My Geno 2.0 Results: Step-by-Step

As much fun as I have had posting and reading about other people's Geno 2.0 results in the last couple of weeks, I have to admit, there's nothing quite like getting my own (finally)!

OVER THIRTY-FIVE THOUSAND SOLD
According to the "infographic" below, I am one of 559,515 Genographic Project participants. (You can access this individualized image through the yellow "Share" button on the top right of the "Your Story" page.)

There were 524,384 participants from Geno 1.0, so judging from this, there are now 35,131 new Geno 2.0 participants. That is certainly a lot and we don't even know if that is the number of kits sold to date or just the number of results being returned now. This means at least 35,131 kits have sold since Geno 2.0's introduction in July of this year. (Pretty awesome!)

MY STORY

MY MATERNAL LINE
My Geno 2.0 mitochondrial DNA haplogroup is U5b1b2 which is consistent with 23andMe's and mtDNA Community's label for me, while my full mitochondrial sequence at Family Tree DNA designates me as mtDNA Haplogroup U5b1.

If you click on the arrows on your map, you will be walked step by step through the migration pattern of your direct maternal line ancestors, ending with a heatmap of the frequency of your subclade (if available). Of course, being female, I don't have a Y-chromosome to explore, but as part of their results, males also receive their Y-DNA haplogroup subclade (terminal SNP), direct paternal line's migration route and heatmap.

The next step that is recommended by National Geographic is to "Complete Your Profile" and "Contribute Your Story". These can be accessed through the Profile tab and the Our Story tab respectively, but for the first to be accessible, you need to opt into research participation under Profile > Account Settings. The default is "You are currently not participating", but if you check the box below and click on save...

 
...it changes to this:

Then, under Profile, go to "About Me", "About My Family" and "About My Ethnicity" and fill in the pertinent details.

Next, go to the Our Story tab at the top and you will see this:

If you scroll down below this, you will find this window, where you should enter information about your direct maternal ancestral line. This story should only include information on your mother's mother's mother's (etc...) line. Here's mine:

To see your story and the others that have been contributed, click on the "Read Stories" button on the opposite window under "Browse All Stories".

These are the other participants whose mtDNA haplogroup is U5b and have contributed their stories so far. There aren't very many people tested with mtDNA like mine yet as you can see from the "Universe" graphic above (the big blue circle with the red-orange center). The five dots are people whose mtDNA is most similar to mine.

Just for fun, here is peek at a few of the public Y-DNA stories. See anything interesting?

WHO AM I: AUTOSOMAL DNA AND ADMIXTURE
Next, let's take a look at my autosomal admixture results.

According to this, my admixture includes:
45% Northern European
35% Mediterranean
15% Southwest Asian
2% Northeast Asian

Which places me closest to...

Pretty cool since I am 25% Finnish, which as far as I know, is my biggest chunk of ancestry from any single area. My percentages don't match up exactly by any means. My Mediterranean component is significantly higher and my Northeast Asian component is lower than the typical Finn. The description for this latter component notes "... it is also found at a frequency of 5-10% in the Finns, likely introduced by the migrations of the Saami people from Siberia into Finland over the past 5,000 years." Since only one quarter of my ancestry comes from Finland, this discrepancy makes sense.

But, wait, hold on...

Iberian?! I don't have any known Iberian ancestry. Anyway, it doesn't look to me like I match it all that closely anyway.  (For details on how they reach these conclusions, read my earlier post.)

I'm not sure that this method of trying to match all of a person's ancestry to one population label works well for very admixed individuals like me. My individual components may appear to fit best with these two populations when taken as a whole, but this doesn't account for the mixed ancestry I have from multiple regions.

HOMINID DNA
This part of the test is definitely intriguing although I don't really know what to make of it.

The Neanderthal percentage is very close to my 23andMe Neanderthal result of 2.5%. The Denisovan seems on the higher end compared to other results I have seen, but investigating that will have to wait for another day.

EXPERT OPTIONS: TRANSFERRING AND DOWNLOADING
There seems to be much confusion regarding downloading the raw data file and transferring the results to Family Tree DNA, so I thought I would review the Expert Options section.

To transfer your results to Family Tree DNA, go to the Profile tab and then Expert Options:

Click on "Transfer to FTDNA":

Check the option for Geno 2.0 and enter your NatGeo Kit Number (found on your box and/or Profile> Account Settings> Geno 2.0 ID Code, where you have previously entered it to register). Then, check the box if you have a Family Tree DNA kit and enter your kit number and password as above. Click on "Next". On the next screen, you will be prompted to enter your address and it will look like you are going to be charged, but choose "Invoice" (instead of Credit Card) and keep going. Then, you will receive a screen to review that will show a cost of $0. Place the order and, if successful, you should get this:

and this:

 If you aren't sure if it worked, check your home page for this:

So far my account results don't show anything different, but I already have the mtDNA full sequence, so I'm not sure what would be imported anyway.  Many of the men importing their results are getting an extensive list of Y-SNPs on their Haplotree page like this:

Although importing Geno 2.0 results doesn't delete the results from the SNP testing that was previously performed at FTDNA, it will override what appears on the project pages.

Apparently, there is a delay for some accounts receiving the raw data download option and so far, mine hasn't appeared yet. When it does, it will be located under the "Expert Options" tab, just above the "Transfer Data to Family Tree DNA" option and look like this:

It is downloaded into a CSV file after clicking on the Download button.

I was hoping to be able to check my raw data file to see how my mtDNA heteroplasmy was reported, but apparently that will have to wait for another time. 

LOTS MORE TO COME...

Obviously, I don't have my own Y-DNA results to review, but I have been reading all of the reports from our citizen scientists who are already immersed in investigating those newly released results. I will be sure to report on their findings since this will, undoubtedly, be the area of the most groundbreaking discoveries.

In my next post, I will compare and review my admixture results from all four companies.

[Disclosure: I received a complimentary Geno 2.0 kit from National Geographic for review purposes. This has not affected my opinions or analysis.]

Official Press Release: National Geographic Unveils New Phase of Genographic Project

As readers of this blog have been aware since July, National Geographic has begun the second phase of the Genographic Project with the introduction of Geno 2.0. Today, they are announcing it to the rest of the world through the press release printed below:

Human Migration Map, Courtesy National Geographic

 

National Geographic Unveils New Phase of Genographic Project: Combines Powerful New Technology, Citizen Science 

More than a Half-Million Participants Traced Deep Ancestry in First Phase

WASHINGTON—The National Geographic Society today announced the next phase of its Genographic Project — the multiyear global research initiative that uses DNA to map the history of human migration. Building on seven years of global data collection, Genographic continues to shine new light on humanity’s collective past, yielding tantalizing clues about humankind’s journey across the planet.

“Our first phase drew participation from more than a half-million participants from over 130 countries. It is evidence of enormous interest in deep ancestry among the global public — tracing the paths their ancestors took as they migrated around the world over the past 60,000 years,” said Project Director Dr. Spencer Wells, a population geneticist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. “Now, the Genographic Project’s second phase creates an even greater citizen science opportunity — and the more people who participate, the more our scientific knowledge will grow.”

Spencer Wells speaks to an audience.

©2012 National Geographic Society

Geno 2.0
The Genographic Project enters this groundbreaking new stage of research by harnessing powerful genetic technology to further explore and document the historic pathways of human migration. Based in part on a unique database compiled during the project’s first phase, the next generation of the Genographic Project Participation Kit — Geno 2.0 — examines a unique collection of nearly 150,000 DNA identifiers that offers rich, ancestry-relevant information from across the entire human genome. In addition to learning their detailed migratory history, participants will learn how their DNA is affiliated with various regions in the world, and even if they have traces of Neanderthal or Denisovan ancestry — from our ancient hominid “cousins” who lived in Europe and parts of Asia tens of thousands of years ago before going extinct.

Participants will receive their results through a newly designed, multi-platform Web experience. In addition to full visualizations of their migratory path and regional affiliations, participants can share information on their genealogy to inform scientists about recent migratory events. These stories also can be shared with the broader Genographic Project community; as the number of contributions grows, the experience will become richer, as participants learn more about themselves and their shared ancestry. Results also can be shared as an infographic for social platforms.

Already, project results have led to the publication of 35 scientific papers, reporting results such as the origin of Caucasian languages, the early routes of migrations out of Africa, the footprint of the Phoenicians in the Mediterranean, the genetic impact of the Crusades and the genetic origins of the Romanian royal dynasty that included Vlad the Impaler. The project’s DNA results and analysis are stored in a database that is the largest collection of human anthropological genetic information ever assembled.

A man looks into the sunset in the Sahara Desert

Photo by David Evans
©2012 National Geographic Society

"The Genographic Project truly represents another facet of a new age of exploration. The newest Genographic technology will push the limits of our research, inspiring us to learn more about ourselves and leveraging the insights gleaned so far to take citizen science and genetic testing to a whole new level,” said Terry Garcia, executive vice president of Mission Programs at National Geographic.

Applications from Scientists Welcome
New to the second phase of Genographic, the project will invite applications for grants from researchers around the world for projects studying the history of the human species, which use innovative anthropological genetic tools such as the custom-designed “GenoChip,” a technology developed by scientists using Illumina’s Infinium iSelect HD BeadChips specifically for the study of human migration patterns. Sample research topics could include the origin and spread of the Indo- European languages, genetic insights into regions of high linguistic diversity such as Papua New Guinea, the number and routes of migrations out of Africa, the origin of the Inca or the genetic impact of the spread of maize agriculture in the Americas.

During Genographic’s first phase, Wells and project scientists traveled the globe to collaborate with tens of thousands of indigenous people, whose genetics are particularly significant in determining human migratory routes. Wells and Pierre Zalloua, principal investigator in the Middle East, for example, collaborated with the Toubou people of northern Chad, whose DNA has revealed insights into ancient migrations across the Sahara. Genographic’s principal investigator in the Oceana region, Lisa Matisoo-Smith, worked intensively with people on the remote south Pacific island of Emirau, collecting DNA samples and sharing the results with them.

Two Women in Khorog, Tajikistan.
Photo by David Evans

©2012 National Geographic Society

The Genographic Project team worked with individuals, institutions and organizations all over the world to find and tell their genetic stories, including the prime minister of Kazakhstan, who invited Wells and his colleagues to collect DNA samples in his country after becoming fascinated with his family story as revealed by his Genographic kit results; the people of Barbados, who requested a study on the pattern of diversity in the country using the public participation kits; and members of the public in South Africa, who learned that they carry links to the region’s earliest inhabitants, the San people, in addition to genetic lineages from elsewhere in Africa, India and Europe.

The project also tested 200 random people on a single day on a block of Queens, New York, to demonstrate the area’s diversity. In a collaboration with cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s multidisciplinary education foundation The Silk Road Project, more than 400 students at four New York City public schools swabbed their cheeks and traced their ancient ancestry.

A portion of the proceeds from the sale of Genographic Participation Kits funds project research and the Genographic Legacy Fund, which awards grants to support community-led cultural conservation and revitalization initiatives among indigenous and traditional communities around the world. So far, the Genographic Project has provided 62 Legacy Fund grants worth $1.7 million. Efforts supported by the grants include the creation of teaching materials on the ancient wisdom of the Chuj in a Maya community in Guatemala and the revitalization of indigenous languages in Nepal, India, Taiwan, French Polynesia, Mexico and Bolivia.

‘GenoThreads’ Connects Students, Teachers
A new education program called GenoThreads enables science, culture and geography to be naturally woven into a shared educational experience. GenoThreads connects students and teachers around the world who are using Genographic participation kits; this allows a cross-cultural exchange between students via email and videoconference for a truly global experience. In the first GenoThreads project, high school students in Switzerland are sharing their results with those halfway across the world in Singapore.

A student looks at the Genographic Project map.

 Photo by Lindsay Maiorana
©2012 National Geographic Society

Members of the public are encouraged to visit the Genographic Project’s newly created website at www.genographic.com. Featuring National Geographic photography, the website gives Genographic participants the opportunity to learn more about their own ancestry and find ancestral connections. The Genographic Project remains nonmedical and nonprofit, and all analysis results are placed in the public domain following scientific publication. The Genographic Project serves as an unprecedented resource for geneticists, historians, anthropologists and citizen scientists.
   
 

 **For exclusive screen shots of the first results from Geno 2.0, visit here.**