Dear John I for one, think that genetics IS our family history. My son, brother and I recently had our DNA tested by 23andme, which not only gave us over 800 (each) DNA relatives, but also our health profile and much more besides.  I find that I have 2.9% Neanderthal DNA for instance!  The only downside to all this information being available as far as I can make out, is that unless you have a degree in genetics, it's awfully difficult to work out what to do with all this information. I was hoping that it would help me to break down a few brick walls, but I've no idea where to start.  There are tutorials, but they are complicated  What I was hoping for, and didn't get, was step by step instructions about how to interpret the information.  Comparing the surnames of my DNA cousins I find that there are very few which actually tie in with what I have in my vast Ancestry.com.au tree - nearly 36,000.  I'm beginning to wonder if all my ancestors have been having illicit affairs! But it is fascinating to know that you descend from a particular man or woman thousands of years ago and where they were at the time.  My H1 Haplogroup puts me 13,000 years ago in the Pyranees and my brother's R1b1b2a2f puts us in North Western Europe - so lots of Vikings and Normans. I have been totally addicted to this ancestor hunt for over 30 years and the addiction hasn't dimmed with time.  It's all wonderful stuff. Best wishes to all fellow hunters Merilyn Pedrick Aldgate, SA       ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Keynes" To:"SouthAus Mailing List" , "Sid Smith" Cc: Sent:Thu, 10 Oct 2013 11:29:14 +1030 Subject:Re: [AUS-SAGEN] Evolution Lister Sid Smith, Thanks for the question - I'm sure others think the same! Last year I had a DNA test to confirm a branch of distant cousins in Canada. I learnt just a little about genetics and mutations. I found it interesting and perhaps others do too. I now think of mutations as part of my family history. Regards John K ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sid Smith" To: "AUS" Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2013 10:41 PM Subject: Re: [AUS-SAGEN] Evolution > What has this got to do with genealogy ??????????? > AUS-SAGEN Archives are here: > http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/AUS-SAGEN/ __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus signature database 8898 (20131009) __________ The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus. http://www.eset.com AUS-SAGEN Archives are here: http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/th/index/AUS-SAGEN/ Websites of Interest on our Blog: http://aus-sagen-genealogy-websites.blogspot.com/ ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message @rootsweb.com>@bigpond.com>