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General => Ancestral Family Tree DNA Testing => Topic started by: Jill Eaton on Tuesday 24 April 18 13:16 BST (UK)
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I've taken a LivingDna test and now have 10/12 weeks to wait.
I'm particularly interested in the new Family Networks facility soon to be launched.
Has anyone else taken this particular test and although it isn't available yet, do you think it will stand up to it's claim once it's live?
This is their claim...
"Living DNA’s matching tool will take the guesswork out of relationships by predicting relationships with more specificity than any other competitor. With input as minimal as DNA and birthdate, Living DNA can build a family tree that shows where matches fit in.
The unique computation this feature provides gives customers, even those who upload from other DNA testing sites, a level of relationship prediction and specificity beyond anything currently on the market.
This can be especially useful for adoptees and family searchers who are trying to locate long-lost family members but who don’t have any information on their biological family, Living DNA can translate their matches into a potential family tree, giving them a clearer place to start from."
I'm sceptical that this is even possible......?
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I'm sceptical that this is even possible......?
And yet you still did the test. Care to explain why
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@ Jill Eaton. Sorry if I have been over blunt. I had kept my post short as I did not want to give away why I was asking the question as that might have influenced your reply. Anyway the reason I asked why you were testing with a company that seemed to be promising things they could not deliver is that I have come across this company before. There has been questions asked about this company on here before. Initially when I saw their PR on what they were promising it looked quite exciting. however after searching out what others said about the company on the web I decided not to pursue an interest with them. To specifically answer your question "I'm sceptical that this is even possible......?" the way I look at that is yes it is possible as they are not promising facts just predictions and opinions and we can all do that. Sadly too many people take their predictions (which are not as scientifically backed as they would like to claim) and opinions and run with them as hard and fast facts which they are not.
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Jill, I wouldn't put it as bluntly as davidft, however, I am wondering why you have paid to be tested with them. They accept raw DNA data -' We can accept autosomal DNA from either 23andMe©, AncestryDNA™, Family Tree DNA, or MyHeritageDNA. '
If not happy with results from the transfer because they aren't complete, like at familytreeDNA, perhaps consider full testing.
Margaret
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I have tested with this company because years ago I had my MtDna done at Ancestry. I kept a paper print out of the results but no longer have access to the raw data to download. Ancestry no longer offer the mother-line test so I looked at the other options.
I have uploaded my autosomal to various other sites - MyHeritageDNA and MyFamilyTreeDNA.
I've had independent and actually quite promising matches from both these sites but wanted to
see how good LivingDNA was. I didn't know that they were offering this new facility until a couple of days ago and it didn't influence my decision.
I'm happy to take part if it helps me break down my brick walls but can't really see how it will work.
If it throws up good results then I won't worry about the science and just bask in the feeling of achievement.
I am still curious as to whether anyone else has taken the test and whether they think it's possible to get genuine accurate additions to a family tree with DNA alone.
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LivingDNA are also supposed to be better for those with British ancestry (according to the various reviews I read before deciding) as they break down the locations into smaller, more defined regions in the British Isles. And all three sites that I've got my autosomal DNA on agree that I'm 100%.
I've a reasonable grasp of the geographical locations of my ancestors for approximately the last 175 years, barring the ones who refuse to give up their background via the paper-trail route. it will be interesting to see where LivingDna places them.
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Jill, Thanks for that clarification. I have read up a little more about it, I didn't realise that it was a paternal, maternal and autosomal all in one test.
You will be missing out on the YDNA test, so will by definition be excluding some of the information that they would require to build your paternal line back any further than a regular autosomal test.
I will be interested in your results, but find it difficult to believe that it will work ???!
But there again, a few years ago, who would have predicted that autosomal DNA would connect you with potential 8th cousins?
Regards Margaret
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Jill, Thanks for that clarification. I have read up a little more about it, I didn't realise that it was a paternal, maternal and autosomal all in one test.
You will be missing out on the YDNA test, so will by definition be excluding some of the information that they would require to build your paternal line back any further than a regular autosomal test.
Regards Margaret
You are correct Margaret. Unfortunately, I no longer have any direct male relatives to test. My father and brother have both passed and my nephews are my sister's children.
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I uploaded my FTDNA results and have an expected time of August results. Dont care about any promises or facts.
Neither fussed nor excited to see the results, its another tentacle in that search for people connected to me.
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Jill, Thanks for that clarification. I have read up a little more about it, I didn't realise that it was a paternal, maternal and autosomal all in one test.
You will be missing out on the YDNA test, so will by definition be excluding some of the information that they would require to build your paternal line back any further than a regular autosomal test.
Regards Margaret
This is an interesting point but presumably roughly half of the contributors are likely to be female and will only have a paternal line if they have a male relative contributing as well. I imagine it's even more of a challenge to construct an accurate tree without the YDna and only the Mtdna
The site is also launching a "Family Matches" facility to match results with others which adds yet another database to the existing ones I already use.
I haven't used Gedmatch for a while as I was having trouble uploading raw dna.
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I uploaded my FTDNA results and have an expected time of August results. Dont care about any promises or facts.
Neither fussed nor excited to see the results, its another tentacle in that search for people connected to me.
Hi David,
I've had a look on the Living DNA site and can't easily see where to upload FTDNA results. Can you please point me in the right direction?
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I uploaded my FTDNA results and have an expected time of August results. Dont care about any promises or facts.
Neither fussed nor excited to see the results, its another tentacle in that search for people connected to me.
Hi David,
I've had a look on the Living DNA site and can't easily see where to upload FTDNA results. Can you please point me in the right direction?
Not exactly what you asked for but may be worth a read (if not done so already) until DavidG02 can get back to you
https://www.livingdna.com/help-centre/114/i-was-already-tested-another-company-can-i-transferupload-my-existing-raw-data
especially as it tells you what you don't get if you don't test with them. Oh and they have a sale on at the moment at very reasonable prices compared to what they were when they first launched.
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Thanks David. I will have a read of that in a minute. (through googling I realise that they omit some information if transferred from another company). :)
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I uploaded my FTDNA results and have an expected time of August results. Dont care about any promises or facts.
Neither fussed nor excited to see the results, its another tentacle in that search for people connected to me.
Hi David,
I've had a look on the Living DNA site and can't easily see where to upload FTDNA results. Can you please point me in the right direction?
:-[ Do you know I cant recall.
I thought I got the link from this thread but looking up I cant have. ??? ??? ???
I think I googled from the above post and followed the One family One world link. Scroll to the bottom of the screen for the info.
https://www.livingdna.com/one-family/research
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Thanks David. I did have a look last night, but couldn't find anywhere to "join up". I will check your link now. :)
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I think you have to go into your "Results" page and on the left hand side is a list of options click on "Research"
Kim
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All sorted thanks everyone. :)
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I've taken a LivingDna test and now have 10/12 weeks to wait.
I organised a test for my mother in mid January, we are now getting close to mid May and her results still say due mid June, so good luck with the 10-12 weeks wait ... it may be a little longer than that.
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I've taken a LivingDna test and now have 10/12 weeks to wait.
I organised a test for my mother in mid January, we are now getting close to mid May and her results still say due mid June, so good luck with the 10-12 weeks wait ... it may be a little longer than that.
I've been emailed to say it should be ready on the 20/07/2018. We shall see ;)
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LivingDNA are also supposed to be better for those with British ancestry (according to the various reviews I read before deciding) as they break down the locations into smaller, more defined regions in the British Isles. And all three sites that I've got my autosomal DNA on agree that I'm 100%.
I've a reasonable grasp of the geographical locations of my ancestors for approximately the last 175 years, barring the ones who refuse to give up their background via the paper-trail route. it will be interesting to see where LivingDna places them.
I have now had my mothers results. The reason my sister ordered through LivingDNA was to get a better breakdown of where in the UK we came from.
The results are 98.9% Europe
1.1% Asia South
That is it no breakdown whatsoever
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I now have my results.
My Motherline appears rather puzzlingly to have changed from the Ancestry allocation of
H1 and no subclade. This was tested some time ago and I can no longer access it
Its now Haplogroup U5
Subclade U5b2b4
I'm hoping that more sophisticated testing techniques are the reason for the change and not that my sample has been mixed up with someone else's
My ethnicity breakdown is now 93.7 Gt Britain and Ireland and 6.3 Scandinavian.
I was perplexed by the low allocation of Ireland which was only 2.1% but then read this on their website
"If you have Irish ancestry but it is not inferred as strongly as expected: Unfortunately, due to the current limited number of Irish samples, we currently see many Irish people as a mixture of Ireland, Northern Ireland and South West Scotland, and North West Scotland"
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Although I can fit most of these regions roughly into my existing research the Aberdeenshire was something of a surprise!
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I got my LivingDNA results recently. According to them I am 100% Great Britain and Ireland which is a bit different to ftDNA who say I am 84% Western and Central Europe and 16% Scandinavian.
Oh and I don't agree with Living DNA's breakdown of my newly discovered 100% Great Britain and Ireland ancestry, its too Southern based IMO
Oh well its just a bit of fun ::) ;)
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I now have my results.
My Motherline appears rather puzzlingly to have changed from the Ancestry allocation of
H1 and no subclade. This was tested some time ago and I can no longer access it
Its now Haplogroup U5
Subclade U5b2b4
Maybe you could query that with them as according to the Phylogenetic tree of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups diagram in this link that can not happen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_H_(mtDNA)#H1
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I now have my results.
My Motherline appears rather puzzlingly to have changed from the Ancestry allocation of
H1 and no subclade. This was tested some time ago and I can no longer access it
Its now Haplogroup U5
Subclade U5b2b4
Maybe you could query that with them as according to the Phylogenetic tree of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups diagram in this link that can not happen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_H_(mtDNA)#H1
I have emailed them to ask how they have a different result. I will post their response when I receive it
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I had already done a Full MTDNA test with FTDNA when I tested with Living DNA and they both gave exactly the same Haplogroup
Kim
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This might be useful to some :)
https://dna-explained.com/2018/07/04/why-different-haplogroup-results/
Kim
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This might be useful to some :)
https://dna-explained.com/2018/07/04/why-different-haplogroup-results/
Kim
That's very interesting and it does make me wonder how accurate Ancestry's test was, especially since they no longer offer it and have removed the facility to search old results from their website!
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I now have my results.
My Motherline appears rather puzzlingly to have changed from the Ancestry allocation of
H1 and no subclade. This was tested some time ago and I can no longer access it
Its now Haplogroup U5
Subclade U5b2b4
Maybe you could query that with them as according to the Phylogenetic tree of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups diagram in this link that can not happen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_H_(mtDNA)#H1
I have emailed them to ask how they have a different result. I will post their response when I receive it
The email was sent on the 2nd July. Absolutely no response from the company, not even to say they are looking into my query!
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The email was sent on the 2nd July. Absolutely no response from the company, not even to say they are looking into my query!
Well that is not very good at all. May I ask how did you contact them did you follow the instructions in the T&Cs ie
To contact us, please see our Contact Us page https://www.livingdna.com/contact.
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The email was sent on the 2nd July. Absolutely no response from the company, not even to say they are looking into my query!
Well that is not very good at all. May I ask how did you contact them did you follow the instructions in the T&Cs ie
To contact us, please see our Contact Us page https://www.livingdna.com/contact.
David, the link you've posted is broken but I have just emailed them again at this address:
Living DNA
help@livingdna.com
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David, the link you've posted is broken but I have just emailed them again at this address:
Living DNA
help@livingdna.com
I see they say
We will do our best to reply within 12 hours during these support hours
so hopefully you should get a reply today or Friday.
If you have not already done so it may be worth checking your spam folder as that is where all my LivingDNA messages went to start with
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I emailed again yesterday evening. And still no response ??? ::)
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I emailed again yesterday evening. And still no response ??? ::)
This is very strange. I emailed them last Thursday re why I could not access my results (had been able to previously) and I got a reply the next day (OK I didn't like the reply but at least I got one!). Maybe its time to phone them and ask why after several emails you still have not got a reply.
Good luck.
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I've had an automated response for the last two emails so I know they are being received.
it would at least be good manners to respond to me in person, even if it were to simply state they were looking into my query ::)
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Finally got a reply as follows:
"Hello Jill,
Thanks for getting in touch.
I have asked our bioinformatician to take a look at your samples.
He explained that it is likely that our test is a lot more detailed than the one Ancestry did and that we tested more markers in your DNA. H and U share a common branch, so we suspect that the H classification was a result in poor marker call rate.
Hope this helps.
Please don't hesitate to contact us should you have any further queries.
Warm regards,
Gabriela"
It sounds feasible but I'm no scientist and my knowledge of DNA is limited at best
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@ Jill Eaton
Thank you for providing the long awaited response.
My interest in your case was because Living DNA gave me a different Y haplogroup to ftDNA. However in my case this was perfectly reasonable as the result Living DNA gave was further down the same branch as the ftDNA result. As the Living DNA test was more detailed this was a reasonable conclusion.
My initial thought when I saw your results was that they could not use that excuse on your results as they were actually quoting two different branches. I will let have a further look and then let you know what I think but you really need someone with a greater knowledge in this than me and I will see if I can give you a name who may be able to advise or suggest who can. Hope to have that to you on Saturday.
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@ Jill Eaton
Hello,
I have had a look at your results again and done some more digging around and although I am not totally convinced it may be the case that Living DNA have a point.
I had said I was not convinced that both the Ancestry result and the Living DNA results could be correct as they are on different branches of the Phylogenetic tree of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups as referenced here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_mitochondrial_DNA_haplogroup
From this we see that haplogroup H is clearly on a separate branch to U and hence my original thoughts.
However I have now found reference in that article to “Since a single mutation may define a haplogroup, the total number of "European mtDNA haplogroups" – even if they are defined only as those mentioned above and their descendant clades”
So in short Living DNA’s argument that their test is more detailed could be correct and they could have picked up elements that move your haplogroup from H to U and could be correct as both are branches of haplogroup R i.e. haplogroup R is the parent of both groups. This is a new “science” and they are constantly moving things around so I guess there could be more changes in the future. Whilst I was prepared for analyses to move up and down branches I was not expecting them to jump branches but that article does give an explanation how that could arise.
Not sure if that explanation satisfies you (it would have been more reassuring if Living DNA had given that explanation rather than the anodyne explanation they gave).
I said I would give you a name of someone who might be willing to comment on this and I have done that by PM.
I know this has been a frustrating journey for you waiting for Living DNA to pull their finger out but I hope you feel you have made some progress, it has certainly been informative for me (although I realise that was the initial intended purpose).
Hope it goes a bit more smoothly from now on.
David
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Interesting to read of your experience,Jill.
I too will be interested in what the Family Networks will tell me,given the disparity in my results - which still seem to be unique:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=777912.0
Despite the fact that they "update regularly",so far ,there has been no alteration in either of my test results (except that the second set have now been duplicated ::) so I have three)
I must say I couldn't fault the speed of communication,but if it wasn't for the fact that the first set is practically spot on with my research,I'd be thinking "smoke and mirrors" :)
Barbara