The Growth in Popularity of DNA Testing in Recent Years
Genealogists’ enthusiasm for DNA testing has exploded over the last five years. When I purchased my first DNA test from Ancestry in January 2015, the company claimed to have just around 1 million people in its DNA database. As of January 2020, Ancestry has around 15 million people in its database and 23andMe has over 10 million people in its database. They are, by far, the largest of the Big 5 testing companies when it comes to autosomal DNA testing (the other companies that make up the Big 5 are MyHeritage, FTDNA, and LivingDNA). We have witnessed steady growth in Y-DNA testing over recent years as well, though the testing numbers are significantly smaller when compared to autosomal DNA testing.
So why have DNA tests’ popularity grown so large and so fast in recent years? You can thank Ancestry and 23andMe for the growth in popularity (my opinion). Both companies have conducted significant marketing campaigns on their DNA tests over the last several years, though the focus of their campaigns have been quite different. Years ago, I can remember Ancestry having advertisements that focused on the genealogy aspect of their website’s services (remember the shaky leaf commercials?). Then, in recent years, Ancestry switched the focus of its advertisements from genealogy to mostly discovering your ethnicity through their DNA tests. While 23andMe has long offered DNA testing for genealogy, it often focuses its advertisements to persuade consumers to purchase the DNA tests that included the personalized health reports, which the company generates based on the customers’ DNA results.
The marketing campaigns have worked well. When I speak to friends and family who have tested, most of them who tested with Ancestry did it simply to discover their ethnicity estimates and those who tested with 23andMe for the health reports……very few of my friends and family did the tests for genealogical purposes. More about this later.
Benefits for DNA Testing for Genealogy
There are several benefits for genealogists to consider when contemplating purchasing a DNA test. While each company offers a slightly different test results package, there are some common components of those packages that benefit genealogists:
DNA Match lists. Regardless of the type of test you purchase (Y-DNA, mitochondrial DNA, or autosomal DNA), the testing company provides you a list of people who share DNA with you that have also tested with that particular company. A testing company will compare your DNA results with other customers who are in their DNA databases. If you meet the company’s matching thresholds for shared DNA, then the company will add the person to your match list and you to that person’s match list. These matches are your genetic relatives. The company will also report how much DNA you share with the person and provide an estimated relationship range (such as a possible 2nd-4th cousin). Obviously, if you share a large amount of DNA with another person, then you and your match descend from a shared ancestor(s) from whom you inherited the DNA from.
Each testing company presents this information in its own unique way. The goal for every genealogist is to have many close DNA matches (optimally 3rd or 4th cousins and closer) who have family trees that are larger than the genealogist’s tree and who have access to information (family records, public records, photographs, etc.) that the genealogist does not or has yet to discover. Finding DNA matches who have this information and who are willing to share it can be a significant benefit for any genealogist who has been struggling to break through a brick wall in his or her research in a particular family line.
Messaging services. Ancestry, MyHeritage, and 23andMe each offers a messaging service in which a genealogist can contact his or her DNA matches. FTDNA allows DNA matches (and only DNA matches) to see each others’ email addresses that they have linked to their respective accounts. LivingDNA is working on a messaging service for its customers so I am told. Being able to effectively communicate with DNA matches enables genealogists to network and collaborate in shared and focused research efforts with the family lines the DNA matches believe they have in common.
Ethnicity estimates. Each of the autosomal DNA testing companies provides its customers with an estimated breakdown of their ethnicity based on the customers’ DNA. Each of the companies has built reference population panels from various regions around the world. Larger companies such as Ancestry and 23andMe have very large and refined reference panels that can help narrow your ethnicity results to specific regions within a country (such as a county or provincial level within Ireland). The smaller companies like FTDNA may provide a more regional focus that covers multiple countries.
For instance, 23andMe and Ancestry have provided some insights to where my Irish ethnicity may have originated within Ireland (their insights do differ a bit from one another), but FTDNA only shows that I have ancestry from the British Isles without a breakdown by country (while FTDNA’s ethnicity results were supposed to have been further refined, the newly released results are still reported at a regional level). While the ethnicity estimates are just estimates and not conclusive (as many people tend to think they are), the ethnicity results do provide some level of insights into where your ancestors may have originated. For genealogists who are starting with very little information about their family histories or for adoptees who have no knowledge about their biological families, these insights may help provide a more narrow focus to their research efforts that they otherwise may not have had without the results.
Tools for analysis. Each company provides some level of tools for analysis and for sub-grouping matches to help a genealogist better visualize, understand, and apply their test results. Some companies have more tools than others, though this is starting to change for the better. Unfortunately, there isn’t one company that offers all of the tools a genealogist needs to conduct comprehensive analysis. Tools are increasing in number and functionality. Coupled with evidence collected through traditional genealogical research methods, the insights the tools do provide can help both the genealogist and the DNA match to identify at least the shared family line they descend from, if not the specific shared ancestral couple.
Future tools and benefits
The Big 5 DTC Genetic Testing Companies are in a continuous state of improving the accuracy of their results (periodic updates to ethnicity results for example) and providing new tools to help you use your existing test results more effectively. As an example, 23andMe recently launched a Beta version of a genetic family tree in which it attempts to use the amount of DNA you share with high matches to estimate your possible relationships to include the specific ancestral couple or ancestor you may both descend from. Similar tools are offered by Ancestry (Thru Lines) and MyHeritage (Theory of Relativity) that estimate how two matches may be related. For the most part, new tools are free and one of the continuing benefits of maintaining an account with your testing company.
Part III in the blog series will focus on current limitations with DNA testing. As always, I look forward to hearing about any benefits that you have gained with DNA testing that may differ from those that I have listed in this posting. Please leave your feedback in the comments section.