DNA tests and Genealogy #4
I’ve had a number of DNA tests, to assist in my Family Tree research and also general curiosity.
There are a number of different tests and understanding them can be quite daunting, I have only got the gist of the very basics in my head, so I’m not the best person to talk to about DNA test results. But there is a lot of info out there to do your own “learning"
The first test I did was a Y-DNA test. This test is looking for the Y chromosome that is passed from Father to Son, so from a genealogy/family tree point of view this is following the male surname line.
Well it is, so long as there haven’t been any extra-marital goings on, going on.
The other thing about the Y DNA is it changes or mutates over generations, and due to this trail of clues and the fact that ancient remains have been tested for Y-DNA, an estimation of your Paternal ancestry from historic times and clues to your Paternal family migration pattern can be made.
The Y-DNA map is being constantly added to and improved.
As humanity came out of Africa, the Y-DNA mutated into branches like the branches of a tree, these alike groups are called Haplogroups, starting with Haplogroup A.
The Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor (Y-MRCA, informally known as Y-chromosomal Adam) is the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) from whom all currently living men are descended patrilineally.
Y-chromosomal Adam is estimated to have lived roughly 236,000 years ago in Africa. By examining other genetic bottlenecks most Eurasian men are descended from a man who lived 69,000 years ago. Other major bottlenecks occurred about 5,000 years ago and subsequently most Eurasian men can trace their ancestry back to a dozen ancestors who lived 5,000 years ago.
My Y-DNA test showed I am in Haplogroup R, which is a branch from approx 22,800 years ago. I am actually in a subgroup R1a1a1a which occurs in central Eastern Europe and is a bit younger than the origin of R.
So what does this mean for me and my Tree research?
Um! Not a lot. Why? Well the first issue is surnames only start in most Western cultures about 1,000 years ago, so you might match closely with someones DNA test but they have a completely different surname, because the common link ancestor is from a time way way further back than surnames have existed.
So although Y-DNA can be interesting from a personal science point of view, they may not help you with Family Trees.
I’ll talk about other DNA tests and using DNA databases in another blog update.
There are a number of different tests and understanding them can be quite daunting, I have only got the gist of the very basics in my head, so I’m not the best person to talk to about DNA test results. But there is a lot of info out there to do your own “learning"
The first test I did was a Y-DNA test. This test is looking for the Y chromosome that is passed from Father to Son, so from a genealogy/family tree point of view this is following the male surname line.
Well it is, so long as there haven’t been any extra-marital goings on, going on.
The other thing about the Y DNA is it changes or mutates over generations, and due to this trail of clues and the fact that ancient remains have been tested for Y-DNA, an estimation of your Paternal ancestry from historic times and clues to your Paternal family migration pattern can be made.
The Y-DNA map is being constantly added to and improved.
As humanity came out of Africa, the Y-DNA mutated into branches like the branches of a tree, these alike groups are called Haplogroups, starting with Haplogroup A.
The Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor (Y-MRCA, informally known as Y-chromosomal Adam) is the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) from whom all currently living men are descended patrilineally.
Y-chromosomal Adam is estimated to have lived roughly 236,000 years ago in Africa. By examining other genetic bottlenecks most Eurasian men are descended from a man who lived 69,000 years ago. Other major bottlenecks occurred about 5,000 years ago and subsequently most Eurasian men can trace their ancestry back to a dozen ancestors who lived 5,000 years ago.
My Y-DNA test showed I am in Haplogroup R, which is a branch from approx 22,800 years ago. I am actually in a subgroup R1a1a1a which occurs in central Eastern Europe and is a bit younger than the origin of R.
So what does this mean for me and my Tree research?
Um! Not a lot. Why? Well the first issue is surnames only start in most Western cultures about 1,000 years ago, so you might match closely with someones DNA test but they have a completely different surname, because the common link ancestor is from a time way way further back than surnames have existed.
So although Y-DNA can be interesting from a personal science point of view, they may not help you with Family Trees.
I’ll talk about other DNA tests and using DNA databases in another blog update.
