RootsTech features many DNA companies, helping people better understand their family history

SALT LAKE CITY — As thousands of visitors are in downtown Salt Lake City this week for the annual RootsTech convention, there is growing interest in the role that DNA is playing to better help people research their roots. And through a simple saliva sample, Lehi based Ancestry, can now connect you to 350 regions around the world. "You are essentially a living walking record of the ancestors that came before you, we are taking that DNA and matching you to other people,” said Anna Swayne, a DNA spokesperson with Ancestry. In one year, the Ancestry database has more than doubled from three million to now seven million individual profiles. "Sometimes you are that person, you are the missing link for somebody else to find out, ‘wow, this really is my ancestry’ and you couldn't do that unless you unlocked this technology of DNA testing, the science and technology coming together,” Swayne added. Other DNA testing companies are marketing their products at RootsTech. Some offer even more specific data, through additional layers of DNA testing. "What happened to a grandparent or great-grandparent versus what happened 500 years ago through a migration across the Atlantic or something like that,” said Robin Smith, with the California company, 23 and Me. “So there is a geographic element, but also a time element and that is something that our product really tries to get at."  All agree that DNA testing is becoming a powerful solution to break through brick walls or bridge gaps, when historic records are unable to connect families. "It is an ongoing experience and whether you tested yesterday or two years ago, as the database updates you'll be able to find new connections and new cousins and unlock new discoveries,” said Swayne. RootsTech continues Friday and Saturday, it is “Family Discovery Day,” a free event that will include an address from President Dallin H. Oaks of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at 1 p.m.   

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