DNA testing?

[AFS1970]

This has little to do with Scotland, but the process is much the same. I saw a TV news special on the practice of American black families doing DNA tests to find connections to their African tribes. The people they interviewed had some interesting results. One woman found a large white family that she was closely related to and the two branches of the families have since had a few big reunions. But what was the most interesting was that they submitted the same subject's DNA to three different companies and got back three different results as far as tribal connections.

The reporter interviewed the owners of the three companies and found that to build their databases they went to Africa and paid people for DNA samples. In some cases they got exclusive agreements with whole tribes that they would not give samples to the other companies. This meant that even if a person was decended from a certain tribe they might not know it if that tribe had no samples on file with the company doing the test. The reporter asked why the companies did not share their databases for the good of the community and to help people reconnect with their ancestry and the answer from all three was that this was a business and not a charity project. They were in it to make money.

Now I do not begrudge anyone earning money from whatever legal business they choose, but after seeing that news show, I couldn't help but think of all the people who will never really get the answers they are looking for without submitting multiple samples and then interpreting the results. Even then the results might just be a starting point for more traditional research methods. If all the results pointed toward a certain region, it might just tell you what library to go looking for the answer in.

[Ui Meachair]

I would recommend that you read up on genetic testing for genealogy purposes before starting (I wish I had). There are quite a few tests offered by the various companies and sorting it all out can be daunting. The web sites usually have some information, but I was still confused after reading it - I used FamilyTreeDNA so I'm most familiar with them.

Two books that were helpful to me are:

Trace Your Roots with DNA: Use Your DNA to Complete Your Family Tree; by Megan Smolenyak and Ann Turner. This is a primer on what the different types of DNA testing are and what each can, and cannot, do for you genealogically speaking. Useful for deciding which tests to order.

Saxons, Vikings and Celts: The Genetic Roots of Britain and Ireland; by Bryan Sykes, the author of The Seven Daughters of Eve and (one of ?) the founder of Oxford Ancestors. This book includes short histories of the regions that might affect the genetics of the peoples there. It then goes on to describe the genetics of the regions by distribution of the yDNA and mDNA haplogroups. He uses names, as in The Seven Daughters of Eve, rather than haplogroup nomenclature - for example he uses clan of Oisín which I'm pretty sure refers haplogroup (or haploid) R1b.

Beir bua.

[McElmurry]

Several clans have DNA projects that attempt to link clan members of the diaspora to clan members in Scotland. I would be interested to hear about successes and limitations of this type of targeted testing.

[Stan]

I am one of the success stories to DNA testing.

My surname is Lackey, and I took a DNA test to see what my affiliation with the clan Gregor was / is. I was also interested in finding my genetic home land. With the help of geneticist Dr. (Ph.D) Tyrone Bowers, while it was found that I am NOT a direct descendant of a "Gregor" my genetic home land was found. It turns out that my ancestors came from a town called Sterling, which seems to be about 30 miles north and east of loch Lomond, the known area of where Clan Gregor was located. DNA determined that this geographical area is the origin of my "Leckie Adam" (the original spelling of my surname) , to which I am these 1,000 years +, a part of an unbroken chain of that linage.

If you would like the email of Dr. T. Bowers, or to read a copy of the report about my DNA results as it relates to genetic home land discovery, just send me a PM.

[McElmurry]

Many people are unhappy with their DNA testing results because they do not understand the uncertainties inherent in the process. The following link gives a nice desciption of the process used by 23andMe.

https://www.23andme.com/ancestry_composition_guide/