Genetic Genealogy Reading List

I just returned home from at trip to California for Genealogy Jamboree sponsored by the Southern California Genealogical Society Society (SCGS) which was preceded by an excellent day long pre-conference "Family History & DNA." 

Those of you unable to attend or to remotely view the streamed sessions could benefit from the excellent reading list prepared for inclusion in the syllabus of the DNA Day attendees. The "DNA & Genealogy Reference Books" list was complied by Bonny Cook on behalf of the DNA Interest Group of SCGS and the International Society of Genetic Genealogists (ISOGG). I believe Alice Fairhurst deserves credit for the companion list of "DNA Web Sites of Interest to Genetic Genealogists." You may find both of these lists useful in building your knowledge of genetic genealogy.
 

ISOGG Group Gears Up For SNP Tsunami

The International Society of Genetic Genealogists (ISOOG) is a totally voluntary organization that does not charge dues. However, since 2006 it has been responsible for maintaining the Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree 2013 for researchers and testing labs around the world. The number of SNPs being discovered has been exploding since the end of 2010 and this is just the beginning. The recent wave of newly discovered SNPs have resulted from the Walk the Y, GENO 2.0 and 1,000 Genomes projects as well as the normal discovery processes of investigation by academics and citizen scientists.

End of year	Cumulative # of SNPs in tree
2006	436
2008	790
2010	935
2012	2067
Sept, 2013	3610

The tsunami has yet to come. Geno 2.0 has not yet published all its SNPs. Treasure troves of additional SNPs from FullGenomes and FTDNA’s Big Y tests loom just over the horizon. These have the potential to identify and place thousands of here-to-fore unknown SNPs. Many of these will be leaves toward the ends of branches on the Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree. They will be recent enough to connect with the documented trees by genealogists. 

In anticipation of this bounty and the chaos that may accompany it, those members of the ISOOG group who maintain this tree who were able to gather in Houston on Saturday planned for this event.  

Alice Fairhurst (center) leads the discussion. Members of her group in attendance (clockwise from Alice) are Richard Kenyon, Marja Pirttivaara, Michael Herbert, Sue Berry, Dr. D. (in red), Tim Janzen, Astrid Krahn and Thomas Krahn. (Photo courtesy of Katherine Borges)

It is clear that our processes need to be reorganized and streamlined if we are going to be able to continue to serve the genetic genealogy community and researchers in related disciplines in a timely basis.