Three conferences in 10 days!

Tracing the Tribe has just arrived home after speaking at three conferences in two countries in 10 days!

Each was very different in format and topics addressed, and Internet access - on a personal level - varied, significantly curtailing communications. Jet lag, surprisingly, wasn't an issue on this trip. Along with the events themselves, Tracing the Tribe also connected with family, old and new friends.

The Society of Genealogists' Centenary Conference (London, UK; Saturday, May 7), was followed by the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain's Northern Regional Conference (Manchester, UK; Sunday, May 8). Just two days later, I flew to the exciting National Genealogical Society's event in Charleston, South Carolina.

At the SOG and NGS, my topic was the IberianAshkenaz DNA Study as a case study - administered by Judy Simon of New York and myself - at FamilyTreeDNA.com. Each time this topic is presented, there is more to update on results and participants. It aways changes.

In Manchester, I spoke on social media for 21st-century genealogists, also an evolving topic.

At SOG and NGS, DNA was an interesting topic as the number of Jewish attendees is traditionally rather small, although there were more who had Jewish ancestry, some recently discovered. It was a different audience, with different questions, and we believe that these two opportunities helped to raise awareness of genetic genealogy - and FamilyTreeDNA.com.

From questions asked in session Q&As to those fielded during the rest of the events (and later emails), it was obvious that people are fascinated by this rather amazing tool available to us. The presentation includes the nuts and bolts of creating a DNA project applicable to any ethnicity, religion or geographic region.

At the JGSGB event - with some really excellent topics presented - it was a privilege to help explain how genealogists (as well as genealogy societies and other institutions) can benefit from today's social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogs and more.

Watch for separate posts on each conference.

Now back home in New Mexico, I still have a few weeks before the Southern California Genealogical Society's Jamboree 2011 (speaking on creating online ancestral communities) and the Association of Jewish Libraries' event in Montreal (speaking on Sephardic research) soon after.

What do I do when at home, other than reading accumulated email, getting some needed sleep and generally not travel farther than the supermarket? Well, there are articles to write, a stack of books to review, and local genealogy goings-on, including genealogy presentations at local senior centers.

The schedule includes even more as I am genealogy co-chair of the New Mexico Jewish Historical Society, and involved in the creation and organization of the new general Sandoval County Genealogical Society.

Tracing the Tribe firmly believes that all Jewish historical societies should join the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS), as the NMJHS has recently done. It always seems that genealogists understand the connection between what we do and history, but that historical societies don't always see that essential connection. More cooperation between local genealogical and historical societies provides more learning opportunities for members of both.

What's on the menu for these two societies? We'll soon begin working on the new program year for both groups and contacting prospective speakers.

The Sandoval County society will be meeting the first Saturday of each month, from 10am-12.30pm, and we are working on the timing for the NMJHS events, which will be on Sundays (to be scheduled) at the Albuquerque JCC.

Back to email!

Seattle: 'Jews, Genetics & the DNA Shoah Project,' April 11

"Jews, Genetics, and the DNA Shoah Project" with Matthew Kaplan is the next program of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Washington State, on Monday, April 11.

Doors open at 7pm for the 7.30pm program at the Stroum Jewish Community Center, 3801 East Mercer Way, Mercer Island. Admission: Free for JGSWS members and one guest per year; others, $5.

Kaplan will present research findings from studies of Jewish genetics and Jewish population history. He’ll start with a short review of some basic principles of human genetics and the biology behind DNA testing.

He'll also talk about the DNA Shoah Project, a unique humanitarian effort to reunite survivors of the Holocaust.

Following the lecture there will be time for questions. Volunteers will be on hand to assist those interested in contributing their DNA (free) to the DNA Shoah Project.

Kaplan is a staff scientist at the University of Arizona Genetics Core laboratory (UAGC), which provides genetic testing services for academic researchers and the private sector. He personally developed the genetic testing pipeline for FamilyTreeDNA, the leader in the genetic genealogy field.

The laboratory currently provides genetic testing services for FamilyTreeDNA and for public participants of National Geographic’s and IBM’s Genographic Project.

Kaplan has worked with Dr. Michael Hammer on research projects using the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA to investigate the population genetics and population history of Jewish populations for more than 10 years. Kaplan and Hammer are working together on the DNA Shoah Project.

For more information and directions, see the JGSWS website.

FamilyTreeDNA.com: Another sale of sorts

Want to increase genetic genealogy databases? To enable the discovery of new haplogroup-defining elements? Have a few hundred dollars to spend for this sale?

From our good friends at FamilyTreeDNA.com to haplogroup project administrators:

Dear Haplogroup Project Administrator,

Family Tree DNA is excited to announce our Walk Through the Y sale! Based on recent improvements in our testing capabilities, and in order to spearhead further research in our field, we are pleased to offer our first discount on Walk Through the Y.

This test will be offered for a very limited time to approved applicants for $500 (normally $750). Please note, this special pricing will only be available to customers who elect to have their results made public.

Walk Through the Y is an advanced sequencing test focused on the discovery of new haplogroup-defining SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms) on the Y chromosome. Walk Through the Y goes beyond the scope of deep clade testing, offering customers the opportunity to participate in testing at the forefront of Y chromosome DNA research.

This research can expedite the discovery of SNPs that help subdivide haplogroups, information that is fundamental to the continued success of our Y-DNA haplogroup projects.

Due to the advanced nature of this test, Walk Through the Y is by application only. Interested members can fill out application form here.

To read more about Walk Through the Y, including information about who to test, please read through our frequently asked questions.

It is a good opportunity to add to our knowedge and help past, present and future researchers by providing more information and expanding the practicality of the database.

FamilyTreeDNA.com: 40% off for only 24 hours!

Have you been sitting on the DNA fence to utilize genetic genealogy because of the cost? Need more family members to test, but found that cost was a factor?

If so, don't wait any longer! Here's your chance to get those tests.

FamilyTreeDNA.com has announced a 24-hour only 40% off sale on their Facebook page in celebration of receiving 5,000 "likes" on the company's fan page.

The offer is for new kits only. See the company's Facebook page for more details.

Joining Facebook or "liking" the page is not necessary to receive the discount.

Discounted tests include:

• Y-DNA37
• mtDNAPlus
• mtDNAFullSequence
• Y-DNA37+mtDNAPlus
• Family Finder
• Family Finder+mtDNAPlus
• FamilyFinder+Y-DNA37
• Comprehensive Genome
• Warrior Gene

The coupon code is 5000FACES. This is only valid for new kits and can't be used on existing kits. Enter the code while ordering at www.familytreedna.com. It expires 24 HOURS from now!

[NOTE: Depending on where you live in the US, the discount will end Thursday morning - February 17 - at 7.40am (West Coast) to 10.40am (East Coast).]

Tick tock...tick tock...tick tock!!!

DNA for Beginners: Free webinar, February 1 and 3

Following her first free webinar - Genetic Genealogy for Beginners - Elise Friedman will be repeating that class on Tuesday, February 1, and Thursday, February 3, by popular demand.

"Genetic Genealogy for Beginners: DNA is the "Gene" in Genealogy!" covers the following topics:

-- What is Genetic Genealogy? 
-- What tests are available?
-- Which one should I order? 
-- How much does a Genetic Genealogy test cost? 
-- Do I need to be a geneticist to understand my results?

The webinar is perfect for those who are beginners to genetic genealogy and want answers to these basic questions and more.

Learn the history of the field, get an introduction to DNA basics and inheritance paths, different types of DNA tests for genealogy and resources to make the most of your experience.

The two sessions are geared to different time zones, making it more accessible to more people.
-- Tuesday, February 1:  6pm GMT (1pm Eastern, 10am Pacific)
-- Thursday, February 3:  8pm Eastern (5pm Pacific)

The webinars are free but advance registration is required. Click here for more information, to register, and to learn about additional future offerings.

Elise hopes to repeat the beginner session during the first week of each month, and is also working on offering intermediate and advanced genetic genealogy webinars.

Florida: Palm Beach JGS celebrates 20th anniversary

February will be a busy month for the Jewish Genealogical Society of Palm Beach County (Florida).

FamilyTreeDNA's CEO Bennett Greenspan will speak at the Sunday, February 9 membership meeting, and the JGSPBC will hold its 20th anniversary luncheon from 11.30am-3pm on Sunday, February 27, at the Renaissance Boca Raton Hotel (members, $30; others, $35).

Founding pioneer in DNA genetic genealogy, Greenspan will present "Beyond the Y-Chromosome: Tracing Your Genealogy with the Other DNA," at the membership meeting.(Fee: members, free; others, $5.)

An entrepreneur and life-long genealogy enthusiast, since elementary school, Greenspan has turned his hobby into a full-time vocation. A native Nebraskan with a BA from the University of Texas, he spent years investigating his maternal grandfather's family, which led to the 2000 founding of FamilyTreeDNA and its association with Arizona Research Labs, led by Dr.Michael Hammer, a world authority on Y-DNA genetics.

With more than 320,673 records (as of January 24, 2011), Family Tree DNA, has the largest database of its kind in the world. It is important for Jewish researchers, as it also includes the largest Jewish DNA database available for matches.

FTDNA is the largest non-medical DNA testing company in the world. It includes other cooperative ventures such as the National Geographic Society’s Genographic Project and AfricanDNA.com, and is now involved in DNATraits.com, a new medical genetic testing company.

Prior to the main event, the Ukraine SIG will meet from 11:30 am-12:15 pm. Genealogy mentors will be available after the main program. From 12.30-12.55pm, a Brick Wall session will take place; attendees are invited to submit questions in advance.

Mark your calendar: A beginners' workshop - with Phyllis Kramer - will be held Wednesday, March 9, from 9.30-11.30am, at the South County Civic Center. Registration ($15) is limited to 25 attendees; make reservations in advance.

For luncheon registration and more information on meetings and workshops, visit the JGSPBC website.

DNA: Revealing more Jewish roots

It's always reassuring to read that major Jewish publications are carrying stories on what Tracing the Tribe and many others already know. A case in point is the new Forward story on how DNA tests are revealing hidden Jewish roots.

The story by Elie Dolgin - "Newer DNA Tests Uncover Hidden Jewish Bloodlines" - discusses both 23andMe and FamilyTreeDNA.

It covers University of Chicago genetics doctoral student Joseph Pickrell's DNA odyssey along which revealed similar results to an Ashkenazi Jew, New York attorney Dan Vorhaus. Pickrell was raised Catholic but his results led him to ask his mother about the results.

She did some sleuthing among other relatives, revealing that:

"her father’s father — Pickrell’s maternal great-grandfather — had been raised Jewish in Poland before moving to the United States, where he married a Catholic woman and left his Jewish upbringing behind.

“It’s amusing that using genetics, I could wrestle this out of the bushes,” Pickrell said.

The story also mentioned FamilyTreeDNA.com's tests to uncover Jewish origins. Many Hispanic Americans descended from Jews forced to convert or hide their religion more than 500 years ago in Iberia. 

The story does explain 23andMe's test and why it produces those results.

A molecular anthropologist in Estonia, Richard Villems, is quoted as cautioning against jumping to conclusions based solely on DNA unless there is corroborating evidence, like Pickrell's ancestor.

Another section goes further, answering in part the question about what happens once a person discovers such a link.

Pickrell said he has no plans to start going to synagogue. And since “genes do not define the Jews,” according to Edward Reichman, an Orthodox rabbi and physician at Yeshiva University in New York, the Jewish community at large probably won’t embrace him, either. But according to Bennett Greenspan, president and CEO of Family Tree DNA, many people who learn of Semitic ancestry through DNA often end up converting to Judaism.


Elliot Dorff, a conservative rabbi and ethicist at American Jewish University in Los Angeles, welcomes these conversions. “We would really want to encourage such people to rediscover their Jewish roots,” he said. Although people who find Jewish origins through DNA are not strictly Jewish, halachically speaking, Dorff noted that many people in this situation already feel a deep-seated connection to the religion.

The comments, as always on this type of article, are always interesting and cover the spectrum of belief. One, by "Jack," reads:

Bennett Greenspan regularly presents the services of Family Tree DNA at Crypto-Jewish studies symposia. Also in attendance at these events are Hispanic Americans interested in the potential Jewish ancestry of their families. It would not be an overstatement that a Levantine genetic signal only confirms the Jewish background that many of the test subjects either already suspected or were convinced of. The DNA test is merely a confirmation, not a revelation, afterwards conversion to Judaism is a small step.

Read the complete story and all the comments at the link above.

Tracing the Tribe always recommends that those with known or suspected Jewish roots test with FamilyTreeDNA because it has the largest DNA database, which also includes the largest Jewish DNA database. Nearly all Jewish genealogists test with the company because of the large number of samples, which increases the probability of genetic matches.

There's a related 2010 Forward story covers how Rabbis and Halacha Grapple With Advances in DNA Technology:

Advances in genetic analysis and its medical applications are bringing unprecedented, if uneven, change to the world of Jewish law. Most often, the matter of genetics is considered in the context of issues on either end of life’s spectrum: those that relate to fertility and to the identification of post-mortem human remains.

“DNA analysis is gradually meandering its way through the halachic literature,” said Dr. Edward Reichman, an Orthodox rabbi and associate professor of emergency medicine at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, where he is also an associate professor of bioethics and education.

“Science has opened up a huge area of research and treatment in the area of the genetic code that just didn’t exist 25 years ago. All of those developments have required authorities in Jewish law to consider what effect it has on their approach,” said Rabbi Avram Reisner, spiritual leader of Baltimore’s Congregation Chevrei Tzedek and a bioethicist who sits on the Conservative movement’s Committee on Jewish Law and Standards.

Read that complete story at the story link above.

Webinar: Beginning genetic genealogy, January 18

Interested in genetic genealogy and how it can help you in your ancestral search, but wish you understood more about it?

Tracing the Tribe's good friend Elise Friedman (Boca Raton, Florida) - who works with and speaks on genetic genealogy - now has a website Relative Roots, a companion blog, and is beginning a series of free webinars, starting tomorrow.

Elise plans to host genealogy webinars several times a month beginning this month. She's starting with genetic genealogy and will offer others focusing on other topics in the future.

Participation is free, but requires pre-registration; click here to register. The software she's using is currently limited to 100 people per webinar - first-come, first-served - so consider registering right away.

The first session is for beginners:

Tuesday, January 18  (8pm East Coast, 5pm West Coast)
Genetic Genealogy for Beginners: DNA is the “Gene” in Genealogy!

If you don’t know the first thing about Genetic Genealogy, or even if you’ve heard about it, but don’t know which test you should take, this presentation is for you! Attendees will learn about the history of genetic genealogy, be introduced to DNA basics and inheritance paths, learn about the different types of DNA tests available for genealogy (Y-DNA, mtDNA and Autosomal), and learn about resources that will help you make the most of your Genetic Genealogy experience.

The next scheduled webinar is for beginners/intermediates:

Thursday, January 27 (8pm East Coast, 5pm West Coast)
Genetic Genealogy Demystified: Reading and Understanding Your Family Tree DNA Results

You’ve taken the plunge and ordered a genetic genealogy DNA test, but now that you have your results, you don’t understand them? This class is for you! Those who haven’t tested yet can also benefit from this class by getting a preview of what their results could look like. Attendees will get a tour of the MyFTDNA account, and detailed explanations of how to read and understand their Y-DNA, mtDNA and Family Finder results and matches.

See the webinar schedule here.

Elise Friedman is a professional genealogist, specializing in Jewish genealogy, genetic genealogy, and technology. She has given lectures and workshops at a variety of venues, from local genealogy and community meetings to international Jewish genealogy conferences. She has researched her own family history for more than 10 years, and has roots in Belarus, Russia, Poland and Ukraine (formerly Galicia).

Active in genetic genealogy, she is JewishGen’s DNA Projects Coordinator, manages several DNA studies at FamilyTreeDNA.com, and co-authored a genetic genealogy case study published in Avotaynu and Forum journals.

A member of the Association of Professional Genealogists, Genealogical Speakers Guild, International Society of Genetic Genealogy and Jewish Genealogical Society of Palm Beach County, Elise has a BS in Computer Engineering (Pennsylvania State University) and is a former information technology professional.

New York: DNA -The Player's Guide, January 16

Jewish geography and DNA, with Judy Simon, is the program at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of New York, on Sunday, January 16.

The meeting begins at 2pm at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street, New York City, New York. Members, free; others, $5.

Understand more about genetic genealogy with Judy's presentation, "Jewish Geography and DNA: A Player's Guide."

Judy and I co-administer the IberianAshkenaz DNA Project at FamilyTreeDNA.com, just one of Judy's DNA projects, and we've done dual presentations at conferences. She really knows what she's talking about, and I've learned much from her. If you've avoided doing testing because you're not sure what genetic genealogy is, what it does, what the results mean - this is the program for you.

You receive an e-mail saying your DNA results came in.  You open the message with great expectations that this is the answer to all your unsolved genealogical mysteries, and within a few minutes you are drowning in alphabet soup: DYS#, HVR1,Hg, E-M35, Y-DNA, R1b12a1b, mtDNA, K1a1b1a, TMRCA, RAO.

Help!

If you can relate to the above, or if you haven't had your DNA tested yet for fear of the above, this presentation is for you. Using questions that have been posed to her by DNA beginners during the six years that she has been administering DNA projects, Dr. Simon will demonstrate how DNA testing can help with your family history research, what you can and cannot expect to learn from it, and how to make sense out of your results.

She will draw on examples from the Iberian Ashkenaz Y-DNA and mtDNA projects, the Jewish Ukraine West and Glassmaking Families projects and the Brosgol, Lefkowitz, and Olstein surname projects.

Judy Simon is a social worker in Suffolk County, N.Y. With a background in biostatistics and epidemiology, and a doctorate in epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health. She's been researching her family history for as long as she can remember, and has been doing genetic genealogy for seven years. She administers several projects at FamilyTree DNA.

For more information, click JGSNY.org.

Boston: DNA of the Jewish People, January 16

Professor Robert Weinberg will present "The DNA of the Jewish People: Similarities and Differences," at the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Boston on Sunday, January 16.

The program begins at 1.30pm at Temple Emanuel, 385 Ward Street, Newton Centre. Admission: JGSGB members, free; others, $5.

Pioneer cancer researcher Professor Weinberg has held research positions at the Weizman Institute and the Salk Institute. He has received the National Medal of Science, Wolf Prize of Medicine and was named 1982's Scientist of the Year by Discover magazine.

JGSGB board member Jay Sage will also describe the FamilyTreeDNA.com Family Finder test. Weinberg and Sage wil discuss the Family Finder tests as to its value in helping researchers find cousins and determining how closely they are related. 

For directions, click here.

Michigan: Genetics of Jewish populations, Jan. 9

Genetic studies of the relationships among Jewish populations is the focus of the next meeting of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Michigan, on Sunday, January 9.

Noah Rosenberg of the University of Michigan - Associate Professor of Human Genetics, Biostatistics, and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology - is the speaker. The program begins at 11am at the Holocaust Memorial Center, 28123 Orchard Lake Road, Farmington Hills.

He will examine recent developments in the field of Jewish population genetics, with a focus on studies conducted in an ongoing partnership between our laboratory at the University of Michigan with scientists at Tel Aviv University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Rosenberg earned a BA in mathematics (Rice University), an MS in mathematics and a PhD in biological sciences (both Stanford University), and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the molecular and computational biology group at the University of Southern California.

Since the early days of the field of human genetics, it has been recognized that genetic tools can provide insight into the nature of the relationships between different Jewish communities.  To what extent do different Jewish populations share a common genetic ancestry?  How does the level of genetic similarity of Jewish populations with each other compare to that between Jewish populations and their non-Jewish historical neighbors?

Now that studies of the human genome have dramatically enhanced our ability to understand patterns of human genetic variation and their history, it is becoming increasingly possible to investigate relationships among Jewish populations, with finer and finer resolution.

His research focuses on mathematical and statistical problems and evolutionary biology and human genetics, with a focus on the analysis of human genetic variation.  He is the author of some 60 peer-reviewed scientific publications, which have appeared in such journals as Bioinformatics, Evolution, Genetics, Nature, Science, and Theoretical Population Biology. 

Fee: JGSMI members, free; others, $5.

For more information and directions, click the JGSMI website.

RootsTech: Official blogger

Tracing the Tribe is an official RootsTech conference blogger.

In addition to assisting in the effort to get the word out about this new event, which runs from Thursday-Saturday, February 10-12, in Salt Lake City, Utah, I will be presenting on genetic genealogy and participating in a geneablogger's panel (moderated by Thomas MacEntee).

The many presentations demonstrate the increasing role of technology in our quest for information. The sessions cover searching for information, storing it as we find it, and the newest technology available now or coming down the road.

The conference organizers are also extending assistance to the geneabloggers in terms of dedicated spaces to conduct audio interviews and podcasts, video recording of scheduled video interviews with copies to post on our blogs or websites, office space to access the Internet, recharge equipment and assistance in scheduling interviews with speakers and VIPs.

For more information about the event, including registration and the sessions, click here.

Tracing the Tribe hopes to see you in Salt Lake City.

FamilyTreeDNA.com: New customer sale!

Trying to decide whether to get involved in genetic genealogy?

Perhaps this special sale will help you make that leap.

For a limited-time only, new customers of FamilyTreeDNA.com can take advantage of a two special bundles:

Family Finder + Y-DNA12 (Regular Price: $388) - NOW $299

Family Finder + mtDNA (Regular Price: $388) - NOW $299

See what the Family Finder can do for you! Regardless of gender, it can find cousins back to six generations on an individual's paternal and maternal lines.

The regular Family Finder price alone is $289, so for only $10 more (a total of $299), test for Y-DNA 12 (for males only) or mtDNA (HVR1) (for males and females).

Only credit card payments will be accepted for this special offer.

For more information, click here, and scroll down to "Combined tests for male and female lines."

Genes & Teens: Family DNA analysis

Everyone - even teenagers - are interested in DNA these days.

The Wall Street Journal carried a great "teens and genes" story.

Ann West, 17, of Cupertino, California can be called somewhat obsessive about analyzing her family's DNA.

The self-taught teen has been decoding her family's genome and has spoken at major conferences

Her father was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism in 2003, which encouraged him to get the family's genes sequenced using advanced technology at Illumina, Inc. The cost: $160,000 for the four people in the family. He wanted to know if anyone else in the family might be at risk for the same condition.

In 2007, they tested with 23&Me and received a break as Anne's father worked at Illumina, which offered a testing discount for employees. But he wanted to know more, and went for the full-genome testing for everyone.

Anne is the one analyzing the reams of data that is not interpreted by most testing companies. According to the story, it doesn't usually matter as most clients are academic scientists who have a cadre of assistants and the newest computers to do the work.

The teen - without those resources - decided to do it the "old-fashioned" way, by hand, on the family computer, using a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to sort the information.

She's presented at major genetics conferences in Boston and New York, where scientists gave her their business cards, and her research led to a summer job at the lab of a prominent Harvard and MIT scientist.

She then created a series of formulas, using Excel's help function when she got stuck. One formula separated which portions of genetic data came from Mr. West's side of the family and which came from Mrs. West's side. That information helped her to plot graphs to see how genetically close she and her brother are to each other, and to each of their parents.


The next step was to look more closely at one of the 20,000 genes we all have. Anne focused on the Factor V gene. She inherited the same mutation that her father has, putting her at increased risk for embolisms.


She decided to see if she had any other additional mutations on the same gene from her mother's side of the family—something that might increase her risk even more. She discovered that she does have other mutations, but that researchers don't believe they will cause any health issues.

What's next on her agenda? Well, she says she hasn't yet taken driver's ed.

Read the complete story at the link above and read Anne's comment following the story.

Colorado: Steve Morse seminar, Oct. 10

Steve Morse will offer a full-day genealogy seminar for the Jewish Genealogical Society of Colorado on Sunday, October 10, in Denver.

Dr. Stephen Morse has received the Award of Merit from the National Genealogical Society, the Excellence Award from the Association of Professional Genealogists, and the Outstanding Contribution and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies. A computer professional with a doctorate in electrical engineering, he was the architect of the Intel 8086 (the granddaddy of today's Pentium processor), which sparked the PC revolution 25 years ago.

He'll present The Jewish Calendar Demystified; From DNA to Genetic Genealogy: Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask; One-Step Webpages: A potpourri of genealogical search tools; and One-Step Webpages: A hodgepodge of lesser-known gems.

The program will run from 9am-4pm, at the Jewish Community Center, 350 S. Dahlia St.
Attendees may participate in one program or in all of them. A kosher box lunch is included and snacks will be provided during breaks. Attendance is only via advance registration (October 1 deadline) and payment. No walk-ins permitted.

Fee: JGSCO members: $18, entire day/lunch; others: $40, entire day/lunch plus a one-year JGSCO membership.

Visit the JGSCO website for more information and registration forms.

FamilyTreeDNA: Sale on full mtDNA test!!!

There's sale going on for genetic genealogists at Family Tree DNA.

If you have already tested for the HVR2 mtDNA test, you can upgrade to the full mtDNA sequence for $189 (normally $239). This test will help pinpoint more relevant genetic information for your maternal lines.

The catch: It's limited to the first 250 people who sign up - first-come, first-tested. - and pay with a credit card when ordering.

Here's the note from Family Tree DNA:

Dear Family Tree DNA Customer,

Last fall Family Tree DNA offered a significant discount for anyone who wanted to order the Full mtDNA sequence.

The response was overwhelming, and, as in prior Full mtDNA sequence sales, we crushed the lab. Despite the fact that we had more lab technicians and more equipment, the volume was far above what we could reasonable handle. As we have now caught up with the huge backlog, we are prepared to offer the Full mtDNA sequence test again at a promotional price, but with lessons learned!

We will offer this test at discount for a very limited amount of time, and we will limit the number of orders to 250 on a first come, first serve basis. Payment must be made by credit card at the time of the order. The sale will begin now and once we have sold 250 tests we will discontinue this sale price and return prices to the current level.

By limiting the quantity of this promotion, we expect results to be posted within 6 weeks.

We don’t have a way to show how many have been ordered, so price will be your notice.

HVR2 to Mega Was $239 Now $189

Bennett Greenspan
President
Family Tree DNA

Now's your chance, but you'd better hurry!

FamilyTreeDNA: 'Hitler ancestry questionable'

Journalists and the cybersphere out of control on a certain topic? Gee, where have we seen that before?

With the recent focus on Adolf Hitler's possible Jewish ancestry, there is now information refuting that claim from the person who released the initial report.

In a press release today, Family Tree DNA, the first and largest company in the genetic genealogy field, today said that certain media outlets' interpretation of Adolf Hitler's possible Jewish ancestry is highly questionable. The reports of that possibility were released by Jean-Paul Mulders and historian Marc Vermeeren.

Mulders himself confirmed the misinterpretation of his account with the following statement to Family Tree DNA:

"I never wrote that Hitler was a Jew, or that he had a Jewish grandfather. I only wrote that Hitler's haplogroup is E1b1b, being more common among Berbers, Somalian people and Jews than among overall Germans.

This, in order to convey that he was not exactly what during the Third Reich would have been called 'Aryan.' All the rest are speculations of journalists who didn't even take the trouble to read my article, although I had it translated into English especially for this purpose."

FamilyTreeDNA's chief Y-DNA scientist, Professor Michael Hammer, said that "scientific studies as well as records from our own database make it clear that one cannot reach the kind of conclusion featured in the published articles."

Based on the company's records, no more than 9% of the populations of Germany and Austria belong to the haplogroup E1b1b, and among those, the vast majority - about 80% - are not associated with Jewish ancestry.

"This data clearly show that just because one person belongs to the branch of the Y-chromosome referred to as haplogroup E1b1b, that does not mean the person is likely to be of Jewish ancestry," said Professor Hammer.

While many media outlets seem to run with the most sensational news, it will be interesting to see who picks up on the now-corrected information by Mulders and Hammer. Statistically, Tracing the Tribe believes it will be a much smaller number. We'll have to see if this correction gets any play in cyberspace.

Family Tree DNA is the prime source for anyone researching recent and distant ties. Founded in April 2000, Family Tree DNA was the first company to develop the commercial application of DNA testing for genealogical purposes that had previously been available only for academic and scientific research.

The company has more than 300,000 individual records in its Y-DNA and mtDNA databases - and a state-of-the-art Genomics Research Center in Houston, Texas.

Colorado: Hispano DNA study results released

Tracing the Tribe readers may remember several posts concerning a cluster of "Ashkenazi" breast cancer among Hispanic women in Colorado's San Luis Valley a few years ago.

Later genealogical research showed the women were descendants of conversos (Jews forced to convert to Christianity during the Inquisition) who had settled in the area centuries ago.

A paper in the San Luis area just carried an article about the results of a February 2009 DNA study on Hispanic residents in the San Luis, Alamosa, Conejos and Pueblo, by Dr. Harry Ostrer of NYU's Human Genetics Program.

Ostrer, well-known to many Jewish genealogists, collected blood samples from residents for his study. He said the project’s purpose was “to shed light on the history and ancestry of Hispanos from northern New Mexico and southern Colorado” and “to compare the DNA of Hispanos with that of other Hispanic and Latino populations in the Americas.” He was looking for a broad picture of the community's genetic heritage, not individual characteristics.

The findings:

Testing the Hispano admixture, he discovered that 50-60% were European; 30-40% Native American; 1-5% West African; and 1-5% non-European (Middle Eastern).

“The first two components of the admixture are not surprising, since the Spanish and Indian heritage of Hispanics is well known,” Dr. Ostrer stated in a letter to participants. “In fact, in May of this year, we published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on the DNA of several Hispanic/Latino populations, including Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, Colombians, Ecuadorians, and Mexicans. Our study showed that Hispanics and Latinos represent a highly diverse blend of European and Amerindian stock, with lesser contributions from African and non-European sources.”

He added that the non-European portion probably originated in the Middle East in either Arab or Jewish populations, and then brought to Spain and the Americas.

“The issue of Jewish ancestry in Hispanos remains an intriguing but unsettled question. In the next stage of our analysis we hope to learn more about that part of your heritage,” Ostrer told participants.

Ostrer and others have been involved in researching Jewish groups throughout the world and how they are related, literally. He and other researchers have concluded that “Jewishness” is not just a religious characterization but also a genetic one. “... the studied Jewish populations represent a series of geographical isolates or clusters with genetic threads that weave them together,” wrote Ostrer and others in a recent trade journal article.

“Over the past 3000 years, both the flow of genes and the flow of religious and cultural ideas have contributed to Jewishness.” - Atzmon et al, Abraham’s Children in the Genome Era: Major Jewish Diaspora Populations Comprise Distinct Genetic Clusters with Shared Middle Eastern Ancestry, The American Journal of Human Genetics (2010).

Jews and their genetics moved throughout the world; the DNA of people in the San Luis Valley could be partly traced back to the Middle East.

“Each Diaspora group has distinctive genetic features ‘representative of each group’s genetic history,’ he [Ostrer] says, but each also ‘shares a set of common genetic threads’ dating back to their common origin in the Middle East,” Science Editor Sharon Begley wrote in a June article “The DNA of Abraham’s Children” in Newsweek.

Jews of the Diaspora, according to the Newsweek article, share genetic markers supporting the tradition that Jews around the world share a common ancestry. And Jewish populations have kept their genetic coherence in the same way as cultural and religious traditions despite their migrations from the Middle East to the world over many centuries.

Texas: FamilyTreeDNA.com conference, Oct. 30-31

FamilyTreeDNA.com's annual genetic genealogy conference for group administrators is set for October 30-31 in Houston, Texas.

Tracing the Tribe attended a few years ago and it was one of the highpoints of my involvement in the field with two family projects and as co-founder and co administrator - with Judy Simon - of our fascinating IberianAshkenaz DNA Project.

The increasing popularity of genetic genealogy is seen at genealogy conferences, some of which even have program tracks dedicated to the numerous presentations.

This will be the company's sixth conference and will be held at the Sheraton North Houston.

Each year, world renowned experts in genetics and science present cutting-edge developments and exciting new applications at this two-day educational forum which draws attendees from Family Tree DNA's Group Administrators from around the world. This year's conference will focus on the new Family Finder test which allows customers to find relatives across all ancestral lines.

As most of us in the genetic genealogy community know, the company was founded in April 2000, and was the first company to develop the commercial application of DNA testing for genealogy. Until then, tests were only available for academic and scientific research.

Ten years later, it remains on the cutting-edge of the growing genetic genealogy field.

Importantly for those who believe in how DNA assists genealogists of all skill levels - confirming or disproving or providing more clues to follow in their quest - FamilyTreeDNA has the largest DNA database in the field. What this means is that those who test with the company have more probability of finding genetic matches for recent and distant ties. The database grows daily with more than 300,000 individual records, 95,000 surnames and some 6,000 lineage and geographic projects.

Since 2005, it has also been the designated testing company for the Genographic Project, run by National Geographic and IBM, to study mankind's migrations. It has processed more than 300,000 tests alone for that project.

The names of FamilyTreeDNA-associated researchers and scientists are known to many genealogists, such as Dr. Michael Hammer, Dr. Doron Behar, and Thomas Krahn.

For more information on the conference, click here.

Tablet: Roots and Family Trees

Today's Tablet Magazine has a book column focusing on family history in diverse ways.

The featured books include:

-- The 40 moves in 20 years documented in Brooke Berman's No Place Like Home: A Memoir in 39 Apartments (Harmony, June).

-- David Kushner’s account of harsh real-estate politics detailed in the 1957 integration of Levittown: Two Families, One Tycoon, and the Fight for Civil Rights in America’s Legendary Suburb (Walker & Company, August).

-- Adam Langer’s The Thieves of Manhattan (Spiegel & Grau, July).

-- Telling Stories: Philip Guston’s Later Works (California, May), by Tablet’s poetry columnist David Kaufmann surveys the machinations New York City’s avant garde art scene of the late 1960s and 1970s.

-- The strange story of the Aleppo Codex, the oldest surviving edition of the Tanakh in book form, date to 939 CE, which Maimonides himself purportedly studied, and which lived in Syria before being smuggled to Israel in 1957, is detailed in Crown of Aleppo: The Mystery of the Oldest Hebrew Bible Codex (JPS, July), by Hayim Tawil and Bernard Schneider. One can also see the Codex on the web.

... the Aleppo Codex has from time to time been the subject of fantastic claims and suspicions of forgery; in particular, the unscrupulous Crimean Karaite scholar Abraham Kirkovich (1786-1874) tarnished the manuscript’s reputation through his spurious claim that its author was a Karaite, rather than a Masorete.

-- University of Chicago historian Fred M. Donner surveys the first century of Muslim history in Muhammad and the Believers: At the Origins of Islam (Harvard, May).

-- Tracing the Tribe has already given a shoutout to Buzzy Jackson’s Shaking the Family Tree: Blue Bloods, Black Sheep, and Other Obsessions of an Amateur Genealogist (Touchstone, July), and Tablet provided a bit more.

[It] combines memoir and upbeat how-to elements as the author investigates her own family’s story through DNA testing, a Caribbean cruise, and old fashioned library research. Her father’s relations, with roots in Alabama, regale her with far-fetched family legends, but it turns out that the Galician Jews on her mother’s side tell one another “no stories about the old days or the old country.”

-- Genetics and DNA play a part in Jennifer Rosner's If a Tree Falls: A Family’s Quest to Hear and Be Heard (Feminist, May), as she describes discovering a history of deafness in her ancestors and a demonstration of "real" family ties:

When her two great-great-aunts, both deaf, were caring for infants, “they tied strings from their wrists to their babies at bedtime. When the babies fidgeted, they would feel their tugs and wake to care for them in the night.”

See the link above for more on each book.