DNA Painter Blog https://dnapainter.com/blog/ Sun, 01 Nov 2026 11:27:21 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://dnapainter.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cropped-icon-32x32.png DNA Painter Blog https://dnapainter.com/blog/ 32 32 Can AncestryDNA’s new origins segments help identify ancestral lines? https://dnapainter.com/blog/can-ancestrydnas-new-origins-segments-help-identify-ancestral-lines/ Fri, 30 Oct 2026 13:33:26 +0000 https://dnapainter.com/blog/?p=5290 As you might have heard, AncestryDNA released a new regions update earlier this month. The most talked about feature is the ability to divide regions up by grandparent, but another key improvement is that the information in the chromosome painter is now much more refined. In this article I'll show how you can import these segments into DNA Painter, and report back on my experience doing this.

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]]> Artificial intelligence and DNA Painter https://dnapainter.com/blog/artificial-intelligence-and-dna-painter/ Thu, 29 Oct 2026 15:06:51 +0000 https://dnapainter.com/blog/?p=5249 Artificial intelligence (AI) is inescapable at the moment. Here's a succinct summary of how I do and don't use it at DNA Painter.

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]]> Jonny speaking at AFFHO in Wellington, New Zealand https://dnapainter.com/blog/jonny-speaking-at-affho-in-wellington-new-zealand/ Tue, 29 Sep 2026 14:27:02 +0000 https://dnapainter.com/blog/?p=5221 I’m excited to share that I will be the keynote speaker at the 18th AFFHO Congress on Family History in Wellington, New Zealand next year. The event takes place from February 11th to 14th, 2027 and is being held at Rutherford House, Victoria University of Wellington. It will be amazing to finally meet people I’ve

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]]> Retracing steps in Berlin https://dnapainter.com/blog/retracing-steps-in-berlin/ Sun, 30 Aug 2026 20:55:15 +0000 https://dnapainter.com/blog/?p=5175 I took a trip to Berlin last month with my brother. While the impetus for the trip was music, the city also offered a poignant glimpse into my family's past.

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]]> An explosion of new tree tools https://dnapainter.com/blog/an-explosion-of-new-tree-tools/ Mon, 27 Jul 2026 17:34:27 +0000 https://dnapainter.com/blog/?p=5128 Over the past year, there has been a sudden proliferation of tools to help genealogists analyze and display family trees. Most of these tree tools are aimed at a broad family history audience, while others are designed for investigative genetic genealogy. In this post, I’ll look at some of these tools and also discuss the

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]]> Jonny’s RootsTech 2026 recap https://dnapainter.com/blog/jonnys-rootstech-2026-recap/ Sun, 29 Mar 2026 20:12:12 +0000 https://dnapainter.com/blog/?p=5054 I had a great time in Salt Lake City, dodging illness and meeting up with friends. In this post, I'll talk more about what I did, and include links to a selection of DNA-related presentations that are available online.

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]]> 23andMe clustering https://dnapainter.com/blog/23andme-clustering/ Thu, 26 Feb 2026 13:19:20 +0000 https://dnapainter.com/blog/?p=5029 Last month I found out 23andMe had launched a beta clustering tool, DNA Relatives Clustering. This is available to paid 23andme+ members who have opted in. Initially, there was no documentation beyond a Reddit post, but the feature is clearly powerful, with the ability to customize cM thresholds and target specific matches. There is now

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]]> Genealogy and DNA: a review of 2025 https://dnapainter.com/blog/genealogy-and-dna-a-review-of-2025/ Tue, 30 Dec 2025 22:57:00 +0000 https://dnapainter.com/blog/?p=4937 A quick recap on what has been an eventful year for genealogists and those working with DNA, covering genealogy/testing company releases, artificial intelligence, and DNA Painter activities.

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]]> My first experiments with AncestryDNA Custom Clusters https://dnapainter.com/blog/my-initial-experiments-with-ancestrydna-custom-clusters/ Wed, 26 Nov 2025 21:19:56 +0000 https://dnapainter.com/blog/?p=4880 I had the chance to experiment with AncestryDNA Custom Clusters. In this article I talk about how it worked out for two sample brick walls.

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]]> DNA isn’t helping much with this brick wall… https://dnapainter.com/blog/dna-isnt-helping-much-with-this-brick-wall/ Tue, 30 Sep 2025 12:58:51 +0000 https://dnapainter.com/blog/?p=4798 A summary of a brick wall where DNA doesn't currently seem to be able to help.

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