Think You Are (dot com)

You have heard about DNA testing for Genealogy and might be concerned that this will put you in some huge criminal database.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Both types of DNA testing are entirely different and the databases do not mix.  Do not worry about it.

With the popular television program, “Who do you think you are“, there has been a renewed interest in testing for Genealogy DNA purposes.  This NBC series produced by Lisa Kudrow of “Friends” fame has spurred additional interest in this already growing field of high tech family history sleuthing.

Follow the pursuit of several well known personalities and see how they were able to locate their family tree branches from only knowing a few modern day bits of the family story.

The method that cells are collected to be used for genealogy is totally pain free and you do not have to give a blood sample for this test.  The DNA kit that you select will have a small scraper sort of like a toothbrush that you rub up and down inside the cheek of your mouth.  Enough cells are rubbed off so that the swab is then sealed in a mailer and sent back to the testing lab for analysis.

Select one of the many DNA Testing Centers and order your sample kit online.   You will learn as to the part of the world that your earliest ancestors came from and also if your test results match any other people that have submitted a sample previously.  If you do not immediately find a direct connection then your data will remain in the database and in the future when there is a match you will be notified.

You will find that DNA kits are able to be purchased online here and other places, such as Discount Shopping Online.  There are several different companies and your choices are plenty. The  cost of DNA testing may vary from less than a hundred dollars to several hundred.  It all depends on how deep you want to go with the lab test.  With more markers being tested you will have a better possibility of finding that you match in part with others in the program.

In previous years you were only able to determine for males, the male surname line.  In other words the paternal line only of your father, grandfather, great grandfather and on back to the earliest times.  This is called the Y-DNA test.

Females can test their “umbilical line”, so-called as the mtDNA test goes to the maternal line only, such as your mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and  further back through ancient time.

There is also a new type of autosomal test that can match up family connections on the inner branches of your family tree.  You will locate first, second and third cousins with a high degree of probability and even might find matches to fourth and fifth cousins to a lesser degree.  This is called the Family Finder DNA test.  This means that you do not only have options to check the male Y-DNA line or the female mtDNA line.

Now go ahead and have some fun and in the process you will find new friends and relatives through this exciting new technology.  Once you have discovered genetic matches you may then use standard genealogical search procedures to document just how it is that you are related to these new found relatives.

In the UK there is a very popular program called “Who do you think you are?”   This television program has notable personalities that volunteer for genealogy and DNA testing to have their family history researched by experts in order to show who their likely ancestors are.  There are very surprising results at times.

Now you too can help to prove your ancestors through performing standard genealogical research and then you can add in a DNA test that will show your connection to your parents and will show parallel cousinships to common ancestors.

There is no doubt that you can prove the parents as long as all three people can be tested.  Half of your DNA code comes from your father called Y-DNA and half comes from your mother or Y-DNA.

All you have to do is to collect enough cells from each to make a scientific test.  These methods might be through a blood test comparisons or from such things as; some hair strands, saliva, a tooth brush that has only been used by the single person, or even cups and cans or things like cigarette butts, and many other sources.  Many of the obscure types of collecting can be quite costly to test.

There are now much cheaper methods to use for testing DNA for genealogy and family history testing.  DNA kits will provide a small scraper that you just run up and down inside the cheek and send it in to the lab.

The reports that will be returned from the DNA Testing Centers will show your immediate information and then there will be instructions on how to plug your data in to huge databases of results from millions of other people that have been tested.

These reports will be able to show you the percentage of chances you will have to having ancestors that were European, Asian, African, and even Native American.  Genealogy DNA will be a standard procedure from now on thanks to the advances of this type of technology.

Update: Another place to read more about Genealogy and DNA testing is at http://www.squidoo.com/GenealogyDNA.  You will find some videos on the subject there also.