Hello all Listers - I received a message written in French suggesting as I understood it that we list our female ancestors icw Womans Day. I wrote up a list but it seems it was wrong. I got the following answer and subsequent comments which will follow in a separate message. Not quite what Guy was talking about. What is meant here is a listing of all the FEMALES in one's ascending line in a similar fashion to what is normally done when we list our ancestors through our father's ascending line. The great advantage in doing our paternal line is that our last name doesn't normally change, whereas maternal lines change name every time an ancestress marries, (assuming, of course, she doesn't marry someone with an identical last name). Genetically we inherit, male and female both, what is called our "mtDNA" or mitochondrial DNA from our mothers. This is a specific and quite unusual type of DNA which is not in the cell's nucleus as most DNA is. Instead, it is in the substance outside the nucleus, and it is inherited ONLY FROM THE MOTHER, and she, in turn, inherited it only from her mother, and so on back. This is not just any matrilineal line, but rather a very specific umbilical line. In your pedigree chart, this umbilical line comprises the numbers 1, 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, 127, 255, 511, etc. Males get their mtDNA from their mothers, but they will not pass theirs on. In the absence of mutation (change in the DNA), a person's mtDNA will be identical to his or her mother's mother's mother's.... etc. mtDNA. Thus if you and I share a common ancestral woman at the top of our umbilical lines, your mtDNA and mine should be identical after HUNDREDS of years. We french-canadians have a population that looks like a pyramid or cone with very flat sides, due to the fact that probably no more than 5000 souls actually left descendants. Adding to this small genetic base is the relative completeness of good primary source material. We have a population that due to its relatively rare intermarriage with other ethnic groups until recently, our gene pool has retained its integrity. (My Irish-German wife is the first non french-canadian lady in my line in over 350 years). This mtDNA research has practical applications beside genetically tying us into segments of the European population Even today in Argentina many grandmothers of women that were arrested and executed as political activists during that country's "Dirty War" have given blood samples to have their mtDNA categorized. It is a little known fact that when these arrested women were found to be pregnant, they were allowed to go to term with their child before being executed. Their child was then given to loyal members of the regime to be reared. By tying in the mtDNA samples taken from these same children with the known mtDNA in the grandmothers' data base, these children are in the process of being re-united with their biological families. While in Argentina I saw these grandmothers marching on Sundays in front of the "Pink Palace" in Buenos Aires to publicize their movement. Professor Mary-Claire King, formely of the University of California, Berkeley, has been in the forefront of helping these grandmothers set up their mtDNA data base. I even had my own blood sample taken there to be inserted into their data base of french-canadians, but that program is apparently still on the back burner. written by J.-Richard-Laurent Boucher in Lafayette, California A COMMENT AND SLIGHT CORRECTION FOLLOWS:Your French-Canadian friend is right about the mitochondrial DNA being an important source of information. However, the statement that it is in the "substance outside the nucleus" is a bit vague. It is actually in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells, hence the name mitochondrial DNA. The mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell, engaged in aerobic respiration - the breakdown of nutrients to release energy. Mitochondrial DNA was sequenced in the 1980s and found to have less than 17,000 base pair sequences - as contrasted with the some 3 billion base pairs of the nuclear DNA. Because of the smaller size and the fact it divides separate of the nuclear DNA, the DNA in the mitocondria offer a number of interesting possibilities in researching lineages. For example, it is part of the process of identifying the locale and age of our earliest evolutionary ancestors. WRITTEN BY DAVID. more to follow in a separate message Joyce

Joyce, I just thought I would throw my 2cents into this thread. It certainly does relate to genealogy. My mother and my two sisters have Van Willibrandts disease. Not sure I have spelled that correctly, but it is rare form of hemophilia. I do not have it, but my sisters do AND one nephew (recently diagnosed). Every minor surgery becomes a major effort for them, and major surgery requires several doctors and plenty of preparation. As part of my genealogy research, I request the death certificate, to determine if this disease played a role in their demise. I recently learned that my great grandfather died of Locomotor Ataxia, which can also be hereditary. We owe it to ourselves to be vigilant to such disorders. Genealogy research is fun, but it can also save lives. Knowledge is power. John Farrall Burke, Virginia ----- Original Message ----- From: <CRETEYET@aol.com> To: <BIRKENHEAD-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, March 10, 2002 1:52 PM Subject: [BKHD] Matrilineal Line > Hello all Listers - I received a message written in French suggesting as I > understood it that we list our female ancestors icw Womans Day. > > I wrote up a list but it seems it was wrong. I got the following answer and > subsequent comments which will follow in a separate message. > > Not quite what Guy was talking about. What is meant here is a listing > of all the FEMALES in one's ascending line in a similar fashion to what is > normally done when we list our ancestors through our father's ascending > line. The great advantage in doing our paternal line is that our last name > doesn't normally change, whereas maternal lines change name every time > an ancestress marries, (assuming, of course, she doesn't marry someone > with an identical last name). > > Genetically we inherit, male and female both, what is called our "mtDNA" > or mitochondrial DNA from our mothers. This is a specific and quite > unusual type of DNA which is not in the cell's nucleus as most DNA is. > Instead, it is in the substance outside the nucleus, and it is inherited > ONLY FROM THE MOTHER, and she, in turn, inherited it only from her > mother, and so on back. This is not just any matrilineal line, but rather > a very specific umbilical line. In your pedigree chart, this umbilical line > comprises the numbers 1, 3, 7, 15, 31, 63, 127, 255, 511, etc. > > Males get their mtDNA from their mothers, but they will not pass theirs on. > In the absence of mutation (change in the DNA), a person's mtDNA will be > identical to his or her mother's mother's mother's.... etc. mtDNA. Thus if > you and I share a common ancestral woman at the top of our umbilical > lines, your mtDNA and mine should be identical after HUNDREDS of years. > > We french-canadians have a population that looks like a pyramid or cone > with very flat sides, due to the fact that probably no more than 5000 souls > actually left descendants. Adding to this small genetic base is the relative > completeness of good primary source material. We have a population that > due to its relatively rare intermarriage with other ethnic groups until > recently, > our gene pool has retained its integrity. (My Irish-German wife is the first > non french-canadian lady in my line in over 350 years). > > This mtDNA research has practical applications beside genetically tying us > into segments of the European population Even today in Argentina many > grandmothers of women that were arrested and executed as political > activists during that country's "Dirty War" have given blood samples to have > their mtDNA categorized. It is a little known fact that when these arrested > women were found to be pregnant, they were allowed to go to term with their > child before being executed. Their child was then given to loyal members of > the regime to be reared. By tying in the mtDNA samples taken from these > same children with the known mtDNA in the grandmothers' data base, these > children are in the process of being re-united with their biological > families. > > While in Argentina I saw these grandmothers marching on Sundays in front > of the "Pink Palace" in Buenos Aires to publicize their movement. Professor > Mary-Claire King, formely of the University of California, Berkeley, has been > > in the forefront of helping these grandmothers set up their mtDNA data base. > I even had my own blood sample taken there to be inserted into their data > base of french-canadians, but that program is apparently still on the back > burner. written by J.-Richard-Laurent Boucher in Lafayette, California > > A COMMENT AND SLIGHT CORRECTION FOLLOWS:Your French-Canadian friend is right > about the mitochondrial DNA being an important source of information. > However, the statement that it is in the "substance outside the nucleus" is a > bit vague. It is actually in the mitochondria of eukaryotic cells, hence the > name mitochondrial DNA. The mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cell, > engaged in aerobic respiration - the breakdown of nutrients to release > energy. Mitochondrial DNA was sequenced in the 1980s and found to have less > than 17,000 base pair sequences - as contrasted with the some 3 billion base > pairs of the nuclear DNA. Because of the smaller size and the fact it > divides separate of the nuclear DNA, the DNA in the mitocondria offer a > number of interesting possibilities in researching lineages. For example, it > is part of the process of identifying the locale and age of our earliest > evolutionary ancestors. WRITTEN BY DAVID. > > more to follow in a separate message Joyce > > > ==== BIRKENHEAD Mailing List ==== > To contact the administrator of this mailing list, send mail to > BIRKENHEAD-admin@rootsweb.com > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 > >