Hello Elizabeth, Did you ever think you would be emailing with John Laws? ;-) Sorry, I am a different one but I have communicated with your Australian John Laws. I did a quick google of labs in Australia and it does not look like there is much there. I would suggest that you contact Family Tree DNA and see if they can still mail out the test kit. https://www.familytreedna.com/ If you do use this lab, make sure you sign up via a group as you will get a discount. I originally was tested by an English lab (associated with Oxford University) with no problems. They just mailed out a kit in an envelope which consisted of a cotton swab on a stick with a small plastic tube to stick it in once I swabbed the inside of my cheek. It cost me a dollar or two to mail it back to England. From the other side of the Pacific Ocean, John Laws Vancouver, Washington, USA pendragon wrote: > Hi > > > John thank you for the DNA information. > > I am not in America. > > Does anyone know if there are any labs in Australia that do this type of > testing? > > Thanks for any help. > > Elizabeth > In cloudy Canberra > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: piggott-bounces@rootsweb.com [mailto:piggott-bounces@rootsweb.com] On > Behalf Of John Laws > Sent: Saturday, 14 February 2009 5:03 AM > To: piggott@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [PIGGOTT] DNA Testing for Genealogical Purposes > > Hi John, > > At 09:38 PM 2/12/2009, you wrote: > > >> If anyone wants info on DNA testing, I would be happy to try and help >> explain the process. >> >> > > The list is slow these days. I would be happy if you would post a > short bit on the value you are finding in having DNA data available, > and the differences between paternal and maternal DNA research. > > > > Hello all! > > I will write a couple of emails for the group to explain how DNA Testing > can be used for genealogical purposes. I am basing this on my personal > studies and experiences, so if anyone has anything to add, please do! I > will try and keep this as simple as possible in layman terms. I am > afraid many avoid DNA testing because it looks complex to understand > when explained by scientists. > > OVERVIEW OF DNA > First, there currently are two types of DNA that can be tested that are > currently of use for genealogists, Y-DNA and Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). > If you remember back to basic biology in school, a male is made up of an > X & Y chromosome and a female two X chromosomes. When we are conceived, > the sperm from dear old Dad had an X-Y to contribute and determined > what sex we are, plus we got an X-X from Mom's egg. If you are female, > the three X's from your parents merged and you became an X-X. Like > mixing paint, your color of X is a combination of your parents colors > causing a lot of changes in the X from generation to generation. If > Daddy has blue X and Mommy has yellow X then baby is going to have green > X (blue mixed with yellow make green)! The X (to date) is not much use > in matching family past a generation or two. There is another type of > DNA they probably didn't tell you about in biology 101, Mitochondrial > DNA (mtDNA). In layman's term, it is the skin of the chromosome that is > passed down from mother to child, not merged with little change from > generation to generation following the maternal line. As a male, my > children have their mother's mtDNA and not mine. This has usefulness in > genealogy, but is not as useful as testing the Y-DNA. If you are a male, > then you are an X-Y. You got your Y from Dad alone, not mixed with > anything. In fact, I have read that the average slight change in the > Y-DNA occurs about once every eight generations. That means the male > descendants of my great great uncle LAWS have basically the exact same > Y-DNA as I do. This can be a powerful tool for genealogists! > > Y-DNA TESTING > You are interested in following up on your family line or have a dead > end you hope to get past. You contact a testing company and they start > talking about two types of tests you can take, Single Tandem Repeats > (STR) and Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNP) and your eyes glaze over > and walk away. Let's simplify! Lets talk STRs and then SNPs > (pronounced SNiP). The first thing you are going to hear is how many > markers are you going to test, or if you have been tested you end up > with a bunch of numbers and have no clue what they mean. The STR's are > nothing more than measurements at specific spots along the chromosome. > Think of them as your lottery number! Each 'marker' is a place that they > take a measurement. They will ask you if you want to test anywhere from > 12 to 67 markers. If you test for 12 markers, you get twelve numbers, > your lottery number. If you find an exact match at 12 numbers, the odds > may be about a million to one you are not related. The problem is there > are hundreds of millions of people, so you may get a hundred matches > that are not recent relatives (we are all related way back) mixed in > with the relatives. So if you were to test 37-markers, you would get 37 > numerical values and about a hundred million to one odds at a match that > you are not related. I would recommend you start with at least the > 37-marker test. I tested for 67, but then I am a DNA testing junkie! > > So you get the numbers back, what do you do with them? You compare them > to others! In the early days of DNA testing you kind of were on your > own to figure it out. Today, companies like Family Tree DNA have > automated it all so it is easy! They just give you your matches and > allow you to contact those who match. Further you can upload a GEDCOM > and compare linages. In fact, they are the 'Microsoft' of DNA testing > and are dominating the scene. They just did their 500,000 DNA test as a > company. There is a free online database called Y-Search that allows > you to self enter you DNA results. Or you can join projects, for > instance surname or geographical projects such as the PIGGOTT project I > mentioned in my previous email. > > HOW CAN DNA TESTING HELP ME IN MY GENEALOGY? > I have been involved in DNA researching two of my lines, my LAWS line > and my mother's family KNIGHT. For example, my mother researched her > KNIGHT line for about 30 years, joining DAR and Colonial Dames of > Virginia based upon her research, but never got beyond a Richard KNIGHT > b. abt 1700, Surry County, VA. Her line's brick wall we probably all > have hit in our research! This last year, I paid to have my 1st cousin > (last male of our KNIGHT branch) DNA tested. I joined with the results > the KNIGHT DNA PROJECT. It can be seen here: > > http://www.worldfamilies.net/surnames/knight/results > > My line is in Knight Lineage III as the K-37 entry. All five of us in > Knight Lineage III are related part of the same bloodline. Of note, for > my line is the K-26 entry as we have paper trails back to the same > Richard KNIGHT. But more importantly is the K-30 Peter KNIGHT link! > His family links back to the Jamestown settlement and stayed almost on > the same land in Virginia for 150 years. Further, I have found a will in > this family that lists a Richard Knight of the right time period and > probably is my Richard Knight ( linages can be seen by hitting the > patriarch tab). Bottom line is that DNA allowed me to know that we ARE > related and then to try and figure out how! > > That being said, sometimes the data is not what you expect and can raise > issues! Genealogists are now starting to understand that DNA shows that > about one in eight births are the result of a non-parent event. I know > of living 1st cousins that were both tested and the DNA didn't match! > That means that one of their fathers (who were brothers) were not > genetically their father. I personally had a case where in my LAWS line, > I had traced my family back to a village in Norfolk County England in > the early 1700's. Paper wise, I was able to link LAWS in about 5 > villages within about a 20 mile radius as all related. When I tested my > DNA I had a family match on a man surnamed ALEXANDER. He had a GEDCOM > (family tree) that showed his dead end ALEXANDER to be living just a few > miles outside of my circle, within about 12 miles of my GGG-grandfather > in England. I popped off an email to Mr. Alexander, but it was a few > days before I got an answer. I must admit after having spent > significant time and even trips to England searching my LAWS line, it > was stressful wondering if I was really an ALEXANDER! It turned out, > his GGG-grandfather was illegitimate and ALEXANDER was the mother's > maiden name with no record of who the father was. We found a LAWS > family a couple of houses away on the census with three sons of similar > age to his GGG-grandmother! > > SNP TESTING > Next type of testing you might consider is SNP (pronounced SNiP) > testing. A SNP is in fact a mutation. If you think of the human race > as a tree, the R branch is the predominant major limb that are European > males. These mutations are very rare, but every descendant will have the > mutation. For instance, there was a Mr. R and he had two sons. One of > the sons had a mutation. On the tree, there became an R1 (the son that > did not mutate) and R2 (the son that has the mutation). All of their > descendants can then be separated. In a sense, the R-limb split into two > smaller branches. You can continue this back to twigs! For instance, my > Knight line is R1b1b2a1a as was listed above. I have a suspicion that > the PICKETT/PIGGOTT line may be from the "I" branch which has historical > concentrations in Northern Germany and Scandinavia. This was probably a > significant bloodline in the Saxons that invaded present day England. > Part of my hypothisis is based upon the PIGGOTT project results where > "I" branch has been found and part on my PICKETT relatives that were > tall in stature, a genetic trait! > > My LAWS line has been tested down to a twig that is tested down to a > small twig that there are only 5 of us in the world tested to so far. > Three of us are from East Anglia region of England (SE coast of > England), one from Northern Italy and one from southern Germany. These > are my tribe cousins! It makes more sense when compared to DNA testings > from early iron age remains that find my 'LAWS' tribe was in the Swiss > lake region living in houses built on stilts over the water! They were > part of the La Tene culture. How is that for tracing my family back in > time! There is a new field of study that has been coined > Anthrogenealogy, where through DNA testing of remains and carbon dating, > you may be able to find out where your ancestors were at different times > in history. > > WHO TO TEST > A male of the PIGGOTT line! This may be a little more difficult than > you realize! I tracked down a living PICKETT cousin in Texas who is a > rancher. Can you imagine getting a telephone call from someone claiming > to be a distant cousin and wanting you to submit a DNA test at the > cousins expense? I was turned down. I'm still looking for someone of > my line! > > WHERE TO TEST > The best place to have someone tested is Family Tree DNA (FTDNA). They > are becoming the Microsoft of DNA testing with most of the people now > testing, therefore you get the best results. I previously tested with > Relative Genetics but paid to be retested with FTDNA because of all the > tools they offer! I would recommend you start with at least the > 37-marker test. 12 markers is not enough! They offer 12,25,37 & 67 STR > marker tests. 37 markers is the best value for the money with > diminishing results from the 67 marker tests (although I did it). The > test is a q-tip that they mail you and you rub inside your cheek. You > just send it back in the envelope they provide. It takes a few weeks > for the testing to be done. They will give you the results along with > your projected SNP. If you look back to the Knight DNA project page, you > will see some people in the project in red, such as R1b1b2 while my > Knight is green and R1b1b2a1a. Green represents confirmed by testing; > red is projected by FTDNA. > > mtDNA is the mother to mother equivalent DNA testing. I got this tested > for free via Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF), but found > mtDNA lacking in usable results for DNA. Actually, I had so many matches > (hundreds) that it lacked value for me. > > Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF) also does Y-DNA testing. > http://www.smgf.org/ > > Sorenson was a billionaire who funded this project as a hobby. It is > free! But understand that they are not there to serve you, but rather > are studying the human race! You must submit a family tree with your > DNA sample (they have you spit in a small bottle and mail it back). You > can get DNA results for yourself by periodically checking for yourself > within the database. My parents both tested through them, It took > almost a year before I appeared! The lab is a for profit lab that does > the ancestry.com DNA testing. They are located at Temple Square in Salt > Lake City (they are not affiliated with the Mormons) There is zero > support. You have to understand DNA to make use of it. But if you can't > afford mainstream testing, it is great! I'm not sure how, long this is > going to continue though because the project has been publishing some > results of population migration patterns recently. If one of you tests > this way and needs help converting and interpreting the results, drop me > a line and I will see if I can help! > > John Laws > Vancouver, Washington, USA > GGGGGG Grandson of John PIGGOTT SR. and Margery BROWN(E) m. January > 18,1712, Nottingham MM, PA - Quakers > > PS I have significant research on this PIGGOTT/PICKETT line. Let me > know if related. > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > PIGGOTT-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 PIGGOTT-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > >