Ahot topic on #AncestryHour is DNA testing, with a number of new developments generating interesting discussions. The biggest news was Ancestry’s recent change in privacy policy to give testers the choice to opt in or out of cousin matching. This provoked strong views in the genealogy community but most #AncestryHour followers understood why the change was necessary.
The news that more than 6 million people have now tested at Ancestry and 3 million at 23andMe also hit the headlines. The speed at which the databases are expanding is phenomenal and debate centred on how helpful this is for family historians. Regular contributor @lizlgenealogy pointed out her friend had no interest in genealogy before getting her DNA results. How many other newbies are being drawn in by testing first?
Another welcome announcement was that 23andMe is now offering an Ancestry Only test in the UK alongside its Health and Ancestry service. This much cheaper test has been available in the US for some time, which many felt was unfair, so it’s right that 23andMe has redressed this imbalance.
LivingDNA launched the One Family One World Project with the ambitious goal of mapping the world’s DNA and creating a world family tree. It is also now accepting transfers from other companies and will provide cousin matching next year.