Genealogy website MyHeritage offers low-cost DNA tests

Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 10:07 in Mathematics & Economics

MyHeritage, the genealogy social networking website, is offering its 27 million global users a "cheek scraper" DNA test for less than £100.The site is expanding its family research features after linking up with US company FamilyTreeDNA to offer a check scraper DNA test for an additional payment that will help identify living relatives with common ancestors.Israeli-based MyHeritage's 27 million registered members, who are mostly in the English-speaking world, currently use the site to document their family trees and research missing connections or relatives. A Y-chromosome test identifies paternal descent, while a mitochondrial DNA test shows the maternal line, and both cost $129 (£87). A combined test, for men, is $219. The DNA test can identify if a member has Native American, African or Jewish ancestors and trace relatives to a migration map of the US."Ninety per cent of people are interested in genealogy," said Bennett Greenspan, the president and chief...

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