I am new to Y-DNA genetic testing. As I have assembled quite a bit of research material for the Weisel surname, my thought was, if there was sufficient interest, I could start a Weisel Y-DNA surname project. With that in mind, I submitted my father's DNA for analysis. The test results came back with one value I don't quite understand. One of the markers (DYS 439) reports a null value. According to the footnote (see below), this is possible. The Y-DNA certificate that can be printed shows a null value for DYS 439, but for the familytreedna.com "Y-DNA DYS Values" web page, the system assigned a value of 12. At the bottom of the "Y-DNA DYS Values" web page, was the message: "*System assigned value. Your DNA sample produced no result for DYS 439." My questions are: 1) With a null value in the 12 marker test, will this sample be of value to a Weisel surname study? 2) If null is a valid result, and can be passed from father to son, why was a value of 12 assigned in place of the null? 3) For the 12 marker test there were 17 exact matches. Does this mean that all markers match, including a null value for DYS 439? Or was the match made using the system assigned value of 12 for marker 439? (footnote from familytreedna.com) "***A value of “0” for any marker indicates that the lab reported a null value or no result for this marker. All cases of this nature are retested multiple times by the lab to confirm their accuracy. Mutations causing null values are infrequent, but are passed on to offspring just like other mutations, so related male lineages such as a father and son would likely share any null values." Thanks for your comments, Bonnie Weisel

Bonnie wrote:- <snip> The test results came back with one value I don't quite understand. One of the markers (DYS 439) reports a null value. According to the footnote (see below), this is possible. The Y-DNA certificate that can be printed shows a null value for DYS 439, but for the familytreedna.com "Y-DNA DYS Values" web page, the system assigned a value of 12. At the bottom of the "Y-DNA DYS Values" web page, was the message: "*System assigned value. Your DNA sample produced no result for DYS 439." <snip> ************************************************************ Bonnie, A Null value at DYS439 is not unusual but indicates your father belongs to a particular cluster. Have a look at http://www.familytreedna.com/public/null439/default.aspx I think you should join this project Hope this helps Dennis Wright