Good news! AncestryDNA now has more than 25 million people in their database!

Does the Constitution protect our DNA? Or does the government have the right to do whatever it wants with it? Even with babies?
https://www.wired.com/story/new-jersey-keeps-newborn-dna-for-23-years-parents-are-suing/

Current DNA analysis methods assume our matches are only related in one way. What if that's not the case?
https://thednageek.com/jan-and-the-complex-pedigree-analysis/

#pedigreecollapse #endogamy #doublecousins #BanyanDNA #DNAanalysis

Cryptographic signatures would protect *all* of the genealogy DNA databases.
https://thednageek.com/yaniv-was-right/

Do you have even a passing interest in the power of genetic genealogy to solve crimes? Are you concerned about the ethical and privacy implications? Then you should read Barbara Rae-Venter's book "I Know Who You Are."

https://thednageek.com/book-review-i-know-who-you-are-by-barbara-rae-venter/

Happy Hanukkah!

Verogen Increases Costs for Law Enforcement — Again
https://thednageek.com/verogen-increases-costs-for-law-enforcement-again/

For-profit Verogen recently jacked up their prices for law enforcement by more than 25% (from $550 per upload to $700) without warning. I’m hearing the price change is retroactive to Dec 1. Investigators under contract to work at the $550 price may have to take a loss. #InvestigativeGeneticGenealogy #verogen #Gedmatch #GeneticGenealogy

Today is "Acadian Remembrance Day," when we honor the Acadians who died from drowning, disease, and starvation during Le Grand Dérangement in 1755. The governor of Nova Scotia rounded up the Acadians, who were subjects of the British king, and expelled them for perceived disloyalty. More than 5,000 died.
(Painting of the 1755 deportation from Grand-Pré, Nova Scotia, by George Craig, 1893, held at the Université de Moncton)

From the archives: How would you rate yourself as a genetic genealogist? What are your strengths, and where should you focus your energy to improve in 2023?
https://thednageek.com/are-you-experienced/

@kwheaton gotcha! Don’t you just love this stuff? I’m excited to see how FTDNA develops the Time Tree and how well it correlates with projects like yours.

@kwheaton ah, okay. I was curious how you determined that the SNP was 4000 years old and not older.

@kwheaton very cool! Are these dates based on the Big Y Time Tree or something else?

@kwheaton @wayfarer1010, I like that we can put both sets of parents into a tree and designate which is biological and which is preferred.

@wayfarer1010 I’d ask the child how they’d like him designated.

@kwheaton @wayfarer1010 “Reality” for some people is biology. For others, it’s who they love.

@MyFamilyGenie thank *you* for your amazing work!

The DNA Reunion Project through the Center for Jewish History is helping Holocaust survivors find their families.
https://apnews.com/article/science-religion-new-york-jackie-young-72fa155592403e01958cbcff1de9f1cf

@LazyLoverUK I hear you! It's so much easier if I can talk to the client on Zoom.

@elizabeth_oneal the single most frequent comment I get after I find bio family for someone is “they look like me!” That physical resemblance is so meaningful.