Genetic Ancestor Ltd. was founded in 2005 by Dr. Arne Röhl to provide genealogists with a scientific alternative to available mass-market genetic enterprises, and to provide our scientific colleagues with a free service to analyse their genetic data.
Registered office:
Genetic Ancestor Limited
4 Market
Hill
Clare, Suffolk
CO10 8NN
ENGLAND
Company Nummer: 5471062
With the launch of the Genographic project, affordable personal DNA sequencing is becoming available to the public, and our judgement is that a significant public demand for a scientific evaluation of individual DNA results will follow.
We hold the largest proofread geographic database of native populations worldwide with more than 30,000 entries.
Data errors are unfortunately commonplace in genetics, affecting about 80 percent of publications (Forster 2003).
We have therefore pioneered procedures to remove such errors from published data and our own data (Bandelt, Forster et al. 1995, Roehl, Forster et al. 2001, commentary in Nature 2003).
Dr. Arne Röhl, born in 1969, studied mathematics at the University of Hamburg and wrote his PhD thesis on phylogenetic network analysis of DNA.
Since 1999 he has worked on research projects with the Institute for Legal Medicine, University of Münster (Germany) and with the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge (England).
Director
Dr. Peter Forster, born in 1967 in London, studied chemistry at the Universities of Kiel and Hamburg (Germany).
In 1997 he completed his PhD thesis on "Dispersal and differentiation of modern Homo sapiens analysed with mitochondrial DNA".
From 1997 to 1999 he performed postdoctoral research at the Institute of Legal Medicine, University of Münster (Germany).
In 1999, he was appointed Research Fellow at New Hall college and at the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research (University of Cambridge), Editor of International Journal of Legal Medicine. and Founding Member of the Junge Akademie in Berlin.
In 2000 he was appointed Dean of New Hall and
in 2002, Praelector of New Hall (University of Cambridge).
- Roehl A (1999) Phylogenetische Netzwerke. PhD Thesis, Department of Mathematics, University of Hamburg includes in Annex: Rolf B, Roehl A, Forster P, Brinkmann B (1999) On the Genetic origins of the Turks
- Hurles ME, Veitia R, Arroyo E, Armenteros M, Bertranpetit J, Perez-Lezaun A, Bosch E, Shlumukova M, Cambon-Thomsen A, McElreavey K, Lopez De Munain A, Roehl A, Wilson IJ, Singh L, Pandya A, Santos FR, Tyler-Smith C, Jobling MA (1999) Recent male-mediated gene flow over a linguistic barrier in Iberia, suggested by analysis of a Y-chromosomal DNA polymorphism. Am J Hum Genet 65:1437-1448
- Bandelt H-J, Forster P, Roehl A (1999) Median-joining networks for inferring intraspecific phylogenies. Mol Biol Evol 16:37-48
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Forster P, Roehl A, Lünnemann P, Brinkmann C, Zerjal T, Tyler-Smith C, Brinkmann B (2000) A Short Tandem Repeat-Based Phylogeny for the Human Y Chromosome. Am. J. Hum. Genet., 67:182-196
(Abstract)
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Roehl A, Brinkmann B, Forster L, Forster P (2001) An annotated mtDNA database.
International Journal of Legal Medicine 115:29-39
- Forster P, Torroni A, Renfrew C, Roehl A (2001) Phylogenetic star contraction applied to Asian and Papuan mtDNA evolution.
Mol Biol Evol 18:1864-1881
(Abstract, complete article in online access for subscribing members)
- Forster P, Cali F, Roehl A, Metspalu E, D’Anna R, Mirisola M, De Leo G, Flugy A, Salerno A, Ayala G, Kouvatsi A, Villems R, Romano V (2002) Continental and Subcontinental Distributions of mtDNA Control Region Types. International Journal of Legal Medicine 116: 99 – 108
- Forster P (2003) To err is human. Annals of Human Genetics 67:2-4. Commentary by Carina Dennis: Error reports threaten to unravel databases of mitochondrial DNA. Nature 421:773-774
- Forster P, Romano V, Cali F, Roehl A, Hurles M (2004) MtDNA Markers for Celtic and Germanic Language Areas in the British Isles. In Traces of Ancestry: Studies in Honour of Colin Renfrew. Edited by Martin Jones, McDonald Institute Press, University of Cambridge: 99 - 111