DNA & A Question of Paternity: Part 8 – Analysis with a new match

In search of information to clear up the uncertain paternity of “Bob,” I analyzed various records and DNA results for Bob and his genetic matches and came up with a list of four possible candidates for Bob’s father. There were no plans to make contact with genetic matches or their family members for targeted DNA...

DNA & A Question of Paternity: Part 7 – Bringing the evidence together

For the past several weeks, I’ve been describing a project for which I used various types of analysis to attempt to clarify the uncertain paternal ancestry of someone I’m calling “Bob” (all names in these posts have been changed for privacy). In this post, I’ll summarize the results of the analyses in the previous posts...

DNA & A Question of Paternity: Part 6 – Statistically testing hypothetical relationships

To predict the most likely locations for someone in a family tree (relative to DNA matches with a common ancestor), I've used the What Are The Odds? Tool to thoroughly test hypothetical trees and determine more or less likely relationships. As a complement to documentary research of a family, this has helped me narrow down paternal candidates for someone with uncertain genetic ancestry.

DNA & A Question of Paternity: Part 4 – Building a New Family Tree

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been describing a problem I’ve been working on: using DNA to learn about the ancestry of someone (“Bob”) who was uncertain of the identity of his biological father. After examining what the paper records suggested for Bob’s maternal and paternal ancestors, I looked at Bob’s top DNA matches. Some...

DNA & A Question of Paternity: Part 3 – Identifying Autosomal Matches

After putting together Bob’s maternal and paternal family tree (according to paper records), I took a closer look at his autosomal DNA matches to see how they compared.

DNA & A Question of Paternity: Part 2 – Starting with what we knew

Last week, I introduced a project I have been working on to try to use DNA to learn about the paternal ancestry of someone who wasn’t sure of their father’s identity. As I mentioned before, I won’t use any real names here; I’ll call the person testing “Bob.” We ordered tests, sent in saliva, waited,...

DNA & A Question of Paternity: Part 1 – Introduction

Almost two years ago, I was talking with an acquaintance who had been uncertain of the identity of his biological father for much of his life. I suggested the idea of DNA testing to him; I would help him, and we would see what we could learn about his genetic ancestry. He was open to...