More testing new tools

In my last post I wrote about MyHeritage's new GAIA tool, and while I had intended to test it over the weekend, I ended up testing a not-yet-public tool built on current AI platforms. This is pretty cool, I can't yet write in detail about this. This new tool is a set of prompts, but seems quite powerful in digging into ethnicity estimates and ancestral journeys across the various testing companies, and highlighting areas worth further exploration.

On MyHeritage, one of my genetic groups is Chileans in Chile. This makes sense as my 3rd-great-grandfather Gabriel Vasquez was born in Valparaiso, Chile in 1838. I know the names of his parents from his Informacion Matrimonial in Hermosillo, Sonora in 1863 - Jose Vasquez and Agustina Rojas. There are signs that further back, a maternal line ancestor of Agustina may have been indigenous, but I don't know how far back. Jose's line most likely points to the Basque Country, and the MyHeritage genetic group says that between 1750-1800, top places of origin for this group includes Cadiz in Andalusia, Campiña del Pisuerga (Valladolid) in Castille and Leon, and Biscay and Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country. This gives me some new leads to follow for possible connections to the Vasquez line.

GAIA by MyHeritage

Yesterday MyHeritage announced GAIA (Genealogy AI Agent) as a new feature for its growing set of research tools. I have not yet tried this on my own account, but am planning to try it out over the weekend.

MyHeritage's GAIA.

MyHeritage says this tool is built specifically for genealogy, approaching research like a professional genealogist. It is also built into MyHeritage's databases and tools, and is integrated with the MyHeritage family trees. Having worked with other AI-tools focused on genealogy, such as at YourDNAGuide, the idea of a genealogy-specific tool built into MyHeritage has a lot of promise. I'm interested to see what it can uncover that I have not seen on other platforms. 

DNA in the news: Tracing the spread of Germanic and Celtic languages using ancient genomics

New studies released in Nature (28 October 2026) dive into research on the spread of Germanic languages by examining ancient genomes from populations who migrated across Scandinavia and Western Europe. A second study focused on the spread of Celtic languages using ancient genomics (4 November 2026).

Dia de los Muertos

 

Photo by Patrick Jones. Kobe, Japan. 12 Mar 2019.

Research Progress November 2026

October was a slow month for my family history research. I had a lengthy trip to Asia via Los Angeles, and primary obligations led the way leaving little additional spare time for research.  Last month's update is here. For November, I am hoping kick start work on some of those long time questions:

1. Portillo DNA matches and the mystery Guerrero-Leyvas
2. Amado DNA matches and continuing the build on the genetic map of the Amados
3. Campuzano YDNA

I'm currently reading Hunger and Hope by Christine Kinealy, Jason King and Mark G. McGowan. This is a book on the Irish famine migration from Strokestown, Roscommon in 1847. Thomas and Timothy Hanley, brothers of my 4th-great-grandmother Maria Hanley, were part of that famine migration group who made their way to Quebec in 1847. I'm in the process of learning more about their journey and am hoping to share more on their stories in November.