More 23andMe Tips: Using the Family Inheritance Feature

As promised last Friday, I am following up my last post with another post on tips to help with your 23andMe relative finding endeavors!

I recently shared genomic data with a woman who was born around the same time as my grandmother. We haven’t figured out our common ancestor yet, but from looking at our genomic data we share 10Mb of data on the X chromosome. According to 23andMe, the region that we have in common contains genetic information related to female fertility. Pretty interesting from a health and wellness perspective!

I know from chatting with some of the folks that I have met in the community that not everyone knows where to find this information. This is what I am going to share with you today.

Log in to the service and navigate to Family Inheritance. At the top, you will see an option “Compare the genome of” (yourself) “To the genome of” (people with whom you share genomic data) — Note: names are hidden to keep member data private

Select yourself from the left hand column and begin going through your connections from the right hand column. Initially, you will be looking at a Genome-Wide Comparison of yourself 1:1 against your connections.

When you find a shared segment of DNA (as I found a half-identical segment in the above picture in blue), you can then narrow your focus & look at specific genes per the options on the right hand side of the screen (Bitter Tasting, Circadian Rhythm, Endurance, Female Fertility, etc.)

You may be lucky and find your common ancestor after a few brief emails back and forth with a contact. In most instances it will likely be more challenging, but after you find your common ancestry with one member the Family Inheritance feature can help you narrow down other relationships. For instance, I met a predicted 4th cousin who also had a paternal aunt using the service. He, his aunt, and I all share a half-identical section of DNA and therefore we could immediately focus on my 4th cousins paternal side to find our connection.

Happy relative finding! As always, please feel free to comment on a post, email me directly, or Tweet any questions or comments!

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