Hi Barbara, I just want to give an explanation about why DNA projects (including the BONNER project) often require only males. The simple reason is that the test is based on the Y-chromosome. Since females have no Y-chromosome, it is not even theoretically possible to test them. So for those BONNER females to have their DNA sampled, she will need to find a willing BONNER brother, or some other BONNER-surnamed male relative to represent her by proxy. But this is not to say that females can NOT be DNA tested for genealogical and other purposes. They can, in fact be tested - similar to the way a man inherits the Y-chromosome from his father, a woman (and men, too) inherits her mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from her mother. So why are the mtDNA projects less prevalent than the Y-chromosome tests? I think there are principally two reasons: 1. Since the surname will change every generation in the case of mother-daughter pairs, it makes recruiting much harder. After all, to fish for samples of BONNER Y-chromosome, all I have to do is open a phonebook and call every BONNER in there with a male sounding name, etc. For the mtDNA tests, it requires actual research to see which various lines may descend from the same mom's mom's mom's mom's (etc.) mom. 2. Plain old bias. There are plenty of uses for mtDNA testing, and I, for one, have had mine tested. And in a way, mtDNA testing could elucidate the male line of things, provided you had reasonable assurance of only one wife for a particular man. That is to say, if you can prove descent from some man's wife (through mtDNA), then that is tantamount to proving descent from the man directly. Personally, I think the mtDNA tests are terribly under-utilized. But then again, so are they all. Cheers, Gregg -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: 6/27/2003 10:48 PM Subject: Re: [BONNER] Philadelphia/Irish Bonner's Hello Neil, I've contacted you before about Bonner's in Phila. Daniel Butler Bonner. (previous e-mail address [email protected] no longer in use) Later I found that my Grandfather was Baptized in Wilmington Del. at 3 weeks of age. He at some point moved to Philadelphia, lived in a home owned by his parents and later married the daughter of Richard Hirst, a carpet manufacturer and banker in Philadelphia. Daniel always had a mild Irish accent. Story is that his father came from Ireland some time between the age of 6-10. Good article on the changes in the Bonner name. I had been following the DNA testing on the Butler family, as Daniel's mother was a Butler. Question: Why is DNA testing only on the male descendants? Barbara Roberts Okes ==== BONNER Mailing List ==== Have you considered participating in the BONNER DNA Project? http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gbonner/bonnerdna/ This list is a good place to ask questions about the project :) ============================== 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