When are ethnicites going to be re classified?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • Miamio
    FTDNA Customer
    • Jan 2018
    • 97

    When are ethnicites going to be re classified?

    Time for new technology. Frustrated with the generalizations and descriptions that do not pinpoint exactly. Tired of so many contradictory
    Results.
  • spruithean
    FTDNA Customer
    • Dec 2008
    • 760

    #2
    Originally posted by Miamio View Post
    Time for new technology. Frustrated with the generalizations and descriptions that do not pinpoint exactly. Tired of so many contradictory
    Results.
    The science is always evolving, new data is being gathered. It takes time.

    You shouldn't be expecting ethnicity tests to be that accurate anyway (as has been repeatedly stated on this forum and elsewhere).

    Comment

    • Miamio
      FTDNA Customer
      • Jan 2018
      • 97

      #3
      I am not stupid.I know this.I am, asking about the new technology all these sites are claiming to be coming soon.It doesn’t see, to make sense to upload raw data to others sites at this point.Genesis is suppose to be combining with GedMatch since April.Compare their tools and they are different

      Comment

      • spruithean
        FTDNA Customer
        • Dec 2008
        • 760

        #4
        Originally posted by Miamio View Post
        I am not stupid.I know this.I am, asking about the new technology all these sites are claiming to be coming soon.It doesn’t see, to make sense to upload raw data to others sites at this point.Genesis is suppose to be combining with GedMatch since April.Compare their tools and they are different
        No one said you were.

        Isn't Genesis the same as GEDmatch Genesis which is just the paid version of GEDmatch? It takes time for these companies to upgrade their tools, and I'm sure it requires a lot of work.

        Comment

        • Jim Barrett
          R-BY55907
          • Apr 2003
          • 2988

          #5
          Copied from the top of the GEDmatch Genesis login page.

          This is the login page for GEDmatch Genesis. These pages allow uploads and comparisons between kits from testing companies not yet supported on the regular GEDmatch pages.

          Comment

          • John McCoy
            FTDNA Customer
            • Nov 2013
            • 1023

            #6
            The aim of the "new technology" on GEDmatch is NOT to improve admixture tools, although that might conceivably be one result, eventually. I believe those admixture tools were developed by others, not by the GEDmatch team.

            Rather, the need for "new technology" concerns the DNA matching algorithm, which now has to be adapted to raw data from newer versions of the chips used by several vendors, that are poorly compatible with the older chips. This is especially true for 23andMe, where the number of SNP's that are the same as those in the older chips (the "overlap" statistic you will see on the Genesis One-to-Many report) is greatly reduced, to the extent that it interferes with the results of the "normal" GEDmatch matching algorithm.

            The basic science and mathematics behind the admixture algorithms may be improving slowly, to the extent that more effort is made to develop robust "reference groups", but there are so many assumptions and short-cuts inherent in these algorithms that I would not expect any major breakthroughs.

            Comment

            • MoberlyDrake
              mtDNA: T2b5 | Y-DNA: J-M172
              • May 2010
              • 1602

              #7
              I really don't think that for those with Western European ancestry there can really be much improvement. The task is nearly impossible given the amount of mixing among populations in the area over thousands of years. Scientists try to find representative groups that are relatively unmixed, but they can never be sure even in remoter villages that there wasn't considerable mixing due to war, trade, etc.

              Then there is the fact that we don't inherit DNA from ALL our ancestors. After 5 or 6 generations or so, we have ancestors from whom we received no DNA.

              The best way to determine your ethnicity is years and years of careful research in primary documents. And that will usually only get you back to 1500 to 1700 in most cases.

              Ethnicity testing might be a bit useful for adoptees and other people who have no place else to start. A careful study of your closest at-DNA matches might give a better indication of recent ancestry.

              Comment

              • spruithean
                FTDNA Customer
                • Dec 2008
                • 760

                #8
                ^ I agree.

                Majority of my ancestors are from the British Isles, Netherlands, France and parts of Germany. A minor number of ancestors are from other regions, but that hasn't had much of an influence on my genetics.

                What ethnicity calculations has given me is merely confirmation that my family tree research is accurate (especially when considering my close genetic matches).

                I'm still a supporter of the idea that one should pay more attention to the people they match vs. what their ethnicity calculations say.

                Comment

                Working...
                X