<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-13549" title="ancestry dashboard" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ancestry-dashboard-265x300.jpg" alt="" width="265" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ancestry-dashboard-265x300.jpg 265w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/ancestry-dashboard.jpg 422w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 265px) 100vw, 265px" />
Over the next three days, a crack team from 23andMe will be at the annual<a href="http://www.scgsgenealogy.com/Jamboree/2012jam-home.htm"> Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree</a> in Burbank, to inject even more fun into the event while also offering tips on using genetics in genealogical searches.
Most exciting for us is that the team is offering a sneak peek to a host of cool new ancestry features that we’ll be launching in a test format in the coming weeks. We’ll be signing up attendees at the conference to do beta testing of the new features as we make them ready for a broader release in the near future.
But you can get a look at what’s to come here.
The first thing that will change is how we surface the collection of ancestry tools we offer users. Now when you click on My Ancestry Page, you’ll get a dashboard summary giving you a quick overview of things like your overall maternal and paternal line ancestry, a summary of recent changes to your Relative Finder matches and sometimes hard-to-find ancestry gems.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-13551 size-medium" title="Ancestry Painting" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-232x300.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-232x300.jpg 232w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-768x994.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-791x1024.jpg 791w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-680x880.jpg 680w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting-911x1180.jpg 911w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Ancestry-Painting.jpg 1275w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" />
To dig deeper into your ancestry, a few of our scientists have overhauled the Ancestry Painting V2 analysis, which we believe is the most accurate breakdown of your genetic ancestry now being offered anywhere. Previously we “painted” individuals ancestry by displaying their Asian, African and European ancestry. Our Ancestry Painting will soon draw from approximately 20 different world regions, creating much finer detail of your genetic ancestry and break down European ancestry and differentiate between Native American and Asian ancestry. Here’s an example of the results from our friend Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who is also the host of the recent 10-part PBS series Finding Your Roots.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-13552 size-medium" title="Relative Finder Map View" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-232x300.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-232x300.jpg 232w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-768x994.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-791x1024.jpg 791w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-680x880.jpg 680w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View-911x1180.jpg 911w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Relative-Finder-Map-View.jpg 1275w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" />
Another enhancement includes a turbo charged upgrade of how results are displayed in our popular Relative Finder tool. A new Relative Finder Geographic Map View offers you the chance to display your matches on a world map. This can be incredibly helpful for anyone on a genealogical hunt who must triangulate between multiple different sources of information about their ancestry. In this case we show how your relatives cluster on a world map, which in turn can help you target your search for relatives.
Finally, we’ve added another essential tool for those interested in ancestry with a new Family Tree.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-13553 size-medium" title="Family Tree" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-232x300.jpg" alt="" width="232" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-232x300.jpg 232w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-768x994.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-791x1024.jpg 791w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-680x880.jpg 680w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree-911x1180.jpg 911w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Family-Tree.jpg 1275w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 232px) 100vw, 232px" />
The beauty of this the new tree is that it offers a easy to use and intuitive way to store a profusion of family history. For those who use other ancestry services, they can import their GEDCOM data into 23andMe’s new family tree tool.  You’ll be able to enter into the Family Tree relevant dates, life events, professions and other data.
We believe that these new features and enhancements will be both helpful and fun in your exploration into your own ancestry with 23andMe. Stay tuned for the release and if you’re in Burbank this weekend drop by our booth (#706 and #707).

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

A Sneak Peek at 23andMe’s New Ancestry Features

During the series <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.</a> &nbsp; on PBS, The Blog &nbsp; featured posts from 23andMe’s Ancestry Ambassadors. This is the last of their own stories about using DNA to dig into ancestry.
By Tim Janzen, M.D.
For over 30 years I have been trying to determine the ancestry of my great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Youngman (b. ca Aug 1823, d. 24 May 1903).
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-13392 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Jacob-Youngman-214x300.jpg" alt="" width="214" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Jacob-Youngman-214x300.jpg 214w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Jacob-Youngman.jpg 353w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px" />Jacob Youngman 
I used traditional genealogical research techniques for much of that time, but not long ago I realized that DNA testing at 23andMe could help me solve this decades old puzzle. No one in our family knew who Jacob Youngman’s parents were, but his son Charles Youngman (b. 1872) left a tantalizing clue in his autobiographical sketch that was published in the book &#8220;History of Harrison County, Missouri.&#8221;
Charles Youngman said that Jacob Youngman&#8217;s father &nbsp;lived in &nbsp;Kentucky, &nbsp;moved first to Indiana, and later settled in central Missouri where he died. &nbsp; Not too many Youngmans fit this description. In the past two years, I have developed a theory that Jacob Youngman’s father was John Youngman (b. ca 1793), who is listed in the 1840 Census in Clay County, Missouri but is not listed there in the 1850 Census.
I know that my ancestor Jacob Youngman is listed in Shelby Co., Indiana in the 1850 Census but the man I presume to be his father, John Youngman isn’t. &nbsp; Instead, I recently discovered that John Youngman didn&#8217;t die prior to 1850, but instead moved to Denton Co., Texas where he is listed in the 1850 Census with his younger children.
This genealogical puzzle is 
complicated by the fact that John Youngman was married 3 &nbsp;times and was divorced from his second wife Elizabeth Reeves, his first wife had apparently died by 1822.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-13394 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Youngman-graveston1-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Youngman-graveston1-300x225.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Youngman-graveston1.jpg 461w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Photograph of the gravestone of Jacob Youngman (b. ca Aug 1823) and his second wife Rachel Cart.
Census records from 1820, 1830, and 1840 indicate that he had children by all three wives, but only his 5 youngest children who were living with him in 1850 are named in the census records.
Another clue is that Jacob Youngman’s granddaughter Louise Youngman (1893-1988) said that her grandfather often referred to “Uncle Stacy Reeves”, suggesting that Jacob Youngman’s mother could have been Elizabeth Reeves, the second wife of John Youngman. &nbsp; A Stacy T. Reeves (b. ca 1823) is listed near Jacob Youngman and his family in the 1860 Census and may be the “Uncle Stacy Reeves” that Louise Youngman was referring to. By the fall of 2010 I had many promising hints, but I still hadn’t solved the puzzle and then I established contact with several other Youngman researchers, Debbi Youngman and Susie Brewer. Both are related to descendents of John Youngman by his first and third wives. I decided to pursue confirmation of my theory that Jacob Youngman was a son of John Youngman by his second wife Elizabeth Reeves through autosomal DNA testing done by 23andMe. Troy McCoy, a great-grandson of John Youngman and his third wife, was the person most closely related to John Youngman who was tested. &nbsp; Below is a summary of the DNA data showing the amount of autosomal DNA in centimorgans (cMs) that Troy McCoy shares in common with each of the five great-grandchildren of Jacob Youngman who have been tested by 23andMe. &nbsp; The comparison between Troy McCoy and Jacob Youngman’s great-grandchildren is the most important because in theory they should share the most autosomal DNA in common since they are the most closely related among all of the Youngman descendents in the project. &nbsp; A centimorgan is a unit of crossover frequency used to measure how often DNA segments are split up by recombination as they pass through the generations. The proper way to analyze this data is to create an average of the amount of DNA shared between Troy McCoy and Jacob Youngman’s five great-grandchildren. (See table 1.)
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 275px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
John Youngman and Family Reconstructed
John Youngman (b. ca 1793 in Kentucky) married his first wife Elizabeth Marton (b. ca 1798 in Kentucky) on 23 Feb 1816 in Campbell Co., Kentucky. Elizabeth Marton appears to have died ca 1821. John and Elizabeth had three children: 
1. John M. Youngman (b. 10 Jan 1818 in Kentucky) 
2. William Youngman (b. ca 1818 in Kentucky) 
3. Susanna Youngman (b. ca 1821 in Kentucky)
John Youngman (b. ca 1793) married his second wife Elizabeth Reeves (b. ca 1802 in Kentucky) on 20 Jul 1822 in Campbell Co., Kentucky. They were divorced on 29 Apr 1830. They had two children: 
1. Jacob Youngman (b. ca 1823, KY) 
2. Unknown female (b. ca 1825-30)
John Youngman (b. ca 1793) married his third wife Priscilla Clark on 10 Jun 1830 in Clermont Co., Ohio. They had seven children: 
1. Sarah A. Youngman (b. ca 1830, IN) 
2. Nancy Catherine Youngman (b. ca 1832,IN) 
3. James C. Youngman (b. ca 1835, IN) 
4. Mary Jane Youngman (b. 1835, IN) 
5. Louhany Youngman (b. 1843, MO) 
6. Thomas Jefferson Youngman (b. 1844, AR) 
7. Joseph Youngman (b. ca 1844, AR)
</div>
It is reasonable to assume that all of the matching segments over 5 cMs in length came from a shared common ancestor. &nbsp; A threshold of around 4 to 5 cMs is necessary since it is common for random people of European ancestry to share segments that are less than 4 cMs in length even if they don’t have any ancestry in common in the past 300 years. We would expect that on average half third cousins should share about 27.8 cMs of DNA. &nbsp; The above averages support of &nbsp;my theory that Troy McCoy’s great-grandmother Mary Jane Youngman (b. ca 1836) was a half sibling to my great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Youngman (b. &nbsp;ca Aug &nbsp;1823).
It is reasonable to assume that all of the matching segments over 5 cMs in length came from a shared common ancestor. &nbsp; A threshold of around 4 to 5 cMs is necessary since it is common for random people of European ancestry to share segments that are less than 4 cMs in length even if they don’t have any ancestry in common in the past 300 years. We would expect that on average half third cousins should share about 27.8 cMs of DNA. &nbsp; The above averages support of &nbsp;my theory that Troy McCoy’s great-grandmother Mary Jane Youngman (b. ca 1836) was a half sibling to my great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Youngman (b. &nbsp;ca Aug &nbsp;1823).
A Stacy T. Reeves (b. ca 1823) is listed near Jacob Youngman and his family in the 1860 Census and may be the “Uncle Stacy Reeves” that Louise Youngman was referring to. By the fall of 2010 I had many promising hints, but I still hadn’t solved the puzzle and then I established contact with several other Youngman researchers, Debbi Youngman and Susie Brewer. Both are related to descendents of John Youngman by his first and third wives. I decided to pursue confirmation of my theory that Jacob Youngman was a son of John Youngman by his second wife Elizabeth Reeves through autosomal DNA testing done by 23andMe. Troy McCoy, a great-grandson of John Youngman and his third wife, was the person most closely related to John Youngman who was tested.
Below is a summary of the DNA data showing the amount of autosomal DNA in centimorgans (cMs) that Troy McCoy shares in common with each of the five great-grandchildren of Jacob Youngman who have been tested by 23andMe.
The comparison between Troy McCoy and Jacob Youngman’s great-grandchildren is the most important because in theory they should share the most autosomal DNA in common since they are the most closely related among all of the Youngman descendents in the project. &nbsp; A centimorgan is a unit of crossover frequency used to measure how often DNA segments are split up by recombination as they pass through the generations. The proper way to analyze this data is to create an average of the amount of DNA shared between Troy McCoy and Jacob Youngman’s five great-grandchildren. (See table 1.) &nbsp; It is reasonable to assume that all of the matching segments over 5 cMs in length came from a shared common ancestor. &nbsp; A threshold of around 4 to 5 cMs is necessary since it is common for random people of European ancestry to share segments that are less than 4 cMs in length even if they don’t have any ancestry in common in the past 300 years. We would expect that on average half third cousins should share about 27.8 cMs of DNA. &nbsp; The above averages support of &nbsp;my theory that Troy McCoy’s great-grandmother Mary Jane Youngman (b. ca 1836) was a half sibling to my great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Youngman (b. &nbsp;ca Aug &nbsp;1823).
It is reasonable to assume that all of the matching segments over 5 cMs in length came from a shared common ancestor. &nbsp; A threshold of around 4 to 5 cMs is necessary since it is common for random people of European ancestry to share segments that are less than 4 cMs in length even if they don’t have any ancestry in common in the past 300 years. We would expect that on average half third cousins should share about 27.8 cMs of DNA. &nbsp; The above averages support of &nbsp;my theory that Troy McCoy’s great-grandmother Mary Jane Youngman (b. ca 1836) was a half sibling to my great-great-great-grandfather Jacob Youngman (b. &nbsp;ca Aug &nbsp;1823).
<table border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Comparison</th>
<th>4 cM threshold</th>
<th>5 cM threshold</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Frederick Mock and his 1/2 3rd cousin Troy McCoy</td>
<td>16.2</td>
<td>12.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Raymond Youngman and his 1/2 3rd cousin Troy McCoy</td>
<td>5.1</td>
<td>5.1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Marilyn Bannister and her 1/2 3rd cousin Troy McCoy</td>
<td>4.6</td>
<td>0</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Darryl Youngman and his 1/2 3rd cousin Troy McCoy</td>
<td>72.4</td>
<td>67.9</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Norman Youngman and his 1/2 3rd cousin Troy McCoy</td>
<td>71.6</td>
<td>67.4</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Average:</td>
<td>34.0</td>
<td>30.5</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
*Expected amount if the relationship is a half 3rd cousin: 27.5 

But I didn’t stop there. I also found results that are very close to the expected average for a comparison like the one shown above between Troy McCoy and six great-great-grandchildren of Jacob Youngman. &nbsp; Thus the DNA data suggest that Mary Jane Youngman and Jacob Youngman were half-siblings based on these comparisons. &nbsp; I am likewise seeing results that are very close to the expected average for the comparisons between two descendants of William Youngman (b. ca 1818), John Youngman’s son by his first wife, and the descendants of Jacob Youngman. &nbsp; The DNA
The DNA data, therefore, suggest that William Youngman and Jacob Youngman were also half-siblings based on these comparisons. In summary, autosomal DNA analysis has provided the key evidence to solving the genealogical puzzle of the parentage of Jacob Youngman.
I now feel confident that Jacob Youngman was the son of John Youngman and Elizabeth Reeves. &nbsp; This project demonstrates how autosomal DNA can be used as an adjunct to traditional genealogical research to confirm or refute theories about possible genealogical relationships.
Tim Janzen is a family practice doctor at South Tabor Family Physicians in Portland, Oregon. His interest in genealogical research goes back 35 years and he has particularly focused on Mennonite genealogy for the past 15 years. He has a web site that summarizes many different sources available for Mennonite genealogical research found at <a href="http://www.timjanzen.com/">www.timjanzen.com</a> and has given many presentations about Mennonite genealogy in the United States and Canada. He is the co-administrator of the Mennonite DNA project at <a href="http://www.mennonitedna.com/">www.mennonitedna.com</a>. He also serves on the ISOGG Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree Committee. Tim is married to Rachel Janzen and they have four children.

Who Were the Parents of Jacob Youngman?

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12716" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;" title="DNA USA.indd" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DNA-USA-197x300.jpg" alt="" width="197" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DNA-USA-197x300.jpg 197w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/DNA-USA.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px" />
Bryan Sykes, the evolutionary geneticist at Oxford University and the author of<a href="../2008/08/14/recommended-reading-the-seven-daughters-of-eve/"> The Seven Daughters of Eve,</a> is adding to his oeuvre of popular work on genetics with his new book,<a href="https://www.amazon.com/DNA-USA-Genetic-Portrait-America/dp/0871404125%3FSubscriptionId%3DAKIAIXFKFJI6IH6DO5KQ%26tag%3Dkirkus-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3D0871404125"> DNA USA, A Genetic Portrait of America.</a>
As with his previous work, Sykes breaks down some of the complicated aspects of genetics in ways that are easily understood. This book is both travelogue and a snapshot of the genetic melting pot that is the United States of America.  As Sykes writes America is the place “where the genes of the three great continents converge.”
The book offers some intriguing, although mostly anecdotal, observations. During his journey Sykes meets people who agree to have their DNA tested anonymously. He then creates DNA portraits of these individuals, using 23andMe to create ancestry paintings of each individual. From that he drew conclusions about early America and the rich mixing of European, Asian and African people in America. The book also offers Sykes a chance to discuss the history of the earliest Americans.
Last week, our own senior director of research Joanna Mountain – who along with 23andMe scientist Mike Macpherson acted as consultants for some of the genetics in the book – introduced Sykes at a lecture he delivered at Berkeley Arts &amp; Letters.
He got a good response from the audience and his book has some buzz including a<a href="https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/bryan-sykes/dna-usa/#review%20http://www.oxfordancestors.com/"> thumbs-up</a> from the Kirkus Review. 
We’re offering two signed copies of the book &#8212; simply submit the form below for a chance to win!

DNA USA

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12933" title="Jennie Cole" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Jennie-Cole-169x300.jpg" alt="" width="169" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Jennie-Cole-169x300.jpg 169w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Jennie-Cole.jpg 270w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px" />Jennie Cole, c.1895
As the series <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/">Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.</a> begins its 10-week run on PBS, The Blog will feature posts from 23andMe’s Ancestry Ambassadors featuring their own stories about using DNA to dig into ancestry.
By CeCe Moore
I have always felt a special affinity for Jewish people and their heritage. Throughout my life I have had many Jewish friends.
I have even been mistaken for a Jewish person despite having no known Jewish ancestors.
As a result, I was especially intrigued when, after 23andMe&#8217;s Ancestry Finder launched in 2010, I found that a number of people with segments of DNA that matched mine were self-identified as <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/detail-for-ashkenazi-ancestry">Ashkenazi Jews</a>. The Ancestry Finder lab seeks to graphically illustrate the country of origin for specific segments of your DNA by locating stretches that match those of people from specific geographic regions. Ancestry Finder also identifies matching segments for <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/ashkenazi-ancestry-and-health">Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry</a>.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-13008 size-full" title="CeCe's Uncle's matches with one gparent" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CeCes-Uncles-matches-with-one-gparent.jpg" alt="" width="419" height="227" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CeCes-Uncles-matches-with-one-gparent.jpg 419w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CeCes-Uncles-matches-with-one-gparent-300x163.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 419px) 100vw, 419px" />My Ancestry Finder chart shows matches with people who have three Ashkenazi grandparents
In particular, in my Ancestry Finder results I noticed a cluster on my seventh chromosome that appeared to contain many matches with self-declared Ashkenazi ancestry. When I examined the downloaded spreadsheet of Ancestry Finder matches, I discovered that on Chromosome 7, between the positions 51,500,000 and 146,700,000, I had no less than 47 matches with people who self-identify as at least partially Jewish. These matches all appeared to be rather small and concentrated on that one spot, but it did cause me to ponder the possibility that I could have distant Jewish ancestors.
In further investigation, I found that my mother had no matches associated with Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry in her Ancestry Finder lab. Since my father is deceased, I asked my paternal uncle to test in his place. When I received his results, it was clear as day that the same Ashkenazi cluster on his seventh chromosome!
In fact, his Jewish connection appeared to be even more substantial than mine, with 69 self-described “Ashkenazi” matches on Chromosome 7 between positions 39,400,000 and 103,400,000 found in the Ancestry Finder match download.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-13042 size-full" title="CeCe's Uncle's matches" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CeCes-Uncles-matches1.jpg" alt="" width="434" height="218" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CeCes-Uncles-matches1.jpg 434w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CeCes-Uncles-matches1-300x151.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 434px) 100vw, 434px" />Paternal Uncle&#8217;s matches with people who have three Ashkenazi grandparents.
Notably, my paternal uncle’s results also included several Public Matches in 23andMe’s <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/relfinder/">Relative Finder</a> who list their ancestry as Jewish. Most of these are predicted as &#8220;Distant Cousins,&#8221; which probably explains why they don&#8217;t appear in my Relative Finder. In this case, testing just one generation further back in time revealed very useful information.
While this Ashkenazi ancestry is fairly distant, it certainly appears to be authentic. With approximately 70% of my uncle’s chromosomes covered in Ancestry Finder, 3.6% &#8211; 7.8% is declared <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/detail-for-ashkenazi-ancestry">Ashkenazi</a>. With this in mind, I would guess that he and my father have a 2nd great-grandparent of primarily Jewish descent or several ancestors with lesser amounts of Jewish ancestry.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-13008 size-full" title="CeCe's Uncle's matches with one gparent" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CeCes-Uncles-matches-with-one-gparent.jpg" alt="" width="419" height="227" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CeCes-Uncles-matches-with-one-gparent.jpg 419w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CeCes-Uncles-matches-with-one-gparent-300x163.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 419px) 100vw, 419px" />Paternal Uncle&#8217;s matches with people who have one Ashkenazi grandparent. 
Since the majority of the matches cluster in the same area, the most likely conclusion is that this DNA is inherited from a single ancestor. My paternal family tree is fairly complete and so far without an obvious suspect, but since my father’s great-grandmother, Jennie Cole’s father, is unknown, this scenario is a viable possibility. To focus in on this prospect, I would need to test more of Jennie’s descendants to isolate her DNA and determine if there is evidence of Jewish ancestry in the portions of the DNA that each of them inherited from Jennie. Since the paternity of Jennie has long been an enigma to me, this is a very intriguing new avenue of exploration for my genealogy research.
Before testing at 23andMe, I never would have imagined that I had Jewish ancestry. Now that I have discovered this tantalizing fact, I am on the hunt to learn more about this elusive ancestor!
23andMe provides genetic testing services for informational purposes; your results may or may not help you find or identify relatives or family members.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-12939" title="CeCephoto" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/CeCephoto.jpg" alt="" width="114" height="162" />
CeCe Moore is a genetic genealogist specializing in the use of autosomal DNA for genealogy. She writes the popular blog <a href="http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/">Your Genetic Genealogist</a> and works as a television producer with StudioINTV.   CeCe is the Southern California Regional Coordinator of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG), serves on the Advisory Board of the Mixed Roots Foundation, and is a member of Mensa.  Her favorite genetic experiment is her seven-year-old son, Nicolas.

CeCe Moore

Discovering Unknown Jewish Ancestry with 23andMe

As the series <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.</a> begins its 10-week run on PBS, The Blog will feature posts from 23andMe’s Ancestry Ambassadors featuring their own stories about using DNA to dig into ancestry.
By Andrea Badger
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12315" title="Andrea's Tree" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Tree-226x300.jpg" alt="" width="226" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Tree-226x300.jpg 226w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Tree.jpg 442w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px" />
There has been a legend in my family, passed down from generation to generation, about my third great-grandfather Nathaniel Lewis. According to family folklore, his name wasn’t originally Nathaniel Lewis, but rather, Nathaniel Levi. As the story goes, our Lewis ancestors were Jewish people who converted to Christianity and changed their name from Levi to Lewis.
I had always wondered if this family story was really true. Everyone in our family has been told this legend but no one really had any conclusive evidence — just small clues. My grandmother and her siblings remember their mother singing Jewish songs to them as children. We also have an old newspaper article about our ancestor that states in passing ‘Nathaniel Lewis has lived in Scotland for many years but has no Scot’s blood’. Many of my relatives have speculated that this statement reveals that although Nathaniel was of Scottish nationality, he had a different ancestral background — Ashkenazi Jewish. However, conclusive evidence about this hypothesis was lacking until I joined 23andMe.

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12316" title="Andrea's Community Response" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Community-Response-300x249.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="249" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Community-Response-300x249.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Community-Response.jpg 368w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
When I first joined 23andMe in 2009, Relative Finder was just being introduced and the Ancestry Finder feature did not yet exist. As I corresponded with my Relative Finder matches, I noticed that many of my potential relatives said that they were of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. I wondered if this high number of Jewish Relative Finder matches was typical for someone with Northern European ancestry, so I turned to the 23andMe community for help and posted my questions on the community forums. I communicated with fellow 23andMe users and quickly realized that my genetic profile wasn’t typical for someone without any Jewish background. Instead, my DNA confirmed the old family story and indicated that it was highly likely that I do have Jewish ancestry.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12318" title="Andrea's GAunt and Uncle Ancestry Finder" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-300x164.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="164" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-300x164.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-271x149.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-372x204.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder.jpg 469w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Here is my Ancestry Finder, with the settings focusing on the Ashkenazi Jewish segments. The blue spots are regions where a 23andMe customer shares a segment of DNA with me AND has stated that he or she has Jewish ancestors.
I decided to get my great-aunt &amp; great-uncle from that side of the family tested to see if they also had <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/ashkenazi-ancestry-and-health">evidence of Ashkenazi Jewish</a> admixture. Around this time, Ancestry Finder, which has a specific section dedicated to Jewish ancestry, was introduced. This feature was also beneficial in my quest.
As I expected, my great-aunt &amp; great-uncle also showed significant Jewish ancestry — more than I have, because they are two generations closer to our Jewish ancestor than I am.
Thanks to DNA testing, we have clear evidence of a Jewish ancestor in our past for the first time. Without 23andMe, I might never have known if there was any truth to this family legend. Why did the Lewis family feel the need to convert from Judaism to Christianity and change their name? I am actively searching to uncover this information, but much of Nathaniel Lewis’s life story has likely been lost to history. However, his DNA lives on in his descendants and provides clues about his background. Often, when traditional genealogy methods fail, you can turn to DNA to uncover more about your ancestral heritage. You never know what sort of surprises can be uncovered!
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-12325" title="andrea 23andMe pic" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-372x372.jpg 372w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
When she is not performing genetic comparisons on Family Inheritance Advanced or answering questions on the 23andMe community forums, Andrea Badger attends college at the University of Washington and will be receiving two bachelor’s degrees in June of this year. She writes the genetic genealogy blog at www.andreasancestors.com.

Finding a Family’s Jewish Ancestry

As the series <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.</a> continues its 10-week run on PBS, The Blog will feature posts from 23andMe’s Ancestry Ambassadors featuring their own stories about using DNA to dig into ancestry.
By Shannon Christmas
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-12107" title="shannon's gp" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/shannons-gp.jpg" alt="" width="220" height="278" />
African American genealogy remains a challenging jigsaw puzzle where half of the pieces seem irrevocably lost. Many families scarred by chattel slavery buried their pasts to distance themselves and their progeny from the horrors of bondage.
<h2>A Fractured History</h2>
Now, advances in genetics and Internet technology have unearthed some of the long-buried pieces of our significantly fractured history.
Uncovering some of those missing pieces for my family required an open mind. One of my paternal great-grandmothers, Katie Lee Davis of Warren County, North Carolina, inherited a revisionist version of our family’s past.
In her correspondence with one of my cousins, Grandma Katie identified her ancestors, wrote lovingly of her paternal aunts, and recalled never having known a former slave among her relatives. Yet in 2010, 16 years after her death, revelations about Grandma Katie’s ancestors began to tell a different story. 

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12109" title="gravestone" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/gravestone-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/gravestone-300x225.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/gravestone.jpg 453w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Marriage and death records from Warren County list Grandma Katie’s paternal grandparents as Henry and Lucinda Davis, an African-American couple about whom little else is known.
<h2>A Pedigree</h2>
However, in the summer of 2010, Ray, the husband of one of my father’s first cousins, emailed me a pedigree outline that omitted Henry’s name and replaced it with a Peter “White” Davis. The glaring conflict between the government documents I had examined and this new email raised questions.
Who was Peter “White” Davis? Was he really Grandma Katie’s grandfather?
The answers to those questions only heightened my curiosity. Ray reported that Peter “White” Davis, a slave owner formally named Peter Randolph Davis, allegedly sired many mulatto children with his slaves. According to one of Katie’s elderly distant relatives, Grandma Katie’s father, Richard D. Davis, was one of those mulatto children.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12108" title="erasmuschristmas" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/erasmuschristmas-222x300.jpg" alt="" width="222" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/erasmuschristmas-222x300.jpg 222w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/erasmuschristmas.jpg 225w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px" />
Tracing Peter Randolph Davis’ lineage yielded another discovery. Peter’s maternal great-grandparents included a couple I had encountered in previous research: Captain William Green and Mary Elizabeth Christmas. Captain Green and his wife, Mary, were indirect ancestors of my great-grandfather, Richard Christmas.
<h2>A Warren County Planter</h2>
Richard Christmas’s paternal grandfather, Lewis Yancey Christmas, a wealthy Warren County planter and attorney, took two slaves as common-law wives. The first union produced 12 children, including my great-great-grandfather, Erasmus Christmas.
If the Peter Randolph Davis story was accurate, then my great grandfather Richard Christmas and my great grandmother Katie Lee Davis were not only husband and wife for 60 years, but 4th cousins once removed.
The possibility of a consanguineous marriage, though initially unsettling, provided an opportunity to verify this new paternity claim using DNA testing. Web-based DNA analysis tools allow one to search an individual’s raw DNA data file from 23andMe for runs of homozygosity and DNA segments indicating one’s parents shared recent common ancestors.
<h2>Cousin Test</h2>
Since my grandfather, the son of Richard Christmas and Katie Lee Davis had tested with 23andMe, the truth sat just a few keystrokes away. GEDMatch.com’s “Cousin Test for Parents” identified nine runs of homozygosity among my grandfather’s 22 autosomal chromosomes, amounting to more than 55 centimorgans (cM) of DNA, an amount that suggests his parents were at least 4th cousins.
A similar tool created by mathematician David Pike (<a href="http://www.math.mun.ca/%7Edapike/FF23utils/roh.php">http://www.math.mun.ca/~dapike/FF23utils/roh.php</a>) replicated the results. Richard Christmas and Katie Lee Davis shared a bloodline, proving that Peter Randolph Davis was Katie’s paternal grandfather.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-12111 size-medium" title="shannondoc" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/shannondoc-218x300.jpg" alt="" width="218" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/shannondoc-218x300.jpg 218w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/shannondoc.jpg 473w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 218px) 100vw, 218px" />
In early 2012, I obtained a slave inventory from an estate file for Dr. Stephen Davis (Peter Randolph Davis’ father); the family of Henry and Lucinda Davis appears among the slaves listed.
Like so many former slaves, the paternal relatives with whom my great-grandmother spent her earliest years clearly sought to conceal their dark history to embrace a brighter future. But DNA illuminated how that past proved prologue.
23andMe provides genetic testing services for informational purposes; your results may or may not help you find or identify relatives or family members.
When not updating pedigree charts or mapping his chromosomes, Shannon Christmas is the founder and Chief Market Advisor/Design Strategist of The Christmas Collective, a strategic real estate and land use consulting atelier.

Shannon Christmas

The Missing Pieces in an African American Family History

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-11702" title="haplogroup-I" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/haplogroup-I.png" alt="" width="514" height="268" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/haplogroup-I.png 514w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/haplogroup-I-300x156.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 514px) 100vw, 514px" />
<a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(11)61453-0/abstract" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">A recent study in The Lancet</a> reported that variation on the Y chromosome &#8212; haplogroup I, tagged by the SNP rs2032597 &#8212; is associated with coronary artery disease (CAD) in British men, with an odds ratio of 1.56. This finding stands out for several reasons. For one thing, the effect is substantially larger than any other reported genetic associations with CAD. Furthermore, it is rare to hear about functional effects of Y chromosome variation &#8212; at least partly because the Y chromosome is small and contains very few genes. The finding also invites special attention for some of the same reasons that make the Y chromosome interesting for population genetics. Here, we discuss the special properties of the Y chromosome and their implications for association studies, our concerns about the evidence the authors use to support their finding, and observations from the 23andMe database for haplogroup I and heart disease.
<h6>Why the Y is problematic</h6>
Most of the Y chromosome is not subject to recombination (the shuffling of maternal and paternal DNA that creates the unique genetic material passed down through sperm and egg) and is inherited intact from father to son. A consequence of this is that genetic variation on the Y chromosome is strongly associated with genetic ancestry. That doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean that genetic variation on the Y can&#8217;t also be functional, but it complicates functional analyses because it can be especially difficult to distinguish between ancestry effects and effects that are directly due to a particular Y chromosome variant. The lack of recombination also means that variants that are very far apart on the Y chromosome can still be strongly correlated, so it is also very difficult to use an association on the Y chromosome to identify a particular region as functionally important: the causal variant could be almost anywhere on the chromosome.
<h6>How strong is the evidence?</h6>
In The Lancet study, the authors carefully checked for alternative explanations for the association between haplogroup I and CAD. They looked for differences in conventional cardiovascular disease risk factors &#8212; both clinical biomarkers like blood pressure, BMI, and HDL, and lifestyle factors like smoking, alcohol consumption, and education &#8212; between haplogroup I and other haplogroups. None of these explained the association between haplogroup I and coronary artery disease. The authors also showed that the presence of haplogroup I did not correlate with the most significant dimensions of genetic ancestry within the study participants. This is a little surprising because haplogroup I is differentially distributed across Europe on a larger scale: it has a higher prevalence in Scandinavia and a lower prevalence in Southern Europe. Of course, it is possible that this gradient is not present in the smaller population of British men.
The trouble with candidate gene studies Candidate gene association studies (studies looking at one or a few genes as opposed to studies looking at variation across the entire genome) have a long and somewhat sordid history, largely because we tend to misjudge our ability to choose hypotheses that have a good likelihood of being true. If we choose a SNP at random and hypothesize that it might be associated with CAD, it would probably be better to use the genome-wide threshold for statistical significance (p-value &lt; 5 x 10-8) to evaluate the results, rather than, say, P &lt; 0.05 based on the fact that we have done just a single statistical test. If we&#8217;ve used a lot of prior knowledge to choose this one SNP, then maybe we could argue for using a more lenient standard. But it is very hard to decide how much prior knowledge is &#8220;worth&#8221; in this context.
What about the statistical evidence in favor of the haplogroup I association? In the target population of British men, more than 90% of individuals have either haplogroup I or another paternal haplogroup, R1b1b2. One could thus argue that the authors are effectively performing just a single statistical test comparing these two groups. On that basis, their statistical results (p-values of 0.004 in their initial study set, 0.012 in their replication set, and 0.0002 overall), seem convincing. However, it could be argued that the odds were stacked against their initial hypothesis that Y chromosome variation might be associated with CAD. The reported result would not meet criteria for significance in a genome wide association study (typically, p-values &lt; 5 x 10-8), so a lot depends on the credibility of this initial hypothesis.
The authors suggest that their hypothesis was motivated by the observation that CAD is more common in men than women but this fact is not convincing by itself. Physical differences between men and women are largely determined by the presence or absence of the Y chromosome, but that does not necessarily mean that specific variations on the Y chromosome affect traits or risk for disease among men. (It is much more likely that variations in many other parts of the genome that are functionally involved in those traits account for those differences.) The authors also cite work on animal models, as well as a few studies in humans suggesting that Y chromosome variants may affect cardiovascular phenotypes. However, the authors did not test the specific variants or phenotypes implicated in those studies.
<h6>Findings in the 23andMe community</h6>
We investigated whether the tag SNP for haplogroup I &#8212; the C version of rs2032597 &#8212; was associated with cardiovascular phenotypes in men with European ancestry from the 23andMe community using four traits: self-reported coronary artery disease, heart attack, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. The following table shows results of association tests for these phenotypes. We see no significant association between rs2032597 and any cardiovascular phenotype, and can easily exclude values as large as the odds ratio of 1.56 reported by the authors of the Lancet study.
<div style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Table 1. Association results for rs2032597 and heart disease phenotypes
<table style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 13px;" cellspacing="10">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td># cases</td>
<td># controls</td>
<td>p-value</td>
<td>Effect</td>
<td>95% CI</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Coronary artery disease</td>
<td>1014</td>
<td>20120</td>
<td>0.92</td>
<td>1.009</td>
<td>[0.845,1.206]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Heart attack</td>
<td>486</td>
<td>22498</td>
<td>0.31</td>
<td>0.881</td>
<td>[0.687,1.130]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>High blood pressure</td>
<td>5230</td>
<td>15797</td>
<td>0.34</td>
<td>0.958</td>
<td>[0.878,1.046]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>High cholesterol</td>
<td>7970</td>
<td>15030</td>
<td>0.84</td>
<td>1.008</td>
<td>[0.932,1.090]</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
In contrast, we replicate the association for rs4977574, which is the variant (located on chromosome 9) most strongly associated with CAD in a recent <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3119261/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">large-scale meta-analysis</a>. In this case, results from the 23andMe database match the reported odds ratio of 1.3, suggesting that self-reported data from 23andMe members is sufficient for detecting true associations.
<div style="border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 10px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;">
Table 2. Association between rs4977574 and heart disease phenotypes
<table style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 13px;" cellspacing="10">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td># cases</td>
<td># controls</td>
<td>p-value</td>
<td>Effect</td>
<td>95% CI</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Coronary artery disease</td>
<td>1014</td>
<td>20120</td>
<td>2.7E-08</td>
<td>1.312</td>
<td>[1.192,1.444]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Heart attack</td>
<td>486</td>
<td>22498</td>
<td>3.9E-05</td>
<td>1.318</td>
<td>[1.155,1.503]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>High blood pressure</td>
<td>5230</td>
<td>15797</td>
<td>0.0091</td>
<td>1.065</td>
<td>[1.016,1.117]</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>High cholesterol</td>
<td>7970</td>
<td>15030</td>
<td>0.18</td>
<td>1.029</td>
<td>[0.987,1.073]</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<h6>Concluding thoughts</h6>
What might explain the failure to replicate The Lancet finding in the 23andMe cohort? One possibility is that it is simply a false positive, and the apparent replication in the original study was just luck. Another possibility is that the association is real but restricted to the original study population of British men. That is, it might replicate in a new study of British men, but might not generalize well. Distinguishing between these possibilities will probably require additional studies, since it is very difficult to &#8220;prove a negative&#8221; and establish that a hypothetical association does not exist. The authors suggest that their study is the first to evaluate association between Y chromosome haplogroups and CAD. However, rs2032597 is present on recent Illumina SNP arrays used for GWAS, so data for this variant should exist in other large studies of CAD. Thus, it should be possible to quickly test many cohorts for this association, even if the Y chromosome data has not been previously analyzed.

Haplogroup I Likely Not Linked to Heart Disease

Editor&#8217;s note: This post has been edited to reflect changes to the 23andMe ancestry product. 
Nearly 37 million Americans claim to have Irish heritage according to a <a href="http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/cb11-ff03.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">national survey conducted in 2009</a>.
That’s over eight times the number of people living in Ireland today. Although it’s remarkable that nearly 1 in 10 Americans might say “Kiss Me I’m Irish!” on St. Patrick’s day, it’s not clear if all these people actually have Irish ancestors or if they simply feel an affinity for corned beef and green beer.
So how do you know if you have Irish ancestry? Often this information is passed down through family stories, for instance, my mother claims to be a quarter Irish and so I’m apparently one-eighth Irish.
But can I look at my DNA to verify this?
It turns out that <a href="../2010/09/29/ancestry-at-23andme-introducing-sheridan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">maternal and paternal lines</a> can offer some clues about Irish ancestry. 
In my case, my maternal line, traced through mitochondrial DNA that I inherited from my mother (thanks Mom!), told me that I’m a sub-type of a lineage called H6a (specifically H6a1b). H6a is is an offshoot of the broader H maternal line and is found at low levels – 4% or less – in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, France, Sweden&#8230; and Ireland! So, although it doesn’t completely verify the story, this one branch of my ancestral tree is at least consistent with claims of Irish ancestry on my mother’s side.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justify; width: 300px; background-color: #eee; padding: 10px; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; font-size: 11px;">
What is a “maternal line”? 
Maternal lines are inherited through mitochondrial DNA – both women and men have mitochondrial DNA, but it’s only the mother’s mitochondrial DNA that is passed on to a child.
What is a “paternal line”? 
Paternal lines are inherited through the Y chromosome, which only men have. (Remember that women have two X chromosomes while men have one X and one Y chromosome). Since women don’t inherit a Y chromosome, they must trace their paternal line through their father’s, brother’s or paternal uncle’s Y-chromosome data.
</div>
If instead, I want to see if I have Irish ancestry on my father’s side (even though my father has never claimed to be Irish!), I can investigate my paternal line, which is traced through DNA on the Y chromosome and passed from father to son.
Even though I don’t have a Y chromosome, I can learn about my paternal line through my biological brother’s or father’s DNA.
<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2799514/?tool=pubmed" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">85% of Irish men</a> belong to a paternal lineage called R1b1b2, but since this line is also common across the rest of western Europe, it doesn’t definitively determine if a man has Irish ancestry. If a man has a sub-type of this lineage (called R1b1b2a1a2f2), however, it’s much more likely that his DNA might actually trace to Ireland. Research suggests that many men of this line are descendants of an Irish king named “Niall of the Nine Hostages” who ruled during the 4th and 5th centuries.
According to legend, Niall led one of the most powerful and enduring Irish kingdoms and it has been suggested that because of high rates of Irish emigration to North America and other parts of the world,<a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8600-medieval-irish-warlord-boasts-three-million-descendants.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> up to two or three million</a> men descend from Niall!
<a href="../2010/09/16/ancestry-at-23andme-what-can-you-learn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Learning about our ancestry</a> is particularly fun when we can toast to it. Even if you don’t have Irish ancestry, we wish you a Happy St. Patrick’s day and encourage you to explore the hidden stories in your DNA.

Did You Know? DNA Can Offer Clues about Irish Ancestry.

<a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/ancestry/family-tree/">Every family has its stories</a>. We just don’t know them all. That’s where genealogy comes in. Through census and military records, notes in family bibles, or conversations with older relatives we can recover some of those family histories. But where memories and traditional paper records fail, we now have a new genealogical tool — our own DNA. The stories in PBS’ series “Finding Your Roots” illustrate the power of genetic genealogy and the use of DNA to solve family mysteries and uncover hidden stories.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 300px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 15px;"><a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Finding Your Roots</a> With Henry Louis Gates, Jr. is a 10-part series in which the Harvard scholar will delve into the genealogy and genetics of famous Americans. Gates uses history and science, including 23andMe’s ancestry tools, to explore race, family and identify in each episode. With the help from expert genealogists, historians and scientists –two of 23andMe’s own helped in the work – Gates reveals fascinating stories and interesting surprises in the family histories of Kevin Bacon, Robert Downey, Jr., Brandford Marsalis, John Legend, Martha Stewart, Barbara Walters and many others. 
23andMe’s Senior Director of Research, Joanna Mountain, is a geneticist who worked as a consultant on the series and was interviewed for a few of the episodes. Mountain, who completed her Ph.D. in Genetics at Stanford University, is also a guest blogger for the series. Her post below first appeared on the Finding Your Roots program page. We’re republishing it here with the permission of PBS.</div>
I’m a scientist. Mysteries and puzzles have always captivated me. For years I studied the fascinating riddle of human genetic diversity, working both at Stanford University and at the University of California, Berkeley to reconstruct human prehistory using DNA.
I knew the power of DNA to help us understand some of the most fundamental questions of human evolution, but it wasn’t until I applied the same science to my own family’s DNA that I saw how powerful it could be personally.
My own genealogical research started with a brownish-yellow, folded sheet of paper that was handed down to my father from his father. That piece of paper traced the history of the Mountain family back to 1755, just before a 5th great grandfather of mine changed his name from Mounton to Mountain. I was fascinated by how many children my ancestors had, and by how they kept reusing the same first names through the generations. I wondered who had made the effort to record, in such neat handwriting, all the names, birthdays, birthplaces and marriages. This faded piece of paper lent such importance to our family’s surname. We are The Mountains!
At the same time, as a professor of anthropological genetics at Stanford University, I was studying the ancestral lineages of people all over the world through DNA. I spent over 15 years studying the DNA of people in Tanzania, Sri Lanka, Italy, and many other far away places. My own use of genetic genealogy had to wait. It was only in 2007, when I began working for the personal genomics company, 23andMe, that I was able to turn my fascination with genetic variation to my own family. Now 15 of my family members and about two dozen of my husband’s family members have been tested.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-11088 size-full alignright" title="MountainFamilyTreeTop" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/MountainFamilyTreeTop-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="711" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/MountainFamilyTreeTop-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/MountainFamilyTreeTop-300x83.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/MountainFamilyTreeTop-768x213.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/MountainFamilyTreeTop-1024x284.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/MountainFamilyTreeTop-880x244.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/MountainFamilyTreeTop-1180x328.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
One of the first questions I tackled was the genetic lineage of the Mountain line. The challenge was that being female I don’t have a Y chromosome, which is essential for tracing the direct paternal line (from father, to father’s father, to father’s father’s father, and so on). The Y chromosome is one of the two sex chromosomes, the other being the X. Boys inherit a Y chromosome from their father and an X from their mother, while girls inherit an X chromosome from each parent. My father had passed away almost 20 years earlier, and I never had brothers. I knew of just one person with the same Y chromosome as my father — his brother, my uncle Peter in New Zealand. After hearing my pitch my uncle agreed to have his DNA tested. Just a few weeks later the results were in. I learned that my paternal lineage has the name of R1b1b2a1a1d*. Not so meaningful in itself, but this lineage is found mostly on the fringes of the North Sea in England, Germany and the Netherlands, having belonged to residents of Doggerland, a low lying region of forests and wetlands that must have been rich in game… between 9000 and 12,000 years ago. So that’s where the Mountain line originated!
There is no yellowed piece of paper with beautiful handwriting handed down in my mother’s family. In fact, five years ago I knew little more than my maternal grandparents’ names. So I began asking my mother and aunt a few questions. And I checked my results. There is one type of DNA, mitochondrial DNA that all people have, but that is passed down only from mother to child. DNA in the sections of our cells called mitochondria enables us to trace our direct maternal line (from mother, to mother’s mother, to mother’s mother’s mother, and so on) just like the Y chromosome allows people to trace the paternal line. My maternal DNA lineage is called H10a1. This lineage marks a special connection among the group that includes my mother, my sisters and our children. My boys won’t pass on this lineage, but hopefully my niece will have a daughter one day!
The “H” refers to a maternal lineage that originated in the Near East and then expanded, following the decline of the last Ice Age, into Europe, where it is the most prevalent lineage today. Even Marie Antoinette had this lineage! But there are no published details regarding the sub lineage called H10, shared by far fewer individuals than H. To learn more I turned to other colleagues with the H10 lineage. Some, like me, said they trace their ancestry to the United Kingdom. But many more trace ancestry to eastern Europe — Ukraine and Russia. So could my mother’s ancestry trace back to eastern Europe? This was a possibility I had never before fathomed!
Learning my own family’s ancestry connected me to the broader expanse of human history. My DNA not only confirmed what I knew about my English, Irish and Scottish roots, but also revealed deeper roots than I ever imagined along the rim of the North Sea, and a possible newfound link to eastern Europe. As someone, like many Americans, who is far removed from my ancestral homelands, the information connected me to those places. Now I had ancestral stories.
But my family extends beyond my parents and me. I have a husband and two sons, and looking at their DNA added detail and nuance to our family’s story. When we first looked at my husband’s results I thought they were wrong. The results just didn’t fit with what we knew. His family traced ancestry to England, Ireland and Switzerland, but his results pointed to something we hadn’t known about, Native American ancestry on his maternal line. The result spurred my husband to dig more deeply into his maternal line, which is typically more challenging than the paternal line because surnames change each generation. Lo and behold, he found records suggesting that his 6th great grandmother was of mixed ancestry. His South Carolina roots trace not just to European settlers, but also to ancestors living in the Americas 10,000 or more years ago.
Personal genetic information allows you to look not just at your ancient ancestors, but also at very recent connections. One of my favorite moments in this exploration of our family’s genetic genealogy came when my husband and I found some time one evening to show our boys their data. My husband has hazel eyes and mine are brown, but both our sons have blue eyes. It turns out that my husband and I each carry one copy of the “blue” version of an eye color gene, and both of us passed on that version to both boys (one chance in 16!).
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-11057 size-medium" title="AnthonyRobertMountain" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AnthonyRobertMountain-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AnthonyRobertMountain-200x300.jpg 200w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/AnthonyRobertMountain.jpg 426w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Because my mother had also been tested, we could see that the boys had inherited the blue version from my father, who died almost 23 years ago. So my sons got their blue eyes from my father, the grandfather they never met, who had passed on the genetic variant through me to both of them. When we made this discovery, I quickly looked around for a photo of my dad, finding a tiny one on the office wall. I pointed it out to my younger son, who exclaimed, “Grandpa!” Knowing he had received something in particular from his grandpa strengthened his connection to the man he didn’t know otherwise. And for all of us it added another page to our family’s story.
Joanna Mountain is a geneticist who is a consultant to the PBS series “Finding Your Roots,” and consulted previously on the PBS series “Faces of America.” Dr. Mountain completed her PhD in Genetics at Stanford University and has spent over 20 years studying human genetic diversity. Currently, she is Senior Director of Research at <a href="https://www.23andme.com/" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">23andMe, Inc.</a>

Ancestry Composition — Page 8