With DNA the known connection may not be the genetic connection

Neither of my parents are alive. All of my Father's siblings have passed and only his half-sister has descendants. Two of my Mother's siblings are alive but neither one has tested. I had 11 first cousins, one is deceased, 2 being related on both my paternal and maternal sides, 2 being descendants of my paternal grand mother through her first husband, and 8 being descendants only through my Mother's siblings. So far I have tested two of them, a 1st cousin from both lines (A) and a 1st cousin only through my Mother's side (B).

At 23andme I have three matches with a 5th cousin (C) who descends from from a couple on my Father's side. This is on one of my paternal great grandfather's line, one of the lines neither of my tested 1st cousins shares with me. Her maternal ancestry has several names in it that are in my maternal ancestry, but they are not traced back to a common ancestor. However, her mother has connections to a county in Arkansas where many of my relatives settled between 1830 and 1860.

When I compare her results to my two first cousins in Family Inheritance: Advanced She has matches with (B). Since (B) is my first cousin through her father, my Mother's brother, and her Mother was from a county that is not in my ancestry nor in (C)'s ancestry, the genetic relationship appears to actually be from (C)'s Mother's side and not from her direct paternal ancestry where she and I have the documented paper match.

This points out two concerns: the paper link is not necessarily the genetic link; and you need to have some way of determining which side of you ancestry the genetic link is on; either full phasing by parent-child groups or by testing your parent's siblings or your grandparents, or selected close relatives, like first cousins, as was done here.

Time magazine, "The DNA Dilemma: A test that could change your life"

Dr D Digs Up Ancestors: The DNA Dilemma

David Dowell, PhD, a frequent blogger on genetic genealogy and a former professor of librarianship has written a Letter to the Editor in response to the current Time
Magazine cover story “The DNA Dilemma: A Test That Could Change Your Life”. As usual it is a thoughtful response that deserves your time to read with the article.

23andme lowers price to $99USD

See the Press Release: https://www.23andme.com/about/press/12_11_2012/

23andMe Raises More Than $50 Million in New Financing

Company Sets Growth Goal Of One Million Customers, Reduces Price to $99 from $299


MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – December 11, 2012 – 23andMe, Inc., the leading personal genetics company, today announced it has raised more than $50 million in a Series D financing. Participants in the financing include Yuri Milner, a new investor, as well as existing investors Sergey Brin, 23andMe CEO Anne Wojcicki, New Enterprise Associates, Google Ventures and MPM Capital. This investment will help the company achieve its growth goal of one million customers.

GeneTree Closing 1 Jan 2013

Dear GeneTree user,

Time is running out. As you may have heard, GeneTree.com is being discontinued as of January 1, 2013. Following this date, the GeneTree website will no longer be functional. So please take a moment to download your DNA results and pedigree data during the month of December, if you have not already done so. Once your data has been downloaded, you will be able to import your family tree GEDCOM files and your DNA results into an Ancestry.com account at no cost. We hope that you take this opportunity to continue with your family history search and take your discoveries even further. Please visit the home page of GeneTree.com for detailed instructions on how to export your data. You can also find information available at http://www.genetree.com/faq

Thank you,
GeneTree Customer Support