Geni Adds DNA to the World Family Tree

World’s largest and most accurate collaborative family tree now
enhanced with three major DNA test types, and new integration with
Family Tree DNA

BURBANK, Calif. & HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Geni,
home of the World Family Tree, announced today the addition of DNA test
results into the family tree, and a new product integration with its
partner Family
Tree DNA. This move will improve the accuracy of the World Family
Tree and provide new insights for millions of people interested in their
family history.

DNA will enhance the World Family Tree by separating fact from fiction:
it will help people confirm family relationships and will highlight
situations where the documented genealogy does not match the biological
evidence presented by DNA. DNA results will also be used for matching,
in order to discover previously unknown relatives. Geni’s World Family
Tree will then allow users to establish and visualize the precise family
tree connection with relatives found by DNA matching.

Users can add three types of DNA tests to Geni’s World Family Tree:
Y-DNA (from the Y chromosome, which is passed down from father to son),
mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down from a mother to her
children), and autosomal DNA (from all ancestors, pertinent for matching
within the last five generations). DNA results can be automatically
inferred by Geni from relatives across the family tree; by having a
small percentage of the Geni users tested, a great deal of information
on the World Family Tree can be verified.

The integration with Family Tree DNA is authenticated and secure,
allowing one-click transfer of DNA results from Family Tree DNA to Geni,
by users who wish to do so. Currently, this is available to users who
have tested their own DNA on Family Tree DNA, and who have a profile on
Geni. Only marker data of Y-DNA and mtDNA tests is transferred. There is
no manual entry of DNA information, preventing human error.

In addition, Geni has used public online information from Ysearch and
Mitosearch — public services operated by Family Tree DNA, for uploading
and comparing Y-DNA and mtDNA submitted voluntarily by test takers from
various services. Geni has loaded this public data, and its team of
curators has merged the data into the World Family Tree. As a result,
Geni celebrates its DNA launch with DNA data points on more than 228,000
people, making it the most DNA-rich collaborative family tree in the
world, from day one.

Access to all DNA features on Geni is free. Users’ privacy is strictly
maintained, and DNA raw data or marker information is never displayed on
Geni. Additional settings allow users to control every aspect of the way
Geni handles their DNA information.

Users who have not had their DNA tested, or want to take a higher
resolution DNA test, can purchase discounted DNA tests powered by Family
Tree DNA, on Geni’s
DNA Tests page.

“This partnership and integration greatly increases the value of DNA for
genealogy,” said Family Tree DNA founder and CEO, Bennett Greenspan.
“It’s great to work with Geni and its parent company MyHeritage. DNA and
family trees complement each other and come together perfectly on the
World Family Tree.”

Mike Stangel, General Manager of Geni, said: “Adding DNA to the World
Family Tree increases its accuracy and strengthens its position as the
de facto resource that shows how everyone is related to everyone else.
We are very happy to take our partnership with Family Tree DNA to the
next level. Stay tuned for more great DNA features coming up soon on
Geni.”

Information on linking Geni accounts to Family Tree DNA and uploading
DNA results to Geni is available here: http://www.geni.com/dna-tests/faq.

About Geni

Geni.com is the leader in collaborative family history. As home of the
World Family Tree, with more than 100 million profiles, Geni is creating
the largest and highest quality single family tree of the world.
Millions of users collaborate to improve the tree daily, in a
Wikipedia-like model, aided by a team of 200 volunteer curators. Geni is
owned and operated by MyHeritage and is based in Burbank, California.
Visit www.geni.com.

About Family Tree DNA

Founded in 2000, Family Tree DNA is the genetic genealogy division of
Gene by Gene, Ltd. Family Tree DNA pioneered the use of DNA testing for
genealogy and has the most comprehensive array of DNA tests in the
field, including Y-Chromosome, Mitochondrial DNA and Autosomal DNA. All
tests are processed in its own state-of-the-art
laboratory headquartered in Houston, Texas, and are available at www.FamilyTreeDNA.com.
For more information, please contact media@familytreedna.com.

Contacts

MyHeritage ? Geni’s parent company
Aaron Godfrey, VP Marketing
Phone:
+1-347-5427902
Email: aaron@myheritage.com