Spring and DNA Sales are Popping Up!

It seems like all of the DNA testing companies are running sales this coming week in honor of spring and Earth Day, and those companies will undoubtedly be having upcoming Mother's and Father's Day sales as well. If you have been thinking of having some testing done, this might be a good time.

We are often asked for recommendations about which test and which testing company is the "best," and we always answer the same way. The best company is the one that has the largest number of potential matches for your specific ethnic group and the best test is the one that answers your own research questions. The largest of the companies, and those with the likeliest matches for most family historians, are 23andMe, AncestryDNA, Family Tree DNA, LivingDNA, and MyHeritage DNA. The first three have been in business for a very long time, and the last three are the newest entries into the DNA testing field. They each offer different tests for about the same price range.

For a very comprehensive article about DNA testing, you can click here to check out a blog entry posted in April 2017  at DNAeXplained–Genetic Genealogy.

Another article that might help you is a comparison of all of the major DNA players. Written in February 2018, this review covers most of the larger companies. It explains the entire testing process and has a comparison chart that is easy to follow. Click here to read the article.

For those of you who have already done the testing and need help interpreting the results, a reminder that the StLGS Summer Speaker Series will feature Diahan Southard, an expert on the subject of DNA testing, who will be Making Sense of Your DNA on Saturday, 28 July from 8:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. at Orlando Gardens in Maryland Heights. More information and registration are on the society website. Click here to go the page.