I think the National Geographic one is about $100, but it could be higher. > -----Original Message----- > From: txgen-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:txgen-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of Robin Inge > Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 10:14 PM > To: McStumped@suddenlink.net; txgen@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [TXGEN] I thought everyone would find this interesting... > > Is it very expensive? >   > > > Robin R Inge > "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but > by the number of moments that take our breath away" >   >   > > > > > > ________________________________ > From: Elaine <McStumped@suddenlink.net> > To: txgen@rootsweb.com > Sent: Monday, March 23, 2009 10:08:48 PM > Subject: Re: [TXGEN] I thought everyone would find this interesting... > > FYI, 3 cousins and I went together and have gone the DNA > route.  Now we sit back and wait for others to do the same > and see if we can find a match.  We have high hopes of > finally finding family for our Henry McCoy who "appeared" in > Ga in 1803.  I think DNA will break down brick walls for > many......we just hope we are one of the many. > > Elaine > > Kimberly Carrillo wrote: > >  > <http://www.newsobserver.com/news/health_science/story/1454594.html> > > http://www.newsobserver.com/news/health_science/story/1454594.html > > > > > > DNA reveals story of dad's disappearance > > > > > > Genes are genealogy's new frontier > > > > > > John Smithers of Raleigh had spent more than six decades > looking for > > clues about the father who abandoned him, his sister and > their mother > > when he was just a baby. The barrel-chested, brash-talking Smithers > > had something he wanted to give his old man: a fist in the nose. > > > > At 82, he had about given up on ever learning what happened > to James > > William Smithers. He had long suspected his father got in > trouble with > > the law and fled abroad. Decades ago, it was easy enough to > disappear, and Smithers' > > father had seemingly vanished into thin air. > > > > On the other side of the world, Lucinda Gray had always > wondered what > > her father's life was like before he moved mysteriously from the > > United States to Australia. She had spent years just trying > to find out his real name. > > > > In mid-December, Smithers and Gray learned their elusive > fathers were > > one and the same. > > > > After years of poring over records online and in person, across > > continents and oceans, it took only a DNA sample from a > simple cheek > > scrape to bring the two branches of the family together. > > > > "I was skeptical at first," said Smithers, a retired > insurance company > > investigator. "But when I talked to my sister, I knew this > is what I'd > > been hoping for my whole life." > > > > The case shows what a "new frontier" DNA has become in genealogical > > research, said Debbi Blake, a North Carolina state archivist. > > > > DNA has been in genealogical use since 2000, according to Thomas > > Shawker, a radiologist with the National Institutes of > Health who has > > become a nationally renowned expert on the use of the > latest science in genealogy. > > Its use since then among professional genealogists and family > > historians has mushroomed. > > > > "Everywhere I go, I am asked to lecture on DNA," he said, "and > > everywhere I go, the lectures are packed." > > > > But the impact of DNA hasn't been as significant as the Internet, > > which transformed genealogical research by making records > from distant > > places available at the click of a mouse. Some of the > genealogy search > > sites charge a fee, though many of the raw birth, death, > marriage and > > property records are available free online. > > > > DNA testing has a fairly hefty price tag -- from $99 to well over > > $700, depending on the type of DNA and the level of research. Until > > recently, its application has been limited, said Terry Moore, a > > professional genealogist in Raleigh. Typically, it's used > to identify > > which branch of the family tree to climb -- or which region > or nation to zero in on. > > > > "Usually, DNA helps people who have gone through all the > records and > > traced their ancestors back to the 1400s and are stuck," she said. > > > > It is, Moore stressed, simply another tool in the > genealogist's box. > > "This is not CSI," she said. "DNA will not do the work for > you. But it > > can bridge gaps in history." > > > > As more people who share a surname start their own > registries, DNA's > > role is expanding into the modern age -- uniting living > relatives. The > > Smithers-Gray case is a perfect example. > > > > Real name unknown > > > > Like her half-brother John Smithers, Lucinda Gray had been > trying to > > investigate her father's veiled history for many years. > > > > Her dad, John Henderson Gray, who died in 1970, had been a > fine father > > to her and her four siblings, and a good husband to their > mother. But > > even their mother didn't know his true identity. > > > > He had moved from the United States to Australia in 1926; > in 1944, at > > age 51, he had married their mother, Betty, then 22. It was > well known > > that Gray had changed his name when he moved down under. > "Our mother > > always assumed he'd changed his identity because of some > strife," Lucinda Gray said. > > > >  > > ------------------------------- > > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > > TXGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > >  > > -- > I'd rather look for dead people than have them look for me.... > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TXGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > TXGEN-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >