Genetic genealogy mailing lists and Facebook groups

Mailing lists and forums can be a useful way of making contact with other researchers and comparing notes with other genetic genealogists. The genetic genealogy mailing lists are hosted either by Yahoo or Rootsweb. With both companies there is an option to subscribe either in individual e-mail mode or digest mode.

ISOGG Facebook groups and mailing lists

• ISOGG Facebook group A very popular group discussing subjects related to genetic genealogy, moderated by Katherine Borges, James Lick, Mags Gaulden and CeCe Moore.
• ISOGG Epigenetics Facebook Group
• ISOGG UK Facebook group. A group for people living in the UK focusing on news, events and issues specific to the UK. Admins: Debbie Kennett and Donna Rutherford.
• France ADN - Généalogie Génétique (ISOGG). Admins: Joseph Falguera, Joss Ar Gall and Florian Cléret.
• ISOGG mailing list for project administrators A members-only mailing list founded in March 2005 for members of the International Society of Genetic Genealogy and moderated by ISOGG Director Katherine Borges. The list is intended for those who are administrators of DNA projects and genetic genealogy educators.
• ISOGG group on LinkedIn
• ISOGG GenealogyWise group (open group)

Other lists

• DNA Newbie list on IO Groups A list for those who are new to DNA testing. This list was started in September 2007 and was formerly hosted by Rootsweb. The archives of the Rootsweb DNA Newbie list can be seen here
• Genealogy DNA on Google Groups (genealogy-dna(a)googlegroups.com). Administrator: Marleen Van Horne.
• Genealogy DNA IO Group Administrator: Doug Raymon.

The above two lists are replacements for the original Rootsweb Genealogy DNA list which was founded by Ann Turner in October 2000 and was the first ever genetic genealogy mailing list. The archives of the Rootsweb Genealogy DNA list can be seen here.

Company lists

• Full Genomes Corporation list for analytical discussions

Unknown parentage searches

• DNA Adoption Google Group

Facebook groups

• Facebook on Genealogy list A downloadable list maintained by Katherine R. Willson which lists all the Facebook pages and groups related to genealogy. The file includes a DNA section which lists all the Facebook groups relating to DNA and haplogroups.

The following are some of the more popular general DNA groups on Facebook:

• AncestryDNA Matching
• Ancient DNA
• Ancestry GedMatch FTDNA 23andMe Genealogy DNA group
• Autosomal DNA
• Chromosomes in Common
• DNA Detectives - a group focused on finding biological family for adoptees, foundlings, donor-conceived individuals, unknown paternity and all other types of unknown parentage cases
  • DNA Detectives American Asian group
  • DNA Detectives group for the donor conceived
  • DNA Detectives UK
• DNA for Genealogy
• DNA Newbie
• DNA Roundtable A group led by Leah Larkin
• Genetic genealogy & society A group for discussing the effects of genetic genealogy on society including the use of of genetic genealogy databases by law enforcement agencies.
• Genetic Genealogy Tips & Techniques
• Institute for Genetic Genealogy
• Investigative genetic genealogy A subgroup of DNA Detectives intended for practical discussions about the use of genetic genealogy for law enforcement applications.
• Mitochondrial DNA
• Y-DNA - Applied genealogy and paternal origins

Company groups on Facebook

• 23andMe Newbies
• BigY Facebook group
• Dante Labs and Nebula Genomics Customers A group for people interested in whole genome sequencing
• Family Tree DNA Project Admins - A group for the discussion of project admins issues
• FTDNA User Group
• Only FTDNA Project Administrators
• Y-DNA project administrators
• Full Genomes
• YFull

DNA tools and user groups

• Borland Genetics User Group
• DNA Painter User Group
• DNA Tools
• DNAGedcom user group
• DNA.Land users group
• GEDMatch Genealogy & Ancestry Group
• GEDMatch.com User Group
• Genome Mate User Group
• Genome Mate Pro User Group
• MitoYDNA User Group
• Network graphs for genetic genealogy
• Promethease User Group

Regional Facebook groups

• Anatolia, the Balkans and the Caucasus genetic genealogy group
• Using DNA for Genealogy - Australia & NZ
• DNA tested African Descendants
• Danish Facebook Group (in Danish)
• Finland DNA
• France ADN - Généalogie Génétique (ISOGG)
• Genetic Genealogy Ireland
• German Language area DNA Research Group
• IBERIA ADN Genealogía Genética (ISOGG) Spain - Portugal
• Irish DNA
• Italia DNA Genealogia Genetica (ISOGG)
• Geneticka Genealogie A group for the Czech Republic
• Melanesian/Polynesian DNA results
• Norway DNA Project
• Polish autosomal DNA
• Polynesian DNA
• Scottish DNA Project:
• Swedish Society for Genetic Genealogy
• DNA Help for Genealogy UK - a group providing support for testers in the UK
• DNA for Genealogy - UK - an Australian group for people with ancestry from the UK
• Wales and Welsh DNA

Forums

• Afrigeneas African-American DNA research forum
• Anthrogenica genetics research forum. This forum closed on 17th August 2023. The forum posts have been archived on Genoplot
• Anthroworld
• DNA Forums This was a very popular forum which was taken down some time in 2012 after the site owner George Van Der Merwede failed to re-register the domain name. Some messages are preserved in the Internet Archive.
• Genarchivist A populations and genetics forum which serves as a replacement for Anthrogenica.
• New Molgen DNA Forum
• FamilyTreeDNA Forum
• PubMed Commons A system that enables researchers to share their opinions about scientific publications indexed on PubMed. A free My NCBI account is required. The system is currently in a pilot phase (October 2013).
• SEQanswers - the next generation sequencing community.

Adoption

For a list of groups for help with adoption searches see the Wiki page on DNA testing for adoptees.

Etiquette

• Genetic Genealogy Forums Online Etiquette Guide by T L Dixon, Roots & Recombinant DNA, 19 August 2017