At the risk of being Off-Topic, "further to my last" I've now looked at the two sites involved in this, to find that it's not entirely as I'd believed... You have a choice of mitochondrial ["mtDNA" - female line only] or Y-chromosome ["Y-DNA" - male line, at 3 levels, of 12, 37 or 67 markers], or both. I'd (wrongly) assumed that it merely covered the basic mtDNA. But it'll cost you..... a) $129 for the basic mtDNA b) $149 for Y-DNA12 c) $189 for an enhanced mtDNA d) $259 for Y-DNA37 e) $349 for Y-DNA67 f) $229 for a + b g) $389 for c + d Which looks to be a Nice Business for the Testers although not exactly a cost-effective idea for a sole researcher... It doesn't tell you WHO your ancestors were (or even might have been) although if the database produces an exact match with someone already on it they will tell you both (if you've both given consent). The total database comprises 187,000 records - 122,000 Y-DNA; 65,000 mtDNA, accumulated over some 7 years. Which, to me, seems a pretty poor percentage of the 6,000,000,000 possible rellies Out There. As to the "County Gene Pool" theory, the whole thing seems to be based on very flimsy - not to say fuzzy - statistical analysis. The testers state that there's a 2 to 5% chance of 'irregularities' in every generation, which compounded over only 10 generations introduces a wide level of uncertainty once you get that far back. As a "valuable tool in genealogy" it's approaching the value of the motor-bike ashtray... Anyone who's done much serious research into Family History is only too well aware how prone our ancestors were to being Economical With The Truth to Census-takers, Registrars and the Clergy - and so knows that our Trees are likely to be as firm and rigid as balsa or bamboo. Nevertheless (if properly constructed) they are Legal Relationships, irrespective of the Genes involved.... There's a Big Difference here! Always remember the song whose last line is "Yo' Daddy ain' yo' Daddy, but yo' Daddy don' know"...... Gus