I deleted some parts of this issue, the ones directed at me, the administrator. The rest may be of interest to some of you. Facts & Genes from Family Tree December 31, 2004 Volume 3, Issue 8 Editor's Corner Welcome to this issue of Facts & Genes, the only publication devoted to Genetic Genealogy. DNA testing is the most powerful tool to ever become available to genealogists. For those who are new to DNA testing for family history, it can seem overwhelming and technical. Genetic Genealogy is not any more complicated than learning about the various records available that may contain information about your ancestors. The easiest way to learn is to take a DNA test. If you want information about your direct female line, which is your mother, her mother, and so forth back in time, you would order an mtDNA test. If you want more information about your direct male line, you must be male, or find a male in your family tree such as your brother or father to participate. For the male, the direct male line would be his father, his father's father, and on up the tree. The male would order a Y DNA test. Family Tree DNA provides a wide variety of educational resources to help you apply Genetic Genealogy to your family history research. In addition, email and telephone consultation is available. To begin your education, past issues of the newsletter are available at our web site. Click on the link below: http://www.familytreeDNA.com/facts_genes.asp?act=past In the News: Family Tree DNA Announcements =========================================== Family Tree DNA is pleased to announce milestones achieved and several tools which have been implemented. The powerful tool called FTDNATiP has been implemented for all Y DNA customers, Group Administrators can now email FTDNATiP reports, and the Web Builder Tool now has an option to display mtDNA results on the Surname Project web site. The following milestones have been achieved: Family Tree DNA now has over 27,690 records in our database of Y-DNA results. We also have over 1,400 Surname Projects, which include over 9,000 surnames. The powerful tool called FTDNATiP has been implemented for all Y DNA customers. Previously, FTDNATiP had been implemented for Group Administrators. Customers will now find the FTDNATiP icon when you click on the Y-DNA Matches selection on your Personal Page. To the right of each person on your Y-DNA Matches Page, for whom FTDNATiP is available, you will find the FTDNATiP icon. If you are a member of a Surname Project, the FTDNATiP icon will appear for all matches who are members of your Surname Project. If you have any matches outside your Surname Project, the FTDNATiP icon will appear for matches at 25 Markers and 37 Markers. If you are not a member of a Surname Project, the the FTDNATiP icon will appear for matches at 25 Markers and 37 Markers. FTDNATiP does a calculation for two individual to determine the time to their most recent common ancestor. The calculation uses the individual Marker mutation rates. The result is presented in an easy to understand format, showing the probability for each hundred year period. FTDNATiP is a proprietary algorithm developed by Family Tree DNA in conjunction with our Advisory Board Member, Dr. Bruce Walsh, a leading population geneticist. The calculation by FTDNATiP utilizes the Y DNA results of two persons, and the individual Marker mutation rates. The individual Marker mutation rates used are a result of the study by the University of Arizona which was announced at the 1st International Conference on Genetic Genealogy, on October 30, 2004. Documented evidence can also be input into the calculations, by entering the number of generations known that the common ancestor did "not" occur. This option is not available for exact matches, since the result of the calculation would not change. FamilyTreeDNA is the only vendor to provide this powerful tool to the genealogy community. FTDNATiP has several important benefits. The calculation comparing two individuals will provide probabilities for each 100 year period for the common ancestor. This information will help participants understand when the common ancestor most likely occurred between themselves and a person they match or closely match. In addition, the probabilities can influence or determine if you pursue a match. A third benefit is that FTDNATiP can be used to make the decision as to whether you should pursue a paper trail connection between the ancestors of two people who are a close match. A fourth benefit would be to identify branches of the family tree that are connected incorrectly. Different pairs of people with the same Genetic Distance will most likely not have the same report. In other words, since each marker has a different mutation rate, identical Genetic Distances will not necessarily yield the same probabilities. Since FTDNATiP uses the individual Marker mutation rates, a 37 Marker test is equivalent to a 56 Marker test that uses the assumption that all Markers mutate at a standard rate of .0004 or a 110 Marker test with the standard Marker mutation rate of .0002. To learn more about FTDNATiP, see: "Understanding Your Results: Time to the Common Ancestor": http://www.familytreeDNA.com/facts_genes.asp?act=show&nk=3.7 For further information about Matches, the Public/Private setting, and matches with other surnames, see the following articles in past issues of the newsletter: Understanding Your Results: Matching http://www.familytreeDNA.com/facts_genes.asp?act=show&nk=3.7 Interpreting Results: Why is the Surname relevant? http://www.familytreeDNA.com/facts_genes.asp?act=show&nk=2.8 Understanding Your Results: Matching Other Surnames http://www.familytreeDNA.com/facts_genes.asp?act=show&nk=2.11 Y DNA Surname Projects: Public or Private http://www.familytreeDNA.com/facts_genes.asp?act=show&nk=3.2 http://www.familytreeDNA.com/facts_genes.asp?act=show&nk=2.3 http://www.FamilyTreeDNA.com/facts_genes.asp?act=show&nk=2.1 Haplotypes: Convergence http://www.familytreeDNA.com/facts_genes.asp?act=show&nk=1.5 Family Tree DNA has implemented the ability for the Group Administrator to email a FTDNATiP Reports. The FTDNATiP Report analyzes the time to a common ancestor for two participants in a Surname Project. For a participant, the Y-DNA Matches Page shows those who match based on the following criteria: Markers Genetic Distance 12 0-1 25 0-2 37 0-4 There may be others who are a more distant match in your Surname Project, and therefore do not appear on the Y-DNA Matches Page. The Group Administrator can generate the FTDNATiP Report comparing these two persons, and can now email the report in PDF format to the two participants being compared, as well as enter additional email addresses to receive the report. The Group Administrator would follow these steps to generate a FTDNATiP Report. From the Group Administrator Page, click on Member. On the Member List Page, select one person of the two you wish to compare, and click on Report. Then select the other person for the comparison, and click FTDNATiP on the far right. On the FTDNATiP Report Page, towards the bottom of the page, a box appears that contains the email addresses of the two participants who were analyzed. Additional emails can be entered. Be sure to enter a ; before each additional email address. Family Tree DNA has implemented an option to display mtDNA results on a Surname Project web site hosted at Family Tree DNA. To add mtDNA results to your Surname Project web site hosted at Family Tree DNA, do the following. From the Group Administrator Page, click on Family Project Website Setup. On the Setup Page, towards the bottom of the page, is the option to display mtDNA results. Click on the box to the right of the label "Display Member DNA Test (mtDNA) Results". Then click Submit. The web site will now display the mtDNA results for members of the Surname Project. With the start of a New Year, this is a perfect time to start a Surname Project. Anyone with experience with family history research can start a Surname Project. We supply the tools and guidance so your Surname Project is successful. There are just two steps to take to become a Group Administrator of a Surname Project: 1. Find out if a Surname Project exists for your surname. Click on the link below to search our database of Surname Projects: http://www.familytreeDNA.com/surname.asp 2. If a Surname Project hasn't been established for your surname, then use the email contact below to establish a Surname Project, or to discuss establishing a Surname Project: bcg@familytreeDNA.com for Bennett Greenspan The staff at Family Tree DNA would like to wish you and your family Best Wishes for the New Year. Case Studies in Genetic Genealogy ================================= In each issue of the Newsletter, we present a situation which you may encounter as you utilize Genetic Genealogy testing for your family history research, followed by our recommendation. Case Study ========== Will a male Y DNA test show any relationship or information if you are not a direct descendant of the surname? For example, I am a Jones but my mother was a Smith. I know I could take the test for Jones but would the test also show me anything about my mothers surname of Smith? Recommendation ============== The short answer is no. A Y DNA test would tell you about your direct male line, which is your father, his father, and so forth back in time. Both males and females inherit mtDNA from their mothers, though only females pass on mtDNA. You could learn about your mother, and her direct female line, by taking a mtDNA test. As a male, you can take both the Y DNA test and the mtDNA, and therefore find out more information about both your direct male, and your direct female line. =============================================================== REPRINT POLICY: We encourage the circulation of "Facts & Genes" by newsletters and lists providing that you credit the author, include our copyright information (Copyright 2004, Family Tree DNA), and cite "Facts & Genes" (http://www.familytreeDNA.com/facts_genes.asp) as the source. LOOKING FOR BARLOWS BARLOW GENEALOGY http://www.barlowgenealogy.com "A website for everyone researching the surname Barlow,any spelling or variation, anywhere, anytime... includes....Barlow, Barlowe, Barlo, Barloe, Barler, Parler, Parlur, Barlage,and others yet to be discovered"