We have a variety of new topics on the subject of genetic genealogy this month:
1) Surname DNA Journal has published a new, peer-reviewed article by Joe Flood titled, “Using STRs for Intra-Family Y-DNA Comparisons: Segmenting Markers“. This article is especially of interest to genealogists trying to use DNA testing to distinguish lineages from a 16th or 17th century ancestor.
2) Surname DNA Journal will again be a virtual exhibitor at the upcoming Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree, June 5 – 8, 2014 in Burbank, California. This event is open to the public and features a DNA Day on Thursday, June 5th. See the Jamboree site at http://www.genealogyjamboree.com for more information or to register.
3) Exciting new discoveries are being identified with next-generation DNA testing but comparison can be a challenge. GeneticHomeland.com, one of our sponsors, has created a new tool called NextGenMatch to help genetic genealogists find new mutations dating from the surname era. The NextGenMatch tool can parse, combine, and compare raw results from multiple vendors (FTDNA, 23andMe, Ancestry, & Britains DNA) and multiple types of tests (STR, Y-SNP, MtDNA, & Autosomal) for a comprehensive, person-centric matching capability. See http://www.genetichomeland.com/news.asp for a description or the video tutorial at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeQzelZ1N_A.