The Leeds Method sorts your DNA matches into clusters. The members of each cluster are likely descended from a common ancestor or ancestral couple. Finding the common ancestor(s) for a cluster helps us to understand how these matches are related to each other and to us. And this method can help us to verify our ancestors or to break through brick walls. While the Leeds Method is a powerful tool, unfortunately it cannot help everyone. Can the Leeds Method help you? Works Well The Leeds Method works well in the following situations: If you have “quite a few” 2nd and...
Sadly, Ancestry.com has announced they will soon be removing all our DNA matches who share less than 8 cM of DNA with us. We are told that about half of our 7 cM matches are false. But, that also means that about half of them are true! And, though some of these matches will be distant relatives, others are closer and easier to work with. Sometimes, these very small matches provide valuable clues that lead to wonderful discoveries. They can even help us break through our brick walls. My friend, John, was working with his paternal matches last weekend and...
In response to Ancestry’s announcement of DNA changes – including the removal of our matches who share less than 8 cM – Roberta Estes wrote a post titled “Plea to Ancestry – Rethink Match Purge Due to Deleterious Effect on African American Genealogists.” Elizabeth Shown Mills shared this post on Facebook stating that “Culling Ancestry’s gargantuan DNA database certainly will increase its efficiency—but the cost is one our field cannot afford.” She went on to say, “The stance that ‘small’ segments are too ancient and too problematic is a short-sighted stance in a field that is rapidly developing new methodology, new strategies,...
Earlier this week, Ancestry.com announced on a conference call that they were making several big changes in regards to DNA matches. I was not on that call, but I read about the changes on Debbie Kennett’s Cruwys news website. And, last night I saw an announcement on my own Ancestry account. These changes will be taking place starting “in the beginning of August,” so you don’t have much time to save matches…if you want to save any! The Changes Screenshot of Ancestry Updates header Screenshot of Ancestry updates According to the updates, the new changes will affect the following: More Accurate...
Earlier this week, MyHeritage raised the upper threshold for AutoClusters to 400 cM. Excitingly, this allows us to see some of our closer matches in our clusters! (By the way, this is the number I recommend when starting the Leeds Method.) What Are AutoClusters? According to MyHeritage, AutoClusters is an “automatic tool that organizes your DNA matches into clusters that likely descend from common ancestors.” This tool, which was developed in collaboration with Evert-Jan Blom, is based on the Leeds Method. The chart creates clusters for approximately 100 of your DNA matches, though it does not use your closest matches....
Shared Clustering is an automated tool created by Jonathan Brecher that clusters your DNA matches. Like the Leeds Method and other automated tools, it creates clusters showing how your DNA matches are related to each other. These clusters help you visualize genetic relationships. Best of all, this is a free tool that can be used with any testing site! Jonathan just released an update that allows you to create clustering without downloading your data. Instead, you manually enter the information into a spreadsheet. It’s more time consuming, but it works well! Before you get started, you’ll need to download the Shared...
Just over 2 years ago, I developed the Leeds Method, which easily organizes your DNA matches into visual clusters usually based on shared ancestral lines. Using that method as a basis, several programmers created automated tools that could cluster our matches faster than my manual method. AutoCluster by Genetic Affairs Of these tools, the one I’ve used and talked about the most about was AutoCluster by Genetic Affairs. Also, more than 95% of the time I ran AutoCluster it was on Ancestry.com – whether I was working on my own brick walls or helping others identify biological parents. But, sadly,...
A common complaint from AncestryDNA users is that matches don’t have trees or have very small trees. But, we can often work with both of these situations and still successfully identify our DNA match and how they’re connected to us. Today’s example is from a small tree. Small Tree This is an example of one of my matches’ actual small tree, though all names have been changed. When you click on the three grandparent names, it also gives a place of death. So, what can I do with this small tree? I can search for other trees that have these...
When using an automated clustering tool such as Genetic Affairs’ AutoCluster or DNAGedcom’s Collins Leeds Method, the output is in the form of a matrix. Here are some screenshots to help you better understand these clusters in this matrix format. The Names In the matrix, the names are listed in the same order from left to right (along the top) as they are from top to bottom (along the left side). Each cell represents the intersection of two people. The Color Clusters Like the Leeds Method, color clusters are created showing the people who have a close connection to each...
Jonny Perl of DNA Painter just announced a new tool: Cluster Auto Painter or CAP. Basically, this tool lets you use clusters to “paint” the segments of your DNA matches! Unfortunately, this tool does not work with Ancestry.com since it does not include a chromosome browser. You can find Jonny’s instructions in a blog post here. Example: 23andMe AutoCluster To try this new tool, I used Genetic Affairs and ran a Default AutoCluster with my 23andMe matches. With a range of 250 to 50 cM, the AutoCluster created 6 clusters. (NOTE: I have removed the names from the top and...
