Investigating the origins of my genetic inheritance inspires me to learn about my Genetic Ancestors. I honor them by sharing my discoveries with relatives and fellow researchers alike.
The Essence of Patterns
The enigma associated with genetic genealogy is similar to that of a jigsaw puzzle. And what do they have in common? Patterns.
As I see it, a DNA segment is a time capsule, containing a genetic puzzle. And like footprints in a forest – If you train yourself to recognize the patterns, you can track a segment of inherited DNA across generations.
Know Your Matches!
A detective wants to know everything about a suspect in a case. In the case of genetic genealogy, it is critical to know your DNA matches! And what does a detective look for? Patterns.
I know precisely how I am related to most of my top 100 DNA matches at Ancestry.com. It is a time consuming effort; however, this task of cluster bombing your genetic network(s) results in closer precision with the rest of your shared matches.
Patient detective work in tandem with recognizing family patterns, such as familiar family names and geographic locations, will help to draw lines between shared matches.
Identifying the patterns of your genetic puzzle is the essence of genetic genealogy, and the pathway to common ancestry.