Dear Lesley, I sincerely apologize for the misspelling of your name. I should have paid more attention before I let it go. This is not typical of me since I am very detail oriented. Please forgive me. Lesley, I think that Dr. Michael Hammer, one of the most distinguished geneticists in the world, and a leading member of the YCC (Y-Chromosome Consortium), as well as Dr. Bruce Walsh, would have trouble in agreeing with you that "the rate (you wrote rare, but I think you meant rate) of Y mutation is a little higher, but not sufficient to show much difference within the number of generations that can be historically verified" as you claim. And as I said, there are many surname projects going on that can substantiate the usefulness of DNA in their genealogy research. Now, in no moment I said that DNA research alone is a solution for genealogy questions. We firmly believe that DNA is an additional tool to be used in conjunction with traditional genealogy research. Please also note that I didn't come to this list to sell DNA tests. I came here to answer a question that was posted by a member, and my signature was there to qualify the answer I was giving. If this list feels that I am just selling and my participation is not needed to add to the discussion about the use of DNA in Genealogy, I'll unsubscribe, that's fine. Otherwise, I'll be happy to stay and answer questions that you may have. Max Blankfeld max@familytreedna.com