MyHeritage upgrades its consumer DNA test to whole-genome sequencing

There has been exciting news today with the announcement from MyHeritage that they will be transitioning to whole-genome sequencing (WGS) for the MyHeritage DNA test test. This is a direct-to-consumer DNA test which provides customers with DNA matches with relatives along with a biogeographical ancestry report. This landmark announcement heralds a new era of whole genome sequencing for genetic genealogy with the long-anticipated use of WGS for relative matching. 

Relative-matching for genetic genealogy has been available since late 2009 but in order to keep the costs down the companies have always used microarray technology. A number of different microarrays have been made available over the years covering between 600,000 and about a million base pairs. The new MyHeritage test WGS will sequence almost the entire human genome comprising over three billion base pairs. WGS is now being applied to most new MyHeritage DNA kits currently being processed at the lab, and to every new MyHeritage DNA kit sold moving forward. Incredibly, the test is being offered at the same price as the existing MyHeritage test (including sale prices). Existing customers who have tested on the older microarray technology will not have their kits upgraded but the low cost is not likely to be a barrier for most genetic genealogists.

Update. I have now been told by MyHeritage that “You can buy the kit now, but only those arriving at the lab in Jan 2026 will be warranted to have WGS." If you order a kit I would therefore recommend delaying its return to ensure you get the WGS test.

The sequencing is being done in the Gene by Gene laboratories using technology powered by Ultima Genomics. Gene by Gene are the parent company of FamilyTreeDNA who specialise in Y-chromosome and mitochondrial DNA testing.

Technical details

I asked MyHeritage about the coverage of the new MyHeritage and was advised that they will be using  low-coverage 2x sequencing. Coverage refers to the number of times a base is read by the sequencing machine. Clinical-grade sequencing, where the goal is to detect rare variants, is normally done at 30 x or higher. FamilyTreeDNA's BigY test has a read-depth of 70 x. However, for relative matching and biogeographical ancestry analysis the depth of the reads is less important than the quantity of data available, and a few missing or incorrect reads are not going to be a major problem.

The MyHeritage scientists validated their methods in a 2020 preprint by Petter et al "Relative matching using low coverage sequencing". In that study the sequencing was done at 1 x coverage. This meant that only one of the two bases at each position in the genome was sequenced. Nevertheless, the researchers were able to replicate the performance of microarrays for identifying relatives at the third cousin level or closer. The authors estimated that the cost of 1x sequencing was around $30 and commented at the time "We envision that in the short term 1x coverage can be a good sweet spot for consumer genomics, balancing quality and price." Clearly the costs of sequencing have come down in the interim to make 2x coverage the sweet spot for the roll out of WGS for genetic genealogy.

Compatibility

MyHeritage have made all the needed measures and adjustments to make sure that users' results (Ethnicity Estimate, Genetic Groups and DNA Matches) for those who will be sequenced with WGS will be compatible with all other DNA data files. They have made the required imputation and phasing changes required in order for this to happen. In other words, those who previously tested with array chips or have uploaded their data to MyHeritage from another service will still be matched to those who will be sequenced with WGS.

Uploads

MyHeritage stopped taking uploads in May 2025 for customers from some countries with the rollout to all countries completed by the beginning of August 2025, presumably in preparation for the transition to WGS. Customers who transferred their DNA to MyHeritage will continue to receive matches with new WGS testers. There are no plans to restore uploads.

Implications

I will be ordering the new MyHeritage WGS test. I have already tested direct at MyHeritage with a microarray test and I have also transferred my AncestryDNA results to MyHeritage. I will therefore have the ability to do a three-way comparison to test the performance. I am also fortunate that both of my parents have tested and are in the MyHeritage database.

Currently with my Ancestry transfer kit I have 12,279 matches but 38% of those matches don't match either of my parents.

With my direct MyHeritage DNA test I have 11,049 matches but 47% of those matches don't match either of my parents.

The non-matching with my parents is caused either by false positive or false negative matches. Spurious matches become a particular problem with smaller segment matches. I anticipate that with the WGS test the number of false matches will be reduced and the detection of smaller segments will be improved. We don't yet have details of how the matching process will work at MyHeritage and how many markers will be used for the comparison process. I hope that a white paper will be forthcoming. 

It is also anticipated that WGS will improve the biogeographical ancestry reports and I look forward to future developments.

I will update this blog post if further information become available.

Further reading

• MyHeritage upgrades its DNA test to whole-genome sequencing - blog post from MyHeritage, 17 October 2025.

Further details of the new MyHeritage test are provided in the press release reproduced below. 

MyHeritage Upgrades Its Consumer DNA Tests

to Whole Genome Sequencing

MyHeritage becomes the first major DNA testing company to fully adopt Whole Genome Sequencing; the upgrade leverages technology by Ultima Genomics and processing at the Gene by Gene lab

TEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah & HOUSTON & FREMONT, California October 14 , 2025 — MyHeritage, the leading global platform for family history and DNA testing, announced today a landmark move to Whole Genome Sequencing for its at-home DNA test, MyHeritage DNA. Leveraging cutting-edge sequencing technology from Ultima Genomics and processing at the Gene by Gene lab, MyHeritage is the first major consumer DNA testing company to adopt Whole Genome Sequencing at a scale of more than one million tests per year. The enriched data will empower MyHeritage to deliver more accurate ethnicity analysis and DNA matching, and unlock opportunities for future innovation in consumer genomics and genetic genealogy.

Whole Genome Sequencing reads almost the entire human genetic code, covering around 3 billion base pairs (nucleotides). This is superior to the standard genotyping arrays used by most consumer DNA tests, including MyHeritage until recently, which read only about 700,000 base pairs. More data enables deeper insights across all types of genetic analysis. Whole Genome Sequencing is now being applied to most new MyHeritage DNA kits currently being processed at the lab, and to every new MyHeritage DNA kit sold moving forward. MyHeritage DNA kits already processed with the older genotyping array technology will not be reprocessed with Whole Genome Sequencing. Customers whose MyHeritage DNA kits are processed with Whole Genome Sequencing will be able to download their entire genome from MyHeritage at no cost, in CRAM format. They may also unlock additional insights by uploading their data to other trusted genetic service providers that support such uploads.

Due to its high technological potential, MyHeritage has been eying Whole Genome Sequencing for years. A pioneering study by the MyHeritage Science Team published in 2020 validated Whole Genome Sequencing for reliable relative matching at scale. Following that study, MyHeritage has been collaborating closely with Ultima Genomics since its emergence from stealth mode in mid-2022, and later jointly with Gene by Gene, to prepare the scientific and logistical foundation for upgrading the MyHeritage DNA processing pipeline to Whole Genome Sequencing using Ultima’s technology. The upgrade was completed successfully and creates new opportunities for MyHeritage to deliver deeper insights into ethnic origins, family connections, and genetic genealogy, without any price increase to consumers. Even before this upgrade, MyHeritage was consistently the most affordable DNA test on the market among the major DNA testing companies. The upgrade to Whole Genome Sequencing makes the MyHeritage offering even more compelling.

“This is a pivotal moment for genetic genealogy,” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “We are proud to take this pioneering step into Whole Genome Sequencing together with Ultima Genomics and with our longstanding partners at Gene by Gene. MyHeritage customers will enjoy the fruits of this technological upgrade for years to come, through increased accuracy, deeper insights, and exciting new products.”

“MyHeritage’s move to Whole Genome Sequencing marks a major milestone for consumer DNA testing,” said Dr. Gilad Almogy, Founder and CEO of Ultima Genomics. “It demonstrates the scalability and maturity of Ultima’s innovative technology and accelerates the immense value that Whole Genome Sequencing can bring to consumers. It has been a pleasure collaborating with MyHeritage over the past few years, and we are proud to work together with them and Gene by Gene to bring genetic genealogy to new heights for millions of consumers worldwide.”

“The transition to Whole Genome Sequencing represents the most ambitious project in our years-long partnership with MyHeritage,” said Dr. Lior Rauchberger, CEO of Gene by Gene. “We are proud to help set a new standard in consumer genomics and support the growth of what will soon become the world’s largest database of whole genomes. The rollout is centered at Gene by Gene’s state-of-the-art laboratory in Houston, Texas, which will house a large fleet of Ultima UG100™ sequencing instruments.”

Privacy Commitment

MyHeritage is committed to the privacy and security of its customers' data. All genetic data is encrypted and stored securely, and MyHeritage does not sell or license data to third parties. MyHeritage strictly prohibits the use of its platform by law enforcement. All genetic samples are automatically destroyed by the lab after processing, except those stored securely for customers who have enrolled in the MyHeritage DNA BioBank service. This provides customers with peace of mind not offered by most other major DNA testing companies.

About MyHeritage

MyHeritage is the leading global platform for family history. It enriches the lives of people worldwide by enabling them to uncover more about themselves and where they belong. With a suite of intuitive products, billions of historical records, AI-powered photo tools, and an affordable at-home DNA test, MyHeritage creates a meaningful discovery experience that is deeply rewarding. The MyHeritage platform is enjoyed by more than 62 million people around the world who treasure and celebrate their heritage. MyHeritage is committed to the privacy and security of its customer data and is available globally in 42 languages. www.myheritage.com

About Ultima Genomics

Ultima Genomics is unleashing the power of genomics at scale. The company's mission is to continuously drive the scale of genomic information to enable unprecedented advances in biology and improvements in human health. With humanity on the cusp of a biological revolution, there is a virtually endless need for more genomic information to address biology's complexity and dynamic change—and a further need to challenge conventional next-generation sequencing technologies. Ultima's revolutionary new sequencing architecture drives down the costs of sequencing to help overcome the tradeoffs that scientists and clinicians are forced to make between the breadth, depth and frequency with which they use genomic information. The new sequencing architecture was designed to scale far beyond conventional sequencing technologies, lower the cost of genomic information and catalyze the next phase of genomics in the 21st century. www.ultimagenomics.com

About Gene by Gene
Gene by Gene is a world leader in genetic testing services with over 20 years of experience. Its laboratory holds accreditation from multiple agencies, including CAP, CLIA, New York State Department of Health, California Department of Public Health, and AABB. With a cutting-edge laboratory and highly trained team of experts, Gene by Gene is committed to excellence in the field of genetic analysis. www.genebygene.com

MyHeritage to be acquired by Francisco Partners

News broke today that MyHeritage is to be acquired by the private equity company Francisco Partners. This is likely to result in new investment in the company so that they can expand their market share. Hopefully genealogists will benefit from the investment and we will eventually see the introduction of lots of new features and products.

You can read more about the acquisition in this article from Business Wire.

There is additional information in this article from TechCrunch.

See also the official press release from MyHeritage.

I expect that we will learn more about the plans for MyHeritage at RootsTech Connect. MyHeritage have a number of talks planned for the show. You can find a full listing on the MyHeritage blog.

Update 13th April 2021

The acquisition was completed on 8th April 2021 following regulatory approval. For details see this blog post from MyHeritage.

Free upload to MyHeritageDNA from 21st to 28th February 2021

MyHeritage have a very special offer on this week. If you've tested at 23andMe, AncestryDNA, FamilyTreeDNA or Living DNA you can download your raw data and upload to the MyHeritage database to get free access to all the features which are normally only available after paying the upload fee of $29. This includes access to the new Genetic Groups feature. You can see my genetic groups in the screenshot below.

The MyHeritage "ethnicity" estimates have not yet been updated but we are expecting this feature to be revamped later this year. I suspect when that happens my 9.2% Italian ancestry will disappear

MyHeritage have a database of over 4.5 million people and have much better representation in continental Europe than any of the other companies, helped by the fact that they make their website available in many different languages. One of the most useful features at MyHeritage is the ability to filter matches by the countries where your matches live. You will find you get lots of very distant matches from many different countries which are probably not related in a genealogical timeframe but this feature allows you to search for matches in the countries where you do have known relatives. In my case I am primarily focusing on matches in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.

MyHeritage have written a blog post which you can access here with more details about this offer.

Answers to frequently asked questions about uploading data to MyHeritage can be found in their Help Centre.

You can also upload your data directly via this link.

The offer is only available until 28th February so if you've not yet transferred your data I would encourage you to take advantage of the offer while you have the chance.

Malicious phishing attempt at MyHeritage

Following on from the recent security breach at GEDmatch, there has now been a malicious phishing attempt at MyHeritage which is possibly linked to the GEDmatch breach. Thanks to the prompt actions by MyHeritage staff the threat appears to have been averted but make sure you watch out for fake e-mails purporting to come from the company. 

It is quite possible that the other genetic genealogy companies will similarly be targeted for phishing attacks so be alert and look out for any suspicious e-mails and check the reply field to ensure that the e-mail is legitimate.

You can read about the MyHeritage incident in their blog post:

 

Security alert: malicious phishing attempt detected, possibly connected to GEDmatch breach

My post on the GEDmatch security breach has been updated several times since I published it on Sunday so do check back if you want to keep on top of all the developments.

Free uploads to MyHeritage and news of the MyHeritage 2020 conference

MyHeritage have announced that their conference will take place in Tel Aviv in October. I went to their conference this year in Amsterdam and had a fantastic time and will be looking forward to a trip to Israel. You can find further information about this conference in this blog post from MyHeritage.

In other news from MyHeritage they have a special offer on this week for free DNA uploads to their autosomal DNA database. If you have taken an autosomal DNA test at 23andMe, AncestryDNA, FamilyTreeDNA or Living DNA you can transfer your data to the MyHeritage database to find new genetic cousins. There are people in the MyHeritage database who have not tested elsewhere. MyHeritage now have over 3.5 million people in their database, and they have particularly good representation in non-English-speaking countries in Europe.

Anyone who uploads between now and 18th December will benefit from free access to all the advanced features which normally require a one-off payment. You can find further details in this blog post from MyHeritage.

MyHeritage enters the genetic health testing market

MyHeritage announced the launch of a new Health and Ancestry test on 20th May this year. The launch occurred at a busy time of the year and I've only just got round to investigating it. On doing so, I discovered that the test is on special offer with 40% off the recommended price until 15th July so I decided to take the plunge and order a kit. I already have a MyHeritage DNA account but I have not tested direct at MyHeritage DNA. Instead I transferred my raw data file from AncestryDNA in order to participate in the genetic genealogy matching database. I received various e-mails from MyHeritage about the new health test but none of them mentioned a discount or special introductory offer and the 40% discount does not show up when I log into my existing MyHeritage account. I don't know if this special offer is available to everyone in the UK or if a similar offer exists in other countries so you will need to check for yourself. Make sure you log out of your MyHeritage account first. There was an additional charge of £9 for shipping so the test cost me £114 in total, a saving of £74.

MyHeritage is now using the Illumina Global Screening Array (GSA) for their Health and Ancestry test. This has a different range of markers (SNPs) compared to the AncestryDNA profile I uploaded to my other MyHeritage account. Having two accounts at MyHeritage will allow me to do comparisons to assess the effectiveness of the relationship predictions with the two different chips.

Included with the cost of the test is a free 12-month subscription which will allow me to receive all the new genetic risk and carrier status reports as they are released. The health subscription also includes all of the advanced DNA features for genealogy (such as viewing family trees of DNA matches, viewing shared matches and "ethnicities", and shared ancestral places), all of which previously required a MyHeritage site subscription. The health subscription will normally cost £89. However, I am somewhat concerned that the subscription is automatically renewed at the end of the year. In order to place my order I had to authorise MyHeritage to use my PayPal account for future payments.

I don't like the idea of having subscriptions automatically renewed so I have set myself a reminder to review the situation prior to the renewal. I have also discovered that there is an option buried deep in the settings to switch off the auto-renewal.

If you are ordering a test from MyHeritage there a few things to watch out for from a privacy perspective. As part of the order process you need to provide information about your date of birth. There is of course no requirement that you have to provide the correct date but you need to be aware that with the default privacy settings your "general age" (eg, thirties, forties, fifties) is automatically displayed to other MyHeritage members. MyHeritage also automatically creates a profile for you and by default this is publicly displayed. The default settings are shown in the screenshot below. 

Note that it is not possible to buy a MyHeritage kit as a standalone health test. Also you need to be aware that anyone who orders the Health and Ancestry test is automatically opted in to the relative matching feature and to the sharing of "ethnicity" reports and matching segment data. If you do not wish to opt in to these features you will need to adjust your settings in the My Privacy section under DNA Preferences. MyHeritage probably ought to review some of these default settings for their European Union customers because they are counter to the basic principles of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) which requires explicit informed consent.

I recommend checking your MyHeritage settings immediately after placing an order to make sure you are only sharing information that you wish to share.

The MyHeritage Health and Ancestry test currently offers 14 genetic risk reports including reports for haemochromatosis, Alzheimer's, late-onset Parkinson's disease, coeliac disease and hereditary BRCA cancers. There are 13 carrier status reports including cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anaemia and a number of other conditions, most of which I have never heard of. You can see a full list of the health reports here.

There have been concerns about false positive health reports with microarray testing. One study reported a 40% false positive rate though this was based on a small sample of just 49 people and included reports from third-party tools as well as direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies. According to the MyHeritage blog, the company takes additional steps to avoid false positive results and to ensure that the results are accurate. For any condition where a person has a significantly increased genetic risk, MyHeritage will double-check the results with Sanger sequencing.

You can watch the video below for an overview of the new MyHeritage Health and Ancestry test.

If you are in the US you should watch the US version of the video. MyHeritage have partnered with PWN Health, a private American network of doctors and genetic counsellors. US reports are reviewed by a doctor and you are referred, if necessary, to a genetic counsellor. The US price is $199 which works out at about £160 so it appears that American customers are paying a small premium equivalent to about £19 to cover the costs of the medical service. They do not have the option of ordering a test without clinical oversight.

You need to be over 18 to order the MyHeritage Health and Ancestry test. It is available in most countries of the world. It is currently not on sale in the following countries: Israel, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Iran, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, North Korea, Lebanon and Syria. US residents living in the states of Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York are also not able to purchase the test. The price will vary in different countries depending on local taxes and exchange rates.

Direct-to-consumer genetic health tests are also provided by 23andMe, but they only sell their test in a limited number of countries. They are also not able to provide health reports in many of the countries where they sell their test. MyHeritage's entry into this market will now make health reports available to a much wider international consumer base. It will be interesting to see what the take up rate is and if there will be any international regulatory implications. The UK Parliament's Science and Technology Committee has just launched an enquiry into consumer genomics and the effects on the National Health Service. We will need to wait and see what recommendations emerge from this enquiry.

Once I've returned my kit it should take about four to six weeks to get my results and I will report back on what I learn and how the results compare with my 23andMe reports. There are proposals in England to have a paid for NHS genome sequencing service whereby healthy people will serve as "genomic volunteers" who will pay through the NHS for their genome to be sequenced and share the data. In the long run, I am probably likely to get more benefit from a UK-specific service which can be integrated with my health records as part of the NHS Genomic Medicine Service. However, such plans are in their infancy and, even if the service does eventually get off the ground, it will be useful to have data from other sources to serve as a comparison.

For further information about the MyHeritage Health and Ancestry test or to order a kit go to: https://www.myheritage.com/health

Further reading

• Introducing the MyHeritage DNA Health+Ancestry test (MyHeritage blog post)
• MyHeritage expands to health; launches new DNA test offering powerful and personalized health insights for consumers (press release)
• MyHeritage launches health-related genetic test, ignites debate by Catherine Offord, The Scientist

MyHeritage now accepts transfers from Living DNA and 23andMe but will soon start charging for some features

MyHeritage have announced that they can now accept uploads from people who have tested at Living DNA and on the 23andMe v5 chip. Both these companies currently use the Illumina Global Screening Array chip, which has very limited overlap with the chips used by the other testing companies.

MyHeritage have also announced that they will soon be introducing charges to access some features. Here's an extract from their blog.

As of December 1, 2018, our policy regarding DNA uploads will change: DNA Matching will remain free for uploaded DNA data, but unlocking additional DNA features (for example, ethnicity estimate, chromosome browser, and some others) will require an extra payment for DNA files uploaded after this date. We will announce the full details of the new policy once it is finalized, closer to December 1st. All DNA data that was uploaded to MyHeritage in the past, and all DNA data that is uploaded now and prior to December 1, 2018, will continue to enjoy full access to all DNA features for free. These uploads will be grandfathered in and will remain free.

To read the full article click here.

If you've not yet added your kit to the MyHeritage database make sure you do so before the deadline. MyHeritage have some useful features for interpreting results, and they are also promoting their tests in some European countries, such as Germany and the Netherlands, that are poorly represented in the other company databases. MyHeritage also have a useful feature which allows you to see the countries where your matches live. Although my match list is still dominated by distant matches with Americans I now have 368 matches with people living in Britain as well as 130 Australian matches. I have quite a few cousins in Australia that I'm hoping to make connections with. It's always a good idea to have your DNA represented in all the databases as you never know where you're going to get the breakthrough matches.

MyHeritage partners with W H Smith to sell DNA kits in UK high streets

23andMe already sells DNA kits in some Superdrug stores in the UK as well as online. Now MyHeritage have announced that they will be selling their kits on your local high street at W H Smith's. The tests will be sold in a bespoke product known as the MyHeritage Family History Discovery Kit, which includes a three-month Complete plan subscription. This provides access to all the family tree features and historical records on MyHeritage.

Here is the press release I received from MyHeritage.

MyHeritage Partners with British Retailer WHSmith to Distribute DNA Kits

Tel Aviv, Israel & London, United Kingdom, September 7, 2018 — MyHeritage, Europe’s leading service for DNA testing and family history, announced today the launch of a retail partnership with WHSmith. This marks the first partnership of its kind for MyHeritage in the UK, and the first time that MyHeritage DNA tests will be available for purchase in retail stores in Europe.

Under the new partnership WHSmith distributes a unique product named MyHeritage Family History Discovery Kit, which bundles MyHeritage’s popular at-home DNA test with 3 months of access to MyHeritage’s suite of premium online genealogy services. This allows consumers to receive detailed ethnicity reports and connect with their relatives around the world through the power of DNA testing, and to utilize MyHeritage’s 9-billion-strong collection of historical records and family tree tools to embark on a journey to uncover their family history. 

The distribution of the kits via local retail stores caters to the surging demand for at-home DNA testing throughout Europe, and in the UK in particular. The affordable price of the MyHeritage Family History Discovery Kit available through WHSmith, £89, makes it an ideal gift for the Christmas season ahead.

The MyHeritage DNA test is notable for its ease of use. It involves a simple 2-minute cheek swab. In addition to the DNA test, the Family History Discovery Kit comes with 3 months of access to MyHeritage’s Complete plan, which includes all family tree features and historical records on MyHeritage, seamlessly integrated with the DNA test results.

“Interest in DNA testing and family history research in the UK market has skyrocketed lately,” said Akiva Glasenberg, MyHeritage’s Business Development Manager. “We have created a unique bundled product to satisfy this need and are pleased to offer it to UK consumers through selected WHSmith High Street stores. Customers can look forward to discovering their ethnic origins and family history and making use of MyHeritage’s vast DNA database and historical record collections to make new connections with their relatives in the UK and overseas.”

The MyHeritage Family History Discovery Kits are on sale in 200 WHSmith High Street stores, as well as online via www.whsmith.co.uk.

Cybersecurity incident at MyHeritage

There has been a cybersecurity incident at MyHeritage.  For full details see the following blog posts from MyHeritage:

• MyHeritage statement about a cybersecurity incident
• Cybersecurity incident: June 5-6 update
• Cybersecurity incident: June 10 update
• New: MyHeritage adds two-factor authentication (2FA) to secure your account

MyHeritage will be expiring all existing passwords over the next few days but you might prefer to change your password now rather than wait for the reminder.

MyHeritage have responded impeccably to this incident with the rapid and transparent manner in which they disclosed the breach and the way that they are now requiring all users to change their passwords.

MyHeritage DNA updates announced at Rootstech

There has been a lot of exciting news from MyHeritage DNA at Rootstech in the last few days.

For genetic genealogists the most important announcement is the launch of a major upgrade to the chromosome browser and the ability to download our match lists and matching segment data.

MyHeritage very helpfully provides a country flag so that you can see where the person lives and this information is included in the downloaded match list. This will be a very useful way of filtering our matches so that we can focus on the matches who live in the countries where we stand the best chance of finding the genealogical connections. I currently have 2157 matches at MyHeritage. 1214 of those matches are in the US. However, I'm very encouraged to see that I have 232 matches from Great Britain, 72 from Australia, 14 from Ireland and 27 from New Zealand. More surprisingly, however, I also have matches from people living in countries where I wouldn't expect to have genealogical connections, such as Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway,  Portugal, Spain and Switzerland.

Many of the low confidence matches are likely to be false matches. Of my my 2063 matches at MyHeritage 768 match my dad and 699 match my mum. This means that 71% of my matches match one of my parents, but conversely 29% of my matches don't match either of my parents and are therefore not likely to be true matches.

Of the matches that are real, I suspect that the vast majority of matches with Americans and continental Europeans are likely to be very distant and a reflection of our shared European ancestry within the last one thousand years rather than having any genealogical significance.

The upgraded chromosome browser now allows us to compare up to seven people at a time. The browser includes a feature that allows us to see which segments triangulate with each other. This is what is known as true triangulation. For segments to truly triangulate they must not just overlap in the browser but each person in the group must also match each other.

Here's a screenshot of the new one-to-many chromosome browser feature. I am the focus person and I'm doing a comparison with my top match at MyHeritage and my dad.

If I scroll down and look at the match in the chromosome browser I can see the regions of each chromosome that we share in common, along with details of the amount of sharing.

You can add additional people to the group to see if they also triangulate on the same segment but you need to add people one at a time and check each triangulation individually because everyone in the group has to match each other. If just one person in the group doesn't match the others then the circle around the segment will not appear.

In my initial exploration of the new MyHeritage features I've noticed that a lot of my matches all seem to pile up on the same segment. A number of us have noticed big pile-ups at the start of chromosome 15 (see the discussions in the Genetic Genealogy Tips and Techniques group on Facebook here and here). I've found that, while some of the people who appear to match on chromosome 15 don't triangulate and the matches are probably not real because of the low SNP count, there are other matches that do triangulate. I'm not certain at present if these matches will be worth pursuing.

I've also got another problematic area on chromosome 3 where 15 people triangulate on the same segment. Seven of these people triangulate with me and my dad on a 14.6 segment which contains 5162 SNPs.

The remaining eight people in this group triangulate on a smaller portion of this segment. One person in this triangulated group is in the Netherlands and the remaining 14 people are all in the US. As all my ancestry is from the British Isles this is clearly not a genealogically relevant match.

We will need to be very careful when drawing conclusions about triangulated segments viewed in the chromosome browser. It's not just the seven matches you can see in the chromosome browser that you need to consider but also how many other people share the segment. The more frequent the segment is in the population the less likely it is to fall within a meaningful genealogical timeframe. I hope that MyHeritage might consider adding an algorithm along the lines of AncestryDNA's Timber algorithm which would downweight matches on portions of the genome which are prone to over-matching.

For background reading on the subject of triangulation see my two previous blog posts:

• Autosomal DNA triangulation Part 1: The basics
• Autosomal DNA triangulation Part 2: The phenomenon of triangulated segments 

For more details of the upgraded chromosome browser feature see the official blog post from MyHeritage DNA:

• Major upgrade to the MyHeritage chromosome browser for better exploration of DNA matches

Other news from MyHeritage

MyHeritage has announced the launch of DNA Quest, an initiative which will provide 15,000 free DNA kits to adoptees. DNA Quest is an expansion of a previous project which provided free kits to reunite adoptees from the Israeli Yemenite community. The programme is currently restricted to US residents, but I'm hoping that it will one day be possible to expand the programme to other countries in need such as Ireland.

• Source: Introducing DNA Quest: new pro bono initiative to reunite adoptees with their biological families

MyHeritage has also announced the release of a number of new data collections including the 1939 Register, which is an important resource for tracing twentieth century ancestors in England and Wales and serves as a census substitute. The 1939 Register was previously only available on Findmypast. It is available at MyHeritage with a data subscription.

• Source: MyHeritage releases new collections with 325 million historical records

MyHeritage scientists have published a groundbreaking paper in the prestigious journal Science. They used public family trees at Geni.com to explore migrations and longevity.

• Source: MyHeritage science team’s research featured in the prestigious journal Science 

MyHeritage's Chief Scientific Officer Yaniv Erlich gave a very interesting presentation at Rootstech about the MyHeritage DNA test. The recording is now available on the Rootstech website:

• MyHeritage DNA 101: From test to results

101 is an American term for a lecture aimed at beginners but this was actually quite a technical lecture looking at how the MyHeritage matching process works and included useful explanations about phasing, imputation and stitching.

MyHeritage have been very responsive to feedback from the genetic genealogy community. I'm excited to see all these new developments and I look forward to many more updates in the coming year. If you're not yet in the MyHeritage DNA database but you've tested elsewhere you can currently do a free transfer using this link.

Update 6th March 2018
The lunchtime talk given by Gilad Japhet at Rootstech Perspectives on combining genealogy and genetics is now available on the Legacy Family Tree webinar website.

A chromosome browser and a new matching algorithm at MyHeritage

There was a big update at MyHeritage on Thursday this week. They rolled out their updated matching algorithms and also introduced a new chromosome browser feature. MyHeritage have written an excellent blog post which explains the changes in more detail and also provides a good overview of the technicalities of DNA matching written in easy-to-understand language. You can read the article here:

• Major updates and improvements to MyHeritage DNA matching

All MyHeritage customers are currently automatically opted in to DNA matching. If, for any reason, you do not want to be notified of matches you can opt out in the My Privacy DNA settings.

I previously had 49 matches at MyHeritage. The new algorithms have allowed them to drop the threshold and report more distant matches. I now have a grand total of 1474 matches. Before the changeover I found that 72% of my matches did not match either of my parents. Previously I had to go through all my matches one by one and check whether or not they matched my parents. Now, if I click on my matches with my mum and dad, I can see the tally of the matches along with a list of all the matches I share with them. I now share 530 matches with my dad and 473 with my mum. This means that 1003 of my 1474 matches (68%) match my parents. The mismatch rate has been reduced to 32% which is a huge improvement. MyHeritage announced at the end of December that they had tested 1.08 million people so the number of matches is much more in line with what we might expect from such a large database. MyHeritage advised in November that the majority of their customers were in the US but that "sales in Europe are strong".

There are some useful filters which can be used to sort your matches. Currently you can view matches that have family trees, shared surnames and Smart Matches.

I found that 1,255 of my 1474 matches (85%) have uploaded trees. However, no indication is given of the completeness of the trees, and I've noticed that some of the trees only contain a single person.

Two hundred and thirty-one of my matches have shared ancestral surnames. On a brief perusal, many of these are common surnames like Johnson and Williams, and the people I match with these surnames seem to be mostly in America and will likely have no connection with Berkshire or Devon where my ancestors with these surnames are to be found. I would suggest it's best to focus on shared matches with rarer surnames.

I like the way that MyHeritage displays country flags as this makes it much easier to identify people in the countries where you are mostly likely to find recent genetic cousins. Even better, it is possible to filter matches by country, as well as searching for matches by surname and full name. The menu can be found on your DNA Matches page.

Note that the country search box will only accept a single word so if you are searching for matches from Great Britain simply enter the word "Great". Similarly if you're trying to locate matches from New Zealand search for the word "New". I currently have 123 matches from Great Britain, 12 matches from Ireland, 62 matches from Australia, 16 matches from New Zealand, 41 matches from Canada and 867 matches from the USA. Many thanks to Louise Coakley for alerting me to this filter and for the tip about searching for matches from Great Britain and New Zealand.

My Heritage have also added a chromosome browser so that you can see a visual display of your matches. You need to scroll right down to the bottom of the match page to locate the tool. Here's the chromosome browser view of my closest match from the UK.

If I click on the Advanced Options on the top right of the chromosome browser I can download the matching segment data. In this case my match shares three segments of DNA with me which are 13.07 cMs, 6.04 cMs and 6.14 cMs respectively in size.

I recognise the names of some people who match me at other companies. I've not done a proper check but my sense is that the people who match me as 3rd to 5th cousins at MyHeritage are assigned more distant relationships at Ancestry (4th to 6th cousin or 5th to 8th cousins). Given that I'm not able to make the genealogical connections with these people I suspect the AncestryDNA estimates are more appropriate.

There's also a facility to sort matches by shared DNA, largest segment, full name and most recent. Apart from my mum and dad, I currently have no matches closer than third to fifth cousin. My highest match is somebody in America who shares 0.4% (31.9 cMs with me (0.4%) spread across four segments. However, the longest segment is only 12.8 cMs. This match only shares a total of 12.8‎ cMs (0.2%) with my dad. I can see that the remaining three segments this match shares with me that are not shared with my dad are all very small (6.49, 6.03 and 6.62 cMs respectively) so I would guess that these are false positive segments.

Partnership with FTDNA

MyHeritage use the Family Tree DNA labs in Houston, Texas, for their testing. If you've tested at MyHeritage you have the option of taking advantage of the free transfer to Family Tree DNA. The link can be found at the bottom of your DNA results page.

Further details of the transfer programme can be found here.

Similarly, if you've tested at FTDNA you can transfer your results free of charge to MyHeritage using the MyHeritage Upload link. Both companies have different databases and you will find people in both databases who have not tested elsewhere. You never know where you are going to get those all-important breakthrough matches so it's best to "fish in all the ponds".

Conclusion

MyHeritage have done an excellent job overhauling their matching algorithms. It is surprisingly difficult with current technology to identify distant matches, especially when results are being combined across different platforms. I think that MyHeritage are going about the matching in the right way and they are being very responsive to the feedback provided by genetic genealogists. I am sure we will see further improvements in the months and years to come. I look forward to receiving many more matches and to confirming my first relationship at MyHeritage DNA.

Other reviews

• Kudos to MyHeritage by Lorna Henderson
• MyHeritage overhauls their matching algorithm by Leah Larkin
• MyHeritage improves DNA matches by John Reid

MyHeritage acquires Legacy Family Tree and discounts on Legacy webinar subscriptions

It was announced last week that MyHeritage have acquired the Millennia Corporation, the company who produce Legacy Family Tree genealogy desktop software and who also run the popular Legacy Family Tree Webinars.

For further details on this acquisition you can read the statements from MyHeritage and Legacy:

• MyHeritage Acquires the Legacy Family Tree Software and Webinar Platform MyHeritage blog, 3rd August 2017
• Legacy FamilyTree has a new home with MyHeritage Legacy News, 3 August 2017

For commentary on the acquisition I recommend reading the following two articles which provide interesting insights and perspectives:

• MyHeritage acquires Legacy Family Tree: is this good for the genealogy industry? Good for genealogists? by Thomas MacEntee, Abundant Genealogy, 4 August 2017
• MyHeritage buys Millennia by Tamura Jones, Modern Software Experience, 7 August 2017.

I'm not a Legacy user so I'm not affected by this change. (I use the British family tree program Family Historian which I highly recommend.) However, it will be interesting to see what impact this change has on the genealogy market and how MyHeritage and Legacy move forwards. The increased exposure through the Legacy webinar platform is likely to help MyHeritage improve their share of the DNA testing market.

Most of the Legacy webinars are free to view in the first week but you need to have a subscription to access the webinar archive and some premium webinars. It's also often necessary to have a subscription to access the speakers' handouts. Much of the content up until now has been aimed at US researchers but there have also been other webinars of more general interest. I've enjoyed watching a few webinars about DNA testing, particularly those from Blaine Bettinger and Diahan Southard, who always do an excellent job of explaining complicated science in easy-to-understand language. To celebrate the acquisition there is a special offer on the annual Legacy webinar subscription and it is on sale for just $24.98 (£19) until 13th August, which is 50% off the usual price. I've decided to splash out, as there quite a few webinars I would have liked to have seen that for one reason or another I didn't have time to watch when they first became available.

Parent and child comparisons at MyHeritage DNA

Update. See my blog post published on 14 January 2018 where I found that 32% of my matches did not match either of my parents compared to 71% in 2017 with the old matching algorithms.

I recently transferred my parents' data to the MyHeritage DNA database and I thought it would be an interesting exercise to compare their matches and admixture reports with my own. I transferred my AncestryDNA v1 raw data to MyHeritage and my parents' Family Finder raw data from Family Tree DNA. All three tests were done on the same Illumina OmniExpress chip so there should be an almost complete overlap of SNPs.

MyHeritage are the newest entrant into the genetic genealogy market. They launched their autosomal test in November 2016. If you've tested with AncestryDNA, Family Tree DNA or 23andMe it is currently possible to do a free transfer to MyHeritage. It is not clear if the transfer will be free in the long term so do take advantage while you have the chance.

While the MyHeritage database still has a long way to go to catch up with the other companies there are already early reports of DNA success stories. MyHeritage benefits from a website which is available in many different languages, and they are therefore likely to attract customers who will not be found in any of the other databases.

DNA matches
MyHeritage currently provide information about the amount of DNA shared (measured in centiMorgans), the number of shared segments, and the size of the largest segment. A chromosome browser is not provided though this feature is reportedly in development. It is also not yet possible to download a list of your matches, but hopefully this will be possible in future.

One of the most useful features of the MyHeritage matches feature is that there are country flags against the names of your matches. This allows you to focus on the matches who live in the countries where you are mostly likely to share recent genealogical ancestors.

My dad currently has 59 matches at MyHeritage (excluding me as his daughter). Most of his matches are in America but he has four matches with people from Great Britain, three from Sweden, and one each from the Czech Republic, Canada and Norway.

My mum has 20 matches at MyHeritage (excluding me as her daughter). Again the matches are predominantly with Americans but she has two matches with people from Great Britain and one with an Australian.

I have 24 matches at MyHeritage (excluding my parents). I have one match each from Luxembourg, Great Britain, Australia and Ireland. The rest of my matches are in America.

MyHeritage have a nice Shared DNA Matches feature which not only allows you to see which matches you have in common but also provides relationship predictions and the amount of shared DNA for both matches side by side. This is what the Shared DNA Matches page looks like for me and my mum.

I share two of my 24 matches with my mum and six matches with my dad. However this means that 17 of my 24 matches (71%) do not match either of my parents. These matches are either false positives or false negatives, but without further investigation it's not possible to tell.

I don't recognise any of the names in the match lists and it seems to me that, even if the matches are real, the relationship predictions are overly optimistic. Some of the matches are predicted to be second to fourth cousins, and even the most distant matches are predicted to be third to sixth cousins. However, I do not have any ancestors who emigrated to countries like Sweden, Norway and the Czech Republic. I also don't have any ancestors who emigrated to America. I do have a few cousins in America through a collateral line but I know them all by name. The Americans on my match list are likely to be very distant cousins, if they are related to me at all. Of the matches that I share with my parents all eight of them are in the US.

Clearly MyHeritage need to do some work on the matching algorithms, and I'm sure we will see some improvements in future. For the moment it doesn't seem worth investing too much time in researching these matches.

Comparing admixture percentages
In addition to cousin matching, the MyHeritage test also includes a free admixture report which they call an Ethnicity Estimate. Results are compared with 42 reference populations around the world, and there are plans to add further populations in the future. MyHeritage do not state what time depth their test is designed to cover.

Here are the details of my dad's genealogical ancestry:

• Four grandparents born in England: Bristol, Gloucestershire, London (x2).
• Eight great-grandparents born in England: Bristol (x2), Devon, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, London (x2).
• Fifteen great-great grandparents born in England: Devon (x2), Bristol, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire (x 2), London. One great-great grandparent born in Scotland (location not known). The birthplace of seven of his English great-great-grandparents is unknown. Four were probably born in Bristol or in a nearby county. Three were Londoners who could have moved to London from anywhere in England. 

Here are my dad's admixture percentages from MyHeritage.

Here are the details of my mum's genealogical ancestry:

• Four grandparents born in England: London (x2), Hampshire (x2).
• Eight great-grandparents born in England: Berkshire, Hampshire, London (x3), Somerset, Wiltshire. The birthplace of one great-grandparent is not known but he was probably born in London.
• One great-great-grandparent born in County Kerry, Ireland. Fifteen great-great-grandparents born in England: Bedfordshire, Berkshire (x2), Gloucestershire, Hampshire (x2), Hertfordshire, London (x2), Somerset (x2), Wiltshire. The birthplace of three of her English great-great-grandparents is unknown. One was probably born in Hampshire. The other two were probably Londoners who could have come from anywhere in the country.

Here are my mum's admixture percentages from MyHeritage:

Here are my admixture percentages from MyHeritage.

It's good to see that MyHeritage are at least trying to produce regional distributions within the British Isles, even though the results are somewhat off the mark. It's interesting to see that my parents come out with such very different results, despite the fact that they both have predominantly English ancestry. We have no Italian ancestry and the Italian component in the MyHeritage test does not show up in our results in tests with any other company. The admixture reports will no doubt be refined in future as the methodology improves and more reference datasets are added.

Update 12th November 2017
We have been getting reports of close matches which have been incorrectly reported at MyHeritage DNA. Lorna Henderson has reported problems with a second cousin match which was identified at other companies but not at MyHeritage DNA. CeCe Moore has blogged about  a number of cases where half-siblings were reported as sharing an unexpectedly low amount of DNA. Yaniv Erlich, MyHeritage's Chief Scientific Officer, has responded on CeCe's blog and says that "We are well aware of these issues that affect a minority of our close matches. My team is actively working on this and we are in the final steps of a major overhaul to our matching system that resolves many of these issues and better tunes our parameters for our fast growing database." Let's hope that these issues are resolved sooner rather than later.

At present I do not advise trusting the matches reported by MyHeritage. If you've tested at MyHeritage I would recommend in the first instance that you download your raw data and take advantage of the free transfer to Family Tree DNA. Note that MyHeritage DNA transfers are exempt from the $19 fee to unlock the chromosome browser and MyOrigins reports. This will allow you to do a double check on the amount of shared DNA and access a different database of matches. When calculating the cM totals at FTDNA be sure to exclude all the small segments under 5 cMs or 7 cMs to get a more accurate reflection of the relationship.

Further reading

• Imprecise science Part 2: MyHeritage by Alex Coles, Winging It, 16 August 2017
• MyHeritage matching by Leah Larkin, The DNA Geek, 21 July 2017
• Introducing our new DNA ethnicity analysis, MyHeritage blog, 1 June 2017 
• DNA articles in the MyHeritage Help Centre

Related blog posts

• Updated MyHeritage Ethnicity Estimates are now available for all users
• Parent and child comparisons at AncestryDNA
• Comparing match tallies for family members with Family Tree DNA's Family Finder test

Updated MyHeritage Ethnicity Estimates are now available for all users

MyHeritage have now launched their updated Ethnicity Estimates. The reports are based on a new analysis covering 42 geographical regions, some of which are exclusive to MyHeritage. The new reports are available to all customers, including those who took advantage of the free transfer from other testing companies. The ethnicity reports will be available free to new users who upload their results in the "coming months".

There is an option to play a personalised video of your "Ethnicity Estimate Experience" complete with original music. You can see an example here.

 

Here are my results from MyHeritageDNA.

You can zoom in and see your results in more detail. There is also a useful option to overlay the locations shown on your family tree onto your map.

The results for Northwestern Europe correlate reasonably well with my known genealogy but I have no recent Italian ancestry.

Below is the press release I received from MyHeritage.

MyHeritage Launches New Comprehensive DNA Ethnicity Analysis 

MyHeritage DNA’s new Ethnicity Estimate covers 42 different ethnic regions, more than any other major DNA company; and is uniquely provided for free to those who upload their DNA data from other services

TEL AVIV, Israel & LEHI, Utah, May 30, 2017 - MyHeritage, the leading global destination for family history and DNA testing, and the makers of the successful MyHeritage DNA product, today announced the launch of its new and improved Ethnicity Estimate. The new analysis, developed by the company’s science team, provides MyHeritage DNA customers with a percentage-based estimate of their ethnic origins covering 42 ethnic regions, many available only on MyHeritage, representing the most comprehensive report of its type available on the market. This fascinating report gives users a much better understanding of who they are and where their ancestors came from. The Ethnicity Estimate is presented in an original and engaging format, making it not only interesting but also fun to watch and share.

MyHeritage is unique among the main industry players in allowing users who have tested their DNA already with another service to upload - for free - their data to MyHeritage. Those users receive DNA Matches for free, for finding relatives based on shared DNA. Beginning this week, users who have already uploaded their DNA data to MyHeritage, or who will upload it in the coming months, will receive - for free - the new Ethnicity Estimate. This benefit is not offered by any other major DNA company. 

Development of the new Ethnicity Estimate raises the number of ethnic regions covered by MyHeritage DNA from 36 to 42. It was made possible thanks to MyHeritage’s Founder Populations project — one of the largest of its kind ever conducted. For this unique project, more than 5,000 participants were handpicked by MyHeritage from its 90 million strong user base, by virtue of their family trees exemplifying consistent ancestry from the same region or ethnicity for many generations. All project participants received complimentary DNA tests and allowed MyHeritage’s science team to develop breakthrough ethnicity models based on the generated data. Thanks to this analysis, MyHeritage DNA has become the only mass-market percentage-based DNA test that reveals ethnicities such as Balkan; Baltic; Eskimo & Inuit; Japanese; Kenyan; Sierra Leonean; Somali; four major Jewish groups - Ethiopian, Yemenite, Sephardic from North Africa and Mizrahi from Iran and Iraq; Indigenous Amazonian; Papuan and many others. In some cases, competing products can identify and report an aggregated region (e.g., Italian & Greek), whereas MyHeritage has better resolution and identifies Greek, Italian and Sardinian ethnicities separately. 

MyHeritage’s new Ethnicity Estimate is delivered to users via a captivating “reveal” experience (view example). It features animation and, as of this week, also original music composed by MyHeritage. Each of the 42 ethnicities has a distinctive tune, based on the region’s cultural elements; all tunes seamlessly connect to each other. This makes the report fun to watch and share over social media. 

MyHeritage DNA user Tiffany Bowden said “I'm very happy, and very proud to discover where I come from, and through my MyHeritage DNA ethnicity results, now I have the background which helps me understand who I am as a person.” 

“DNA is the future of the family history industry and we’re delighted to enter the DNA space with strong energies and a fresh perspective”, said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “Leveraging MyHeritage's top assets which are its talented, technology-focused engineering team, and the gigantic internationally diverse web of family trees encompassing more than 2.5 billion profiles entered by our users, our comprehensive new Ethnicity Estimate has Innovation written all over it. We’ve been able to dig deeper where others had considered their work complete. Presented in a fresh look and generously given for free to DNA data uploaders, our users will be thrilled and can count on us to continue to innovate in DNA and delight them with new discoveries about who they really are.” 

Dr. Yaniv Erlich, Chief Science Officer at MyHeritage, said, “For MyHeritage's science team, this major update of our Ethnicity Estimate is only an appetizer. There are excellent installments on the way, and users can prepare for a feast! We have detailed plans to increase accuracy, extend our Founder Populations project further, and improve the resolution for ethnicities of great interest to our users from highly diverse origins. Our goal is to use science to further the public good, and to bring the best innovations of our science team to the public.” 

The MyHeritage DNA test consists of a simple cheek swab and takes less than two minutes to complete, with no need for blood or saliva. The sample is then mailed to MyHeritage DNA’s lab for analysis and the user is invited to view the results on the MyHeritage website, approximately four weeks later. 

MyHeritage strengthened its position as the leader in global family history, when it launched the MyHeritage DNA kits in November 2016, which have rapidly become hugely popular ever since. The company’s mammoth user base of 90 million users worldwide, more than 7.7 billion historical records, massive user-generated family tree database and availability in 42 languages, all provide a robust foundation for MyHeritage DNA. The company’s DNA offering currently provides two main features: detailed ethnicity reports that reveal the user’s ethnic and geographic origins, and DNA Matches for finding relatives based on shared DNA. In recent months, people have been successfully using MyHeritage DNA to reunite with long-lost family members.