I sent Dick Eastman's post to several lists. This followup may be of interest. >On Jul 22, 2010, at 7:28 PM, Mary Richardson wrote: >How cool is this? >> >>Mary >> >>http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2010/07/scots- >>breakthrough-in-helping-families-go-back-to-their-roots.html > >Very > >The real break through, though is not in what they are proposing, but >what's implied---very very cheap DNA tests---such that you can >economically do millions of markers, not tens of markers. > >Once we've reached that stage things will become very different in >the world of genealogy. There will be little question about who's >related to whom. We'll be able to describe with considerable >accuracy how everyone is related to each other---we may not know the >names of the respective common ancestors, but we'll know roughly how >we descend from those common ancestor. I can see the software coming >now. Feed the DNA in for a bunch of people, and it will generate a >family "connectedness" tree that shows roughly how everyone relates >to each other---- > >Once we've gotten to that stage, the demands on genealogists will >change mightily---just as we've gotten a leg up on many families real >relations through YDNA testing---casting out the confusions in that >single male line of descent, we will be able to do the same for >anyline of descent.