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Posts Tagged ‘PCR’

Your ancestry by DNA is available with a few hundred dollars, four weeks and a simple cheek swab.  Finding ancestors via a genetic highway to the past is the most exciting breakthrough in the field of genetic research in decades.

The process begins with a kit from a laboratory that tests DNA and establishes a database for comparison.  The kit includes a plastic scraper which painlessly scrapes off loose cells in the lining of the check called buccal cells.  These cells contain the building blocks of life called DNA.

It only takes a few seconds and does not break the skin or cause any pain.  You place the sample into the tube that is provided in your kit and you send it to the pre-addressed envelope.

When the lab brings in the sample, workers will separate your cells from the plastic swab by use of unique buffers to suspend the cells in a sterile liquid.  In a series of washes the cells are purified and isolated further through a high speed spinning process called centrifugation.    This step occurs several times to create a pure DNA sample, separate from all other matter in the liquid transport.

The next step in the process is called “lysis” in which cells are heated to such a degree that the cell membrane breaks open.  Once the cell is breached the DNA leaches into the solution.  This is when the matching with other individuals occurs.

In a process called PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, DNA strands get separated, are combined with primers specific to each Y-chromosome and are annealed or stuck to the DNA strands.  Over the course of several repetitions, another chemical process takes place that amplifies Y-chromosome markers of interest to the researchers.

From here scientists can unlock the mysteries of ancestry by DNA and “unite” you with your ancestors in just a matter of hours.

Update: News from Family Tree DNA explains how now you may locate other family members in your family tree from internal branches, not just your direct paternal or maternal lines. It is explained in the following video at: Family Finder