Sorry, make that Could Not have his DNA done because I was a woman. ----- Original Message ----- From: Holleys To: nir-down@rootsweb.com Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 4:36 PM Subject: Re: [NIR-DOWN] NIR-DOWN/Have DNA Run I was told that my son could have his DNA done to prove our Drane ancestry because I was a woman and it needed to come down through only males. Is this not true? ----- Original Message ----- From: harveynbarbara@aol.com To: nir-down@rootsweb.com Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 4:25 PM Subject: Re: [NIR-DOWN] NIR-DOWN/Have DNA Run Kathy: After hearing your husband's story, it is my feeling that maybe you should take a break from the usual "stuff of genie research" and (as someone else suggested) have the DNA done. Not only is it enlightening to have it done, but it might give him a fresh look on the whole ancestry thing. It is very reasonable now to have the DNA testing done (about 5 companies in the U.S. are very good....and including the Genographic Project by the National Geographic people). There are some things in my family lineage that I just am never going to know for sure, but I left these things "simmer on the back burner." Relax, enjoy what is happening now....maybe your Tom has enough sketches from his past and that is that. At any rate, I don't recognize any of his surnames involved in the search. Wish I did. My little area was fairly small and everyone knew everyone!! Best of luck to you all. Barb By. **************************************Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products. (http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001) ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NIR-DOWN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to NIR-DOWN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

I am the administrator of the British Isles DNA project. My opinion is that DNA testing can be a very useful adjunct to paper research, but will certainly never substitute for it. Those interested in pursuing this resource must be aware that there are limits to what it can offer. Since Y-DNA is passed only through the male line (father to son, to son to son, etc.) it can only be used to trace the paternal line (father to father to father to father, etc.). Since only males have Y-DNA, only males can be tested on Y-DNA, which can potentially help trace a surname. Mitochondrial DNA, meanwhile, is passed from mothers to both children, and is therefore used to trace the maternal line (mother to mother to mother to mother, etc.). Since both males and females inherit mtDNA, both may donate, and in both cases, it is only the mother's maternal line that is traced. Furthermore, since Y-DNA and mtDNA mutate at different rates, their utility for genealogical purposes is somewhat different. Y-DNA mutates relatively quickly, and can therefore potentially provide information about ancestors in genealogical time (i.e., in 100s to 1000s of years). mtDNA mutates more slowly, and is therefore more suited to tracing ancient ancestry (1000s to 10,000s of years). Please keep these thoughts in mind when considering the use of DNA as a genealogical aid. Roy in Montreal