Hi John, From what I can see, the 25 marker test would be ideal to start out with. ($169) Some begin with 12 marker ($99) and that's fine to hopefully place you in a group. The 25 marker can help pin down how far back a common ancestor might be among people you match with. It's best especially if you land in Group 5. Bill is the only one who has upgraded to the 37 marker ($229) so unless others in his group do the same, it's not worth having for now. Upgrades later do always cost a little more than if you order to begin with. This test is called "Y-DNA" for the Y-chromosome exclusive to males. The "x" you mentioned would be "mtdna" which is for maternal studies which the Couch project is not involved in. Seems those are more for people wanting to get better idea of parts of the world their maternal line comes from. There are still some in the project that would benefit from upgrade of 12 to 25. So far, best I can see is Ron is one with KY roots, also in group 5. You all correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Richard (W. KY) also in that group? Would be wonderful to see an East meets West KY come out of all this. Well John.......TAG.....you're it! lol Kathy Kentucky Couch Kin http://swapasource.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Couch" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Monday, April 19, 2004 11:31 AM Subject: [COUCH] DNA Testing > Hi Everyone, > > Was just filling out the order form for the DNA testing. How much of a difference is there between the tests? I'll take the 37 marker one is it is worth it. I know next to nothing about how the tests work, so any general information on that would be helpful too. Also, it's the male xx paternal marker tests correct? > > > ============================== > Gain access to over two billion names including the new Immigration > Collection with an Ancestry.com free trial. Click to learn more. > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=4930&sourceid=1237 > >