Thanks for all the conversations on DNA testing. It really is helpful to begin to understand some of it. For DNA testing do you need a line to be now and going back? I do not have a long line of Browns one line starting with Abraham Brown abt 1600 of Watertown MA my 10th great grandfather on Father's side only 3 generations The other line is Anjus Brown late 1500's my 10th great grandfather on Mother's side only 5 generations With both lines only a few generations than a daughter married and off to another branch on the tree how does this effect testing? Judith

Hello Jane, I'm not certain I understand your question, but if you mean, do you have to have a long, known paper pedigree? No, not at all. Some people in my projects are adopted and don't even know the identity of their biological parents. They're getting tested in the hope of finding out. However, the person being tested for the BROWN Y-DNA Surname Project must be a male surnamed BROWN. Females have no Y-chromosome, so that cannot be tested for a surname project. And the only male line you can test is the patrilineal (direct male) line of a man. If there are any females in the line, the chain is broken. It sounds like you've "daughtered out" of both your BROWN lines, so you'll have to seek cousins to test, cousins who are male BROWNS. And yes, everyone has just one patrilineal line and one matrilineal line. For all the rest of your lines, you will have to depend on cousins to test them. This chart may help: http://danishdemes.org/FAQs.shtml#direct It's aimed at the members of my Danish regional project, but the concept's the same for all projects. Diana > -----Original Message----- > From: brown-bounces@rootsweb.com On Behalf Of Judith MacKinnion > Sent: Sunday, December 20, 2009 12:10 PM > To: brown@rootsweb.com > Subject: [BROWN] DNA > > Thanks for all the conversations on DNA testing. It really > is helpful to begin to understand some of it. > > For DNA testing do you need a line to be now and going back? > > I do not have a long line of Browns one line starting with > Abraham Brown abt 1600 of Watertown MA my 10th great > grandfather on Father's side only 3 generations > > The other line is Anjus Brown late 1500's my 10th great > grandfather on Mother's side only 5 generations > > With both lines only a few generations than a daughter > married and off to another branch on the tree how does this effect testing? > > Judith > >