Q. I took a 46-marker Y-DNA test through Ancestry.com's DNA testing service. Can I post my test results on other organizations' DNA Web sites to search for matches?

A. Most genetic genealogy companies that host public DNA databases will let you enter results from other companies.

It’s a little more complicated than it sounds, though, because labs don’t always test the same markers, and they might present test results differently.

That means you might have to convert your marker values to the format used by the database you want to search. DNA database sites usually have information to help you with this process.

Family Tree DNA’s Ysearch database, for example, has a page to help you enter marker values from other companies. Depending on the company used, you select a marker submission form (Ancestry.com acquired Relative Genetics, so you'd use the Relative Genetics form). Look for red asterisks next to the labels for marker values you’ll need to convert; conversion instructions also are provided.

Ybase’s results submission form also has asterisks that link to a Conversion page.

See our list of these and other public DNA databases, as well as other genetic genealogy reearch helps, in our online DNA toolkit.