The problem with mtDNA is that it doesn't mutate very much. You have to go back in time quite a ways to find mutations so using it to distinguish different lineages in the near past is difficult if not impossible. Since there is very little mutation over time it is used to prove relationships that are already known to exist (eg. proving a body found in a murder case is who the police say it is). Y-DNA is more useful to ASSIST in proving thoretical relationships since it can show a common ancestor (statistically) within X-number of generations (depending on the number of markers tested). mtDNA can and obviously is used to detect familial relationships, but I think the most pressing reason to utilize a Y-DNA test for Lost Colony research is the fact that there were only 17 women compared to 90 men and men only pass the Y chromosome not their mtDNA. Greg Matthews ----- Original Message ----- From: <Ivygab2@cs.com> To: <hdpth@earthlink.net>; <varoots@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 8:24 PM Subject: [VAROOTS] Lost Colony >I am not sure, but I thought the female side was easier than the male side >to > follow the DNA trail. The mt-DNA is passed down from Mother to Child and > female children can pass it along to their children. This is how the > National > Geographic project is able to go back much further for female DNA than for > male. > Gene Barkley Haplo group 1B. </HTML> > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > VAROOTS-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message