DNA Matches Released by Living DNA

Living DNA (LivingDNA.com) has entered the pool of companies offering genetic matching to relatives.

This feature, called Family Networks, is in the Beta stage, so we can expect additional features and tools in the future.

You do not have to test with this company. For FREE, you can upload a DNA file from a site where you have tested.

I tested with Living DNA in October 2016. The attraction was a detailed break down of ancestry within Great Britain and Ireland. You can view the results here.

In October 2017 I uploaded my mother's DNA file from 23 And Me (23andMe.com). The breakdown of ancestry is apparently not available for transferred files, unfortunately.

My only DNA relative in the database is my mother.

Including me, my mother has three matches. She has thousands at the other major testing companies.

The percentage of shared DNA was exciting. These people could be second or third cousins. But the centimorgans placed the matches in the fourth to fifth cousin range (assuming no endogamy, which is a frequent barrier in my mother's tree). It looks like Living DNA calculates the percentage at double compared to the formulas at other DNA sites.

I sought to view the shared DNA segments for a better idea of how close these people might be, but no segment information or chromosome browser is available at this time.

I tried to message the matches to request a family history. The messaging feature is not available yet.

I am glad that My Living DNA is participating in relative matching. Hopefully new tools will make this another useful site for genetic genealogy.

Living DNA Accepting Transfers (For Free)

Earlier this year I tested my autosomal DNA with Living DNA.

This company does not provide relative matching, which is my main focus in testing DNA. Instead, Living DNA provides a detailed ethnicity breakdown concentrated in Great Britain and Ireland.

Interesting, but I have not made much use of these results in my research.

In October, Living DNA began accepting uploads of files from other DNA testing sites. This means that you do not have to send in a specimen.

Living DNA calls this endeavor One Family One World.

Relative matching is a predicted future service, which is great.

While logged into my account, I uploaded my mother's DNA file from 23andMe using this link. (She is deceased, so she cannot test anymore. I have only her DNA computer file to work with.)

I had to wait for "transfer instructions" in an email.

Now we wait until next year for possible relatives to appear for my mother at Living DNA.

Next, I tried my father. I could not upload his file using my account.

You need a separate email address for every file transfer. So I uploaded both parents and that was it. I could create several more email addresses just to upload more people to Living DNA, but that would be onerous.

If Living DNA wants to grow its database of participants, requiring separate emails hinders this goal. But the price is unbeatable.

Living DNA Results

The results of my Living DNA test have arrived.

The screenshots are shared with you below, along with comparisons to other DNA companies.

Living DNA places my ancestry as more British than I was expecting.  My mother is about three quarters Irish, yet this test puts me at about ten percent.

Part of the attraction of Living DNA's test is breaking down where in Great Britain one's ancestry may have originated.  To be fair, I have not traced most of my ancestral lines to precise locations in Europe.

B F Lyon visualizations

Above is my father's tree with flags representing discovered places of origin.  Except for the short Lutter/Uhl branches, in the 1600s most of his ancestors left Europe for land that would become the United States.  The port of sailing is not necessarily where they were born and raised, so assigning a country of origin is tricky.


The three main DNA testing companies in the United States also provide ancestry estimates.

Family Tree DNA estimates my ancestry to be about 87% British Isles, which is most similar to Living DNA.

Ancestry.com estimates me to be more than half Irish and only thirteen percent British.

23andMe paints me at almost half British and Irish.

Living DNA estimates the locations of your ancestors throughout time.  The map above shows where my ancestors may have been about 500 years ago, when most people were stuck within a few miles of where they were born because travel was difficult and ocean-worthy ships were not yet developed.

The map above shows where my ancestors may have lived 1200 years ago, before written records to trace this genealogy.

Jumping back 5500 years ago, my ancestors could have been in all over Europe.  It's anyone's guess, but this is Living DNA's try.

In a similar vein, a new feature at 23andMe estimates when your most recent ancestor from a specific population entered your DNA.  Maybe 1950 is my mother's Irish, 1920 is her Ashkenazi grandparent, 1890 is my father's German paternal grandfather, and the rest is the mixture that I am.

I hope that Living DNA offers the matching with cousins feature of the other three DNA companies.  Because it is based in the United Kingdom, Living DNA may attract consumers who will not test with one of the companies marketed primarily in the United States and expose me to new DNA cousins.

Living DNA Results Pending

Some results are trickling in for testers of Living DNA, a genetic genealogy DNA service.  My specimen was shipped for analysis in October of 2016.  A few updates via email have promised progress.  Today's email advised that several more weeks are required to provide "a few extra features."

The email recommended a blog post about the results.  I will write my own version when my results are ready.

LivingDNA Test

I took another DNA test.

LivingDNA.com is a DNA testing company based in the United Kingdom.  The analysis will include a breakdown of ancestry into eighty different regions of the world, 21 of them specific to the United Kingdom.  I will share my findings with you.

My kit cost $159 (US Dollars) and shipped in three days from Kentucky, United States.

Cheek swabbing is the method of collection.

My mother's ancestry is of recent origin from Ireland.  I am hoping that this DNA test may reveal geographical areas of prevalence in my DNA and link me to close cousins in the United Kingdom.  If customers are primarily from the same country as my mother's ancestors, LivingDNA could be a deeper pool of potential close cousins than other companies whose customers are overwhelmingly from the United States.

I'm not a fan of ancestry results, finding them widely varied, and prefer to see DNA cousins to figure out the common ancestors.