Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree Kindle Edition

This book has much good information in it for the beginner looking for an explanation of genetic genealogy, but it is quickly becoming out of date. When the book was published it was still in vogue to refer to non-coding stretches of DNA as "junk," but we now know that much of gene expression is carried out by instructions that lie in the introns, or so-called "junk" part of DNA. None of this is reflected in the book's description of how DNA works. Perhaps the biggest failing is the entire book is dedicated to Y-DNA and mt-DNA testing, the only two methods that were available at the time of the writing. It dedicates a paltry 7 pages at the very end to autosomal DNA analysis, the method of choice for Ancestry and other DNA analysis houses. It is autosomal DNA analysis that gives information across the paternal and maternal lines, and offers some advantages over the other two analysis methods (and disadvantages as well, of course). Buy this book to get general information on genetic genealogy and especially if you are using Y- or mt-DNA analysis. But, you will not get much info on the nuances of autosomal DNA analysis, which, unfortunately, is why I purchased the book.

Your browser does not support HTML5 video.  If you are a true genealogist, amature or otherwise, you need Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree by Megan Smolenyak and Ann Turner.Let’s start out with the one problem with this book. This book was written in 2004 and a lot of genealogy and DNA resources have changed. There are many links to many resources listed in this book. A lot of these links no longer work.Other than some of the links no longer working, this book is still pertinent today. The authors provide simple, straightforward explanations of many complex genetic terms and practices.If you are tracing your family history and you plan to use genetics, at least in part, to climb your tree, Trace Your Roots with DNA will help you understand the results you receive.The book is well written and informative and will probably be your “Go to” resource when you work on your family tree. Grab your copy now and join us in the fascinating world of family tree research.We were bought our copy of this book. We are under no obligation to write any review, positive or negative.We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's 16 CFR, Part 255.

I can highly recommend this book to people at all levels of DNA knowledge, who are interested in using it for genealogy. The book may have a 2004 copyright, but don't let the date dissuade you. For a world in which so many things become outdated, this book is still relevant.This book is a must read for anyone who is getting his or her DNA tested for genealogy reasons and wanting to know how to interpret results. It is a primer for basic terminology and providing a basic understanding of how DNA is transmitted. It is essential to knowing these things both in understanding what certain tests test for and how to use the information to interpret how your results compare with others.When you don't understand the basics here is an example of what can go wrong:A woman recently contacted me with an autosomal match to one of the trees I manage. I manage my own and those of three other family members. Unfortunately, in trying to sort out which one of my trees she matched,it became very clear to me she did not have a basic understanding of DNA fundamentals. As it turns out, she did not match me, but rather my daughter on my daughter's paternal side. In other words, she matched DNA of my ex-husband. I explained to her that she didn't match me, that her match was to my daughter from her father, whom I have no genetic relationship. To which, she responded that she HAD to match me because all of my daughter's DNA comes from the mother and not the father.Anyone who understands DNA realizes she made a significant fundamental error in understanding autosomal DNA transmission. She also did not understand the limits of Y-DNA testing, believing her son's Y-DNA would match other males in our tree, even though he did not share the same surname. She was significantly hampered in being able to interpret her own results and clearly did not understand how each DNA test worked.It isn't my intention to throw this woman under the bus. She was not an unintelligent woman, even though she came across that way. My point - this book will give you the tools you need to understand the basic genetic testing which is currently available today(Y-DNA, autosomal tests, such as Family Finder, and mitochondrial DNA). This book will give you the basic understanding of how DNA is transmitted, so that you will be able to picture it in your mind. This book will give you the terminology you need to effectively and intelligently communicate with others.You pay a lot to get the DNA testing done. Someone else is not going to do all the work to interpret the results for you. In order for you to get the most out of your DNA testing, you need to take the time to educate yourself on the basic fundamentals. It may take a little work, but this book will make it an enjoyable experience.Not only does "Trace Your Roots with DNA" give you the basic fundamentals, it provides numerous interesting examples. For those more advanced in understanding DNA, it is a great reference book to keep on your shelf. It provides useful information on how to run your own DNA project, once you get the hang of it.Bottom line: If you are interested in getting DNA testing to better understand your family tree and finding genetic matches to your own, I can highly recommend this book.

This is a good beginners book because a lot of time and space is spent telling you how to do basic genealogy. In fact more than a third, nearly a half of the book is a basic genealogy how to. This was a big disappointment to me because the title did not say "trace your roots", it said "trace your roots with dna", so this is what I expected to read about. When the author does talk about dna tests, she focuses on the male surname test and the female equivalent tracing back the maternal line. Little is mentioned about the specifics of most popular "family finder" tests, about finding the relatives on the area of the tree in between the maternal and paternal lines or how to use these results in your genealogy research. While the information in the book is good, it wasn't what I wanted.

Really disappointing book. Read through patiently and kept waiting for the author to really break-down terminology, perhaps even include a short glossary of dna scientific jargon, but it failed to explain clearly for people who don't already know a lot about those topics. Also it needs updating, as that is a fast changing field, many of the internet "links" the book gives to explore more are dead links as I read this in 2019...

I found out about this book when I had my DNA tested for my family Tree research. I found the results interesting but difficult to understand. This book is really good and explains it really well.

It is OK for the beginner but like all such things has quickly become out of date. My version was written in 2003. Still a good reference book.

all ok

Great book for both beginners and those already involved in "Gentealogy". The book explains it all, what it is all about, how to get started and where to get started. Some of the material starts to get pretty involved but Megan Smolenyak and Ann Turner have tried to keep the book at a layperson level and succeeded. This fast moving field of Genealogy is the latest trend and ever changing. The authors do emphasis this fact with constant reminders to keep looking for new updates in this ever field. A bargain price and a great reference book. DNA is the way of the future inside and outside of Genealogy, get the book and read it to understand some of what is going on in the ever-changing technology.

This is in the top echelon of DNA & Genealogy books. Megan is a very good author and lecturer on this subject