Cheryl, I am afraid the fault is with our society that has evolved over the last 800 years and also our creator (or evolution as you wish) for designing DNA the way it is designed. We just happen to assign surnames on the basis of who the father was. If we had decided to do it the other way as some cultures did (i believe) then actually we could perhaps trace one line of surname bequeathing females using the mitochondrial DNA. But there is a problem with this in that mutations occur much less frequently in mitochondrial DNA so it is a much slower genetic clock and it would be more difficult to find DNA sequences that identify a single lineage if we used females.The problem is that biology is strange in that there really does only seem to be one really useful long strand of DNA that is passed down in a straight line without being mixed up 50:50 on every conception. One day science may find a way but it hasn't happened yet I am afraid. By the way it is not very much money when it tells you what line you come from so there is no point in searching records from other lines of Penningtons. Last time I checked my daughters were called Penington and were just as interested in their Penington ancestors as I am! I also traced one of their mothers lines for them but I couldn't use DNA much to my disappointment. Nobody is keeping you out of any club but if you want to play you have to find a male relative if you want information you can relate to a surname I am sorry but it is just the way things are. By the way why don't you check the 831 surname studies for yourself at the following address: http://www.duerinck.com/surname.html Spaulding <[email protected]> 01/26/2004 02:33 PM Please respond to PRA-L To: [email protected] cc: Subject: Re: The "new genealogy" bumper sticker It may be time for some rather serious thought about all this DNA studies "thing." A better statement than the one you present might be "Surnames have always been the way men keep track of their Y-chromosome patterns." The 830 surname DNA studies and 40,000 people tested you tout, do nothing whatsoever for the female descendents of any family line. I frankly am beginning to find it increasingly alarming that so much effort and money is being poured into these studies. Before you men go galloping off into the sunset, chasing your DNA, you might give some thought to what you intend to do for your daughters....not just your sons. Have the boys simply found a new "club" to which only they can belong? Cheryl Spaulding At 12:31 PM 01/26/2004 -0500, you wrote: >I saw this bumper sticker on someone's website and its not far off the >mark! > >The value of Y-chromosome testing in genealogy can be summed up in one >statement: > >"Surnames are really just a method of keeping track of Y-chromosome >patterns". > >With at least 830 surname DNA studies and over 40,000 people tested it is >clear that this tool works! If you are interested in this new tool in >genealogy go to www.penningtonresearch.org and click on DNA Study. > > >==== PRA Mailing List ==== >==== PENNINGTON RESEARCH ASSOCIATION ==== >To sign up to use the archive features, go to --> >http://archiver.rootsweb.com/ and follow the instructions. >Pennington Research Association Web Site >http://www.penningtonresearch.org > > >-- >This message has been scanned for viruses and >dangerous content by The CCIS.net MailScanner, and is >believed to be clean. ==== PRA Mailing List ==== ==== PENNINGTON RESEARCH ASSOCIATION ==== For help with your research, go to http://www.penningtonresearch.org and click on Research Tips.