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I assume if MyHeritage can do this, other companies may have the ability to do this as well in future:
Quote:
Gilad announced that MyHeritage will soon be able, through a partnership with a specialist company, to process the DNA from stamps and old envelopes and then link the DNA to the ancestor, providing you with DNA results for your deceased ancestors, right on MyHeritage. Gilad himself is trying to extract the DNA of Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill from original letters in his collection.
Gilad also announced plans to recreate our ancestors’ DNA through segment escalation. This means that if multiple descendants of a particular ancestor test their DNA, we will create a virtual kit for your ancestor and combine the segments from the multiple descendants of that ancestor.
Who are the specialist company they are partnering with? LivingDNA have already done it in a private case and have announced they'll be making it available to the public soon, but I think they said it would be around $1,000.
There is already a company in Australia doing this, they will take samples shipped from anywhere: https://www.totheletterdna.com/envelopes-faqs/ - last I checked, it was around $570 USD. But with them, you can only really upload the raw data to Gedmatch, I think. I was going to use them, but if MyHeritage aren't much more expensive, it might be better. I wish AncestryDNA would do this.
How do we know that the person who licked the stamp or the envelope was the one who wrote the letter?
We don't, but typically they were and once you have the raw data and can compare it with other people, you can probably confirm it. Like I have a birth announcement for my grandfather that was sent to his grandparents - the envelope is in his mother's (my great grandmother's) handwriting (I have other examples of it) and so she is most likely the one who licked the envelope and stamp. I suppose it's possible she had help putting the announcements together, so maybe a friend, her cousin, or my great grandfather licked it after she addressed it in her own hand (she had no siblings). But once I get the DNA in, I can see who it matches or how much I share with it, and probably figure it out. If it was a friend, the test won't match me at all. If it was her 1st cousin (they were close because neither had siblings and they lived next door to each other), we'd share significant less than we possibly could if it was my great grandmother. And I should be able to tell if the sample is male or female so I can tell whether it's my great grandfather or great grandmother (the amount we share will be around the same). Only if it was a friend will the money have been a complete waste for me though - getting the DNA of anyone related to me would be beneficial. And before anyone suggests a non-paternity event might mean my great grandfather licked it but he's not actually my bio great grandfather, that's very unlikely given the amount of DNA matches I have who descend from his ancestors.
To The Letter DNA addressed this issue in their FAQ:
"HOW DO I KNOW WHO LICKED THE STAMP OR ENVELOPE?
You can't know for sure who sealed the item. Of course, you will hope that it is the person who wrote the letter. But it may be that someone else sealed the item on their behalf.
In older times, people might use a third person to write a letter for them, particularly if they could not read or write. Or perhaps they asked their spouse or the post office worker to seal the item for them. A post office sponge, rather than saliva, may have been used. The fact that the item may not have been sealed by who you hope is a risk you need to be aware of.
When uploading the results to a genealogy database, a comparison with your DNA results will enable the establishment of the most likely relationship between you and the item DNA (such as great grandparent), and whether the person is male or female. From that, you can make a likely determination that the DNA belongs to the person you envisaged."
It would be funny if someone had their dog lick the stamp, then when the DNA was traced, the conversation would go....Um according to our findings, you are actually 25 % German.....SHEPHERD!
I am for DNA databases but the accuracy and diversity (how many ethnic gene samples they have) is questionable at times. It helps when a family does have written records of "my great-grandparents came to [Country A] from [Country B] and landed in Counry A in/on [month, date, and/or year]".
I am for DNA databases but the accuracy and diversity (how many ethnic gene samples they have) is questionable at times. It helps when a family does have written records of "my great-grandparents came to [Country A] from [Country B] and landed in Counry A in/on [month, date, and/or year]".
The DNA test is about much more than ethnicity report - the true value of the test is in the DNA matches.
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