I've Tested !Have you already
received your DNA genealogy test results and
need help understanding them? We can help.
For the first time ever, using the
information available through genealogy DNA
testing, people are beginning to truly be
able to answer the age-old question “where
did I come from” on a scope and scale
unimaginable even a few years ago.
If this describes you and what you need,
congratulations, you are a genetic genealogy
pioneer. DNA for genealogy, called genetic
genealogy, is an infant science (the first
genetic genealogy test was performed in
2000), and you are one of the first wave of
people in the world to utilize these new
tools. Discoveries are made daily, and this
new language and landscape can be very
overwhelming and confusing for newcomers.
When I began this journey, I felt like I was
drinking from a fire hose. Six years and
lots of education later, I’m very excited
about the breakthrough’s we’ve made and what
we can now discern from genealogy DNA
testing. As a surname administrator for many
projects, I needed to make DNA test results
interesting and understandable for everyone.
Now this service is available for you too.
We offer several products and services
designed to do just that, interpret your DNA
results, in plain English, explaining
scientific terms and what they mean to you
and your family, presented so that even your
Grandmother can understand and enjoy. In
fact, we’re Grandmother tested and
approved!!!
Testimonial
from a Grandmother 
Testimonial
from a Satisfied Client
DNA and Genealogy
- Yield a Variety of Information !
DNA tests for genealogy can provide you with many
kinds of information:
Genealogical
Genetic genealogy connects you with members of
your family who have lived since the time that
surnames were adopted which varied depending on
where your ancestors lived. Often, traditional
genealogical records confirm DNA evidence.
Sometimes DNA evidence bridges the gap where
traditional genealogical records no longer
exist.
The timeframe covered by genetic genealogy is
typically less than 500 years, but can extend to
1000 or so if you are lucky enough to connect to
a royal house or other firmly established
genealogy.
For more information, the Family Tree DNA
website:
 www.familytreedna.com
Anthro-Genealogy
This is the fuzzy gray area where some last
names or traditional family clan names existed,
but you can’t connect directly to them using
traditional genealogical evidence. Your DNA may
or may not match with similar last names, or
your DNA may point to a geographical area where
similar last names existed, but known
descendants aren’t available to test. Just the
same, geographical, historical and DNA results
combined can provide important information as to
where your ancestors lived before the age of
traditional genealogical records. This timeframe
often reaches back 500 – 2000 years.
Anthropological
also known as Deep Ancestry
Your haplogroup is determined during DNA
testing. Your haplogroup is your deep ancestral
clan. DNA testing is the only way to discover
your Deep Ancestral Clan, because it reaches
back before last names existed, in fact, tens of
thousands of years ago.
DNA results can clearly indicate your DNA clan.
Population genetics and many studies, some
recently published and many still underway
continue to expand our understanding of where
your ancestral clan lived and moved. This
timeframe extends back in time from the
beginning of last names to the beginnings of the
human race. Using the knowledge we are gaining
of mutations, when and where in the world they
occurred, we can trace your ancestors back in
time, thousands of years, and show the paths
they took to reach the areas where we find them
in the Anthro-Genealogical and Genealogical
timeframes.
You may think that little information is
available about these ancestors, but that isn’t
true. We’ve written a series of books, the
HaploClan series, one for each Haplogroup, or
Deep Ancestral Clan. These HaploClan “Meet Your
Ancestors” books are about 100 pages each and
are full of information about how and where your
ancestors lived, the environment surrounding
them, archaeological remains, their cultures and
spiritual practices along with photos and maps.
Using all three types of information provided by
genealogy DNA testing, people are beginning to
truly be able understand our ancestry, not just
in last few hundred years, but in the thousands
and tens of thousands of years in the past.
Where were your ancestors 10,000 years ago?
Where did they overwinter the last ice age? What
did they ear? Did they worship? Did they create
art? Your DNA holds the secrets, and now we can
unravel your personal mystery.
Click here to see
what you get !
For more information, the Family Tree DNA
website:
www.familytreedna.com
Using all three types of information provided by
genealogy DNA testing, people are beginning to truly
be able understand our ancestry, not just in last
few hundred years, but in the thousands and tens of
thousands of years in the past. Where were your
ancestors 10,000 years ago? Where did they
overwinter the last ice age? Your DNA holds the
secrets, and now we begin to unravel your personal
mystery.
DNA Results and Ethnic Heritage
One of the most common
questions we receive is whether DNA results can indicate ethnic heritage,
particularly Native American and African. Yes, it can, but it doesn’t always.
The answer unfortunately, is not always straightforward. Let’s start with the
Yes answer first.
Yes – In some cases, DNA
results can in fact be a very strong indicator of ethnic heritage, particularly
in conjunction with additional evidence, such as appearance or family oral or
genealogical history. Some DNA evidence alone is indisputable.
Both the Yline (paternal
line test for males only) -
 Click
here to see an example chart
- and mitochondrial
DNA (maternal line for men and women both)
offer the ability, in some cases, to determine the ethnic origin of both Native
American, East Asian and Sub Saharan African ancestors. However, this
determination is only relevant to that particular paternal line.
Going back only 3 generations, you have a total of 8 separate
great-grandparents, each of which contributed their genetic heritage to you, and
at 4 generations, you have 16 great-great-grandparents -
Click
here to see an example chart
Testing the Yline DNA of
your father and the mtdna of your mother, directly or through others who share
that particular DNA legacy, provides only the genetic heritage for those 2 lines
of your ancestry. So, yes, if that particular great-grandfather or
great-grandmother were of Native, Asian or African ancestry, the Yline and mtdna
results may indicate this. However, if they were mixed race themselves, you may
have to test further back in time to discover your ethnic ancestor.
 Click
here to see an example chart
As an example, you can see
how we’ve built the DNA inheritance chart on top of the pedigree chart. Each
color represents a different DNA line.
 Click
here for the final example chart
Yline testing only tests
the y chromosome of the paternal line, and the mitochondrial testing tests only
the DNA of the maternal line. If you cannot obtain descendants of the other
lines that contributed to your ethnic heritage, you will not be able to assemble
a complete DNA puzzle.
Some people have turned to
a different kind of testing, autosomal, to attempt to fill in those blank spots,
with varying results.
Autosomal testing tests portions of the remainder of your DNA. Both Yline
and mitochondrial DNA are important for genealogy because they don’t mix with
DNA from the other parent and are therefore passed intact and relatively
unchanged from generation to generation, providing a DNA family signature for us
to follow through the generations.
Click
here for additional information
Autosomal DNA testing tests
DNA where portions are contributed by both parents, effectively diluting the DNA
of each parent by approximately 50% in each generation. There are two kinds of
autosomal DNA tests currently being used by genealogists, Codis markers and
biogeographical ancestry (BGA) testing.
An autosomal DNA
complication is that while everyone inherits “half” of their genes from each
parent, this really isn’t completely true. Some “groups” of genetic material
are inherited together, and you may wind up with more or less genetic material
from one of your parents. In time, certain genetic “traits” will be lost in
some descendants, while not in others. Therefore, you can’t figure actual
inheritance percentages by using the 50% rule. This means that is your father
was 50% Native American, you are not necessarily 25%, genetically speaking.
Autosomal Codis markers are the autosomal markers used in paternity testing.
Additionally, they are used by police departments and forensics labs. The
markers employed in these tests are selected specifically to differentiate
between people, not to find common markers to place them in ethnic groups. The
results from these tests are only numbers
Click
here to see an autosomal results example
and the recipient is left to their
own devices as to how to interpret the results. These tests are available from
numerous sources. We prefer to interpret these results in conjunction with Yline and mitochondrial DNA tests for a more complete picture.
Autosomal
biogeographical ancestry testing
tests all of your genetic contributions for specific, proprietary markers that
indicate geographical heritage, not just the Yline or mtdna. This test is
currently available from only one source, although the test is resold by several
testing companies. Results from this test are returned as percentages of ethnic
heritage.
Click here to see example
of a biogeographical test
Your results are reported
within confidence bands, which indicate a range of percentages that might
actually be accurate. The margin of error is often as high as 15%. Typically,
there is no dispute over the majority ancestral type. However, minority types
are apparently much more difficult to discern.
A significant amount of
dissention, confusion and speculation exists about the accuracy of autosomal
test results as used by genealogists. Some individuals report results that fit
their known or suspected ancestry exactly, and others report exactly the
opposite results.
As with all testing
products in this field, improvements are being made constantly and new tests
will eventually appear on the market. All DNA tests, meaning all autosomal
tests, based on statistical averages should be viewed as a hint or as a
guideline, and not as absolute.
Click here to
see what you get !
Let’s talk for a minute
about the different types of DNA testing, accuracy and how that affects our
interpretation of the results.
DNA Testing and Accuracy
Yline and
mitochondrial testing is absolutely accurate
and gives you definitive results because
neither your Y chromosome (if you’re a male)
nor your mitochondrial DNA is mixed with DNA
from the other parent.
Your specific results are measured and
reported. They are not interpreted, simply
reported. You receive your results in a
numeric format, for example, at location
DYS390 you have 25 repeats.
Click here to see
a Yline certificate example
Mitochondrial DNA results are measured
and reported differently, but again, only
results are provided.
Click here
to see a mitochondrial DNA certificate
example
Autosomal testing is less accurate for
genealogy (although CODIS tests are very
accurate for paternity testing), because the
DNA is diluted with each generation.
Additional issues surround the lack and
quality of data bases used as a basis of
comparison.
Statistics
Some DNA genealogy testing
delivers actual results and other testing
results are percentages that represent
statistical likelihood. Yline, mtdna and
autosomal codis test deliver actual results.
Autosomal BGA testing delivers a statistical
prediction. This is not a criticism, but is
simply the nature of this type of testing.
Remembering that in the year 2000, we had no
testing of any type for genealogy, it is in
fact remarkable that we have a variety
available today.
Because the very word statistics means
inference or prediction using mathematical
modeling, it also means that there is a
margin of error.
To illustrate this for yourself, take out a
coin. Everyone knows that you have a 50-50
chance of getting head or tails. However, if
you flip a coin 10 times, it is unlikely
that you will get exactly 5 heads and 5
tails. However, if you flip the coin enough
times, the average of all of the tosses will
be an equal amount of heads and tails. This
illustrates the difference between actuality
and statistics. My test flip totaled 4 tails
and 6 heads, and 5 of those heads flips were
all in a row, which is statistically
unlikely, but was clearly the reality of the
experiment.
Extrapolating this example, you can see how,
on the average, you get 50% of your genes
from each parent, but in actuality, you may
not.
This explains why there is a statistical
margin of error inherent in autosomal
biogeographical testing. The testing company
uses statistical prediction methods to
generate your results.
This is not the case with Yline or
mitochondrial tests, as the results that are
returned to you are the raw results, and if
you have results indicating Native or
African origins, there is little room for
speculation. The question then turns from if
to when and where.
Testing for Jewish Ancestry
Jewish
ancestry is particularly more difficult to
discern with testing. Jewishness is
identified by both a religion and a culture
that arose in the Middle East in relatively
modern times, about 2000 years ago, as
compared with African Ancestry which reaches
back tens of thousands of years, and Native
ancestry which also reaches back into Asia
millennia ago. Jewish lines have had less
time to develop mutations which definitively
identify a descendant as one of their
“group”.
Another way of putting this is that those of
Jewish heritage are also genetic cousins to
those who lived in the same area during the
same time who were not Jewish, so
differentiating them using only DNA is
difficult, but not always impossible.
One notable exception is the Cohanim male
marker which is easily identifiable through
Yline DNA testing. The presence of the
Cohanim marker without supporting evidence
of a Jewish heritage is not conclusive.
Identifying Jewish heritage using DNA is
often a handled on an individual basis and
is often more suggestive than definitive.
DNA Tests and Planning
We recommend that
you complete a test plan for your particular
DNA testing goals before ordering tests. The
plan is designed to make sure you order the
tests that will actually answer your
questions. This helps you avoid purchasing
the wrong tests which are both disappointing
and expensive.
Order Test Plan
More interesting information about this
topic is available at:
www.familytreedna.com
National Geographic site project:
www.nationalgeographic.com/genographic
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