Testing Companies:
The companies that I am acquainted with are Family Tree DNA (FTDNA), 23&Me, My Heritage, Living DNA, and Ancestry DNA. They are listed in the order I tested with them or uploaded my results to their site. I have also included the number of matches at each company. After testing these companies provide you with a list of matches. A match is a person who has similar segments of DNA and to whom you may be related in some manner. These numbers are generally in proportion to the total number of persons testing with that company. I will also mention two other important websites are GedMatch and DNA Painter. Neither of these are testing companies but are very useful for the genetic genealogist.
Family Tree DNA (FTDNA):
This is the only major company that stills sells Y-DNA and mt-DNA tests and provides you with a list of matches for each of these tests. Because the initial emphasis was on Y-DNA which tracks with family surnames in most western countries, this site hosts surname groups. I started the Ragusin surname group and it is open to any Ragusin who has tested with FTDNA or uploaded your results there. FTDNA is the most academic or scientifically focused testing company. There are tools available to really delve into the test results. The company also sponsors an annual surname group administrators conference where DNA and DNA testing is discussed. I have attended this conference several times.
As 31 Dec 2021, I have a total of 977 autosomal matches at this site. I also have one very distant match on the Y-DNA and six distant matches on the mt-DNA.
23&Me:
Initially this company emphasized medical/health issues that could be identified through DNA testing. This caused legal problems, especially with the state of Maryland. Providing the DNA test results with an emphasis on medical/health issues was considered dispensing medical advice without a license! The legal problems are a thing of the past and now nearly all other companies feature a medical, health or wellness option. A positive feature at 23&Me is their mapping of our 23 pair of chromosomes with respect to identifying from which ethnic group that segment is derived. When I saw this feature I ordered a test kit immediately.
Another unique feature is their family tree. Unlike most sites this company does not request or permit you to upload your family tree. Instead they create a three generation family tree for you based solely on other close relatives who have also tested with 23&Me. The tree is not perfect (they cannot differentiate multiple marriages/half siblings) but the tree can be modified. Data from other companies can be entered by hand to form a more complete picture. Although their algorithm to create the tree is only good for three generations, I have made entries back five and six generations. The overall number of entries in the tree is limited but has increased a little over time.
As of 31 Dec 2021, I have 2627 autosomal matches at this site.
My Heritage:
I have not tested with this company, but have uploaded my results to their DNA site. They are a genealogy website that branched into DNA test. Because I have not paid for the genealogy aspect of the site, I can only view my DNA matches. A tool found at this site is cluster analysis. Cluster analysis or matrixing is an important tool that was available at FTDNA from the beginning, but had to be done by hand and was limited in scope. Cluster analysis at My Heritage accomplishes the same analysis and is done automatically for you and addresses all of your matches. Cluster analysis identifies groups of your matches who match you and they all match each other. In theory, you should all be related to the same common ancestor.
As of 31 Dec 2021, I have 1500 autosomal matches at this site.
Living DNA:
This a newer testing company and they still do not have many clients. Initially they emphasized English ancestry. Since I have some English ancestors I bought a test. They did not identify me as having English ancestors in the counties I know my English ancestors came from, but identified counties I know nothing about. The next iteration was to focus on Italy and it appeared they were making progress. Then they turned their attention to Germany. Their most recent ethnicity data for me is nearly 100% wrong. With the exception of identifying my Italian ancestry (but not specifically Calabria or southern Italy) everything else is wrong. If you have limited funds test with some other company.
As of 31 Dec 2021, I have 68 autosomal matches at this site.
Ancestry.com:
Although this is the largest (client wise) testing company and also a genealogy website, it was the last test I bought. I do not like the company’s emphasis on the ethnicity estimates as evidenced by their ridiculous television commercials. Having said that I must admit that because of the number of clients they have attracted their ethnicity estimates should be considered the best. A second largely insurmountable problem is that they do not allow you to see how you match somebody. All other companies allow you to see which segment on which chromosomes you have in common with your matches. This allows you to find other people you match on that same segment (i.e. you are both related to the same ancestor). Finally, this company makes extensive use of their vast collection of family trees to tell the client how you are related to one of your DNA matches. My experience has shown that many of the trees are simply wrong or at best wishful thinking. If I cannot validate every link in a tree used by ancestry.com to establish a common ancestor between me and a match then I reject that match.
As of 31 Dec 2021, I have 8668 autosomal matches at this site. This is nearly twice as many matches as I have at all other companies combined.
GEDMatch
A GEDcom (Genealogical Data Communication) is a computer file used to transfer pertinent data from your family tree to another person. Many people use different family tree programs to portray the genealogical information they have collected, but this means the stored data is usually incompatible with someone else’s results. Some people only enter in the most basic information while others attach documents, photos, stories, or add color or fancy fonts. A GEDcom strips out all but the names, places of birth, marriage and death, and relationships and can be imported into a different family tree program. GEDMatch does the same for your DNA. You can download the raw data file of your autosomal DNA test (i.e. the list of “A,” “C,” “G,” or “T” at each of the 700,000 tested locations) and import it in GEDMatch.
This sounds like it would be fantastic, and it is as far as it goes, but…. Initially I tested with FTDNA and uploaded my results to GEDMatch. In this manner I found matches with people who had tested with one of the other companies (ancestry.com, My Heritage, and others) before I tested with some of those same companies. I was hoping that other close relatives had tested with other companies and I could learn more. But did that close relative upload their results to GEDMatch. If they did not, you would never know. Still it was useful and I made connections with several second and third cousins.
All this was more necessary in the past when autosomal DNA tests cost $300. Now that the tests cost about $100 and are half that when on sale, many people have tested with two, three, four or more companies. There are still people from companies I have not tested with and there are some interesting features on the site. This remains the only way I know of to see which segments from which chromosome you have in common with a match for your ancestry.com results–again if that person also uploaded their results.
DNA Painter
We have 23 Chromosome pairs. One of each pair is from our mother and the other is from our father. The autosomal test cannot determine which “A,” “C,” “G,” or “T” at each location belongs to our mother or our father. By “painting” the segment from each of our matches on the correct chromosome a picture starts to emerge that can be used to allow us to understand how we are related to other matches. The process is not easy. First you must determine exactly how you are related to one of your matches. In doing so, you must also determine whether that DNA contribution came from your mother or your father. The second step is to determine what segment on which chromosome you have in common with that match. The third step is to “paint” the correct segment on the correct chromosome for that match. DNA Painter has both a maternal chromosome and a paternal chromosome that need to be painted to complete each chromosome pair. Each painted segment can be labelled (e.g. 23 & Me match with John Smith–common ancestor William Smith) and be painted in a different color.
I started out by creating a painted chromosome map based on the number of generations separating me from the match. A lot of very specific data was necessary and I did not get very far with this. An additional problem arose with this method. If I matched a second cousin on a segment of the first chromosome that I got from my father, then I could assign the segment to my ancestors Henry Steinman and Salina Pattison. Unfortunately, what I found was that the same segment could be assigned to matches who did not have Henry and Salina as ancestors, but rather Salina’s parents, grandparents, or even great grandparents. Since the reason for painting is to determine from whom we received each DNA segment it would not be correct to assign this segment to my great grandparents Henry and Salina. Additional work must be done to determine which of Salina’s ancestors was the earliest individual I can identify as having this segment of DNA.
Because of this issue and others, I started plotting all my matches together. This became very messy very quickly, and was abandoned almost as quickly.
I have settled on painting my matches based on which company of the match. This limited the amount of painting (i.e. was not messy) and completely ignored the issue of generation. Out of the thousand or more matches at each company I usually can only figure out how I am related to a couple of dozen matches. Thus I will not have a mess problem for quite some time. Regrettably, I have determined how I am related to well over a hundred of my ancestry.com matches, but I do not know what segment on which chromosome to paint. Some people have tested at ancestry.com and another company which helps a little. A problem of linking up the data from other companies with the data from ancestry.com is that people do not always use the same name. One woman, for example, used her full name at one company, her initials at another, and, I think, her nickname at a third. By corresponding with the person at each company I was able to determine it was the same woman.
Another potential goal is to use DNA Painter to determine the DNA signature of deceased ancestors. If you and all your siblings got your DNA tested then you can begin the determine what your parents’ DNA looked like. Remember our DNA is very similar to but different from our parents and siblings. By examining my DNA and that of my siblings, I can start to get a picture of what my father’s DNA probably looked like. It also helps that I had my mother tested. This allows me to immediately half my DNA. However I do not have enough siblings to get a complete picture–there will be many gaps. In reality this is usually attempted for grandparents and further back in one’s tree. But this requires many more people to be tested, and a very complete family tree. Still the results will probably be incomplete.
ragusinfamily.com 