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newsmaker Ask James Lee Sorenson where he's from and you're apt to get more than a simple, "from Utah."

Sorenson, vice chairman of Sorenson Companies, which makes the digital video compression and encoding technology Sorenson Squeeze, will likely tell you he's not only from Utah but his ancestral roots take him back 10 to 12 generations to Scandinavia and Western Europe.

And now, he'll be able to do more than just tell you with the Sorenson Companies' recent beta launch of GeneTree, a social-networking genealogy Web site that incorporates the use of DNA testing.

The social-networking site melds the offerings of Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, a nonprofit organization that operates one of the world's largest DNA and genealogy information databases, with Sorenson Media, creator of Sorenson Squeeze and Squish.

The popularity of online genealogy is gaining steam, as sites like Ancestry.com beef up their offerings with DNA research, as well. Last week, the parent of Ancestry.com, The Generations Network, said one of its existing investors would lead a $300 million buyout of the company.

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