Over the last few months I have been blogging about the DNA results from Ancestry and how it related to my actual family tree from documents, others trees and factual sources. After sending in the Ancestry sample the first week of January, results took almost ten weeks due to the backlog of Xmas gifts and pushed that eight week maximum a bit farther. The 23 and Me results arrived this morning at about six weeks and were spot on in the time given. During the waiting time, both companies send emails as to where they are at in the processing but Ancestry seems a bit less concerned with accuracy in queue and in giving details. Either way, as I'm an impatient soul and always chomping at the bit to get things accomplished, I was anxious for both.
Ancestry came through with the following data for me:
96%
58%
16%
13%
Low Confidence Region
4%
2%
< 1%
< 1%
< 1%
Other Regions Tested
0%
The estimates from Ancestry have some wide gaps of crossover in regional data. For instance, "Great Britain" takes in most of the Isles including Ireland,etc and also northern Europe. Seen here, they have me at <1% for Great Britain, which is absurd. Also, "Western Europe" adds Great Britain and part of Ireland. So one could really add those % points to the others for a better view. They need to either change things up a bit with this or design it differently. The map below shows where my ancestors came from, the darker circles being the dominant genetic makeup. Notice how Britain and Ireland are very close to Western continental Europe. People moved around so that makes sense.
So seeing that break down in estimates above and comparing with my family tree so far, it is not too far from what has been gathered in documents and other family members trees, research. I'd say if I put a percentage on it's accuracy, it would be about 80%.
Ancestry is a subscriber based genealogy site and offers the most of any of them, with access to worldwide records and information that the Internet alone does not give. But at a price. And while it seems expensive for casual researchers ($149 for six months), for those of us spending 20+ hours a week on it, the price is well worth it! I'm currently working on my own tree plus that of two others and it takes a lot of time. Sure, I'd love to do this for a living but this is not exactly a high demand occupation. :-P OK, so on to 23 and Me.... here were their results and the estimates.
European99.2%
Northwestern European81.2%
British & Irish24.9%
French & German17.5%
Scandinavian3.2%
Broadly Northwestern European35.7%
Southern European13.6%
Italian5.7%
Broadly Southern European7.9%
Eastern European1.1%
Broadly European3.2%
Northwestern Europeans are represented by people from as far west as Ireland, as far north as Norway, as far east as Finland, and as far south as France. These countries rim the North and Baltic Seas, and have been connected throughout much of history by those waters.
If pressed to out a percentage of accuracy for 23 and Me, I'd say 90% is correct in comparison. So 23 and Me wins in that dept,
The disclaimers from both companies about where their test groups samples come from and how people moved around are reasonably accurate and accepted. Unless one has records and documents from everyone, there is no way it is a 100% accurate science. Hell, genetics hasn't even been around that long and only in the last twenty years have we progressed to this point of "seeing"in to the past and determining the patterns of ancestry. Most people only know of DNA as being our personal code in proving guilt or innocence to authorities yet it is so much more! Both companies and in fact all, give access to raw DNA data for uploading to sites like Gedcom and Family Tree DNA or Family Search.
Looking over the numbers above and comparing them side by side and then with my own actual family tree of documents and real paper/digital trails, the 23 and me is closer in percentages. I have had more family members come from the British Isles (Scotland,Ireland,Wales,England), which if added together to Western Europe and the overlap given and compared to my records, is closer to 75% from the Isles. The remainder is primarily Germany and a few other countries like Denmark, The Netherlands, Italy and a few from France. That is really about it. The bulk of my ancestors are from Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales and Germany.
The other subtle differences were in South Asia (India,Nepal) and Iberia, Eastern European Jewish, of which I have no relatives or ancestry at all. Again, these 1% totals for places like this are purely estimates from the DNA data and could mean nothing or something. Again, it IS science but we are still learning and adding DNA from millions of others and the picture will become clearer as time moves along.
What I DO accept and am thrilled to discover are the many relatives and genetic matches I have around the globe. From 1st cousins to 5th and 6th level cousins with a few genetic markers in common. They are still related and as of now I have become friends with three of them , two for a few years now. My cousins Chris in Ohio and Bonnie in New York have been very helpful in my journey to form the family tree and make it clearer. I have been doing this now for a decade and the last four years have been especially productive with the Internet helping greatly. Before the Web, what would have taken years to add only a few people to the tree can take only minutes! So yes, I spend a lot of time on here researching and loving every moment of it, especially when adding a new person to the tree, with a history rich in stories, photos and lore. Genetics is a fascinating science and I have been devouring the study of it for awhile now, thrilled at the adventure of who I am and where I came from, whom I came from.
Here are links to well some DNA sites:
Ancestry 23 and Me Family Tree DNA Gedmatch Family Search
What fun this is! Now, back to research!
