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This is an extract from an article which appeared recently in the Liverpool Echo:-
"The main benefits for the genealogist are that the testing procedure can link you to people sharing either the same surname (or variants) or the markers on the male Y chromosome, thus enabling you to find people with whom you share a common ancestor."
Has any GR member tried it?
With what results?
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The IGI (mormons) advertised one, I sent off for a pack. It arrived, with paperwork saying they would not inform me of results; if the people I think are my parents turn out not to be my parents I wouldnt be told; I have to allow them to pass the results onto whoever they wish; they cant guarantee it wont affect my insurance in the future; and I have no rights. Um....I changed my mind! I also thought, what if the DNA gets into the hands of some world domination freak??
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So... If the people you think are your parents turn out not to be your parents you wouldn't be told - but presumably you would otherwise be told if they were?
What would we gather from that? ;-)
However, another well known genealogy site has no such qualms...
"...it is possible that in some cases database matches could reveal close relations (for instance siblings or cousins) who you did not know existed, and it is possible that this knowledge could cause embarrassment or distress."
To know or not to know, that is the question...
Would anyone be prepared to open a potential Pandora's Box?
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Hi Feralcat
I've decided that price and the results mean that I'm not interested. I don't want to be told which of six people living in Europe thousands of years ago I am related to; I don't want to pass the info to IGI in return for no info whatsoever; I don't want thousands (it does seem it would be thousands) of people emailing saying "it seems we are related, please pass me your family tree".
It does look as if the tests have the potential to produce interesting results, but the product hasn't got there yet for many of us.
Have a look at this recent thread:
http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/boards.asp?wci=thread&tk=982732
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No feralcat, after submitting my DNA, they would never be in touch with me again!!
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Hi feralcat and Romany Star,
I think you may be looking at different facets of DNA testing. The feralcat quote is correct: for Family history at the moment it's mainly Y chromosome studies which are useful. I've tried it and found I am related to a man who I had presumed was a distant cousin of mine.
There are two main other techniques using DNA at the moment are:
1. parentage testing (presumably via autosomal DNA) - which seems to be what Romany is describing - perhaps useful for cases of adoption in living people but otherwise not a lot of use for family history (time scale one generation of living people - and the typical police forensic DNA test).
2. Mitocondrial DNA (mothers' line) which looks at much longer time scales - great for the evolution of tribes over 10,000 years (out of Africa and the 7 daughters of eve stuff) but not a lot of use for family history.
I'm not sure that the LDS (Mormons) have a DNA project - could you post a URL please? What you are describing sounds as if it might be the research project of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation - which is free and since it is a research poject it wants to use the data!
The Wikipedia Genealogical DNA test page is a good summary. For the Y chromosome tests almost no medical information can be found (and that only by correlation - they use short tandem repeats in the junk DNA - it's not expressed). Obviously it's only available for men (women don't have a Y chromosome) it's not too expensive and easy (wipe a cotton bud inside your mouth). "Non-paternity events" are an issue - so if either a child was adopted before adoption records, or the presumed father was not the actual father the results would not show a match. They choose markers that mutate slowly - over periods of hundreds of years, so within statistical variation the closer the match the closer the genealogy.
Y-chromosome DNA testing might possibly reveal some surprises ("non-paternity events") but the database I use is open only to those who want to find out; and the data are confidential to the person being tested (who can then look at the results and decide whether they want to communicate or publish those results - or not). Also it seems to me that most people researching their family history must realise they are opening themselves up to embarrassing revelations - most of which in this day and age are hardly shocking. Many of us add our trees openly on these sites so it's not as if we're trying to hide things.
I'm no expert in the realms of paranoia, but I feel that a world domination freak would not put trying to extract information from stolen Y-chomosome junk DNA results at the top of their wish list; and even if they did it won't get them very far in their objective.
In the years I've had my Y-chomosome results in databases I've had one contact from someone who wasn't part of my surname study - I think from someone who hadn't quite got the idea and because I was a vague match assumed we might be distantly related, when we were not. Compare this to the number of spam E-mails on other subjects!
Ethnicity testing and in fact all autosomal studies (DNA inherited from both mother and father) are at an early stage of development but there's no doubt whatsoever that in the future this will be the main route for genetic genealogy.
There is tonnes more on the web - DNA Heritage are perhaps the best company and Family Tree DNA are perhaps the most popular for instance, and that other thread you've pointed to looks most helpful.
Happy hunting: onwards and backwards, Stephen
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Hi Stephen,
Looks like you've saved me a bob or two, thank you.
feralcat
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Thanks Ivy for pointing out the other thread, must have missed that one!
Ta again.
feralcat
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I actually received a pack at my home Stephen, a few people from this site ordered one after it was advertised in a Genealogy mag. And I can confirm it was managed by the mormons. Was not parentage testing, it was for a one-world tree.
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Romany Star please would you give me the confirmation you have that the site was managed by LDS. Thanks
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