Would dna testing help with family history?

Question

Is there a service which will perform a dna test from samples of two individuals to determine whether or not they are related. I am tracing my family history and am in contact with someone on the opposite side of the Atlantic, (Does the distance cause a problem for testing?) and we think a dna test would help decide whether or not we are related.

Answer 1

While it can't provide you with your entire family tree or tell you who your ancestors are, DNA testing can:

      Determine if two people are related

      Determine if two people descend from the same ancestor

      Find out if you are related to others with the same surname

      Prove or disprove your family tree research

      Provide clues about your ethnic origin

DNA tests have been around for many years, but it is only recently that the cost of genetic testing has finally come down into the realm of possibility for the average individual interested in tracing their roots. Home DNA test kits can be ordered through the mail or over the Internet at a cost averaging $100-$400 per test. They usually consist of a cheek swab or mouthwash to easily collect a sample of cells from the inside of your mouth. You send back the sample through the mail and within a month or two you receive the results - a series of numbers that represent key chemical "markers" within your DNA. These numbers can then be compared to results from other individuals to help you determine your ancestry.

There are two basic types of DNA tests available for genealogical testing:

mtDNA Tests - Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is contained in the cytoplasm of the cell, rather than the nucleus. This type of DNA is passed by a mother to both male and female offspring without any mixing, so your mtDNA is the same as your mother's mtDNA, which is the same as her mother's mtDNA. mtDNA changes very slowly so it cannot determine close relationships as well as it can determine general relatedness. If two people have an exact match in their mtDNA, then there is a very good chance they share a common maternal ancestor, but it is hard to determine if this is a recent ancestor or one who lived hundreds of years ago. It is important to keep in mind with this test that a male's mtDNA comes only from his mother and is not passed on to his offspring.

Y Line Tests - More recently, the Y chromosome in the nuclear DNA is being used to establish family ties. The Y chromosomal DNA test (usually referred to as Y DNA or Y-Line DNA) is only available for males, since the Y chromosome is only passed down the male line from father to son. Tiny chemical markers on the Y chromosome create a distinctive pattern, known as a haplotype, that distinguishes one male lineage from another. Shared markers can indicate relatedness between two men, though not the exact degree of the relationship. Y chromosome testing is most often used by individuals with the same last name to learn if they share a common ancestor.

I have done quite a bit of research into what DNA testing can and cannot tell you.  My findings are on my website @

http://www.coolrogue.net/genealogy/dnate...

Answer 2

It can be very helpful tool in matching you with other family trees.

Y DNA is passed soley from father to son.

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

Y & Mitochondrial are used as they go back in a straight line virtually unchanged.

Most of your DNA is Autosomal which you get 50-50 from both parents coming down from all your ancestors.  You get your eye coloring, pigmentation, bone structure,  height etc from Autosomal.  It is the only DNA that relates a female to her father or anyone to the families that have married into their direct Y & Mitochondrial lines.

With the Y & Mitochondrial testing they will show you the migration pattern of your ancestors in those particular lines back thousands of years.  So far, genealogy DNA shows we all began in Africa.  They will assign a Haplogroup for each line.

However, understand that it is no way a complete picture of your total racial or ethnic background.  Testing companies, I feel mislead people, maybe not intentionally  when they state they can give you your deep ancestral heritage when they are only using Y & Mitochondrial and not explaining that it is only on the 2 lines.

As you go back the number of people you descend from pyramids.   Example:  If you get back to your 6xgreat grandparents, you are directly descended from 510 individuals. Of those 510 individuals, you get you Autosomal DNA from all of them.  However, you will get your Mitochondrial DNA from only 8 and if you are male, you will get your Y DNA from only 8. That leaves out 494 people.  The widening between the number of people included and the number of people not included doubles each generation you go back. .

Now, if you have the Y & Mitochondrial DNA done and are successful at matching yourself with other family trees, you will most likely discover the spouses and their parents that married into your direct Y & Mitchondrial lines.

FamilyTreeDNA is the oldest in the genealogy DNA business.

Another group, SMGF, will do your test for free but will not send you a report.  Your results will eventually be online but you will probably not be able to understand them. It took about 6 months for mine to show up.  However, they have now contracted with Genetree to interpret them for you.  It only cost me $19.50 to have my Mitochondrial interpreted.

Edit: Both companies do testing for people on both sides of the Atlantic.

Answer 3

if you have the money to pay for it,then yes DNA will work.YOu may have to get 2 company's involved or they have the at home kit's now it's really cheap but the catch is you have to pay about $400.00 to have it read and get the results.You can buy this at your pharmacy.Good luck  hope it works out for you.