Have you ever wanted to know, who you are and where you came from

[Oracle of Delphi]

DNA testing use to be quite expensive, now it's little more than 100 bucks. I decided to do this based on Mitochondrial DNA test results, which are passed down from Mother to Child unchanged from generation to generation with very little genetic drift.

The results of this test were surprising to say the least, my German grandfather always used to call my German grandmother his Sweet Swede, there was a rumor that my mother's great great-grandmother came from Sweden or someplace north of Germany in the Nordic countries.

It seems according to the DNA results, she actually came from Iceland, Swedish and Icelandic are very close languages linguistically. 90% of all my exact matches are from Iceland with the other 10% being in the USA and Canada, but immigrating to the USA and Canada from Iceland.

I am waiting for the results from my Y-DNA test on my fathers side. This traces the Y chromosome passed down from father to son for generations. I'm not questioning whether or not I'm my fathers son because I look like him, but I read that 10 - 20% of married females get pregnant by someone other than the husband in the marriage, so what I'm testing is that I'm half Italian. I'm testing whether all my Italian great great great grandmothers on my Italian side didn't shack up with some non-Italian. One of my friends here always teases me and says, sometimes it's better not to know. I disagree, I like knowing.

If your interested, I used Genetree, their database covers 170 countries and they have the largest DNA database out there.

Here is a link with a video that explains it: http://www.genetree.com/tour

[Robert Hall]

Interesting..don't mitochondrials have something to do with the Force (IIRC from the Star Wars: Episode I) ?

But seriously, that is very interesting..I'd like to do that...my sister has researched our family tree some, and I've heard a lot from my Mom and Dad, but there are a lot of undocumented details.... My understanding is that there is some Scots-Irish, Irish, Scottish, English, Welsh, Native American (Cherokee) and Ashkenazi (European) Jewish in my family tree...most of my ancestors seem to have immigrated to western Virginia and eastern Kentucky in mid to late 1800s..

Edited September 22, 2008 by moltar

[daves87rs]

Interesting....

[balthazar]

Looked at the site vid and the wiki entry on Mitochondrial DNA, but I don't see how the DNA test identifies your ancestors... unless their DNA is also somehow on file. I assume it can only -somehow- identify which country only, is that correct? DNA ethnicity markers have been identified then? More info, please.

[Robert Hall]

Looked at the site vid and the wiki entry on Mitochondrial DNA, but I don't see how the DNA test identifies your ancestors... unless their DNA is also somehow on file. I assume it can only -somehow- identify which country only, is that correct? DNA ethnicity markers have been identified then? More info, please.

Hmmm...interesting.. I would think it could identify ethnicity, race and perhaps geographic origin area (at the continent level) more easily than country...can't see how you would identify country by DNA, unless by markers related to historical groups that occupied a geographic area that is part of a specific country. Or by comparing to DNA that is known to be from people from country X. Finding % matches against a test group of DNA from a given country.

Edited September 22, 2008 by moltar

[balthazar]

Right: by 'country' I did mean 'geographic area'.

But if true; in Europe that's going to involve some degree of interpretation, no? Can the MtDNA distinguish -say- between different Slavic ethnicities ??

Still cannot see how this going to add much to the geneaology of an individual, unless a distant relative is far wide of the assumed enthicity... but this test will still not reveal an identity, just an existance. It seems to only bring new questions rather than answers.

[Robert Hall]

Right: by 'country' I did mean 'geographic area'.

But if true; in Europe that's going to involve some degree of interpretation, no? Can the MtDNA distinguish -say- between different Slavic ethnicities ??

No idea.. I suppose if you had a big enough sampling of each ethnic group one could compare their DNA compare against those samplings to get a % match..

Still cannot see how this going to add much to the geneaology of an individual, unless a distant relative is far wide of the assumed enthicity... but this test will still not reveal an identity, just an existance. It seems to only bring new questions rather than answers.

Yes...lots of questions...would be interesting to use in addition to traditional geneaology methods...

[balthazar]

I was able to uncover a 'surprise' via traditional 'paper' research- my mother could have been born under a different surname; her father ("JL") was born under a different one- his father ("JZ") died of TB when JL was 8 and JL never told anyone about it, and documents (such as his SS application form) list his step-father WL as his father, not JZ. U.S. Census records told the true story. If my mother's grandmother had not remarried, my mother would've known right off that she is 25% Italian via her surname, instead of believing she had English in her background instead.

There's a lot of stories to be uncovered even thru 'dry' paperwork.

Edited September 22, 2008 by balthazar

[trinacriabob]

I was on a 5-hour layover in Salt Lake City (it's a Delta hub) en route to Europe last summer. The LDS (Mormon) church offers a free shuttle into the downtown core IF you take their tour. Their niceness is very Stepford like...I wasn't too comfortable. So, I told them I had an architectural background and wanted to sketch their buildings...yeah, right. Instead, I wandered over to the genealogy library.

It takes a long time to go through their microfiche. Couldn't go far enough back within my layover. I wouldn't want to go back there and would rather investigate on my own. I know that the surnames on my dad's side (his parents) are from the northern regions of Italy and that my mom's surname combo is from the south of Italy. Many of my family and relatives do not even remotely look southern Italian.

So how does this DNA thing tell one their ethnic/anthropological mix? I still would rather follow the paper trail.

[Oracle of Delphi]

Mitochondrial DNA is inherited only from the mother, which allows tracing of a direct genetic line from the maternal side.

Exact Matches: An exact match indicates another participant has the same mtDNA values as your mtDNA profile. An exact match means that you share a common maternal ancestor. These different mtDNA values have been mapped for 170 countries so far. I hope this helps.

[balthazar]

170 countries is all well & good (how many DNA samples do they have?), but by 'exact match' to 'another participant', you mean to another mtDNA sample in the companies database, right? All this will do is link you to another in the database, but cannot tell you when or by whom you 2 are connected... because G-G Grandma's DNA is not in the database. If no one sharing the same mtDNA is in the database, you come up genealogically empty, no? Steer me straight 'cause I'm lost on the benefit here.

Look forward to an update post when you get your Y-DNA results.

[CARBIZ]

With my mother's checkered history, I would be afraid to have this test.

Unless it somehow proved I was adopted.

[Camino LS6]

My family (father's side) is fairly well-documented and I've done a bunch of research. Unfortunately there is a gap in the information past my GG Grandfather, but I know more ancient background and hope to connect the dots. The clan in Scotland has its own DNA project going and I'd like to participate at some point. This history fascinates me.

The progenitor of the family was Somerled, who famously ousted the Norse from the sea Kingdom of Dalraida. Recent DNA evidence indicates that he himself was part Norse, which is a bit ironic.

[Oracle of Delphi]

My family (father's side) is fairly well-documented and I've done a bunch of research. Unfortunately there is a gap in the information past my GG Grandfather, but I know more ancient background and hope to connect the dots. The clan in Scotland has its own DNA project going and I'd like to participate at some point. This history fascinates me.

The progenitor of the family was Somerled, who famously ousted the Norse from the sea Kingdom of Dalraida. Recent DNA evidence indicates that he himself was part Norse, which is a bit ironic.

Hey since I carry Icelandic blood (Vikings that moved west) via my mothers family, maybe we are related. I have a kilt I can wear to the Scottish family reunions! :rotflmao:

[Camino LS6]

Hey since I carry Icelandic blood (Vikings that moved west) via my mothers family, maybe we are related. I have a kilt I can wear to the Scottish family reunions! :rotflmao:

Well, you're one up on me- I don't own, and have never worn, a kilt.

[Robert Hall]

Well, you're one up on me- I don't own, and have never worn, a kilt.

Though I am part Scottish (and Scots-Irish), I couldn't see myself in a kilt... I'm shaped like a slightly thinner Tony Soprano.

[Sixty8panther]

I'm 100% Slovakian.

That's what happens when your parents are both 100% Slovakian

and your entire family tree is contained inside 40 sq. kilometers

for as far as anyone remembers/knows.

Still if I had the money i would be interested to find out more about

my DNA... I'm pretty northern-European looking.