?

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    1. Hi Beth,
      have you gotten your non-ID? Your chances are good that you will learn something more about your heritage than you know now. To maximize your chances of finding a close match, I always recommend testing at all three companies, 23andMe, AncestryDNA and Family Tree DNA for adoptees. You should also join the DNAAdoption Yahoo Group. Please visit my new blog here: www.adopteddna.com and click on "I Recommend" and "Resources" for more information.
      Best of luck!
      CeCe

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