Month: November 2014

Bridging the Gap Between Traditional Genealogy and Genetic Genealogy at the NYG&B

Blaine Bettinger 1 Comment

logo.png 670×83I am incredibly honored to announce my election to the Board of Trustees of the New York Genealogical & Biographical Society! The NYG&B is the largest and oldest genealogical society in New York State, and the second oldest genealogical society in the nation. As a lifelong genealogist with New York roots dating back almost 250 years, joining the NYG&B is a dream come true for me.

Over the past decade, DNA has become a powerful tool for genealogical research. As a member of the NYG&B’s Board of Trustees, I hope to be able to help bridge the (ever-closing) gap between traditional genealogy and genetic genealogy, and help both members and non-members understand and incorporate DNA into their family histories.

The board represents an incredible group of people dedicated to helping people discovery their family histories, and I am so grateful to be able to join them. The full list is below. ... Click to read more!

Goodbye False Positives! AncestryDNA Updates its Matching Algorithm

Blaine Bettinger 52 Comments

AncestryDNAYesterday, when I checked my AncestryDNA account I had 205 pages of matches, or 10,250 matches in the database. Today, thanks to Ancestry’s new matching algorithm, I have 57 pages of matches, or 2,850 matches in the database (a reduction of 72.2%!). I also have DNA Circles, groups of people who MIGHT share a common ancestor (some of whom share DNA with me).

A New Matching Algorithm

I wrote recently about the new algorithm (see “Finding Genetic Cousins – Separating Fact from Fiction“), as did Judy Russell (“When less is more“) and Roberta Estes (“DNA Day With Ancestry“). In essence, AncestryDNA is leveraging information about allele frequencies (“pile-ups”) in which small IBS segments of DNA shared by many, many people are not utilized for matching. ... Click to read more!