Is anyone involved in a DNA testing program or knowledgeable about them? Thank you Marilyn Marilyn Bess email [email protected] Researcher Bradford, Potter, Tioga, PA Chemung,Tioga,Tompkins,Schuyler,Steuben,

Marilyn- Here are a few words about DNA testing in genealogy. Hopefully, experts will tell you more. First, the cost is, or used to be when we did it years ago, not so high that people worried too much about it. You swab a q-tip against the inside of your cheek and mail it in. The q-tip is checked for paternal DNA. Paternal DNA is usually passed from father to son without any modification. This means that this DNA goes right along with the family name because the family name is also passed from father to son. In any line of descendants, the family name is lost at any point where a female is an ancestor. The paternal DNA has this same problem. However, it is obvious from the discussion above that any two people that have the same paternal DNA share a common male ancestor. We took DNA samples from a group of people that had the same last name. These people were volunteers that lived randomly across the eastern United States. To my surprise, only an insignificant number did not have common paternal DNA. One member of the group had written evidence that traced him back to an emigrant from England that came over in the 1600. Many of the group incorrectly assumed that the paternal DNA match with him meant that they too descended from this same emigrant. But actually a DNA match only proved that they descended from the same English family as this emigrant. Certainly, they all may have descended from this one emigrant, but it only PROVED that they shared a common male ancestor with him. One last clarification. Through the generations this paternal DNA will gradually mutate so that it is no longer an exact match. If a father passes on to a son a mutated version of this DNA, then the son also passes on the mutated version to his son. This allows subgrouping of the family into groups that share a male ancestor within the larger same-family-name group. Some of this was done in our study but I did not keep up. This is only about paternal DNA. There are also DNA studies (that cost more) that will tell you whether or not your mother had Indian blood. (Mine had no Indian blood. So it all came from my father!) And there are other things like that but I have no experience with them. Paternal DNA is the most common study. Carl > Is anyone involved in a DNA testing program or knowledgeable about them? > Thank you Marilyn > Marilyn Bess email [email protected] > Researcher Bradford, Potter, Tioga, PA > Chemung,Tioga,Tompkins,Schuyler,Steuben, > > >

My brother-in-law had DNA testing in a Carson project. Here are the links he sent for the project he was involved in: Carson Project 6 Page Website: http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/c/carson/ Pedigree Forum: http://www.wfnforum.net/index.php?topic=2374.0 General information about us and about promoting your project: http://www.worldfamilies.net/welcome.htm And our Home Page, with lots of information about Surname DNA Projects: http://worldfamilies.net/ Carolyn Carson