In 2013, genetic genealogist and popular lecturer Maurice Gleeson organized Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013, the first of its kind conference in Ireland. The event was hugely successful (see all the YouTube videos here), and is back for round two in 2014.
The schedule for Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2014 has just been released (see “DNA Lecture schedule announced“), and features a great lineup of speakers:
Announcing the launch of the world’s first multimedia how-to website for genetic genealogists!
How-To DNA (www.howtodna.com) is your how-to guide for genetic genealogy! The site will have short instructional how-to videos for beginners, as well as presentations and webcasts for the advanced genealogist. For example, you can already watch these short two-minute videos:
And there will be many, many more how-to videos coming over the next few weeks and months, including:
How-To DNA will also provide links to the latest videos, podcasts, and other instructional material created by DNA experts. As an example, listen to this terrific podcast with CeCe Moore being interviewed by The Genealogy Guys and get the latest scoop on CeCe’s involvement with Finding Your Roots! And if you weren’t able to attend the SCGS Jamboree, you can listen to Maurice Gleeson’s incredible talk about DNA and Irish Genealogy.
For the very first time, Family Tree University is offering an online course (a four-week, instructor-guided class with material, quizzes, and extra credit homework) directed to genetic genealogy! Announcing Genetic Genealogy 101, taught by yours truly!
This course is designed for the beginner, and will take you through the basics of genetics, mtDNA, Y-DNA, and autosomal DNA (including understanding your results, using third-party tools, etc.). In addition to the materials, quizzes, and homework, there are message boards where you can ask me questions about DNA, about your research, anything related to DNA. And you’ll be able to connect with and learn from your fellow students (all from the comfort of your home)!
The class starts on Monday, June 16th, and every week for four weeks there is a new lesson. If you’re a beginner and really don’t know where to start with incorporating DNA into your genealogical research, or you’ve received your results and aren’t sure how to read them, this class might be a good fit for you.
Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to speak with Michael Leclerc at Mocavo about DNA, our genealogical beginnings, and so much more. Michael recorded our conversation, and it’s now available as this week’s Mocavo Fireside Chat!
If you’re curious about Y-DNA, mtDNA, or autosomal DNA, or have questions about DNA in general, I think you’ll enjoy this Fireside Chat. And be sure to check out the previous chats, it’s a lineup full of great guests!
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The DNAGedcom team (lead by Rob Warthen, Diane Harman-Hoog and Karin Corbeil) would like to announce the following new items to the DNAGedcom system.
Product: Jworks – Autosomal Grouping Tool
Developer: Juan “Jay” Pizarro
Release Date: May 12, 2014
Download or Location: http://dnagedcom.com/Auto/JWorks.aspx
What It Does: This Excel based tool sorts and groups your chromosome browser results from FTDNA into overlapping DNA sets and assigns the ICW status within the set. By following the paper “Combining Results from All Tests” , the tool can also be used to organize the output from all three testing services. You must have Excel to use this. A Mac Version is also available.
Directions: Full directions are found on a link with in the product interface on dnagedcom.com
Tomorrow night at 7 PM EST, I will give a live webinar demonstrating some of the basics of DNA testing for ancestry, including many different ways you can use DNA to solve your family mysteries. The cost is $49.99, which includes the hour-long webinar and my presentation slides. This is the second DNA webinar I’ve given for Family Tree University, and the last one was very well received. It is better suited for those who are new to DNA testing or have received their results and are unsure how to apply them.
And if you are unable to attend tomorrow night, you can download the video and slides at any time! I hope to see you there!
From the website:
Format: Live Webinar Registration
YOU’LL LOVE THIS IF:
* you want to explore how DNA can enhance your genealogy research you want to understand more about genetic genealogy
I know I say this every year, but 2014 is shaping up to be the year of Genetic Genealogy. There are many incredible opportunities this year for anyone interested in genetic genealogy to learn more and interact with others.
For example, just last month RootsTech 2014 featured numerous DNA sessions. This coming June, there will be an entire day of DNA at the 2014 SCGS Jamboree, where I and many other speakers will cover numerous topics related to DNA (see my coverage here and here). Among my presentations at Jamboree will be a completely new lecture that I’m really excited about – “DNA and the Genealogical Proof Standard,” which will be the first presentation completely devoted to the topic, and which I hope will spur some important conversation!
The Southern California Genealogical Society has officially announced the 45th Annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree (June 6-8, 2014), which will again be preceded by Family History and DNA: Genetic Genealogy in 2014.
Last year’s “Family History and DNA: Genetic Genealogy in 2013” was the first of its kind and was a huge success As a result, the Jamboree organizers have organized a second DNA Day, which will held all day on Thursday, June 5, 2014, which is the day before Jamboree begins.
The FULL schedule for DNA Day 2014 is HERE (Thursday Schedule).
Keynote Speaker Dr. Maurice Gleeson
The keynote speaker at Family History and DNA: Genetic Genealogy in 2014 will be Dr. Maurice Gleeson, a popular speaker and the organizer of Genetic Genealogy Ireland 2013, Ireland’s first conference on genetic genealogy. I had the opportunity to speak with Dr. Gleeson at last year’s event (including about his interesting iCARA project), and he’s both engaging and extremely active in the genetic genealogy field. I have no doubt his presentations and keynote will be fascinating.
Understanding the complexities of autosomal DNA can be very challenging for newbies.
However, there are a few basic tenets that I believe can help these newbies. These tenets are essentially tools that newbies can use to analyze an autosomal DNA problem for themselves.
For example, here are the two very basic tenets that I typically introduce in my autosomal DNA lectures especially for the newbies:
So many of the issues that newbies run into can be resolved or prevented through understanding of these concepts.
The Coop Lab
The lab of Graham Coop, an associate professor in the Department of Evolution and Ecology at UC Davis, maintains a blog where they often discuss genetics. Today they published an interesting blog post entitled “How much of your genome do you inherit from a particular ancestor? In the post, they perform a handful of different analyses using data they had for one generation of transmissions which was compounded over multiple generations.
23andMe and Udacity today announced a new online course entitled “Tales from the Genome: Adventures in DNA, Identity, and Health,” a Massive Open Online Course (“MOOC”) directed at genetics. According to the website, students will learn about “fundamental principles of inheritance, gene expression, mutation and variation, development of simple and complex biological traits, human ancestry and evolution, and the acquisition of personal genetic information.” The class is labeled as being aimed at beginners.
Although not announced on the Udacity website, the course will be available beginning on September 30, 2013.
The “Tales from the Genome” class will be taught by Matthew Cook, Lauren Castellano, Joanna Mountain (of 23andMe), and Uta Francke (also of 23andMe). For more information, see the press release at Market Watch (“23andMe and Udacity Launch Introductory Human Genetics Course“).