Family Tree Magazine Podcast:

Episode Title: What’s New with AncestryDNA and MyHeritage DNA – An Interview with Diahan Southard
Host: Lisa Louise Cook
Guest: Diahan Southard, "Your DNA Guide"
Date: April 15, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode dives into the latest updates from two of the biggest names in DNA testing—AncestryDNA and MyHeritage DNA. Host Lisa Louise Cook chats with expert Diahan Southard about what these new features and changes mean for everyday family historians. The discussion provides a friendly, insightful breakdown of evolving ethnicity estimates, the science behind the updates, practical advice for interpreting results, and under-the-radar features listeners should explore.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Do DNA Results Change and What’s Actually Happening?

[01:43–04:11]

• Diahan Southard: Companies regularly update their DNA databases and algorithms, particularly reference populations (groups of people whom your DNA is compared against).
  • “In the very, very early days…we were getting autosomal ethnicity results in three categories… African, Asian or European. And we were like, oh my gosh, that’s so amazing ... now we have hundreds of populations.” (03:07)
• Updates can suddenly make results more specific—e.g., “Irish roots” may appear more “Scottish” after an update.
• As databases grow and add more diverse samples from around the world, companies can more accurately pinpoint your origins.
• Early results were rough estimates because reference populations were limited. Now, with hundreds added, results get finer and more geographically precise.

2. AncestryDNA's Big 2024 Update

[04:11–05:49]

• In Fall 2024, Ancestry completely revamped its ethnicity reporting:

  • Changed terminology: “Ethnicity Estimates” are now “Your Origins”; “Ethnic Groups” are “Regions”; “Communities” are “Journeys.”
    • “They used to call them ethnicity estimates and now they’re called your origins...” (04:32, C)
  • Overhauled their website interface and language.
  • Major expansion in reference populations, crucially with 64 new African groups, helping to address underrepresentation.
    • “One of the most exciting things was to see that they added 64 ethnic groups in Africa… making significant progress to make these databases more global...” (05:34, C)

• How do they get new samples?

  • Mostly from customers (including immigrants) who consent to research use, sometimes through direct sampling in other countries.

3. MyHeritage DNA’s Ethnicity Estimate Update 2.5

[06:55–09:43]

• Released February 2025 after community beta testing and several months refining.
  • “By essentially crowdsourcing their quality assurance process, they were able to spot some bugs... and just step back from their launch and say…this isn’t ready.” (07:28, C)
• Big improvements:
  • Scandinavian category split: Now shows Swedish, Danish, or Norwegian, instead of one broad “Scandinavian.”
    • “My big Scandinavian category has now been reduced to the Swedish and Danish that actually represent my family history, which was really neat to see.” (08:30, C)
  • Deep dive into Jewish heritage: Now 15 Jewish subpopulations distinguished—far beyond just Ashkenazi or Sephardic.
    • “At MyHeritage, they are recognizing the diversity of the Jewish population and allowing them to hone in and narrow down much more specific estimates.” (09:09, C)

4. How to Interpret Changing Results and Make the Most of DNA Testing

[09:43–11:33]

• Advice for surprises in new results:

  • Test at multiple companies for comparison: Each has unique methods/reference data, so overlaps reveal the most reliable info.
    • “By comparing your ethnicity estimates across multiple companies, you’re going to see… things that are consistent… which is going to allow you to feel a lot of confidence...” (10:13, C)
  • Some companies have specialties: E.g., MyHeritage for Jewish heritage details.
  • Test relatives as well: Siblings only share 50% of DNA; their results can fill in critical gaps.

• How to participate at multiple companies for less:

  • Test at Ancestry, then upload raw data for free to MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, Living DNA.
  • To unlock ethnicity features (at MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA), pay a small fee ($29 at MyHeritage).
    • “I think it’s 100% worth it at MyHeritage to do that because they do have such a robust ethnicity product.” (11:54, C)

5. Don’t Miss These Features!

[12:09–15:39]

• Diahan’s Favorite New Features:
  • MyHeritage:
    • Ancient Origins and especially the Genetic Distance Map (visualizes your closeness to global populations; illustrates “clustering” that’s central to genetic genealogy).
      • “What it does is it shows you this visual of how essentially genetically close you are to these different European, Asian, African populations...” (13:10, C)
  • Ancestry:
    • The interactive Journeys migration timeline maps, helping visualize ancestral migration routes over the last 200–300 years.
      • “It’s like a timeline of your journeys… you can scroll through each journey and see that migration path... a really helpful tool for genealogy.” (14:32, C)

6. Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “I know it can be really confusing … you’re just getting used to one set of results and then things are, you know, quote, updated and now they look completely different. And it can be a little undermining even to our confidence in these results, but it shouldn’t be, and here’s why…” – Diahan Southard [02:03]
• “That massive, kind of nebulous Scandinavian population … is now broken down into the Swedish, Danish or Norwegian categories, which for me were extremely accurate.” – Diahan Southard [08:25]
• “So, by comparing your ethnicity estimates across multiple companies, you’re going to see kind of the cream rise to the top.” – Diahan Southard [10:07]
• “It’s a really helpful tool for genealogy … If I knew my ancestor was in Texas, but I wasn’t sure where they were before that, I could look at this map and see that this particular line was in Texas, and then it was in Kentucky, and then it was in the Carolinas.” – Diahan Southard [14:50]

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:43–04:11 – Science behind ethnicity updates/differences in results
• 04:11–05:49 – AncestryDNA’s Fall 2024 overhaul: new language, interface, 64 new African ethnicities
• 06:55–09:43 – MyHeritage DNA’s “version 2.5” update: process, crowdsourcing, improved Jewish and Scandinavian results
• 09:43–11:33 – Advice on handling unexpected changes and using multiple test sites
• 12:28–14:50 – Underrated/new features: Ancient Origins at MyHeritage, Journeys migration map at Ancestry

Additional Resources and Where to Find Guests

• Diahan Southard: YourDNAGuide.com
• Lisa Louise Cook: GenealogyGems.com
• Learn more: FamilyTreeMagazine.com/podcast