I have some questions concerning Geneology or DNA testing?

Question

I understand the basics and limitations but I still have a few questions. Will the test be able to determine a trace of possible African or Native American blood? Will the test be able to track my mother's paternal geneology without any males? Will the test give me percentages and possible names of different groups that I am decended from? What test would you recomend?

Answer 1

The test for your Y-DNA will show your probable "ethnic" ancestry back to when you evolved 10s of thousands of years ago, and will show the various "additions" along the way.

A test for your Mtdna will not show any paternal line at all, only your mother, her mother, your great grandmother etc., etc. DNA does not have any last names attached to it.

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

NOTE :-

If you are female, you only carry your mother's Mtdna, and her mother's Mtdna, and her mother's Mtdna etc.,etc.,etc. and that will show only your mother's lineage (you will pass that Mtdna on to your daughters and sons, but your sons will not pass it on to their children). You do not inherit your father's Y-DNA.

If you are male, you inherit your father's Y-DNA, his father's Y-DNA, his father's Y-DNA, and so on back to your origin. You also inherit your mother's Mtdna, but you only pass your Y-DNA on to your sons.

Answer 2

I would suggest getting a good Genealogy book on DNA tests. Ones I especially like are: “Mapping Human History: Discovering the Past Through Our Genes” by Steve Olson

"Genealogy 101" by Barbara Renick and

"Trace Your Roots with DNA: Using Genetic Tests to Explore Your Family Tree" by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak and Ann Turner.

Also, log onto www.familytreedna.com and the National Geographics Genotype Program.  Family Tree does the DNA tests for the National Geographics Genotype Program, which traces human migratory patterns.

There are so many limitations: 1) It will not provide you with names, exact locations or dates.  2) It, at present, can trace ONLY straight lines: i.e., your mother to her mother to her mother (on back) OR your father to his father to his father (on back).  In otherwords, for the most part, it will NOT have any results for the vast majority of your ancestors.  No problem.  For the most part, over the ages, people have mated with people in their own village, locality, etc.  (Meaning they "interbred").  Also, at the time of Christ, there were a total of about 200,000,000 people WORLDWIDE.  Human population did not reach 1,000,000,000 until about 1804.  Further, Mr. Olson states that everyone alive in the world today is descended from Nefertiti, Confucius and Julius Caesar!

My own test shows that I have Eskimo, Innuit and Native American ancestry, ancestors from the Canary Islands (probably through the Spanish Conquistadors) and all the inhabited continents and major island groups.  So, yes, it show African and/or Native American ancestry. In my own case, also Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese, Filipino...

Depending upon your needs and finances, I would suggest at the very minimum a yDNA test (father to father) and an mtDNA test (mother to mother).  Males can summit a test for both; females must find a near male relative (father or brother) to submit a DNA sample for the yDNA test.

Answer 3

Y dna is passed soley from father to son.

Mitochondrial is passed from mother to both sons and daughters.

Most of your DNA is autosomal. You get it 50-50 from both parents. SMGF is planning to use autosomal sometime in the future. Autosomal is the only DNA that relates a female to her father or males and females to the spouses of their ancestors in the direct male line and the direct female line.

The reason Y & mitochondrial are used is that the DNA goes unchanged in a direct line.  

FamilyTreeDNA is the oldest.

SMGF (Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation) will do your DNA for free but it will take them about 6 months to finish the results.  They will show them online once they are through but you probably won't understand them. They don't send you a report.  However, they have contracted with GeneTree to interpret the results for you.  It only cost me $19.50 to get an interpretation from GeneTree.