Friday, June 6, 2014

Ancestry.com discontinues original DNA tests

Ancestry.com will no longer offer or maintain its oldest DNA services, the Y-DNA and mtDNA tests.  I was notified in an email.  I am not surprised by this announcement.  I have three such tests done at Ancestry.  The results have not been updated in years and are overshadowed by FamilyTreeDNA's offerings.  I uploaded the data file from the Y-DNA test to ySearch.org, which is free.  Although the tests and the results will disappear from Ancestry, you can download the data for use elsewhere.

***Ancestry continues selling and servicing their atDNA (autosomal) kits for $99.  This test captures DNA you inherit from all of your ancestral lines.

Last month, during a sale, I purchased two atDNA kits from Ancestry for my father and me.  The results are pending.  Two years ago I purchased a kit for an adopted person.  A close match appeared recently for her, confirming her surname at birth.  (The person has not responded to my inquiries.)

My very first DNA test was Ancestry.com's Y-DNA test for my father, purchased in 2009.  His results are compared against others in the database.  Men who have the same markers on their Y-chromosome share a common ancestor on their direct paternal line.  The more variation in the marker values, the more distant the relation.  Matches were found, but none were predicted to be related closer than twenty generations.  I cannot trace that far back on my father's direct paternal line.

I tested my aunt and myself for mtDNA, also called mitochondrial or maternal.  Similar to Y-DNA testing, this service matches you against people who share mtDNA with you.  Again, no close matches appeared.

In the last few years, FamilyTreeDNA has grown in popularity.  They offer Y-DNA and mtDNA tests, as well as atDNA tests.  Last month I purchased a Y-DNA test through FamilyTreeDNA for my father.  Results are pending.  When the results are available, I will post them and offer my analysis.




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