Blog Content
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Samhain Is Celebrated Starting October 31
Oct 25
Samhain (a Gaelic word pronounced “sow-win”) is a pagan religious festival originating from an ancient Celtic spiritual tradition. It us usually celebrated from October 31 to November 1 to welcome in the harvest and usher in “the dark half of the year.” according to History.com. Celebrants believe that the barriers between the physical...
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Scientists May Have Found A New Trigger For Parkinson’s Disease
Oct 20
A team of scientists appears to have unearthed a previously unknown genetic trigger for Parkinson’s disease - one much more commonly seen in people with recent African ancestry, Gizmodo reported. They found that those who were born with one or two copies of this associated variant were noticeably more likely to develop Parkinson’s. The ...
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MyHeritage Adds 43 Million Historical Records In September 2023
Oct 18
In September 2023, we published 43 million historical records from 43 historical record collections from Belgium, Canada, France, Lithuania, New Zealand, the U.K. and the U.S. The records include birth, marriage, death, divorce, burial, obituary, incarcerations and naturalization. Many of the collections also include images. Search them to dis...
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Edwardsville’s MCHS Archive Library Becomes FamilySearch Affiliate
Oct 13
Local genealogists now have additional resources available for building a family tree, according to a press release from the Madison County Historical Society. The MCHS Archival Library, 801 N. Main St. in Edwardsville, is now a FamilySearch Affiliate Library, which means it has access to more online genealogy resources to help researchers ...
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More Californians Want Reparations For Slavery
Oct 11
The Los Angeles Times reported that, for a strong majority of California voters, the question of whether the Golden State should offer cash payments to the descendants of enslaved African Americans has a clear answer: No. But despite that dark finding, from a new UC Berkeley poll co-sponsored by The Times, most California voters possess a m...
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Better Polygenic Risk Prediction
Oct 6
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Harvard, the Broad Institute, the National Cancer Institute, and 23andMe have developed a method that significantly improves the performance of polygenic risk models for people of non-European ancestry. Improving Polygenic Risk Scores Over the last several years, these kinds...
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Five Tips For Finding Your LGBTQIA+ Ancestors
Oct 4
Genealogy expert Michael J. Leclerc, CG, shares some of his hot tips for finding your LGBTQIA+ Ancestors. Have you ever been curious about whether there could be LGBTQIA+ ancestors in your family tree? People from past generations would not have identified themselves using terms like lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer, as they...
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The First Point-Of-Care Test For Lactose Intolerance
Sep 26
In a recent study published in The Journal of Applied Laboratory Medicine, researchers evaluated the performance of a compact diagnostic assay that can accurately and rapidly diagnose lactose intolerance using capillary blood and buccal swab samples, News Medical Net, reported. A decrease or absence in the synthesis and activity of the lac...
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Boys Who Smoke In Early Teens Could Pass Harmful Genetics To Future Children
Sep 21
Smoking may not only harm the smoker and those who breathe in the secondhand fumes, but also their future children, UPI News reported (via Microsoft Start). New research suggests that boys who smoke in their early teens risk passing on harmful genetic traits to future children. The study probed the genetic profiles of 875 people between ...
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New Resources For FamilySearch Center Volunteers And Workers
Sep 19
FamilySearch’s goal is to make genealogical resources more accessible, engaging, and easy to use. As FamilySearch centers provide resources to patrons all over the world, volunteers and staff members at these centers need some fundamental resources to maintain each center and help patrons have great experiences when visiting. FamilyS...
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Welsh Last Names: Meanings and Popularity
Sep 15
As the land of Dylan Thomas and medieval castles, Wales has a fascinating history rooted in Celtic origins. That history lives on in the country’s chapels, cathedrals, and rolling green hills. If you’re curious about your Welsh heritage, the first step is to learn more about the most common surnames, the Ancestry Team wrote. About 500 ...
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MyHeritage Adds 89 Million Historical Records
Sep 13
What a way to finish the summer! In August 2023 we published 89 million historical records from 37 new historical record collections from Australia, U.K., and the U.S., as well as one collection from all over the world. The records include marriage, death, burial, obituary, as well as one tax collection from all over the world. Many of the col...
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23andMe Improves BRCA Report For Communities Underrepresented In Genetic Testing
Sep 11
Building on our first FDA authorization for a direct-to-consumer genetic health risk test for cancer, 23andMe received clearance this week to expand the number of genetic test variants covered in our BRAC1/BRAC2 (Selected variants) Genetic Health Risk report. These additional variants are all known to be associated with higher risk for brea...
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Discover Your Hispanic Roots
Sep 7
Hispanic heritage stretches back more than five centuries, bringing together millions of people with their own unique stories. Hispanic individuals have used their experiences to make scientific breakthroughs, develop new technology, negotiate peace treaties, and improve working conditions for people all over the world. They’ve also made imp...
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Korean Last Names, Naming Traditions, And Meanings
Aug 28
The Ancestry Team posted an article about Korean surnames. North Korea and South Korea share a border, but they couldn’t be more different. Referred to as a “hermit kingdom”, North Korea is an isolated country known for its authoritarian government. In contrast, South Korea is heavily influenced by Western culture, making it one of the l...
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