DNA testing?

I've submitted mine to FamilyTreeDNA as you say the more data is collected the more likely matches will be made. That site provides 3 major types of test, which are effectively

• male only line test, going back son to father to grandfather etc etc. Known as Y-DNA
• female line test, going back son or daughter to mother, to grandmother etc,etc. Known as mtDNA
• a mixed test, going back on all lines but for very limited number of generations

The Y-DNA test often regarded as a surname test is the basis for surname projects, I've joined the Bisset project (as the 2nd member of the project) and to our surprise when the results come back we found that the project leader and I were cousins. We know of no paper link and my line I have back to 1684 his line is back to 1740s based around 20 miles away in a different county. Since then we have had numerous other people join the project and have found several other close matches however again no paper trail established. One of these matches is for a line in Edinburgh area some 120 miles away from our Aberdeenshire lines so we aren't sure where that fits in either. So we continue to encourage more submissions of tests from Bisset males to try and add more pieces of the jigsaw.

The mixed line test that they call Family Finder has been disappointing. The matches are fairly weakly defined as a little thought makes you realise...

You get ~50% of your DNA from your father and ~50% from your mother as they do in turn from their parents.

Now think of this if we only had 2 DNA pieces instead of millions you could think of it this way, your father may have DNA pieces called AB and your mother CD. You could have inherited AC, or AD or BC or BD. If you have 4 siblings then there is a fair chance you would each have a different combo. Now in reality of course we have billions of DNA letters and so the combinations are immense but 50% of those letters still come from your father and 50% from your mother.

So as you go back generations you find that the match even between close relatives gets weaker and weaker, you may almost no DNA from one of your grandparent. eg:

Grandparents AB & CD (fathers side), EF & GH (mothers side), now your father could get BD and your mother get EH, you could get BH. So that's a 50% of DNA from 2 grandparents and none from the other 2. That's of course extreme with only 2 DNA letters rather than billions and so random chance with a billion coin toss 50/50s like that will be that the percentages from your 4 grandparents might be 5%/45%/30%/20%.

So this technique gets less and less likely to have enough data to make a match the more generations you go back and indeed the company suggest its no more than half a dozen or so generations. However that's still 4th/5th ish great grand parents, do you know ALL 128 of your 5th great grandparents, will someone you match know ALL 128 of theirs so you can pinpoint which branch the match is on?

Typically no so the family finder test doesn't show much. That plus the vast majority of people who have taken the test haven't actually uploaded any tree data so you with absolutely nothing to go on you have no earthly clue where the match might be. Worse some people don't even sign the form to allow match results to be made known so all you know is there is a match at some level but you can't see where because their data is withheld. Which is so utterly pointless you wonder why they took the test in the first place.

 

I've just had the 12 marker test results back and getting the others in April. Just need some time to think about what it all means.

 

12 Marker Y-DNA test tells you that you are related to tens of thousands of people, of course not all have tested so you'll get about 100+ results of those that have tested. The 25 or preferably 37 marker test is where you start to find good matches.

I'd very strongly advise if you haven't done so already that you apply to join one of the existing projects. There is already a Nicholls project with 316 members, so that's quite a good chance of finding a match my Bisset project has only 18 members. There are also location based projects that may be worthwhile joining.

 

Or you might not get any matches at all from those first 12 markers, as has happened with a cousin who provided a sample so that I could trace my maternal grandfather's paternal line (which is currently stuck with my 3G grandfather since it's a very common surname and we've no idea where he was born). I'm hoping that when we get the results from the full 37 markers we'll be luckier!

It's worth bearing in mind that taking a DNA test is rather like completing your My Ancestors page at the main LostCousins site - when you don't get immediate matches all it tells you is that you've been quicker off the mark than your cousins - it doesn't mean that you don't have any cousins. After all, someone has to be first!

 

Yes I joined when I ordered.

 

For genealogical purposes its pretty useless as even a 100% match means the common female ancestor is between 1 and 16 generations ago.

 

Using FTdna, I have had my paternal cousin - since deceased - tested, upped to 111 markers in the last special offer for my Cox dna (my father's line back to mid c16th in Nottinghamshire) and my mother for mtdna, as well as mine, and all 3 of us for autosomal tests. Result as others say, much head scratching, return to Debbie Kennett's handouts at Genealogy in the Sunshine, lots of emails sent and very many equally baffled replies, but absolutely no links established. I was invited to join the Cox project and did; as a name it's not quite up there with Smith or Jones but ....I'm pinning my faith on the hope that some results will come in handy for my children or grandchildren after I'm gone, if the Company keeps the samples another 22 years!

 

Alternatively the FTDNA "family finder" test aims to match people within 5 generations across ALL branches not just the all male or all female line and so this test is usually the best one for a female to take as it can be genealogically useful, especially if there are illegitimacies you want to try to trace and can't via paper records.

 

The issue Chrissy is the percentage chance of some DNA being passed on, you get roughly half from your father and half from your mother. Go back a generation and its quarters. Go back to 5th cousins (7 generations) and its 1/2^7 = 1/128ths. ie: less than 1% passed on. So even if you are related to someone else and are 5th cousins then their 1% might well not match your 1% that you got from that x great grandparent. Further back and it gets even more unlikely you'd get a match.

So its nothing really to do with the test and more to do with simple biology and numbers.

 

Anyone thinking of testing with FTDNA should be aware that they do several special offers during the year, including, as far as I can see, always around Christmas. The last was a y-dna test for Father's Day. Peter always alerts us in the Newsletter. Any other regular time, Peter? If you think you want to get more of your close family tested, get their permission first, so you can go for it as soon as the offer arrives. My remaining living cousin did not reply quickly enough when I asked her, so that I could take advantage of the last offer, so I am waiting till the Christmas offer ( it is an expensive hobby if your relatives are willing but poor). She is only 70, so it should be safe enough ....
Thanks for the clear information in a nutshell, Alexander.
Meanwhile, the closest match so far in my autosomal test (and my cousin's, so, the right line, which is important for one of our brick walls) is an American who knows nothing beyond the vague knowledge that her ancestor matching us was Irish. Well, that's all I know, as well, about my 2x great grandmother, who may have been born c 1830+/- 10 and still alive in 1906. How frustrating it is that genes don't have names .....

 

Jacqueline, I'm attempting to arrange an exclusive discount on DNA tests for LostCousins members - so far without success, but I will keep trying!

 

Can you clarify what you mean by "number 1 matches" and "number 2 matches". I'm not aware of that terminology on their website.