By the way, I just convinced my 81 year old uncle to do the DNA test for my mother's side the family, so now I have complete DNA signatures for 3 of my 4 main lines, the Queen, Cassity, and Ball. Higgins comes next. DNA is the gift that keeps on giving. Once my mother's brothers pass on there is only 1 Cassity male granchild to carry on the name, and the YDNA. The YDNA line is desperately close to extinction. By capturing my Uncle's DNA signiture, my descendants and future researchers for the Cassitys, and Queens, and Balls, will be able to carry on research, even if there are no modern male descendants in the line. By capturing his DNA, we have confirmed the Cassity line back to a confirmed common ancestor, and I have suddenly been introduced to a lot of people holding a lot of really good research on my mother's early family heritage. Imagine if I had not got the DNA test done. I could not confirm, only speculate, as to whether my Cassity's, their Cassidy's, the other Cassiday's where related or not. Now I don't have to speculate! And I certainly would not have met the distant relatives of my family on this list who have been so generous with their research and corrections. That is what it is al about! It's like instant family in a can! All you really have to do is spit in a bottle! Rolla http://webpages.charter.net/rlqueen/DNA/queenmarker.htm http://www.familytreedna.com/public/queenDNA/ http://webpages.charter.net/rlqueen -------Original Message------- From: O Eugene Queen Date: 07/23/05 06:29:45 To: [email protected] Subject: [QUEEN] YDNA Not Individually Unique Greetings all, Perhaps one characteristic of YDNA has not been adequately explained to those who hesitate to participate as donors. I'd like to try and explain and will welcome any additional facts/assurances YDNA as used in the Queen YDNA Project is absolutely NOT unique to an individual. (If it were, then the DNA project would be of absolutely no value to family researchers.) Thus, YDNA cannot be used to identify a specific participant, his father, grandfather, brother, etc. YDNA is unique only to a family lineage and that unique characteristic can be traced for many generations of the male lineage. Examples: We have results of samples of 6 or more living male Queens whose YDNA is an exact replica of the YDNA of William Queen of 1716-20. Thus, every male Queen in the direct lineage of these participants to William carried this same YDNA. And....most or all of these donors are NOT closely related (not brothers, father/son, first cousins, etc.) In my own situation where we have samples from a number of documented family relationships, the following has been proven thus far: 1. My YDNA is an exact copy of the YDNA of a first cousin that has also provided a sample. 2. The YDNA of my first cousin is an exact copy of that of my father. 3. My YDNA is an exact copy of my first cousin's father. 4. Since my cousin's father was a brother to my dad; the YDNA of our grandfather is the same as our YDNA. Conclusion: Any concern or fear that "omigosh someone knows what my YDNA is" is totally unfounded. The University of Arizona is not testing areas of the Y chromosome identifying us as unique individuals; it is testing those markers that identify us as similar to others. It is this similarity in YDNA that is useful to family researchers. No one cares what the "total identify" is of all possible markers on a strand of chromosome. This would make a sample unique, thus of no benefit to any Queen researcher. I will certainly be willing to discuss this issue privately by phone or e-mail with anyone who has concerns in this regard. We can also put such persons in contact with the folks who are truly experts in the field of family YDNA research. Keep the samples coming! Thanks, Gene ==== QUEEN Mailing List ==== QUEEN (Q500) at ROOTSWEB http://resources.rootsweb.com/surnames/q/u/QUEEN/ QUEEN YDNA PROJECT http://www.familytreedna.com/surname_join.asp?code=X96855&special=True http://www.ysearch.org/ ============================== Search the US Census Collection. Over 140 million records added in the last 12 months. Largest online collection in the world. Learn more: http://www.ancestry.com/s13965/rd.ashx -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.9.4/57 - Release Date: 7/22/2005 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.338 / Virus Database: 267.9.4/57 - Release Date: 7/22/2005