Ancestry.com, one of the largest online sources of family trees and genealogy source material, is teaming up with Sorenson Genomics to offer DNA testing.
Ancestry.com has more than 14 million users, meaning that genetic genealogy will be introduced to a huge new group of individuals. Additionally, Ancestry can use the results of this testing to enhance the other databases they already offer – something that the other big testing companies lack.
As of now, the rumored price is to be $200, with no mention of the type of testing to be offered. There’s a lot more information available at Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter, The Jerusalem Post, The Times Daily.com, The Salt Lake Tribune, and The Deseret News.com. Look for the announcement to be made sometime today.
A huge thanks to Tim at Genealogy Reviews Online!
Blaine,
Thanks for the credit! I actually was surprised that Ancestry was the one who did this first, however, if they do it right I think they are the best suited.
Tim
Being an adopted person, how would your services benefit me in possibly finding my natural parents. I and 63 now, and have been told my records were sealed at time of adoption.
Any suggestions?
Thank you
Ann,
There are probably many ways to approach genetic genealogy if you have been adopted. I would caution, of course, that you only pursue genetic testing if you are 100% sure that you are ready for ANY result.
Since you are female, the Y-DNA test is not an option. That leaves two options – mtDNA testing, and autosomal testing. If money were not an option, one approach might be to do a genome analysis through a company such as 23andMe (autosomal testing). Then, when it appears that someone is closely related to you in some way has also been tested, you will presumably be alerted. I think there is a lot of potential here, especially if many people decide to be tested. Most of the genomic analysis companies also test the mtDNA.
mtDNA alone might give you some clues, but this approach is probably the least likely to give you any information. mtDNA is passed down over time without many changes, so a match could mean that you are related 2 generations ago, or 20 generations ago. If you can afford it, I would go with a full mtDNA sequencing – this will allow you to refine matches, if there are any.
Thanks for stopping by, and let me know if you have any other questions.