Hi Marlene   I would really like to understand what you are saying. Can you please put it in layman's terms for those of us who do not understand the lingo. In other words state it as simple as possible.   In addition to yDNA (men) and mtDNA (men and women) there is autosomal DNA.  What is autosomal DNA?   Father's and sons do share the same DNA makeup. That's why we have surname projects.   Also, isn't it true that a man has his mothers DNA markers.  Or he could have his mother's grandmother's DNA markers. That's why mtDNA is so hard to figure out on the maternal side. Not impossible but it can be difficult. Because the man does not now which maternal grandmother's markers he received from his mother or how many generations back those mtDNA markers are.   Thank you.   Joy   --- On Sun, 10/4/09, Marleen Van Horne <msvnhrn@jps.net> wrote: From: Marleen Van Horne <msvnhrn@jps.net> Subject: Re: [TNLINCOL] DNA question + mtDNA To: tnlincol@rootsweb.com Date: Sunday, October 4, 2009, 9:05 PM A woman's grandchildren from her sons do not inherit any of her mtDNA. mtDNA passes from a woman to all her children.  It dead ends in her sons and is only passed on by the daughters to all their children. In addition to yDNA (men) and mtDNA (men and women) there is autosomal DNA.  This is all DNA which isn't either y, x or mt, in other words all the rest of chromosomes. The way autosomal DNA is pass out is not a one from mother, one from dad.  It is theoretically possibly for a child to get all his or her autosomal DNA from one parent or the other, but usually there is some sort of division between fifty and one hundred percent. If a woman has a son, she is less related to his son, than she is to his daughter.  The daughter has one of her x chromosomes and some of her autosomal DNA.  The son only has some of her autosomal DNA. A woman is more closely genetically related to her daughters children. the daughter's son have their grandmother's mtDNA and autosomal DNA. The daughter's daughters have their grandmother's mtDNA, some of her autosomal DNA and may have all or part of one of her x chromosomes. Marleen Van Horne ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to TNLINCOL-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Joy, A human being has 23 chromosome pairs which contain 3,000,000,000 nucleotide pairs / markers. 22 of the chromosomes pairs are made up of autosomal DNA. The 23rd chromosome pair determines the sex of the individual and in normal circumstances is either either 2 x chromosomes (female), or an x and a y chromosomes (male). There are other possible combinations that are extremely rare, which I won't discuss here. Haplogroup describes the branch of the human family tree to which an individual belongs. There is a genetic family tree for yDNA (men) and a genetic family tree for mtDNA (men and women). The trees have branches based on the mutations that have occurred in human beings over the last 200,000 years. You can see the yDNA phylogenetic tree at www.ISSOG.org and the mtDNA phylogenetic tree at http://www.phylotree.org. In genetic genealogy, for yDNA testing, up to 67 markers are the basic test to determine genetic or biological relationships. These markers have been very carefully selected, so that a match in these markers conclusively proves a family relationship within the last 500 years, a period for which written records exist. yDNA is passed from a father to his sons, generation after generation, almost, but not entirely without change. In some families there are almost no mutations. In other families there are more mutations. In other words, some matches can be 67 / 67 and in others 63 /67, it just depends on the stability of the yDNA within a family. In cases where the matches are more separated, say 60 / 67, the common ancestor is considered to be so far in the past that the relationship cannot be supported with documentation. Because yDNA passes from generation to generation with few mutations, it can be used to track a surname. mtDNA is not chromosomal like yDNA. mtDNA is a component of each persons cells. mtDNA is passed from a woman to all of her children both sons and daughters, but only the daughters pass it on to the next generation. mtDNA seems to mutate much slower than yDNA, therefore over the generations it is much more consistent. Unfortunately, since the surname changes each generation, it is much more difficult to trace for genealogical purposes. It is also the case that only doing the Full Genetic Sequence will give you enough genetic information to confirm a family match. Testing Hyper Variable Region I and II only tell you your haplogroup, and is in my opinion equivalent to a 12 or a 25 marker yDNA test. The important genetic information seems to be in the Control Region. Autosomal DNA is what makes up the other 22 chromosomes in a human being. Up to now, it has been little used for genealogical purposes. There are now companies like 23andMe which are attempting to extract genealogical information from autosomal DNA. As I said in my last message, how much autosomal DNA an individual inherits from one or the other of his or her parents can range theoretically from fifty to 100%. Autosomal DNA is the largest genetic component in a human being and is just beginning to be explored. A man does not inherit his mother's markers. Markers are components of yDNA which he gets from his father. A man gets an x chromosome from his mother, but that is more complex and is not currently being tested that I know of. A man does inherit his mother's mtDNA, which she inherited from her mother, who inherited it from her mother, all the way back to Eve. Any words in either of my messages which you did not understand should be googled for a definition, or a more complete explanation. Believe me, my explanations are about as simplified as it gets. I do, however, understand why the whole subject can be overwhelming. I am not a scientist. I have been managing yDNA projects at FTDNA for the last four years. The above is my understanding from what I have read and learned from attending the FTDNA conferences for project managers each year. In general the above explanation is I believe correct, but please be tolerant if I erred somewhere. Marleen Van Horne