Chromosome Browser - I Dont Get It - help!

[petersonk01]

Hi!
I have my autosomal transfer from Ancestry.com and my mother's ancestry.com data loaded to FTDNA as well (have paid the $39 for full access for both) , plus i have just gotten the results for my Aunt Karen - my father's sister's FTDNA Family Finder. (father is deceased).

When i go under my matches, i select my Aunt (again, on my father's side) and my Mom, and bring up the chromosome browser, the two of THEM overlap! when i log in as mom or aunt, they do not come up as matches to each other.

See attachment - Im clearly not getting something. Why do orange and blue areas overlap if the two of them are not related?
ty!
Kristin

[192971]

That is because the autosomal DNA comes in pairs of chromosomes. 22 pairs, and in each pair one is from father and the another from mother. Each numbered chromosome you see in Chromosome Browser represents actually a pair of homologous chromosomes. The way how DNA is "measured" and matched in FF cannot distinguish the sequences of the paternal and maternal chromosomes.

[MMaddi]

The fact that, when you log into your mother's or aunt's account, they don't show up as matches to each other shows that they don't share any segments of DNA. In other words, they're not related to each other.

All the image you've posted of the chromosome browser is telling you is that your mother and aunt are related to you closely, as you already know. Remember that chromosomes 1-22 come in pairs - one set from your mother and the other set from your father. So, your mother is matching you on the set of chromosomes (top) you received from her. Your aunt is matching you on the set of chromosomes (bottom) you received from your father; those DNA segments are the segments your father and his sister both received from their parents, your paternal grandparents. Although the segments seem to overlap, they're not on the same physical chromosome.

By the way, it's considered an invasion of privacy to post a match's name publicly without their permission. It's probably not a problem since the matches' names you posted are close relatives to you and you're managing their accounts. However, it would have been better to edit the image to black out their names.