TO: HILL List Subscribers: NOTE: I am posting the following with the permission of the Rootsweb HILL-L Discussion List Administrator". If your research on your HILL family has hit a brick wall, as mine has, then I encourage you to read this email in its entirety and do a little research to satisfy your own curiosity and doubts about DNA testing as a supplement to good genealogy research. I know I certainly had my doubts, but after spending some time researching the applications of DNA testing, I am wondering why in the world we aren't all doing it! At this time, one of the leading companies doing DNA testing for genealogical purposes is Family Tree DNA (www.FamilyTreeDNA.com). After reading about other surname reconstruction projects using this company for DNA testing (there are over 200), I contacted Bennett Greenspan, President of Family Tree DNA and asked about their discounted prices for family reconstruction projects. He tells me that we need to have at least six HILL family descendants initially participate in the project if we want the discounted rate (less than half of the standard rate) and, one of those must serve as the HILL Surname Project Manager. I will be willing to do this if no one else wants to do it. If there is a DNA match, we will be advised by email that we have a common ancestor, within a specified range of generations and probability. For male participants, the test will reflect DNA types for your direct blood line through your father, his father, his father, etc. For female participants, ! your grandfather, father, brother or uncle (all Hill surnames) will need to participate in the test. As others wish to participate in the test later, all they need to do is to contact the HILL Surname Project Manager, who will arrange for the DNA kits to be sent to you. Your DNA will be entered into a computer database (under strict privacy rules) and if a match is found, you and the person you match will be informed (assuming the proper consent forms were signed). DNA testing alone will probably not result in anything meaningful. You have to take into consideration the research you have done on your family history. Say, for instance, that you have proven who your Gr Grandfather is and have discovered someone that you think may be your Gr Gr Grandfather, but can't prove it through primary sources of data. If you can find a male descendant (surname HILL) that has proven a connection to the person you think may be your Gr Gr Grandfather, then you need to convince that person to participate in the HILL Surname Reconstruction Project. If the DNA test shows an identical DNA match to yours, then you will know that somewhere down the line of HILL descendants that the two of you had a common ancestor. Many of you that have had fantastic success in tracing certain branches of your HILL ancestors, while others have had success in tracing other branches. In many instances some of these branches probably connected to the same tree, but you can'! t prove it. Since many of us have run out of primary sources to research, our success in proving or disproving such connections may only be possible through DNA testing. Please enter the letters "DNA" in you search engine and and check out some of the websites. If you find I am incorrect in any statement I made above, please let me know. Otherwise, I will be the first one to request my DNA kit. Who will join me? If you are interested, contact me and I will let you know what the fantastic discount price is for participating in this project and will try to answer any other questions you may have. However, the www.FamilyTreeDND.com website should answer most of your questions (except the discount price). For the record, I have no vested interest in Family Tree DNA or any other DNA testing service and do not know anyone that does. E. R. "Ray" Hill [email protected] PS: Here is some additional information you may be interested in (Source: http://www.ancestry.com/library/view/ancmag/1480.asp) The Birth of DNA Genetic Research: The Human Genome Organization was founded in 1989 by an international group of genetic researchers for the purpose of mapping the entire human genetic structure. In 1990 the National Institute of Health and the Department of Energy agreed to coordinate efforts by establishing the Human Genome Project. What Can DNA Tell Us? There are two types of DNA. One is found in the central nucleus of each human cell on one of twenty-three pairs of tiny structures called chromosomes. The one that is significant for family history is designated the Y chromosome, which many researchers focused on as work progressed on mapping the genome. It appears only in males and is passed from father to son, except for random changes that happen infrequently over a number of generations. The other, called mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), is found outside the nucleus of each human cell in small structures called mitochondria. It is passed unchanged from mother to child. Thus the Y-chromosome DNA is found only within the all-male patrilineal line-the line through which the family surname is transmitted to sons, unless their relationships reflect adoptions or marital infidelity along the way. The mtDNA is characteristic of the mother's all-female line-the so-called umbilical line that's difficult to trace because a woman's surname changes with marriage in each generation. These are the only two lines current DNA tests can identify or match to other individuals belonging to the same line. In other words, DNA testing is only applicable to lines going back through two of our eight great-grandparents-our father's paternal grandfather and our mother's maternal grandmother. Because women don't carry the Y-chromosome, their paternal male line can be traced only through a DNA sample from a father or brother. Who Offers DNA Testing? Two firms, Family Tree DNA (http://www.familytreedna.com/) and Oxford Ancestry, are currently providing DNA tests to genealogists on a commercial basis. Both use samples collected by rubbing a small stiff-bristled brush against the inside of the cheek. Family Tree DNA focuses on recent relationships and will report whether samples from several individuals are actually related, with a statistical determination of how many generations back the most recent common ancestor (MCRA) will be found, based on analyses of both mtDNA and Y-chromosome DNA, where present. The firm's scientific work is under the supervision of Dr. Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona. Male samples get two tests-Y-chromosome and mtDNA-for the same price. It is preferable to use the sample from a brother rather than sister because that way the father's line as well as the mother's can be determined. The Oxford Ancestry approach is more anthropological and is currently based on mtDNA tests only, although Y-chromosome tests are expected to be added shortly. Under the direction of Oxford's Dr. Bryan Sykes, it will provide a certificate that identifies the genetic code for some four hundred units along the mtDNA chain and will identify the client's maternal line. There are some thirty such lines, which diverged between 8,000 and 170,000 years ago, and from which we are all descended. The time estimates are based on the rate of random, single changes in the DNA code, which occur about once every 20,000 years.