Jan 17
Laura House, AncestryDNA’s Genetic Genealogist, provides some helpful information for adoptees who have no access to information about one or both of their biological parents. This advice can also be beneficial for people with unknown paternity whose relatives are unable to give them information about their biological father. Foundlings tend...
Jan 12
MyHeritage says 2022 saw many ups and downs. For much of the world, it was a year of reopening and readjusting after two years of COVID turmoil, and a year of slow return to normality. Yet it was also marked by a major war, geopolitical upheavals, and economic challenges. Here is a recap of what MyHeritage was up to in 2022: Januar...
Jan 10
The past year in genetics has held no shortage of surprises. Fossilized bone fragments helped to rewrite parts of the Neanderthal story, including how some bands migrated and lived. A team of researchers in Spain learned the dopplegängers have more in common than meets the eye. The phrase “superdodger: officially entered COVID-19 lexicon. A...
Dec 27
The U.S. National Institutes of Health’s All Of Us Research Program has begun returning personalized health-related DNA results to more than 155,000 participants, with reports detailing whether participants have an increased risk for specific health conditions and how their body might process certain medications. This marks a major milestone...
Dec 22
Nature published information from a study titled: “Largest-ever analysis finds genetic links to smoking and drinking”. More than 3,500 genetic variations that potentially affect smoking and drinking behavior have been identified in a study involving almost 3.4 million people with African, American, East Asian, and European ancestry. The...
Dec 20
The Tribune-Star reported that many family researchers join their local genealogical society perhaps unaware that there is also a larger society. The Indiana Genealogical Society is located in Fort Wayne and is available for anyone with an interest in Hoosier genealogy to join. Indiana Genealogical Society (IGS) was formed in 1989. It stri...
Dec 18
MyHeritage announced an update to the Germany, North Rhine Westphalia, Death Index 1874-1938 collection in collaboration with the Landesarchiv Nordhein Westfalen, the State Archives of North Rhine-Westphalia. In this update, MyHertiage added 9 million death records from the the districts of Düsseldorf and Köln, bringing the total number of r...
Dec 15
NOTE: FamilyTreeDNA is not connected to FamilyTree.com. FamilySearch announced that at RootsTech, we bring you the leading experts in the field to introduce you to the latest innovations in family history. We are excited to present one of RootsTech Platinum Sponsors: FamilyTreeDNA. Discover your unique DNA story with FamilyTreeDNA’s ...
Dec 13
Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates Jr. is about to start filming its 10th season. To celebrate, they want to find a viewer to appear in the series! They are looking for someone with a family mystery that their team can solve. If you have one and want to be on the show, click a box on the Finding Your Roots website and tell them your sto...
Dec 9
Not too long ago, 23andMe launched a new study of sarcoidosis, specifically aimed at better understanding the underlying genetic and environmental factors that contribute to sarcoidosis in individuals with African ancestry. Sarcoidosis (pronounced SAR-COY-DOE-SIS) is a rare inflammatory disease that affects the Black community at double the...
Nov 29
A study titled: “Discovery of 42 genome-wide significant loci associated with dyslexia” was posted on Nature. It was published on October 20, 2022. There are many scientists and groups who contributed to it. The Abstract states: Reading and writing are crucial life skills but roughly one in ten children are affected by dyslexia, which c...
Nov 24
A team of doctors in the U.S. and Canada are reporting a medical first, Gizmodo reported. They were able to start treating a child’s rare and often deadly genetic condition while she was still a fetus in the womb - the same condition that claimed the lives of her siblings. Now 16 months old, the child, named Ayla, appears to be developing as...
Nov 22
Thanksgiving is celebrated differently depending on what country you live in. Some countries do not celebrate Thanksgiving at all. Your Thanksgiving celebration might look similar to, or vastly different from, how people in various countries celebrate it with their families. History.com pointed out that Thanksgiving falls under a category o...
Nov 17
Ever wonder which of your relatives lived the longest, the average age of your relatives at marriage, or which first names are the most common in your family? Did you know that there’s a handy section of the MyHeritage website that can tell you all of this and much more? We’re delighted to announce that our useful Family Statistics f...
Nov 15
In a partnership with The National Archives, the 1921 Census of England & Wales is now exclusively online at Findmypast. After 100 years locked away, the highly-anticipated 1921 Census of England & Wales is now online and accessible for the very first time. There is no end to the secrets and surprises hidden in the Census and ...