Where should I send a sample of my DNA for analysis to determine ancestory?

6 Comments

1. Steven Jay says:

   November 13, 2009 at 6:15 pm

   You can have a DNA analysis performed for FREE by the Sorensen Molecular Genealogy Foundation. The turnaround time is much slower than the companies that charge for the service, but if you’re not in a hurry, this is a great option.

   As for reputation – many of the places that charge for DNA analysis actually send the samples to the Sorensen Molecular Genealogy Foundation.
2. Basement Bob says:

   November 13, 2009 at 6:15 pm

   try this link

   http://dna.analysis.businesscoholics.com/sh.cfm?sq=Dna%20Analysis
3. James says:

   November 13, 2009 at 6:15 pm

   Check these sites out:
   http://www.healthanddna.com/ancestry.html
   http://www.genetrack.com/us/
   http://www.genetree.com/
4. mortisia2121 says:

   November 13, 2009 at 6:15 pm

   http://www.ftdna.com/description.html#mtDNA
   http://www.oxfordancestors.com/your-maternal.html

   You can have your DNA analyzed in two different ways: first your Y chromosome -assuming you are male- and then your mitochondrial DNA. Since the first one is suspectible to more mutations -thus interrupting the ancestory line, mDNA is preffered. A person’s maternal ancestry is traced by mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA for short. Both men and women possess mtDNA, but only women pass it on to their children.
   So we all inherit our mtDNAs from our mothers, but not from our fathers. Your mother inherited it from her mother, who inherited it from hers, and so on back through time. Therefore, mtDNA traces an unbroken maternal line back through time for generation upon generation far further back than any written record. Research at Oxford University and elsewhere over many years has shown that all of our maternal lines are connected at some time in the past and that these connections can be traced by reading mtDNA. One striking finding was that people tended to cluster into a small number of groups, which could be defined by the precise sequence of their mtDNA. In native Europeans, for example, there were seven such groups, among Native Americans there were four, among Japanese people there were nine, and so on. Each of these groups, by an astounding yet inescapable logic, traced back to just one woman, the common maternal ancestor of everyone in her group, or clan. So by having your mDNA tested, you can find out which clan you belong. you only need a simple mouth smear.
5. Ted Pack says:

   November 13, 2009 at 6:15 pm

   Here is the FAQ page for the ones I used
   http://www.familytreedna.com/faqtip.html

   They then match you to other people. The 12-point test is $149. It doesn’t tell you much. If someone else matches you on all 12 points, there is a 90% chance you have a common ancestor 600 years ago. The 12-point will also tell you if there is a Native American back there somewhere. The 37-point test is another $149. If you match someone else on that one, there is a good chance you have a common ancestor who is closer. They match on the Y chromosone, so it is only good for sons of sons of sons . . .

   They let you upload a GEDCOM, which helps.
6. tham153 says:

   November 13, 2009 at 6:15 pm

   Family Tree DNA does this, ftdna.com. They look for "markers", certain select genes. You pay according to how many markers you want checked, from as few as 12 to (the last I looked, they keep increasing) 67. Results take about a month. I would suggest not less than 25. 67 is extreme unless you are trying to prove something legally important. They did mine, and came up with what I knew of my ancestry, plus some mild surprises, like a Mongol connection, but given that the Mongols invaded Europe, and my mother’s family was in the region they hit, not a big surprise. They have a number of "name groups" organized, in which people sharing a common last name try to use the genetic results to trace out relationships. I just read in mine that they had connected two people as (get this!) 15th cousins.