New to DNA genealogy (23andme) - a few questions

[avm228]

Just got my report from 23andme - my first and only test (so far at least).  I have a very extensive tree but am the first (known) family member to test.  Both my parents are in the testing process too.

First question: mtDNA.  My haplogroup is (just) H.  Other 23andme people seem to have much more specific haplogroup results - e.g. H13a1a for a suggested “third cousin”.  Why is mine so unspecific?

Second question: DNA relatives.  The closest suggested are third and fourth cousins.  The very closest shares 52cM over 4 segments, but her recent ancestry is in Nova Scotia while mine is rooted in England & Scotland.  There is not a single familiar (to me) surname in the list of over 1,000 suggested third and more distant cousins.  How reliable are these, and to what extent can this sort of “match” occur due to chance?

Third question: Close relatives.  Will my reports be adjusted when I link to my parents, once their results are ready?

NB there is no danger that my father is not my father - I have inherited a rare medical condition from him

[davidft]

I don't know much about 23andme but I note you say you have just got your results, if this is very recent could it be that they will be refined as they complete the testing of your sample? Is this something they say on the 23andme site?


A  little about mtDNA group H

 https://www.eupedia.com/europe/Haplogroup_H_mtDNA.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplogroup_H_%28mtDNA%29

I can't see anything that says you can not just be group H but must belong to one of the subclades


I would not worry about the closest match being 3rd cousin at this stage. It is early days and you can only match to people in the database. Of course one way of increasing your matches is to upload your data to other sites that will accept it freely or for a small charge eg. ftDNA, MyHeritage, Gedmatch (not Ancestry as they don't take transfers in you would have to test with them anew).


As to the 52cM Nova Scotia match I would accept this at this point as a potential yes but more digging would be required. I can think of several ways this would have come about but will not speculate as it may lead you up the wrong path.


Linking your parents is a positive as it can confirm matches you are tentative about and may bring new matches to light eg. where one of your parents have a match but have not passed any of that persons matching DNA onto you, although they are still kin to you just no longer share DNA.


Oh and if I may why did you test with 23andme, I have never met anyone who tested with them before so am a little curious. Please do not answer if you think that is an inappropriate question.

[medpat]

I tested with 23andMe and I have lots with names not known in my tree. I have been on the site sometime and have found several links now with people. Don't forget our direct ancestors had many siblings. One set of my 4th gt grandparents had over 70 grandchildren by the 1850s. Names via female lines can change several times so don't expect to see known relatives surnames.

Many on 23andMe are from America. I am from the UK.

You will have a timeline that shows when different nationalities were introduced to your line, mine appears to be accurate.

e.g. Irish addition 1890s most influence until 1920s.

My Irish gt gt grandparents had their second child, my gt grandmother, in UK in my hometown. My gt grandfather was from my hometown (several generations), my grandfather (about 50% Irish) was born 1890 and my mother 1921 (about 25% Irish)

Why did I choose 23andMe - to answer davidft. My daughter went to a nutritionist after being ignored by NHS doctors. She had repeatedly asked for help as she felt ill. The nutritionist told her to use 23andMe and their medical checks and also suggested, if possible, for her parents to have their DNA analysed too.

Daughter now on a gluten and dairy free diet BUT was told to go to her NHS doctor and have a blood test immediately - a phone call after the blood test - come in ASAP you are exceptionally low on vitamin D and told she requires supplements the rest of her life. Why? - because, we, her parents both have absorption problems with vitamin D in our DNA and she's inherited the problem from both of us so making it very difficult to absorb vitamin D naturally from the sun etc. even though she spends a lot of time outside in her job.

Note even though I now live in Cyprus last blood test showed my vitamin D slightly low and I'm out walking our dog twice a day.

Daughter now very healthy 

Pat

[davidft]

I can't see anything that says you can not just be group H but must belong to one of the subclades

To answer my own question it seems you can just belong to mtDNA haplogroup H without belonging to any of the subclades.

What determines your place on the Phylo Tree is what mutations you have

http://www.phylotree.org/

You can download the tree from this site.


As the attached clip shows you need mutations at point 2706 and 7028 to be haplogroup mtDNA H. Any more or less mutations and you would be a different haplogroup.

Of course what I cannot say is whether 23andme have fully tested you on this, whether results are pending or whether they deliberately do not fully test. Still an email to them will answer that.

Thank you medpat for your message, very interesting and confirms what I see from the literature that some people testing with them are not just looking for DNA but also possible medical indicators.

[avm228]

Thanks both.  I did not know that about haplogroups and subclades. I really am a beginner at this DNA stuff.  I will ask whether it is a final result or whether more detail is pending (they have told me that there are pending aspects such as precisely where my Scandinavian bits are from, though if they turn out to be on the maternal side I have some info on that from the paper research).

I have a really huge (offline) family tree, researched up, down and sideways (male and female lines equally) - hence my surprise at recognising no surnames whatsoever.  It will be interesting to look into this further.

As to why this test - it was free! (A gift).  I have looked at uploading raw data to e.g. FTDNA but they say that new/recent 23andMe results are incompatible with their system.

I have lots to learn.  Thank you for helping me along

[Craclyn]

A good starting point for you since the test was free. My opinion after comparison of my tests at the various companies is that 23andme is the one that has given me least useful matches to date. If you decide at some stage in the future to venture further into DNA testing then you might want to consider AncestryDNA as being the one that gives access to most potential matches.

If you decide that you want to explore mtDNA testing further and look for matches then you will need to use FTDNA and take the full test that includes levels HVR1 and HVR2. However, be aware that the genealogical value of mtDNA testing can be limited unless you are trying to apply it to a specific theory that you want to evaluate.

[avm228]

Thanks Craclyn.  I have now put my raw data into James Lick’s mtDNA tool and it comes out with a good match to H2a2a1.  I don’t really know what I want from it; I know it is not a meaningful way to connect with living or recent relatives.  I suppose I just wanted to see if I could get any sense of where my direct maternal line (for which the paper trail runs dry with a Scots-Irish 5x g-grandmother c1800) ultimately came from.