Category Archives: DNA

23andMe’s filing for bankruptcy protection makes users question what to do with their DNA data

Posted on March 25, 2025 by Gail Dever

If you stayed off social media yesterday and didn’t watch or listen to the news, you may have missed the story that genealogists were talking about. Genetic testing firm 23andMe said on Sunday that it had filed for bankruptcy protection … Continue reading →

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Simon Fraser University needs older adults who have found closely related unknown genetic relatives to participate in online survey

Posted on September 20, 2024 by Gail Dever

Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia invites people, aged 55 and older, to complete an online survey for its Family Genealogists and Long-Lost Relatives Study, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada. The study is focused … Continue reading →

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MyHeritage brings its family tree tools to FamilyTreeDNA

Posted on July 19, 2024 by Gail Dever

MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA yesterday announced the launch of a new collaboration between the two companies that they introduced in March at RootsTech 2024. This collaboration, which includes integration between the MyHeritage and FamilyTreeDNA websites, enables FamilyTreeDNA customers to transfer their … Continue reading →

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Big change for how some users will see the shared matches tool on AncestryDNA

Posted on June 19, 2024 by Gail Dever

Genetic genealogist Diahan Southard yesterday shared news on social media that there’s a change for how AncestryDNA Pro Tool subscribers can see how their shared matches are related to each other. In addition to subscribers seeing how they’re related to … Continue reading →

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Privacy authorities for Canada and the UK launch joint investigation into 23andMe data breach

Posted on June 16, 2024 by Gail Dever

The privacy authorities for Canada and the United Kingdom have launched a joint investigation into the data breach that was discovered in October 2023 at genetic testing company 23andMe. Privacy Commissioner of Canada Philippe Dufresne and UK Information Commissioner John Edwards will investigate … Continue reading →

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Simon Fraser University study seeks Canadians 55+ who found and met an unknown relative through DNA testing

Posted on March 14, 2024 by Gail Dever

A four-year project at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, called The Family Genealogists and Long-Lost Relatives (AGEGen2), aims to learn more about the experiences of diverse midlife to older-aged Canadians (aged 55+) who tested their DNA and then searched for … Continue reading →

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CTV News looking for Canadians who’ve uncovered a surprise in their DNA test results

Posted on March 13, 2024 by Gail Dever

If you’ve tested your DNA and discovered an interesting surprise or two, CTV News would like to hear from you. CTVNews.ca wants to speak to Canadians about their experience with genealogical DNA tests from companies such as 23andMe, AncestryDNA, MyHeritage … Continue reading →

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Watch for updates on AncestryDNA

Posted on September 10, 2023 by Gail Dever

If you haven’t looked at your DNA results on Ancestry in a while, you may to keep an eye open for updates that should be coming in the next few weeks. Some think the updates will be improved ethnicity estimates. … Continue reading →

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MyHeritage releases cM Explainer to predict relationships between DNA matches with greater accuracy

Posted on March 3, 2023 by Gail Dever

MyHeritage announced yesterday the release of cM Explainer, a free new feature they say accurately estimates familial relationships between DNA Matches. cM Explainer is fully integrated into the MyHeritage platform to shed light on any DNA Match found on MyHeritage. … Continue reading →

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Genetic genealogy solves two Toronto murders — on YouTube

Posted on January 3, 2023 by Gail Dever

On Sunday, I caught a repeat airing of Fifth Estate’s How DNA technology led to murder charges — nearly 40 years later. The program first aired on CBC in December, and after watching it on television, I discovered it’s available … Continue reading →

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