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Archiver > ESSEX-UK > 2001-09 > 0999335597


From: Gypsy <>
Subject: Re: Using DNA to trace your line??
Date: Sat, 01 Sep 2001 17:13:17 +0800
References: <NEBBLJDMGLDKJBPPJEMAAEHNCMAA.holly1@ntlworld.com>


G'day Holly

Personally, I couldn't be bothered using this to trace my tree
but I wondered if others felt the same or had actually tried it.

The one I found uses the Y chromosome so it's only the males
that can go down that line.

Like you, I also saw the show about the research in Cheddar and
thought that really interesting and wouldn't it be such a
surprise to have that happen to you!

Back to the paper search ;)

Cheers
Teri


Holly McKenzie wrote:
>
> Hi all,
>
> There's also an offer at www.oxfordancestors.com by the scientists who
> pioneered the technique and used it to identify the remains of the Romanov
> family and also to find connect a 10,000 year old skeleton from Cheddar,
> England to a schoolteacher who lives there today. The latter was cute
> because he had been teaching his students about DNA and they showed the
> whole process on TV, right down to discovering that he was actually
> descended from this ancient skeleton in one of the caves around the area.
> The chief researcher, Prof Brian Sykes, has written a book about the way the
> process works, etc., which is a really enjoyable read.
>
> But to answer your question about tracing your line, not really, at least
> not at this point in time. Perhaps in the future it will be able to give so
> much more detail. The matrilineal descent is studied by looking at
> mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down unchanged from mother to children,
> and so this technique can be used to recognise other relatives in your
> family providing you all descend through the female line from one common
> female ancestor. Thus, you will have the same mitochondrial DNA as your
> mother and her mother, and your mother's brother and your mother's sister's
> children will all match you. But your mother's brother's children will not
> because their mitochondrial DNA came from *their* mother. The interesting
> thing is that, of all the Europeans tested (or people of European ancestry),
> there are only 7 different strains of mitochondrial DNA, indicating that all
> people of European heritage descend from one of 7 women, dubbed the 7
> Daughters of Eve (hence the title of the book).
>
> Using this service you can find out if you are related to someone because
> you have a match with the DNA, but there's no way of proving how closely
> related you are. It may be thousands of years since you had a common
> ancestor, or you may be separated by just a few generations. But to use
> this technique you must both be descended from one common female ancestor.
> It is an interesting way to learn where your very, very distant ancestors
> originated (I'm waiting for my test results now -- as far as I've been able
> to trace, my entire background is from the British Isles and the
> Netherlands, so I would think it hilarious to find out that I'm actually
> descended from someone who lived around Greece 14,000 years ago! And how do
> I put that in my family tree <gr>?).
>
> There is also a way to look at Y-line chromosomes, which test the genetic
> signature passed from father to son. These segments do change over time,
> but slowly enough that it can be used to answer questions about whether or
> not you are related to a possible distant cousin who has the same surname
> and is in the right general area as your family but you just cannot find any
> records to see if you are related. Again, though, it may not be of too much
> help because we still need to find some way to connect the two branches and
> our genes can't tell us how or when.
>
> At any rate it makes for an interesting conversation piece and will be
> something to show to the whole family for generations to come. Who knows
> what clues will one day be discovered hidden in our genes? I'm not trying
> to talk anyone out of using one of these services, because I'm so excited
> about what I can find on my own, but I just don't want people to get their
> hopes up that many brick walls will now crumble because of genetics. It may
> be quite the opposite and will create further questions!
>
> Cheers,
> Holly
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gypsy [mailto:]
> Sent: 31 August 2001 13:36
> To:
> Subject: Using DNA to trace your line??
>
> Hiyas
>
> I'm on the MAY list looking for my line and this was posted
> tonight.
>
> http://www.familytreedna.com/
>
> Has anyone tried this sort of thing yet? If so, does it help to
> trace your line?
>
> Cheers
> Teri
> --
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