This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Reed Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/XSB.2ACE/12346 Message Board Post: For those who have unfortunately run into a genealogical "brick wall" concerning your Reed/Reid/Read/Reade/Riedt ancestor, science and technology has recently provided us with a very exciting and potent tool to aid us in our long-standing quest for identifying our ancestral heritage. To this end, the Reed Y-chromosome DNA Project was launched last year and is now up to twenty participants and counting. So if you, or a male relative of yours (father, husband, brother, cousin, etc.) have the surname of Reed (or any variant spelling), and descend from any of the Reed/Reid/Read/Reade/Riedt families of early Davidson Co., NC, then it might be something you’d want to take a look at. Results thus far in the ongoing project are posted at http://www.familytreedna.com/public/reed/. As a sidenote, for any potential participants who may be the least bit concerned about privacy-related issues, these are fully addressed within the links associated with the above web site. And since this international study only deals with a very tiny, and specific, segment of the entire DNA sequence, it can only be used to aid in scientifically confirming the degree of relatedness between the many Reed/Reid/Read, etc. study participants - merely to help us determine which participant we share a common Reed/Reid/Read, etc. ancestor with (if any), and estimate how many generations back this event likely occurred. In fact, this study has already allowed me to eliminate a couple of long-standing, potential Reed ancestors off of my own list, so that I am now able to focus on the remaining potential lines that I've assimilated in my many years of research to date. And obviously, as more and more study results (and hopefully matches, or near matches) come in from worldwide participants, our search can be even further narrowed, thus bringing us closer to scientifically identifying our "true" ancestral line, as well as their country of origin, etc., if we're fortunate. So, by all means, please participate if you can and see the above link for further details. A mere twelve (12) y-DNA marker test should be quite sufficient for now. Best wishes, Bob P.S. The aforementioned web site may also be referenced for a list of all "other" DNA -surname projects (hundreds) presently underway. Check it out; it'll be worth your while.