This is the 20th anniv. of home DNA testing for ancestry purposes! 20 years ago this mo, @FamilyTreeDNA sent out its first test kit. The testing was v diff, but the industry (cos like @23andMe, @Ancestry and @MyHeritage) traces back to this moment 2 decades ago. #DNAtesting20
In coming wks I’ll be tweeting out the milestones of the last 20 yrs in #DNAtesting. I’m taking suggestions! Could be industry or #geneticgenealogy moments, or ones relating to yr personal #genealogy journey. Put year and tag #DNAtesting20. This week: 2000-2010.
Milestones from 20 yrs of #DNAtesting: #DNAsurprises have been uncovered since the industry's beginning. The founder of @FamilyTreeDNA told me he stumbled on the 1st before he even rolled out product, during proof of concept testing in ‘99. #genealogy Send yrs w/ #DNAtesting20
2000 was big for DNA. Not only was home #DNAtesting born 20 yrs ago this mo, but scientists unveiled a rough draft of the human genome. In all, the Human Genome Project took 13 years and cost $2.7 bill. Now sequencing an entire genome costs...less than $1k. #DNAtesting20 
Milestones from 20 yrs of #DNAtesting: @FamilyTreeDNA Y-DNA tests led to an explosion in surname projects. Acc to @DebbieKennett, at the start of 2002, there were 18 surname projects at @FamilyTreeDNA; by the end of 2002, there were 309! (Now there are over 9k.) #DNAtesting20
20 years of #DNAtesting, 2005: #donorsiblingregistry co-founders @DSRWendy and her #donorconceived son Ryan manage to identify his anonymous donor using Y-DNA testing and genetic genealogy. These days, "anonymous sperm donor” verges on oxymoron. #donorconception #DNAtesting20
20 years of #DNAtesting, 2007:
@23andMe sends out its first test kits at an initial cost of $999. I'd love to travel back in time to this "spit party" that the @nytimes covered; the tone and the celebs (weinstein, ivanka trump) make 12 years seem much longer ago. #DNAtesting20
@23andMe sends out its first test kits at an initial cost of $999. I'd love to travel back in time to this "spit party" that the @nytimes covered; the tone and the celebs (weinstein, ivanka trump) make 12 years seem much longer ago. #DNAtesting20
20 years of #DNAtesting20 milestones: 2009 is a game changer. @23andMe introduces something called Relative Finder -- the beginning of #adoptees and #donorconceived finding genetic kin, #NPE discoveries, #DNAsurprises...and later, cold cases solved thru #geneticgenealogy.
#DNAtesting for ancestry and family is 20 years old this month. All of April I'm tweeting 20 years of milestones. Send yrs with #DNAtesting20 and I'll RT -- they can be big or personal.
@AncestorExperts
@JulianneMangin
@npealicia
@RobertaJEstes
@DaniTrussoni
@AncestorExperts
@JulianneMangin
@npealicia
@RobertaJEstes
@DaniTrussoni
20 years of #DNAtesting20 milestones, this one courtesy of @evolvability: #GEDmatch is founded in 2010. It remains a niche site for #familyhistory hobbyists that most Americans haven't heard of until eight years later, with the arrest of the accused Golden State Killer.
#DNAtesting for ancestry and family is 20 years old this month. All of April I'm tweeting 20 years of milestones. Send yrs with #DNAtesting20 and I'll RT -- they can be big or personal. @Severancemag @alesiablogs @danijshapiro @razibkhan
20 years of #DNAtesting20 milestones: In 2005, @spwells launched @NatGeo’s #Genographic Project, to trace the migration paths of ancient ancestors. It’s how a lot of ppl (including my fam) were introduced to the concept of #DTCtesting.
#DNAtesting for ancestry and family is 20 years old this month. All of April I'm tweeting 20 years of milestones. Send yrs with #DNAtesting20 and I'll RT -- they can be big or personal. @sciencegoddess @CleverTitleTK @BPrainsack @righttoknowus
20 years of #DNAtesting20 milestones, 2009-2012: early adopters of this tech, who've been doing mtDNA and Y-DNA tests for years, flock to the earliest atDNA tests. Out of which come stories like this beautiful tale about @RobertaJEstes and her brother: wapo.st/2Vm5qbp
Home #DNAtesting is 20 years old this month. All of April I'm tweeting 20 years of milestones. Send yrs with #DNAtesting20 and I'll RT -- they can be about popularity, regulation, the history of cos like @23andMe, even personal. @andelkaphillips @GCBrianne @GCchatpodcast #GCchat
20 years of #DNAtesting20 milestones, 2010+: #adoptees and search angels pioneer techniques to find genetic kin. Long before the Golden State Killer arrest, #geneticgenealogy is being used to find birth parents, siblings, sperm donors and cousins.
#DNAtesting for ancestry and family is 20 years old this month. All of April I'm tweeting 20 years of milestones. Send yrs with #DNAtesting20 and I'll RT -- they can be big or personal. @DebbieKennett @maudnewton @FriendsNpe
20 years of #DNAtesting20 milestones: In 2012, Finding Your Roots debuts. @HenryLouisGates's show helps make the idea of using #DNA and #genealogy to search for the past (and for the self) mainstream.
#DNAtesting for ancestry is 20 yrs old this month. All April I'm tweeting 20 yrs of milestones. Send yrs with #DNAtesting20 -- they can have to do with regulation, industry, science...or they can be personal #genealogy breakthrus. @HankGreelyLSJU @ShamrockGen
@CohenProf
@CohenProf
20 years of #DNAtesting20 milestones: In 2012, @Ancestry unveiled its autosomal #DNA test; it eventually became the biggest database, with ~ 16 mill ppl. Anyone else try @Ancestry in beta that year? What did you think of it back then? 1/3
A few years ago in @washingtonpost @PostStyle, I wrote abt a woman who embarked on a wild, life-changing genetic mystery bec of that '12 @Ancestry test, which was so off she at first figured it was flawed. It was still in beta testing, after all! wapo.st/2K42smv 2/3
When it ran, 100s of people emailed me to share stories about the power and revelations of #DNAtesting. Out of that came #TheLostFamily, about how DNA testing is forcing reckonings with the past, sparking cultural and psychological changes. wapo.st/2K1IGrS 3/3
20 yrs of home #DNAtesting: In 2013, @erlichya, @mgymrek and colleagues pub a paper showing how they can identify anonymous research genomes. This was 5 yrs before before the Golden State Killer arrest. Some ppl warned the paper was “fear-mongering." bit.ly/2XAWNwk
#DNAtesting for ancestry and family is 20 years old this month. All of April I'm tweeting 20 years of milestones. Send yrs with #DNAtesting20 and I'll RT -- they can be about industry, regulation, popularity...or personal. @laurahercher @GenealogyKaye @MyFamilyGenie
