Thursday, April 21, 2016

AncestyDNA and FTDNA Sales - Get'em while it is cheap

As some of you may know, National DNA Day is April 25th, and commemorates the day in 1953 when a paper detailing the structure of DNA was published in Nature magazine. It also recognizes the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003.

Ancestry is having a DNA sale to commemorate DNA day. DNA Day Sale for AncestryDNA. Only $79 and free shipping if you use the FREESHIPDNA code. Click below - http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-5455910-10508555-1404254934000

At  Family Tree DNA, they are also celebrating the DNA day accomplishments by having a sale on DNA tests for genealogy! 

FTDNA is launching their much-anticipated DNA Day Sale. which will extend through Tuesday, April 26, 2016 (11:59 PM Central).

The prices are below, and are valid on new tests and add-ons only. Discounts do not combine with existing group discounts. Upgrades will be discounted in June.

Product
Retail Pricing
   Sale Price
Family Finder
       $99
     $79
mtFull Seq
      $199
    $149
Y37
      $169
    $129
Y67
      $268
    $199
Y111
      $359
    $289
BigY
      $575
    $460
SNP Packs
      $119
    $109
   
mtDNA plus
 
Not on Sale

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

New Advances in DNA Science Coming Your Way

From the Ancestry.com Blog posted this afternoon:

Posted by on April 20, 2016 in AncestryDNA
     
We’ve been refining and expanding the science behind DNA matching to find your relatives. And we’ve got some exciting improvements coming your way soon.
 
These advancements are expected to deliver more-precise predictions of whom you are related to, and how closely, among the million-plus others in the AncestryDNA database. And we will be making this update for free to AncestryDNA customers.
 
What does this mean for you?
Your DNA match list will automatically show the new results when the update is available.
 
Of course, we can’t make your list of DNA matches more accurate without removing some of the less-accurate ones. So, while you’ll have new DNA matches to research, some of your current DNA matches may no longer appear as a relative. We’ll be providing a way for you to download DNA matches that you marked with a star or have added notes on the site that no longer appear on your updated list.
 
Also, if you recently sent in a DNA sample and are waiting for your results, your DNA matches will automatically include this update when your results are ready. While we complete the update for all existing customers, we will not be posting new results for this brief period of time. We appreciate your patience as we work to make these updates for all our AncestryDNA customers.
 
Stay tuned, we will provide an expanded update soon.

Tuesday, April 19, 2016

Update: Expect changes in your AncestryDNA results in next week or two.

As I mentioned in my previous post, changes are going to be made in Ancestry's Timber algorithm in the next week or two according to Blaine Bettinger in a post on his Genetic Genealogist blog.

Update: Action post from Roberta at DNAeXplained regarding this change. https://dna-explained.com/2016/04/19/upcoming-ancestry-dna-update-urgent/

I won't quote all of Blaine's post here, you can read it for yourself at
http://thegeneticgenealogist.com/2016/04/19/ancestrydna-plans-update-to-matching-algorithm/, but here are some significant changes mentioned by him in his post.

Among the changes that are expected in this update are the following (bolding below is mine):
"•Phasing Improvement – AncestryDNA has significantly increased the reference haplotype set used for phasing prior to cousin matching, meaning that the quality of AncestryDNA’s phasing will increase. This should result in fewer phasing errors, and thus fewer lost matches and false positives."
"•Matching Improvement – AncestryDNA is changing how they identify matches between individuals. Previously, AncestryDNA was using “windows” or blocks of DNA to compare two individuals. They will now be used a SNP-based method to compare people. The problem with the previous method is that if the windows didn’t overlap a segment properly, they could either miss the segment entirely or shorten the segment. The SNP-based method will no longer miss or shorten these segments. As a result of this switch, it is expected that many matching segments will increase in size. The total shared cM with many, and possibly most, matches will increase."

"•Match Confidence Changes – there will also be a change to the matching thresholds/confidence scores; specifically, the relationship prediction thresholds will be more stringent. As a result, we will see some of our existing matches SHIFT; they will NOT be disappearing. Thus, we will NOT be losing any 2nd, 3rd, or 4th cousin matches, in the sense that these matches are gone. Instead, we will see some 2nds go to 3rd or 4th (possibly, but this will be a rare shift for most existing customers), see some 3rds go to 4th or distant (slightly less rare), and we will definitely see many 4ths go to the distant category."

Bottom line for me, at least, is that I will have to go back to every match entry in my database and update them all with the new information. I would suggest that you all record your current total page count for each of your test an then when the change is made, you will have a better understanding of when the change has been made and the impact on your total matches. Depending on your preference you may wish to hold off recording info in your spread sheets until after the latest changes are made. I will get a real good look at what changes are made thanks to all the info in my spreadsheet already.

So I am batting a thousand. Teach Ancestry in genealogy one of my genealogy classes and expect major changes after class is over.  Guess that keeps me in business. ;-)

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Here we go again - another major AncestryDNA alert!

It happened about a year and a half ago when Ancestry introduced their new Timber algorithm and half my matches for all six of my testers went away. Now their is the announcement below circulating among various DNA groups.

New Advances in DNA Science Coming Your Way

While you've been exploring your DNA matches, we've been refining and expanding the science behind DNA matching to find your relatives. And we've got some exciting improvements coming your way soon.

These advancements are expected to deliver more-precise predictions of whom you are related to, and how closely, among the million-plus others in the AncestryDNA database. And we will be making this available for free to all AncestryDNA customers.


What does this mean for you?
Your DNA match list will automatically show the new results when the update is available in the coming weeks. You’ll receive an email letting you know when it’s ready. In the meantime, it’s business as usual. You’ll continue to get new DNA matches as we find new possible relatives as the database grows.

Of course, we can’t make your list of DNA matches more accurate without removing some of the less-accurate ones. So, while you’ll have new DNA matches to research, some of your current DNA matches may no longer appear as a relative. We’ll be providing a way for you to download DNA matches that you marked with a star or have added notes on the site that no longer appear on your updated list.


What makes this possible?
AncestryDNA has quickly become the largest consumer DNA database, with 1.5 million people and growing rapidly. This is one of the major reasons our science team can develop significant improvements to finding and predicting relationships among AncestryDNA customers. We’re excited to share more details around the improvements when we release the update so you can dig into the science and technology.

So, stay tuned and look forward to the new possibilities for discoveries.

-----

About right now all my genealogy students are laughing their heads off. I have this thing that happens anytime I teach a class involving Ancestry or AncestryDNA. Shortly after the class is over, Ancestry will always make major changes. This semester I taught a beginner and advanced class centered around AncestryDNA. Just damn!