Hi Folks, An upgrade result came in recently. There are thus far three different types of NEWTON DNA associated with Duplin County, NC, namely, "M", "O", and "W". http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~gbonner/newtondna/ This was problematic because M and O differed by two mutations. This usually suggests that the groups aren't related. But the newly discovered "W" type bridged the gap between the two, lending credence to the idea that all those folks were one family after all. Well, the most recent test showed that on markers 13 through 25, there was a perfect match between "M" and "O". So the match went from 10/12 (poor) to 23/25 (pretty good). This is pretty rare. Usually a 10/12 start only gets worse (less close) upon upgrade. Anyway, this is just more evidence that they were one genetic family. The upgrades should continue, and more samples sought, so this should resolve eventually. Still the strategy is unchanged, though. We will need more samples from "known" descents to eliminate the possibility that the families had similar DNA just by chance. With more samples, we can identify the DNA of the ancestor himself, and that way show that the mutations must have clustered (indicating different families), or else show that the mutations distributed normally (the expectation for a single genetic family). The "W" sample is currently being upgraded, so this will be revisited fairly soon. Cheers, Gregg Bonner NEWTON Surname DNA Project Group Administrator ____________________________________________________________________________________ Sponsored Link Mortgage rates near 39yr lows. $310k for $999/mo. Calculate new payment! www.LowerMyBills.com/lre