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Hi there,
I've had several family members DNA tested through MyHeritage over the years, including myself. I tested myself several years ago, my paternal grandmother most recently at the beginning of this year.
Genetic Grouping is a relatively new addition to MyHeritage, which I don't fully understand yet, but I will continue to look into it. Interestingly, for most of our results, the genetic groups MyHeritage has suggested, have been far more accurate than the DNA data their providing us with recently. Or perhaps this is where I'm not 100% clear on the difference between the two, could someone that understands the principal behind this give me a Genetic Grouping vs DNA results guide for dummies?
In regards to the possible DNA result errors I'm referring to - I'll use my grandmother, my dad and myself as an example. MyHeritage suggests that I am 58% N/W European - which is accurate, and matches the concept of my heritage I've been taught so far. My father was tested several years ago as well - his results were 60% NW Euro - also fairly accurate going by data we've known about previously, although I would expected a slightly higher NW Euro %, considering I had 58%, only 2% less than him - my mother is Eastern European. Now the interesting part is my grandmother - MyHeritage has classed her as being NIL % NW Euro, even though she is obviously my father's mother and we have a recorded written history of her paternal lineage coming from the same place in Germany for close to a millennium. They all came from the same village or thereabouts, and at no point left a ~50km radius within the last 500 years. The records we have before this, so between 1000-1500AD, indicate some movement within Germany only. At the same time, MyHeritage has confirmed that she is the biological parent of my father. How is this possible?
MyHeritage believes my grandmother to be close to 30% English - we have nothing to do with the English at all, neither my father nor I have any DNA classed as English by MyHeritage. They've said that she's 50% Balkan (Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, etc) - again, we have no written records of this at all, and my father has only 16% Balkan, I have 0%. I would expect my father to perhaps have 16% Balkan or thereabouts through his paternal lineage, but certainly not anywhere close to 50%. My grandmother shouldnt have any, or hardly any, traces at all.
HOWEVER - when it comes to the Genetic Grouping, MyHeritage was accurate to a T! They were even able to pinpoint the exact German state that my grandmother and her forefathers come from, which I thought was pretty amazing actually - almost to a 50/100km radius. But at the same time, her DNA suggests that she is 0% German or NW Euro? That's not possible, is it? MyHeritage's Genetic Grouping feature had similarly close to perfect results when they pinpointed my mother's cousin's origin in Hungary - spec around the Ukraine/Slovakian border. They were again correct within a 50/100km radius.
How can it be that MyHeritage's DNA results & genetic grouping can be so far apart from each other in accuracy? Should I simply be asking MyHeritage to review my grandmother's DNA results?
I've had several family members DNA tested through MyHeritage over the years, including myself. I tested myself several years ago, my paternal grandmother most recently at the beginning of this year.
Genetic Grouping is a relatively new addition to MyHeritage, which I don't fully understand yet, but I will continue to look into it. Interestingly, for most of our results, the genetic groups MyHeritage has suggested, have been far more accurate than the DNA data their providing us with recently. Or perhaps this is where I'm not 100% clear on the difference between the two, could someone that understands the principal behind this give me a Genetic Grouping vs DNA results guide for dummies?
In regards to the possible DNA result errors I'm referring to - I'll use my grandmother, my dad and myself as an example. MyHeritage suggests that I am 58% N/W European - which is accurate, and matches the concept of my heritage I've been taught so far. My father was tested several years ago as well - his results were 60% NW Euro - also fairly accurate going by data we've known about previously, although I would expected a slightly higher NW Euro %, considering I had 58%, only 2% less than him - my mother is Eastern European. Now the interesting part is my grandmother - MyHeritage has classed her as being NIL % NW Euro, even though she is obviously my father's mother and we have a recorded written history of her paternal lineage coming from the same place in Germany for close to a millennium. They all came from the same village or thereabouts, and at no point left a ~50km radius within the last 500 years. The records we have before this, so between 1000-1500AD, indicate some movement within Germany only. At the same time, MyHeritage has confirmed that she is the biological parent of my father. How is this possible?
MyHeritage believes my grandmother to be close to 30% English - we have nothing to do with the English at all, neither my father nor I have any DNA classed as English by MyHeritage. They've said that she's 50% Balkan (Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, etc) - again, we have no written records of this at all, and my father has only 16% Balkan, I have 0%. I would expect my father to perhaps have 16% Balkan or thereabouts through his paternal lineage, but certainly not anywhere close to 50%. My grandmother shouldnt have any, or hardly any, traces at all.
HOWEVER - when it comes to the Genetic Grouping, MyHeritage was accurate to a T! They were even able to pinpoint the exact German state that my grandmother and her forefathers come from, which I thought was pretty amazing actually - almost to a 50/100km radius. But at the same time, her DNA suggests that she is 0% German or NW Euro? That's not possible, is it? MyHeritage's Genetic Grouping feature had similarly close to perfect results when they pinpointed my mother's cousin's origin in Hungary - spec around the Ukraine/Slovakian border. They were again correct within a 50/100km radius.
How can it be that MyHeritage's DNA results & genetic grouping can be so far apart from each other in accuracy? Should I simply be asking MyHeritage to review my grandmother's DNA results?
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