To elaborate on Joan's helpful DNA primer ... autosomal DNA tests DNA shared on the 22 chromosomes that don't determine sex. The sex-determining chromosome (either no. 22 or 23, can't remember which right now) is only helpful for males, since it tests their Y chromosome. mtDNA exists in the membrane around the nucleus, and is passed down from a woman to all her children. It is not passed down by a man to his children. Therefore, either a man or woman can test their mtDNA but it will only identify the female lineage. And the resolution is not good at that -- at best (I believe) only giving a 50% probability that you are related to a match. I have had both my mom and dad test their autosomal DNA. Here is an one example of how it has been useful to me: my great grandmother was born out of wedlock and we were told her father was unknown. Then in 2008 a distant cousin called and said he knew the man's name. I tracked down the granddaughter of this man's sister and she agreed to test. She and my dad would be second cousins if the story was true. But it was not. They did not match. The more closely related you are to someone, the more autosomal DNA you share. Second cousins should almost definitely be a match. FTDNA tells you that it will only make matches back to about 5th cousins, and that there is a slim chance of such a match, but it's not true. Paper trails confirm both my parents' matches with quite a number of 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even 6th cousins. Other matches we don't know our relation to could very well be further back than that. Since you apparently have a number of distant cousins who have tested, that increases your chances of making a match. I recommend testing. Even if you don't match with this family, you are bound to get other matches that could prove new connections. Barton Lewis On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 2:48 PM, Kirsten Bowman wrote: > I have a fair understanding of the use of yDNA in genealogy but the > blurbs I've read about autosomal DNA don't give a clue to whether that > test would help solve a longstanding brick wall in my maternal line, > which is as follows . . . > > My 3rd great-grandfather was born in 1788 in a sparsely-populated > region of Canada. I suspect he was the son of one of 7 brothers who > settled in the area in the early 1780s. Roughly a dozen direct male > descendants of those 7 brothers have done yDNA tests through FTDNA. > Some have tested up to 67 markers and one has done the FTDNA Family > Finder test. My own line daughtered-out with my 2nd great-grandfather > and I’m unable to locate any direct male cousins for yDNA testing. > > Now I'm wondering whether an autosomal DNA test would tell whether I'm > related to any of the fellows who have already tested, or would an > autosomal test of a female descendant of one of those 7 brothers show > a relationship to me? Would the $99 test from Ancestry.com do the > trick, or is the $289 Family Finder test from FTDNA necessary? I > realize that no testing could tell *which* of the 7 brothers was the > parent of my 3rd great-grandfather; I'm simply wondering if I can > narrow him down to a certain clan. > Can anyone answer those questions or direct me to a site that gives a > thorough explanation of what autosomal DNA testing will do? ===== > If you would prefer digest mode to mail mode, drop a note to > roots-admin@rootsweb.com and ask for the digest... > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thanks. Very informative. Gale Gorman Houston On May 16, 2012, at 8:03 PM, BARTON LEWIS wrote: To elaborate on Joan's helpful DNA primer ... autosomal DNA tests DNA shared on the 22 chromosomes that don't determine sex. The sex-determining chromosome (either no. 22 or 23, can't remember which right now) is only helpful for males, since it tests their Y chromosome. mtDNA exists in the membrane around the nucleus, and is passed down from a woman to all her children. It is not passed down by a man to his children. Therefore, either a man or woman can test their mtDNA but it will only identify the female lineage. And the resolution is not good at that -- at best (I believe) only giving a 50% probability that you are related to a match. I have had both my mom and dad test their autosomal DNA. Here is an one example of how it has been useful to me: my great grandmother was born out of wedlock and we were told her father was unknown. Then in 2008 a distant cousin called and said he knew the man's name. I tracked down the granddaughter of this man's sister and she agreed to test. She and my dad would be second cousins if the story was true. But it was not. They did not match. The more closely related you are to someone, the more autosomal DNA you share. Second cousins should almost definitely be a match. FTDNA tells you that it will only make matches back to about 5th cousins, and that there is a slim chance of such a match, but it's not true. Paper trails confirm both my parents' matches with quite a number of 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even 6th cousins. Other matches we don't know our relation to could very well be further back than that. Since you apparently have a number of distant cousins who have tested, that increases your chances of making a match. I recommend testing. Even if you don't match with this family, you are bound to get other matches that could prove new connections. Barton Lewis On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 2:48 PM, Kirsten Bowman wrote: > I have a fair understanding of the use of yDNA in genealogy but the > blurbs I've read about autosomal DNA don't give a clue to whether that > test would help solve a longstanding brick wall in my maternal line, > which is as follows . . . > > My 3rd great-grandfather was born in 1788 in a sparsely-populated > region of Canada. I suspect he was the son of one of 7 brothers who > settled in the area in the early 1780s. Roughly a dozen direct male > descendants of those 7 brothers have done yDNA tests through FTDNA. > Some have tested up to 67 markers and one has done the FTDNA Family > Finder test. My own line daughtered-out with my 2nd great-grandfather > and I’m unable to locate any direct male cousins for yDNA testing. > > Now I'm wondering whether an autosomal DNA test would tell whether I'm > related to any of the fellows who have already tested, or would an > autosomal test of a female descendant of one of those 7 brothers show > a relationship to me? Would the $99 test from Ancestry.com do the > trick, or is the $289 Family Finder test from FTDNA necessary? I > realize that no testing could tell *which* of the 7 brothers was the > parent of my 3rd great-grandfather; I'm simply wondering if I can > narrow him down to a certain clan. > Can anyone answer those questions or direct me to a site that gives a > thorough explanation of what autosomal DNA testing will do? ===== > If you would prefer digest mode to mail mode, drop a note to > roots-admin@rootsweb.com and ask for the digest... > >

Can anyone tell me -- as DNA testing is further developed, will the samples already taken be capable of upgrading? My male cousin's Y-DNA and my own mtDNA are my concern. THANKS for this enlightening discussion. Dee in Maryland ==== On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 9:03 PM, BARTON LEWIS <bartonlewis@optonline.net> wrote: > To elaborate on Joan's helpful DNA primer ... autosomal DNA tests DNA > shared on the 22 chromosomes that don't determine sex.  The > sex-determining chromosome (either no. 22 or 23, can't remember which > right now) is only helpful for males, since it tests their Y chromosome. > mtDNA exists in the membrane around the nucleus, and is passed down from > a woman to all her children.  It is not passed down by a man to his > children.  Therefore, either a man or woman can test their mtDNA but it > will only identify the female lineage.  And the resolution is not good > at that -- at best (I believe) only giving a 50% probability that you > are related to a match. > > I have had both my mom and dad test their autosomal DNA.  Here is an one > example of how it has been useful to me:  my great grandmother was born > out of wedlock and we were told her father was unknown.  Then in 2008 a > distant cousin called and said he knew the man's name.  I tracked down > the granddaughter of this man's sister and she agreed to test.  She and > my dad would be second cousins if the story was true.  But it was not. > They did not match.  The more closely related you are to someone, the > more autosomal DNA you share.  Second cousins should almost definitely > be a match.  FTDNA tells you that it will only make matches back to > about 5th cousins, and that there is a slim chance of such a match, but > it's not true.  Paper trails confirm both my parents' matches with quite > a number of 3rd, 4th, 5th, and even 6th cousins.  Other matches we don't > know our relation to could very well be further back than that.  Since > you apparently have a number of distant cousins who have tested, that > increases your chances of making a match.  I recommend testing.  Even if > you don't match with this family, you are bound to get other matches > that could prove new connections. > > Barton Lewis > > > On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 2:48 PM, Kirsten Bowman wrote: > >> I have a fair understanding of the use of yDNA in genealogy but the >> blurbs I've read about autosomal DNA don't give a clue to whether that >> test would help solve a longstanding brick wall in my maternal line, >> which is as follows . . . >> >> My 3rd great-grandfather was born in 1788 in a sparsely-populated >> region of Canada.  I suspect he was the son of one of 7 brothers who >> settled in the area in the early 1780s.  Roughly a dozen direct male >> descendants of those 7 brothers have done yDNA tests through FTDNA. >> Some have tested up to 67 markers and one has done the FTDNA Family >> Finder test.  My own line daughtered-out with my 2nd great-grandfather >> and I’m unable to locate any direct male cousins for yDNA testing. >> >> Now I'm wondering whether an autosomal DNA test would tell whether I'm >> related to any of the fellows who have already tested, or would an >> autosomal test of a female descendant of one of those 7 brothers show >> a relationship to me?  Would the $99 test from Ancestry.com do the >> trick, or is the $289 Family Finder test from FTDNA necessary?  I >> realize that no testing could tell *which* of the 7 brothers was the >> parent of my 3rd great-grandfather; I'm simply wondering if I can >> narrow him down to a certain clan. >> Can anyone answer those questions or direct me to a site that gives a >> thorough explanation of what autosomal DNA testing will do? ===== >> If you would prefer digest mode to mail mode, drop a note to >> roots-admin@rootsweb.com and ask for the digest... >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > ===== > If you would prefer digest mode to mail mode, drop a note to roots-admin@rootsweb.com and ask for the digest... > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message