Wonderful of you to put this much time into an answer to help someone else out! Eugenia Researching Alstons in Elbert, Montgomery, Monroe and Sumter Counties, GA ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard White" <rw@pone.com> To: <GEORGIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, November 23, 2003 4:34 AM Subject: Re: [GEORGIA] Related to our ancestors????????????? > > Sandra... > > Your mitochondrial DNA should be the same or almost the same as all of > your mother's *direct line* of female ancestors going back hundreds and > possibly thousands of years. If you have a brother, his Y-DNA should be > the same or almost the same as that of all of his *direct line* of male > ancestors going back hundreds or possibly thousands of years, though > Y-DNA is somewhat more subject to mutation than mitochondrial DNA. > There is also a general pool of DNA that any child gets in random > proportion from both parents. That pool would be fairly similar for > siblings but changes rapidly going down the generations. > > I think what your nephew was trying to say to you was that since your > direct line is such a small proportion of all of the lines you are > related to, that there is very little common DNA shared with most of > your cousins... especially way out at a 3rd cousin. However, a small > portion of your cousins... mostly female, but also a few males (ones > with the same direct line of female ancestry as you) will have exactly > or almost exactly the same mitochondrial DNA as you, as will a small > portion of your brother's male cousins (those with the same line of male > ancestry as him) have exactly or almost exactly the same Y-DNA as him. > > Your mother's mitochondrial DNA is also shared by your brother but he > cannot pass it on... and you, having no Y-DNA from your father, do not > share any with your brother. > > Even within your direct lines the total package of DNA within each > individual person will be quite a bit different. > > Of course we are related to all of our ancestors, but the share of DNA > that most of them passed on to us is very small... and I guess that at > some uncertain point in time and reproduction, the DNA from our more > distant ancestors in effect gets randomly crowded out. But a very > small percentage of our ancestors passed on a major chunk of DNA to each > of us, that is the same size and type as it was in them, and it is > either exactly the same configuration in the tiniest detail as it was in > them, or perhaps it mutated just ever so slightly over many generations > through a slight "error" in the replication process. > > Does that help... or have I just confused things more? > > By the way... I'm no expert on this and I did not sleep at the Holiday > Inn last night. <G> > > RW > > Scalawag1867@aol.com wrote: > > >I help please. > > > >I talked at length this morning with my nephew who is with the FBI. > > > >He tells me that after three generations we are no longer related to our > >ancestors. > > > >we are linked by names but not by blood. > > > >He says no one is related to one another after third cousins. > > > >My line/ancestors: > > > >James Waldrop, Sr. > >Benjamin Waldrop > >Green Berry Waldrop 1794-1854 > >Joseph Ryan Waldrop 1827-1870 > >James Harry Waldrop 190601962 > >Me. > > > >So what he is saying I am only related to Green Berry Waldrop,Benjamin > >Waldrop his papa is not related to me, I am just in his name only line. > >We are only researching our names and not who wer are related to. > > > >So if James Waldrop, Sr. and Ann hadn't married in the 1700s, would I be > >here?? Does it not take one generation to make another. > > > >He said this was taught in the FBI and DNA. > > > >Help me please.....I am not educated in this and he is. > > > >Please tell me he is wrong. > > > >Sandra > >maiden Waldrop > >Georgia > > > > > > > > ==== GEORGIA Mailing List ==== > NOTICE: Posting of virus warnings, test messages, chain letters, political > announcements, current events, items for sale, personal messages, flames, > etc. (in other words - spam) is NOT ALLOWED and will be grounds for removal. > Consideration for exceptions, contact Kathleen Burnett kathleenburnett@earthlink.net > > ============================== > To join Ancestry.com and access our 1.2 billion online genealogy records, go to: > http://www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?targetid=571&sourceid=1237 >