There are two kinds of DNA testing being used in genealogy today. One kind traces back through the mother's mother's mother's line. It is useful in proving relationships in a limited number of situations. The more useful test is the one done on the y chromosome (carried only by males) since we use the male's surname. So, to do a test to find out if you are related to a certain [Mitchell] family, you would need to be a male who was named Mitchell. That being said, DNA testing would not prove or disprove if your line was German unless you had a proven German line to compare your results with. When you are tested (from a swab from the cheek), you receive a list of numbers (right now 12 or 25--write me privately for prices). These are only useful if you have someone else to compare them with. Right now there are 17 Mitchells in the Mitchell surname study with Family Tree DNA of Houston. Most of us have ancestors in North Carolina or Virginia in the 1700's. That gives us some reason to think we might be related in the first place. We have found some 12 marker matches that suggest these Mitchells have a common ancestor in the past several hundred years but so far none have been able to find proof of who that ancestor was. Others in the test have not matched with anyone in the test but their numbers are in the same ball park suggesting a common ethnic (European) heritage. Several were way out of the norm. As the co-ordinator of the Mitchell DNA test, I would welcome any Mitchell male to our test. But since the test is still reasonably expensive I would advise you to have a hypothesis you are trying to prove or disprove since the Mitchell name appears to have many origins. Today I expect lab results from a descendant of a well-researched line of Mitchells from Virginia. Several in our test suspect descent from this line and are eagerly awaiting these results.Some of us have tested because we are at a brick wall and although we did not match up with anyone, we now know which lines not to pursue. My brother's test reveals that he has a fairly uncommon value on one of his markers. If we find another Mitchell with that value we will certainly look closely at that person. In the future, as prices come down, we hope this kind of testing becomes much more widespread so that we will have more people to compare ourselves with. We also need to interest Mitchells in Europe in testing so that we can hook up there. Aneita Mitchell Allen >From: "tinkerbox" <tinkerbox@alltel.net> >Reply-To: "tinkerbox" <tinkerbox@alltel.net> >To: MITCHELL-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: Re: [MITCHELL] MITCHELL/MUSHLER/DNA TEST >Date: Mon, 12 Aug 2002 22:32:00 -0400 > > >----- Original Message ----- >From: <TheFamilySleuth@aol.com> >To: <MITCHELL-L@rootsweb.com> >Sent: Monday, August 12, 2002 7:26 PM >Subject: [MITCHELL] MITCHELL/MUSHLER/DNA TEST > > > > Thank you for your suggestion on a DNA test. It's possible my dad could >do > > it. Can you tell me what's involved, how much it is and how to go about > > getting it done? But would it tell us what the origin of our MITCHELL >line > > is (ie, Germany, Scotland, Ireland, etc.)? Thank you for your help! > > > > Rebecca Weigold > > DNA comes down through the mother not the father so I don't think that >you would have any luck sending blood samples for testing just because your >name is Mitchell. > >Charles Mitchell > > > > > > ==== MITCHELL Mailing List ==== > > To contact the list administrator, please send a message to: >Mitchell-admin@rootsweb.com. > > > > > > >==== MITCHELL Mailing List ==== >To UNSUBSCRIBE, please send an unsubscribe message to: >Mitchell-L-request@rootsweb.com. If on digest, substitute a D for the L. _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx