Following on from the discussion a week or two back fellow PAGE researchers who don't receive Eastman's newsletter may be interested in the attached, which is in this week's edition. Michael Page (Peterborough, Cambs, UK) ========================================================= Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter ============================================================== - More on Oxford Ancestors Two weeks ago I wrote an article in this newsletter about Professor Brian Sykes' success at using genetics to trace a family tree. Professor Sykes did not trace the lineage of each and every person in the tradition of most genealogists. However, he did use DNA analysis to prove descent from a common, although unnamed, ancestor. The last paragraph that I wrote said: Sykes has patented the test for an association between a surname and the Y chromosome, and, with the university, started up a company to perform the tests. "We are probably going to call it Oxford Ancestors," he said. Sykes made good on his prediction and even has a Web site in place now. This site proclaims: Oxford Ancestors is a new venture, backed by Oxford University, to harness the power and precision of modern genetics in the service of genealogy. DNA, the genetic material, flows from one generation to the next with no need for written records. Oxford Ancestors builds on over a decade of research into human populations and their origins carried out by Professor Bryan Sykes, Professor of Human Genetics, and his team in the world-renowned Institute of Molecular Medicine at Oxford. Oxford Ancestors is the first organisation in the world to offer these DNA-based services in genealogy. Sykes and his new company are now selling three products: MatriLine: MatriLine uses mitochondrial DNA to probe into the deep past. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA for short) is unique in being inherited exclusively through the maternal line, so revealing a female genealogy which has been virtually invisible up to now. Research in Oxford during the past decade has placed all mtDNA genetic fingerprints within an overall evolutionary framework going back 150,000 years. MatriLine locates you within that framework and interprets your deep maternal ancestry, linking you - if your roots are in Europe - to one of seven women: Ursula, Tara, Helena, Katrine, Velda, Xenia or Jasmine. MyMap MyMap is a program developed by Oxford Ancestors researchers to map out the current geographical distribution of any surname. These maps present the precise locations of individuals with the same name revealing, for instance, local clustering around the historical origin or significant dispersion events. These can be quite useful for single name studies. MaleMatch MaleMatch compares Y-chromosome genetic fingerprints. Y- chromosomes are passed down from father to son, so any males connected by exclusively paternal links will have identical, or near identical, Y-chromosome genetic fingerprints. MaleMatch can be used to establish, or disprove, a paternal link between individuals. Surname researchers will find MaleMatch especially useful in testing different branches with the same name. MaleMatch seems to be based upon the technology that I wrote about two weeks ago. For more information, go to: http://www.oxfordancestors.com ==============================================================