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Posts Tagged ‘lineage testing’

If you want DNA genetics it is not necessary to test every member of your family.   The Y-chromosome present in the cells of all males will yield results for all male members of your family.  Women lack the Y-chromosome and have only X chromosomes.  In this case, the mitochondrion of women is tested and findings apply to the female family members.

Popular media such as the television crime dramas show conclusive proof of DNA guilt or innocence.  DNA used for genealogy is not as fool proof.   Populations have been mixing since humans first left Africa 150,000 years ago, so while a DNA marker reveals a strong link of origin to a single group, it is not 100 percent guaranteed proof since no marker has been found to lie exclusively in one group.

Researchers believe every person on earth originates from only 100,000 early individuals and in some ancient way we are all related; your neighbor, your colleague, your best friend:  Even famous and infamous individuals like President Roosevelt or Henry VIII !

In spite of the scientific advances in DNA technology, the test is relatively simple.  A painless cheek swab is sent to a lab for analysis.  Technicians extract, amplify and analyze the cellular sample and then compare and match it to DNA samples from a database of other samples.  At this point they are looking to link it to a particular haplotype which is a grouping of closely linked genes.

When a person is found to share maternal or paternal ancestry lines with other people it is called lineage testing.  There is another kind of analysis called admixture testing which centers on 22 pairs of chromosomes not related to gender such as the Y which is exclusive to men and the X present in men and in women.

Regardless of the method you choose, DNA genetics will yield far more information about your ancestors than mere historical records can show.