DNA Resources

My blog posts about DNA are linked below, including the dates of the posts. I try to be informative as I write about DNA; it is a complex subject and it takes time to really understand how to use it for genealogy.

DNA Tools:

DNA Resources at DNAPainter Website (March 2018)

Testing at AncestryDNA:

DNA Test Results (April 2012)
AncestryDNA Updates Ethnicity Results (October 2013)
Genetic Communities (March 2017)
AncestryDNA Updates Ethnicity Results (September 2018)
AncestryDNA Ethnicity (May 2019)
Using Ancestry Color Dot Tags (August 2019)
Using AncestryDNA ThruLines (August 2019)
AncestryDNA Updates Ethnicity Again (November 2019)
AncestryDNA Updates Ethnicity (on a Regular Basis) (September 2020)

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) testing at FamilyTreeDNA:

List Your Matrilineal Line (October 2014)

Y-DNA testing at FamilyTreeDNA:

Y-DNA Test Results ~ A Non-Paternity Event? (June 2014)
DNA - Narrowing Down the Non-Paternal Event (September 2015)

Autosomal (atDNA) testing at FamilyTreeDNA:

Autosomal DNA Testing with FamilyTreeDNA (April 2014)
Three Siblings' DNA Ethnicity Results (January 2016)
Three Siblings' DNA Chromosome Match Results (January 2016)
Sisters' Ethnicity Results (June 2016)
My Aunt's Closest DNA Matches on a Chromosome Browser (June 2016)
Visual Phasing (November 2016)

Other Resources:

The following blogs are primarily about genetic genealogy and are a wealth of information:
Blaine Bettinger blogs at The Genetic Genealogist
Roberta Estes blogs at DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy
Kitty Munson Cooper blogs at Kitty Cooper's Blog
Leah Larkin blogs at The DNA Geek
Jim Bartlett blogs at segment-ology
Diahan Southard is Your DNA Guide

Webinars about DNA:
Update as of September 2026: Legacy Family Tree Webinars now has 396 recorded webinars about DNA Testing and several are free. If you subscribe, you can view any of them at any time. If you don't subscribe, you can still search for the free ones and be on the lookout for their upcoming webinars, which are free for viewing by anyone for a week after their broadcast.

Third Party Tools:
GEDmatch: A website that provides tools (some free, some premium) for DNA and genealogical analysis. By uploading your DNA raw data file to this website, you can explore matches with others who have uploaded from other websites.
DNAPainter: A website where you can "paint" your chromosomes. Also has the shared cM Project and WATO: What Are The Odds tool.
Genetic Affairs: The AutoCluster tool graphically organizes your DNA matches into shared match clusters.
Leeds Method of DNA Color Clustering: Similar to what the AutoCluster tool does automatically, this method, which I did in Excel, helps visualize how close cousins are related to each other and to you.
Maguire Method: Using a simple tree to display shared cM data among a group of related individuals.
International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) has a free online encyclopedia at ISOGG Wiki