Dear friends, Many of you remember the excitement and pride we felt when members of the genetic genealogy community played a leading role in the discovery of A00, the earliest branch of the Y-chromosome phylogenetic tree, when our paper was published in early 2013. There was an outpouring of support when we asked for donations in summer and fall 2013, for our proposed research project to collect more A00 samples in Cameroon. We were fully funded for our first trips by the community, with only modest effort. Then we found out how much we didn't know about getting through an ethical review process, but eventually, we found our way to the goal -- we were finally approved this past summer. Matthew immediately took to the field, and collected over 200 new samples among the ethnic groups known to have A00 among them, the Bangwa, and his own Mbo people. Testing by Thomas and Astrid Krahn at YSEQ revealed that 35 of these samples belong to A00, a much higher percentage than anticipated! Most of the non-A00 samples belong to haplogroup E1b1a, and a few belong to B2a1, A0, and other groups we have yet to determine. Now we're following through with the rest of the study, gathering samples from other areas of gradually increasing distance from the A00 epicenter, to find out the distribution and diversity of this super-rare group. Matthew made another trip in October, and collected as many samples again, from the Bamileke, and more outlying Bangwa. These now need to be tested, for 18 STRs in every sample, and two SNPs in each sample that has the distinctive A00 haplotype. This has shown, so far, that there are two main branches of A00, one found among the Bangwa, and the other among the Mbo. One man has been found who belongs to neither branch, and we'll be getting a full Y sequence of his DNA, to add his branch to our tree. We'll do the same for any other member of A00 we find who doesn't belong to one of these two branches, or who shows notable diversity in his haplotype. And of course, we'll be on the lookout for anyone who could possibly be a member of a brand-new haplogroup! To see the current branches of the A00 tree, please go to *http://tinyurl.com/o74vodu* On our next field trip, in January, Matthew will sample peoples to the West, the Banyang and Ejagham. Our exciting news is that Thomas Krahn will be traveling to Cameroon in January, and will accompany Matthew! They'll also visit villages previously sampled, to return results to the men already tested, something almost never done in traditional academic studies. We, as genetic genealogists, see them as individuals, not just sources of raw material. They are interested in learning about their paternal lineages, and we are trying to learn as much as possible about the A00-bearing families and their history. Does that sound like something you'd like to support? We're now in our crowdfunding phase again, after two years of not asking for any of your money. Our goal is to raise $7,655, and we've received $3,623 in donations from 41 donors so far, leaving us $4032 to go! We only have two weeks to make it to our goal by our deadline, Jan. 6th! Please help us reach it, at *http://experiment.com/A00west* Here are some examples of what your gift will buy: * For $25, you can buy three days of meals for Matthew in the field. * For $35, you can pay for the printing of all of our Informed Consent and Questionnaire forms that we use with each DNA donor. * For $42, you can pay for one day's transportation in the field. * For $50, you can pay for three days' lodging for Matthew in the field. * For $52, you can pay for about 10% of the SNP testing of the A00 samples that Matthew collected in October. * For $84, you can pay the salary of the driver or translator for the field trip. * For $105, you can pay for the SNP testing of 1/5 of the A00 samples. * For $132, you can pay for the SNP testing of 1/4 of the A00 samples. * For $175, you can pay for the SNP testing of 1/3 of the A00 samples, or the STR testing of about 5% of all the Bamileke & Bangwa samples from October's trip. * For $250, you can pay for the STR testing of 7% of all the samples. * For $350, you can pay for the STR testing of 10% of all the samples. * For $500, you can pay for the STR testing of 1/7 of all the samples. * For $525, you can pay for the SNP testing of all of the A00 samples from October. * For $700, you can pay for the STR testing of 1/5 of all the samples. * For $880, you can pay for the STR testing of 1/4 of all the samples. * For $1200, you can pay for the STR testing of over 1/3 of all the samples. * For $1760, you can pay for the STR testing of half of all the samples. * For $2000, you can pay for the STR testing of 57% of all the samples. * For $3520, you can pay for the STR testing of all the Bamileke and Bangwa samples collected in October. This year, inspiring people to donate has been a lot more challenging than the first time. We're now really doing what we promised to do back then, so please don't let us down! *http://experiment.com/A00west* is where you can contribute*. *There's much more yet to be done. After the trip to the West, we plan to sample the Pygmy peoples and their neighbors, to the South and East, where Matthew found a few A00 around the same time as he collected the original Mbo A00 samples (those samples now belong to the Center for Genetic Anthropology at University College London -- we have no access to them). And we plan more full Y sequences, as I've mentioned. We're doing cutting-edge, basic scientific research, which will contribute substantially to current efforts to ever more accurately date the TMRCA of the entire tree, and all the earliest nodes within it, as in the new paper by Barbieri et al, Refining the Y Chromosome Phylogeny with Southern African Sequences -- see http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/12/20/034983 But they didn't perform full Y sequences of their samples, as we've done with our existing A00 sample from the Perry family, and will be doing with others. All of these sequences will be available for public access, as will the Y-STR haplotypes. Please help this research prosper and come to a successful conclusion, with your generous donation at *http://experiment.com/A00west* Donors are entitled to advance access to our data! Just let us know you're interested. Wishing you a joyful holiday season, Bonnie Schrack for the A00 Cameroon Research Project http://www.facebook.com/A00.Cameroon.Project/ http://haplogroup-a.com -- *Farther Back We All Connect*

Dear Bonnie, Thank you for keeping us informed about the progress. I've tried to lookup information about the Bangwa on Wikipedia but couldn't find anything. Only information available is on the Mbo, it's article mentions the Bangwa but there is no standalone article. Maybe someone attached to the project would like to write it, especially now from the Adam background. Just for my understanding. Is Cameroon now considered to be the birth place of Adam or is that unlikely until a higher percentage of A00 samples are found anywhere else in a location? As E1b1a is so much more present there does it mean that most A00 lines unfortunately died out? Andreas > On 24 Dec 2015, at 00:27, Bonnie Schrack via <genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com> wrote: > > Dear friends, > > Many of you remember the excitement and pride we felt when members of > the genetic genealogy community played a leading role in the discovery > of A00, the earliest branch of the Y-chromosome phylogenetic tree, when > our paper was published in early 2013. > > There was an outpouring of support when we asked for donations in summer > and fall 2013, for our proposed research project to collect more A00 > samples in Cameroon. We were fully funded for our first trips by the > community, with only modest effort. > > Then we found out how much we didn't know about getting through an > ethical review process, but eventually, we found our way to the goal -- > we were finally approved this past summer. > > Matthew immediately took to the field, and collected over 200 new > samples among the ethnic groups known to have A00 among them, the > Bangwa, and his own Mbo people. > > Testing by Thomas and Astrid Krahn at YSEQ revealed that 35 of these > samples belong to A00, a much higher percentage than anticipated! > > Most of the non-A00 samples belong to haplogroup E1b1a, and a few belong > to B2a1, A0, and other groups we have yet to determine. > > Now we're following through with the rest of the study, gathering > samples from other areas of gradually increasing distance from the A00 > epicenter, to find out the distribution and diversity of this super-rare > group. > > Matthew made another trip in October, and collected as many samples > again, from the Bamileke, and more outlying Bangwa. These now need to be > tested, for 18 STRs in every sample, and two SNPs in each sample that > has the distinctive A00 haplotype. > > This has shown, so far, that there are two main branches of A00, one > found among the Bangwa, and the other among the Mbo. One man has been > found who belongs to neither branch, and we'll be getting a full Y > sequence of his DNA, to add his branch to our tree. We'll do the same > for any other member of A00 we find who doesn't belong to one of these > two branches, or who shows notable diversity in his haplotype. And of > course, we'll be on the lookout for anyone who could possibly be a > member of a brand-new haplogroup! > > To see the current branches of the A00 tree, please go to > *http://tinyurl.com/o74vodu* > > On our next field trip, in January, Matthew will sample peoples to the > West, the Banyang and Ejagham. > > Our exciting news is that Thomas Krahn will be traveling to Cameroon in > January, and will accompany Matthew! They'll also visit villages > previously sampled, to return results to the men already tested, > something almost never done in traditional academic studies. We, as > genetic genealogists, see them as individuals, not just sources of raw > material. They are interested in learning about their paternal lineages, > and we are trying to learn as much as possible about the A00-bearing > families and their history. > > Does that sound like something you'd like to support? We're now in our > crowdfunding phase again, after two years of not asking for any of your > money. Our goal is to raise $7,655, and we've received $3,623 in > donations from 41 donors so far, leaving us $4032 to go! We only have > two weeks to make it to our goal by our deadline, Jan. 6th! > > Please help us reach it, at *http://experiment.com/A00west* > > Here are some examples of what your gift will buy: > > * For $25, you can buy three days of meals for Matthew in the field. > * For $35, you can pay for the printing of all of our Informed Consent > and Questionnaire forms that we use with each DNA donor. > * For $42, you can pay for one day's transportation in the field. > * For $50, you can pay for three days' lodging for Matthew in the field. > * For $52, you can pay for about 10% of the SNP testing of the A00 > samples that Matthew collected in October. > * For $84, you can pay the salary of the driver or translator for the > field trip. > * For $105, you can pay for the SNP testing of 1/5 of the A00 samples. > * For $132, you can pay for the SNP testing of 1/4 of the A00 samples. > * For $175, you can pay for the SNP testing of 1/3 of the A00 samples, > or the STR testing of about 5% of all the Bamileke & Bangwa samples > from October's trip. > * For $250, you can pay for the STR testing of 7% of all the samples. > * For $350, you can pay for the STR testing of 10% of all the samples. > * For $500, you can pay for the STR testing of 1/7 of all the samples. > * For $525, you can pay for the SNP testing of all of the A00 samples > from October. > * For $700, you can pay for the STR testing of 1/5 of all the samples. > * For $880, you can pay for the STR testing of 1/4 of all the samples. > * For $1200, you can pay for the STR testing of over 1/3 of all the > samples. > * For $1760, you can pay for the STR testing of half of all the samples. > * For $2000, you can pay for the STR testing of 57% of all the samples. > * For $3520, you can pay for the STR testing of all the Bamileke and > Bangwa samples collected in October. > > This year, inspiring people to donate has been a lot more challenging > than the first time. We're now really doing what we promised to do back > then, so please don't let us down! > > *http://experiment.com/A00west* is where you can contribute*. > > *There's much more yet to be done. After the trip to the West, we plan > to sample the Pygmy peoples and their neighbors, to the South and East, > where Matthew found a few A00 around the same time as he collected the > original Mbo A00 samples (those samples now belong to the Center for > Genetic Anthropology at University College London -- we have no access > to them). And we plan more full Y sequences, as I've mentioned. > > We're doing cutting-edge, basic scientific research, which will > contribute substantially to current efforts to ever more accurately date > the TMRCA of the entire tree, and all the earliest nodes within it, as > in the new paper by Barbieri et al, Refining the Y Chromosome Phylogeny > with Southern African Sequences -- see > http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/12/20/034983 > > But they didn't perform full Y sequences of their samples, as we've done > with our existing A00 sample from the Perry family, and will be doing > with others. All of these sequences will be available for public > access, as will the Y-STR haplotypes. > > Please help this research prosper and come to a successful conclusion, > with your generous donation at *http://experiment.com/A00west* > > Donors are entitled to advance access to our data! Just let us know > you're interested. > > Wishing you a joyful holiday season, > > Bonnie Schrack > for the A00 Cameroon Research Project > http://www.facebook.com/A00.Cameroon.Project/ > http://haplogroup-a.com > > > -- > *Farther Back We All Connect* > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to GENEALOGY-DNA-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message