DNA Painter Tool What Are the Odds (WATO) - Genealogy Tutorial

To build the tree start with the most recent shared ancestor of the genetic matches and build down to each genetic match. Once you have placed a genetic match in the tree be sure to include the amount of shared centimorgans (cM). After entering all genetic matches, begin entering your hypotheses. Use what you know to help determine the best places to choose your hypothesis, such as centimorgan amounts, birthdates, and any other information available. Each hypothesis will be given a score based on the likelihood of that match versus the other hypotheses. Anything that isn't possible in anyway is given a score of 0. The higher the score the more likely that is the position of the DNA tester in the family tree.

The tool doesn't account for endogamous populations, double cousins, 3/4 siblings, or other special genetic relationships. Be sure not to add any genetic matches with less than 50 shared cM total. It can skew the results greatly, especially if it is an Ancestry DNA genetic match that may have been affected by the Timber algorithm.

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[wp]

A good video on the operation of the tool. What has me stumbling is the rationale in setting up the example. I'm trying to construct or reconstruct the problem that WATO solves. What I understand from the video is that a family tree can be compiled of descendants of a given couple. (Can it be a single individual, as well?) Exact lines of decent are known from this couple to a group of individuals who have DNA matches with another person. Call this other person the "subject" of the study. The "subject" is also known to descend from the original couple. But, the subject's exact line of descent is unknown. Given satisfaction of the preceding conditions, the WATO tool can be used to determine (by likelihood) the subject's exact line of descent from the couple at the top of the tree. (Certain scenarios are not covered, like endogamy.) I think I have captured the premise and the objective. What I'm not understanding is why this problem, as I have described it, is of general interest. I'm racking my brain to think of a time I met the conditions of the problem statement, where WATO would be of use. Background on how and why WATO problems arise would help the viewer of your video understand the usefulness of the tool.

I was unable to glean a rationale with respect to choosing hypotheses. You didn't seem to use random guesses. But, why you chose the hypotheses you chose was not explained. The rule or rules of when to stop the search were not stated. Some hypothesis has a large relative likelihood vis-a-vis all other hypotheses. The thing is there are many more possible hypotheses than the ones you tried. How do you know none of those untried hypotheses will not be more likely than the "current best" (the hypothesis you concluded with)?

In 18 minutes I feel I got a good handle of what WATO does and how the user interface works. That is indeed real progress. (assuming my description of it is correct) WATO is a very sophisticated tool. And, I expect it is quite useful. I just have the gaps I described in coming to an understanding of that. Perhaps, another video or two is needed. While WATO is complicated, I do think this video provides a very good start at explaining this tool to the uninitiated. ... Much thanks.

[ThonColinFilms]

This hurts my brain but I need to understand it!! Thanks for making the video. I’ll watch it again!

[niamh-learns]

Excellent tutorial! Thank you! I did end up figuring out how to use the program on my own, and have been using it in my family's adoption case with success. That said, I did NOT know about the issue with matches sharing less than 50cM. There are a few matches on my WATO tree that are under that amount... hmm. I may have to rework things.
That said, I'm hoping to work on a video using this tool to help with our adoption case and have it up by the end of the week. When I have that up, I will let you know so you can share your opinion on that!

[lauriecorson]

Very helpful...I think I have one of those low cM outliers that skewed my results. Thanks for the great explanation.

[mandifields]

Hey! I found your channel several weeks ago and I'm really enjoying it. I've did my DNA on ancestry.com and I have been working on my family tree. I was wondering if you would consider doing a video on explaining cousins. In example first cousin twice removed. Thanks I especially loved the episodes with the family you found from the photograph in New York. Great work! Thanks!

[CRSDelta]

Thanks for the tutorial. I played around with WATO and will revisit my work to see if I did it correctly. However this brings up questions about Ancestry data. If they use this algorithm it sounds like we cannot use this tool with data from other DNA sites. I guess I need to read more about Timber because I have uploaded many dna kits to multiple sites and get different matches. It would be great to be able to analyze them together. Thanks

[niamh-learns]

Hey again! I finally have my WATO video up! It's the latest family mystery video. If you have the time, please let me know what you think! Also, it's super long, so feel free to watch on double speed, lol...

[Mike_S_Swift]

Couldn’t Bessies grandchild have been a half relationship? That’s what I just discovered on my paternal grandfather isn’t by looking at cM from my dad’s siblings grandkids are only half the cM as from his moms side. I know the main common couple and was trying to fit them in my great grandmothers parents lineage but I wasn’t matching known people who should show up on my dad’s side but weren’t. That’s when the light came on and discovered who I thought was my grandfather isn’t. I have some suspicions as to who may be but will try and work it out with this tool using half relationships. I do have a lot of matches. The highest doesn’t have a tree but others do.

Thanks for posting this video. Some folks go too fast to see how you are building out the tree. You are going just about right for me lol.

[torchape]

I may have to try this. I match an adoptee with a shared 327 cM, and my dad matches her with 361 cMs. Other matches with the adoptee: My sister, 232 cM; my first cousin, 161 cMs. She is 9 years older than I am, so I believe her to be in my generation. Since I inherited most of my dad's matching DNA with her, I will use my dad's match as the focus. In order for her to be that close with him, I am guessing she must be the child of my dad's first cousin, a first cousin once removed. Through matches I've determined the adoptee is related to my dad on his father's side (my dad's mother has French-Canadian endogamy). My paternal grandfather had two sisters, both given up for adoption either at birth or when their mother passed. The oldest girl, Marion, was older than my grandfather. On the birth record page from that town, Marion is listed near the top of the page. Near the bottom is another Marion born 5 days later, the mother being my grandfather's next younger sister. My contention is that my grandfather and his wife had Marion four months after their marriage, and gave her to his sister because they were not able to afford her or because of societal stigmas. The second Marion had one son who had 3 daughters, all younger than the adoptee. The adoptee was conceived about 6 months after Marion's son was discharged from the Navy. The adoptee was born in 1948. I know this is long and drawn out, but would this WATO tool be a good one to use to try out different scenarios? I don't want to approach my dad's cousin's 3 daughters for a DNA test before working other scenarios. Thank you for your time, if you choose to read this.

[comradepinky]

I have a match on Ancestry DNA who comes up as a 2nd/3rd cousin. Sadly this lady is now passed but her centimorgan information is still available. I suspect that one of her Dad's brothers may be my biological grandfather. Will this system work and how do I place myself in the family tree?

[AncestryNerd]

What's your experience using WATO for Jewish and endogamous populations? I know it's not recommended, but I'm curious if you have tried it and if you achieve any success.

[garybeard]

I'm kinda confused by what you're referring to as a new tester. Is this someone who just took their DNA test and are seeing matches for the first time and trying to figure out where they fit compared to all these new relationships he/she's just discovered? Or, are you referring to a new match that pops up for someone who already has a large tree and is trying to figure out where they fit in their tree? Or, something else entirely that I'm not thinking of???
I'm also confused, probably in a related sense, about what this chart is actually telling us, hypothetically, since we're not inputting anywhere what this "new testers" match, in centimorgans, is.

[susanclay]

What does it measure the hypothesis against? I have a tester that is my 3rd-4th cousin. I built the tree. and it comes up with a score of 0 every time? Is there something else I should be putting in. The person in question has gotten a grandfather match and it is where I believe it should be based on age, location and placement in the family. How do you imput the testers cM data in to run the hypothesis against? I don't get it.

[ThonColinFilms]

I've had a go and the highest hyposthesis I can get on the tree is 42. Does this mean that the tree is way off/not that related to me?

[amberhodges]

I’m so confused . I did two variations. one for my grandma and one for my great aunt . My great grandmother never knew her father . Her father could be one of 5 brothers . I added three cousins in and added half siblings . My grandma got a higher score with one and my great aunt another .

[phyllisporter]

Folks - please learn that / is a slash - not a back slash.