Author: Blaine Bettinger

In the May 2010 issue of Family Tree Magazine, the editors will name the 40 Best Genealogy Blogs.  Last month many of my readers nominated this blog for the list, which I appreciate greatly!

As of today you can vote to narrow down the top 130 nominated blogs to about 80 blogs, which the editors will then reduce to 40.  The blogs have been placed into 10 different categories.  There is more information about the categories and blogs here.

If you have a moment, please feel free to vote for The Genetic Genealogist in the genetic genealogy category!  Voting takes place from October 5th through November 5th, and you can vote as often as you like.  Thank you!

23andMe has been beta testing a new tool for comparing autosomal DNA results called “Relative Finder.” Although I was not one of the beta testers, it seems that this new tool will be of great use to genealogists. Roberta Estes has posted a nice summary of the Relative Finder tool at the “Searching for the Lost Colony DNA Blog.”

90% of Customers Likely to Find a Match!

Relative Finder compares your autosomal SNP results to the results of others in the 23andMe database to determine matches. While developing the tool, 23andMe discovered that in their dataset of “more than 5000 individuals with European ancestry,” 90% of individuals had at least one distant relative between 2nd and 8th degree cousins!

Other Uses ... Click to read more!

Last week my Google alert for “genetic genealogy” went crazy, and it took me a few days to realize that Ancestry Magazine recently made all their archives available for free online.  Although I’m not sure how far back their archives go, there appears to be hundreds of genealogy articles on the site.

A quick search of “DNA” at the site, for instance, reveals MANY articles relating to genetic ancestry testing. This is a great resource for anyone interested in genetic genealogy.

I see that Schelly at Tracing the Tribe had the same Google alerts frenzy last week. As she notes, some of the articles are rather old, so be sure to check the dates before you read them; the information might require some updating!

From a story in today’s Mormon Times:

The first rumblings about DNA and the Book of Mormon came about 10 years ago, according to Perego, a senior researcher at Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation.Critics cobbled together data from a variety of early DNA studies and came to the unsurprising conclusion that the studies indicated an Asian origin for Native Americans.

This, the critics argued, proved that the Book of Mormon was false. They claimed that the book says the continent was empty and if it was empty, then all Native Americans should have Lehi’s Israelite DNA, not Asian DNA.

Ugo Perego, well-known in genetic genealogy circles, talks with the journalist about the compatibility of our current understanding of Native American origins and the Book of Mormon.  According to Perego, there are possibilities solutions to this apparent conundrum: ... Click to read more!

Trends in Genetics has an article by Turi E. King and Mark A. Jobling from the University of Leicester highlighting Y-DNA genetic genealogy.  Specifically, the article – “What’s in a name? Y chromosomes, surnames and the genetic genealogy revolution” – looks at the relationship between surnames and Y-DNA genetics.  Dr. King and Dr. Jobling have previously conducted a great deal of research in this area (see here and here, for example).

The article is a review of this area and contains some interesting information, including a section regarding “Genetic genealogy and the rise of recreational genetics.”

Genetic genealogists recognized as making genuine contributions to the field:

In the article, the authors note that genetic genealogists are making discoveries in this field: ... Click to read more!