Saturday 19 August 2017

DNA Workshop at the British Institute 2017 (Salt Lake City)


I will be running a week-long workshop on DNA at the British Institute 2017 in Salt lake City (Sep 18-22) and everyone is welcome to attend.

The workshop is for Beginners and Intermediates alike. It covers every aspect of DNA-testing for genealogy, including the basic science, the use of Y-DNA for surname research, and working with your DNA matches to break thru Brick Walls.

There are still places left so visit this link for full details and booking ... https://isbgfh.org/cpage.php?pt=56

Participants will also get a 150-page book to accompany the course.

See you there!

Maurice Gleeson
Aug 2017




Here is the schedule for the week.

Monday (introduction and mitochondrial DNA)
  • Introduction to DNA - the 3 main types of DNA, the different types of test
  • Applying DNA to your genealogy - what each test can tell you, which test is best for your particular genealogical question, examples of the application of each type of test
  • A brief look at minor topics: Neanderthal DNA, Human Migration, Medical Applications
  • A comparison of the different companies and what they offer
  • A brief look at resources available to help the genetic genealogist (from beginner to advanced)
  • A closer look at mitochondrial DNA and how it can be used for genealogy - mtDNA and ancestral homeland localisation
Tuesday (Y-DNA - STR markers & SNP markers)
  • A deeper dive into Y-DNA 
  • How Y-DNA can help you locate your ancestral homeland
  • Surname Projects - what surname projects can tell you over and above your own Y-DNAresults - how they help identify ancestral homelands -  piggybacking onto the longest genealogies
  • A close look at the benefits of joining Y-DNA Haplogroup Projects, Geographic Projects, Special Interest Projects
  • Y-DNASNP marker testing - what it tells us about the human evolutionary tree - how it can be used to link in to the ancient genealogies - where it will be in 5 years
  • How to build family trees using Y-DNA STR markers and SNP markers when you have run out of people
Wednesday (Autosomal DNA)
  • What is atDNA? What is xDNA? Patterns of inheritance. Recombination. Independent assortment.
  • atDNA and ethnic makeup: What does it really tell us? A close look at the People of the British Isles project and the Irish DNA Atlas - can the results inform our own genealogy? How ethnic admixture results can help inform your own family history?
  • What is a match? When is a match not a match?
  • Using a step by step approach to analysing your atDNA matches
Thursday (Autosomal DNA)
  • Explaining ICW matches and the importance of overlapping segments
  • The significance of Triangulated Groups (TGs) - generating TGs using known cousins - generating TGs using unknown cousins
  • Using Third party tools to harness the power of your atDNA matches 
- Gedmatch
- DNAGedcom
- GenomeMate
- DNAadoption 
... and others
Friday (Practical Application of DNA to Genealogy)
  • Applying all types of DNA in practice using Adoptees as an example:
  • Using Y-DNA to predict the surname
  • Using close atDNA matches to identify probable close ancestors (great grandparents or closer)
  • Developing a testing strategy to narrow down candidates for birth parents
  • Other testing strategies for specific attendee problems
  • General Q&A Session