UNLOCK THE STORY OF YOUR GENES

Welcome to the DNA Workshop! In every issue DNA adviser Karen Evans will be unpacking a reader case study, and giving step-by-step tips for you to use in your DNA research at home. It’s time to unlock the story of your genes…

Karen Evans 

3 USEFUL DNA BEGINNER QUESTIONS

Reader Joanne C. got in touch with DNA adviser Karen Evans. She had a few questions that other people may find useful to read when starting on the DNA journey too

JOANNE: I have Ancestry DNA results for both my mum and my dad. I used my account for mum, but set up a new account for dad. Dad doesn't want to pay for a subscription. Can I upload the tree from my account to his and still get the matches without another subscription? If not what do you suggest?

KAREN: You are allowed to attach a tree to your DNA results without a subscription. Your Dad will still get matches with Thrulines and Common Ancestor hints. See the chart (right) to see what you can and can’t do without a subscription.

You could also make yourself the manager of his results. On your Dad’s DNA homepage, click on the settings cog and scroll to find sharing preferences. Once there you/your dad can invite you to access his results and once you accept you will see his DNA test on your account. Your dad still owns the results but you would have as much access as you need.

JOANNE: My dad is in a very similar position to Mick, featured in FT January. His grandfather was informally adopted, but we do have his birth certificate and I have found his baptism record showing mother and father, but – after many years’ research –I feel the only hope is DNA matches. I am considering asking him to do aY test, but it is more expense and think I ought to explore the results I have first.

Compare the features available on Ancestry, depending on whether you are using a free account or subscribe

KAREN: I would definitely get to grips with the Ancestry test first. Depending on matches you could find links to the named father. Even if there is no clear contender your matches may point to a particular family/families for this missing parental line. The Y-DNA could point to a particular surname but the answer may already be in your autosomal results.

JOANNE: The highest matches dad has are 185 cM but I suspect they are from his mother’s side, which are very easy to trace. Is it just trial and error, checking people’s trees and allocating to the relevant parent?