atDNA

In the autosomal tests from 23andme and Living DNA, the Y-haplogroups have always been displayed directly, whereas in the autosomal tests from My Heritage and Ancestry, the Y-haplogroup can only be extracted from the raw data using tools such as the Morley Predictor or the YSEQ Clade Finder. This was not previously possible with FamilytreeDNA’s Family Finder, as the Y-SNPs were removed from the raw data, making it the only autosomal test that did not contain any information on the Y-haplogroup. I had already described this in the article Y-haplogroup from atDNA raw data. This is now changing, as FamilytreeDNA has decided to directly report the Y-haplogroup using the Y-SNPs, tested in the Family Finder. In this article, I will use my own Y-haplogroup I-L38 to show what this means and what advantages I hope to gain from it.

In the autosomal DNA tests of 23andme and Living DNA, the Y-haplogroup and the mt-haplogroup are displayed directly. Many don’t know that the raw data, of all male atDNA testers contain information (Y-SNPs) for the Y-haplogroup and can be extracted with tools like the Morley Predictor. (Only FTDNA removes these Y-SNPs from the raw data).
Irrespective of which company the atDNA test was done with, it makes sense to have a closer look at the results, because there is much more information in it than some people think. If you get an “old” haplogroup displayed, even though younger branches are tested, it can mean that you are sitting on a rare branch.