Family genetics DNA test?

Question

hi everyone, im really interested in family genetics and im wondering if you knowof any companies who test dna for ancesteral purposes, or have you had a test done and what did you think of the results

Answer 1

Y DNA is passed from father to son only.

Mitochondrial DNA is passed from mother to both sons and daughters but only the daughters pass it on to their children.

Most of your DNA is autosomal which you get 50-50 from both parents.  It determines your physical characteristics such as pigmentation, bone structure etc.  It is the only DNA that relates a female to her father or anyone to the spouses and their families in a person's direct Y & Mitochondrial lines except for their parents.

Y & Mitochondrial are used for genealogy to match persons to another family tree as they go back in a direct line virutually unchanged.

For instance if you get back to all of your 6xgreat grandparents, barring any duplicates, you are directly descended from 510 individuals.  Of those 510 individuals you get your Mitochondrial DNA from only 8 and if you are male, you get your Y DNA from only 8 but you get your autosomal DNA from all 510.

There are tests that give vague origins background but not specific nationality or ethnicities.  They will identify a person as Northern European etc.  To get accurate percentages that way the testing company would have to use autosomal.

FamilyTreeDNA is the oldest.

Another company SMGF will do your DNA testing for free but will not send you a report.  They will eventually put your report online.  It took about 6 months for mine.  They have contracted GeneTree to interpret the results and GeneTree only charged me $19.50.  You have to have a signon with GeneTree which is free.

http://www.smgf.org/pages/how_it_works.j...

Answer 2

A DNA test can show, approximately, your ancestors trail through the world since the evolution of your first ancestor, because you are female a test of your Mtdna will not show any paternal line at all, only the possible origin of your mother, her mother, your great grandmother etc., etc. You do not carry your father's Y-DNA and, either he, your brother, father's brother, or your father's father, or a male cousin on your father's side, would need to be tested to show your father's genetic origins.

Below is a reply I have given to a similar previous question, dna cannot tell you which country you originated in, only the probable area, or areas of the world your ancient ancestors passed through during their evolution.

Human cells contain 23 pairs of chromosomes: 22 pairs of autosomes, and one pair of s*x chromosomes. Females carry a pair of X chromosomes that can swap, or recombine, similar regions of DNA during meiosis. However, males harbor one X chromosome and one Y chromosome, and significant recombination between these dissimilar s*x chromosomes does not occur. Therefore, the non-recombining region of the Y chromosome (NRY) remains largely unchanged over many generations, directly passed from father to son, son to grandson, and so on, along with genetic variations in the NRY that may be present. Scientists can use genetic variations, such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), on the Y chromosome as markers of human ancestry and migration.

It is very effective and the best companies will retest until they get a conclusive result.

If you have, say, just the first 12 markers tested($149 with FTDNA), that will give an indication of where you originated, the more markers you test on, the more information is gained ( for mtdna, your suggested geographic origin and your maternal deep ancestral ethnic origin, $129 with FTDNA) if you test on the maximumum of, say 67 markers ($349 with FTDNA), it is possible then to find a match to someone else carrying your own, or a different surname, and to prove a link where perhaps no "paper trail" exists. It can therefore pinpoint a place in which your ancestors probably lived in recent history but DNA does not, obviously,

have a surname attached to it, surnames have only been used for around 700 years and of course your DNA originated 10s of thousands of years ago. You can also have a SNP test which will help show the migratory pattern of your ancient ancestors, having said that, you can join a Surname project (e.g. with FTDNA) and receive discounted prices on your tests.

I recommend that you make yourself aware of the various tests available, and the costs with each testing company.

Plus, check out what is available to you after you have tested.

I used Family Tree DNA ,they were the first in the field (founded in 1999), have the largest data base, and do the testing for the National Geographic's Genome project, their "after sales" is excellent and I consider they are the best, but you have to make your own decision on that.

http://www.familytreedna.org

Answer 3

I had mine done as a surprise birthday present from my family, by "Oxford Ancestors" (Professor Bryan Sykes - Professor of genetics at the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Oxford University and author of "The Seven Daughters of Eve", q.v.).  There is a web site.

This placed my original ancestry round about the Middle East with a Clan Mother they have called "Una" and at that time shared only with tested islanders off the Scottish Coast, I believe.  Since my mother's traceable ancestors (1500's) were from the South West  I am left with the puzzle of how my  DNA made that journey - a bit of Viking rape and pillage, possibly? !

Bryan Sykes' book is easy to read and he gives a good background to the type of lives his "Seven Daughters" may have led. Also, the tracing of living descendants of The Ice Man and Cheddar Cave Man (who has a descendant still in the Cheddar area - that family didn't move far!) is fascinating since the study of genetics was not on the curriculum when I was at school back in the 40's and early 50's!

Answer 4

As a white European, I wouldn't waste my money, but if I was a black person descended from slaves then that would be a different story entirely as then I'd really need to know what part of the world my ancestors came from originally and I'd be able to narrow my heritage down a bit.  It has its uses for sure, but not to someone like me.  A DNA test wouldn't tell you that much.