GENEALOGY-DNA-L Archives

Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2007-10 > 1191891608


From: "Lowe DNA" <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] 60 Minutes Genetic Genealogy Segment
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 20:00:08 -0500
In-Reply-To: <380-220071018223759220@earthlink.net>


Ken...

Kinda like the armchair scientist turned 60 minutes "ex-spirt" interviewer.

No explanation that as genealogists, we know to test only one tiny section
of
Y-DNA and the mtDNA that tells simply identifies our oldest maternal
lineage. Why didn't someone tell her this. "Who is on first ?"

All of us know we are testing autosomal DNA. Whoops ! Leslie Stahl's
producer probably didn't give her the cue cards for AUTOSOMAL questions.

All in all, a very nebulous piece of reporting.

Maybe we ought to give Leslie a complimentary test.

Bill

-----Original Message-----
From:
[mailto:]On Behalf Of Kenny Hedgpeth
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 5:38 PM
To: Genealogy-DNA
Subject: Re: [DNA] 60 Minutes Genetic Genealogy Segment


Anne - I have the same thinking / comments as you too :) but of course the
media will always play down the truth ...

it's not sensational / controversial enough to entice views / listeners to
tune in otherwise "/

Ken -
hdpth-DNA

------------------------------

Message: 12
Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2007 17:53:26 EDT
From:
Subject: Re: [DNA] 60 Minutes Genetic Genealogy Segment
To:
Message-ID: <>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

In a message dated 10/8/2007 4:17:32 P.M. Central Daylight Time,
writes:

I wonder if they have multiple matches, like
Family Tree DNA did, if they report multiple matches or if they just report
the "best" match as their tribe.


Based on Kittles responses to questions at the end, I suspect that
AfricanAncestry internally generates a list much like the FTDNA list and
then uses the
observed frequencies to predict the "most likely." There is nothing, from a
scientific standpoint, that is "misleading" or "erroneous" about this,
provided the differences are statistically significant. I wonder if FGS
might
eliminate some of them :)
I specifically commented to CBS about this aspect of their show, as it was
the part that bothered me the most -- presenting it as if the companies do
not
know what they are doing.
My comment to CBS was essentially this: The differing results are no more
mysterious than why I have maternally related cousins all over the US
today --
the descendants of the common ancestress have migrated in the hundreds of
years since she lived.

As an aside, my husband, who is not trained in either genetics nor
statistics and only knows a little from listening to me blather on about
what I'm
doing, watched the 60 Minutes show with me, and as soon as they got to that
part
of showing the different results, he said "OH GEE! ALL those countries are
in the same part of Aftrica, can't they see that?" (Fortunately, he's not
geographically challenged).
Anne


EarthLink Revolves Around You.

a thought to ponder ... Acts 1:8 a message to the outer most parts ...

-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
with the word 'unsubscribe' without the
quotes in the subject and the body of the message


This thread: