It's time for an another update on the Clan MacLaren Surname DNA Project. Both the Clan MacLaren Society (Scotland) and the Clan MacLaren Society of North American have now endorsed this DNA project. Hopefully the Clan MacLaren Society (Australia) will do the same. Genetic genealogy can be a powerful tool and provide help in building our genealogies. My purpose is to use the DNA results as a tool to help sort out the many different MacLaren lines in the Clan files. The results can also be useful to MacLarens in pointing the way toward possible connections and perhaps help indicate where you need to search for paper evidence. The database of results is slowly growing, but I would like many more MacLarens/McLarens (or any of the other surnames of the Clan including spelling variants) to join the project. The more we have in the database, the more likely it is that we will get matches between members. I am especially interested in getting members from the documented MacLaren lines that are in my files; however, I am also interested in any MacLaren who wants to join. This, of course, includes all the spelling variants of MacLaren. There are now 92 people in the project: 80 with results back, three with partial results back, four who have submitted their kits and are waiting on their results, and five who are either waiting for their kits or haven't returned them yet. There have been several successes. One member in Scotland matches a member in California 33 out of 37 markers. Another member in New Zealand matches a member in Canada 35/37. The latest success is a 25/25 match between a McLaren and a McLaurin. The McLaurin is a member of the B MacLaren family (as denoted by previous Clan Genealogists). The McLaurin is upgrading to 37 markers to see if the match holds. Surnames in the project include MacLaren (10 spelling variants), McFeaters (2 spelling variants), Lawrence (2 spelling variants), Law, Low (2 spelling variants), Lawrie, Lowry (3 spelling variants), Lawson, MacIntyre, Wright, McClary, Patterson (2 spelling variants), Patrick, and Petrie. We have members from the United States, Canada, Scotland, Australia, and New Zealand. I encourage anyone who bears one of the surnames above, or any of the other surnames of Clan MacLaren, to join (if you haven't had a relative closer then second cousin already test). For those who are concerned about how the DNA sample is acquired, it is just a cheek swab -- very painless. If you are interested, or have questions, contact me at bobmclaren@earthlink.net Bob McLaren Chairman, Genealogy Committee, Clan MacLaren Society of North America Administrator, Clan MacLaren Surname DNA Project Robert McLaren bobmclaren@earthlink.net Why Wait? Move to EarthLink.