Mossie's Musings

Revised version: June 2025 Welcome to this comprehensive guide to working with your AncestryDNA results. These notes accompany the Society of Australian Genealogists’ webinar  “First Look at AncestryDNA”  and are intended to support individuals who are beginning to explore the use of autosomal DNA in their family history research. The content is regularly updated to reflect changes in available tools and improvements in understanding.  If you would like to reuse this material beyond personal research, please contact me at  chrisw9953[at]gmail[dot]com .  AncestryDNA offers a range of features that can assist researchers in identifying biological relationships, confirming lineages, and uncovering new connections. However, the effective use of DNA evidence requires more than just receiving test results - it involves a clear understanding of genetic concepts, thoughtful analysis and careful integration with documentary research. To help you navigate, here’s a quick ...

AncestryDNA has introduced several powerful new features in recent months. Subscribers now have access to 64 groups and 32 colours, while Pro Tools users benefit from  enhanced shared matching . On top of that, the  Genealogy Assistant Chrome extension  has made managing and analysing matches easier than ever. What Do These Changes Mean for Me? Here’s how these updates affect my day-to-day DNA work: I can now create more groups using a wider colour palette. Group displays have changed, showing group symbols inside coloured boxes. With  enhanced shared matching , I can see not only how much DNA a match shares with me, but also how much they share with each other. For example, Frank shares 824 cM with me and 51 cM with my match JBis. Matches under 20 cM will now appear on the Shared Matches page  if  they share at least 20 cM with the match I’m viewing. For example, James shares 50 cM with JBis and just 10 cM with me—but he still appears. Over the past couple...