Re: mt dna testing - How is it done

["Victor Villarreal" <vela_este@...>]

Hello Linda,

If you already ordered and sent your samples through Gary Felix's
site, that means that the company doing your testing is Family Tree DNA.

What the mtDNA test will show is what haplogroup your
maternal-genealogical line belongs to. This will identify the
biogeographical regions and migration routes of your deep ancestry;
deep meaning very, very old ancestry.

In the case of YDNA is something similar for the paternal line, except
that the genetic markers in the Y chromosome mutate more rapidly so
they can be used to trace genealogical relationships (by matching to
others) on a shorter time scale (hundreds of years).  Obviously, this
kind of test is most useful from the genealogist perspective.

There's a third kind of test done by a different company which tests
not the Y chromosome, nor the mitochondrial (mt) DNA, but the
autosomal DNA.  This DNA represents the bulk of our DNA, the genetic
accumulation or load of all our ancestors that define what and who we
are, not only the maternal and paternal lineages DNA.  The test
purports to show by percentages our ethnic composition, for example,
African, South East Asian, North Western European, etc.  BUT, and this
is a big but, although the test relies on the same proven DNA
sequencing technologies as the other two tests, the interpretation of
the analised markers as valid biogeographical indicators has been
questioned by many knowledgable researchers.  In simpler words, at
this stage of development, this test is highly speculative and not to
be taken as gospel.

Victor

--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Erlinda Castanon-Long"
<longsjourney@y...> wrote:
> I would love to see how others did thier dna tests. I feel cheated as 
> a female that I can only do the mtdna (female)line. I ordered mine 
> through Gary Felix's site.  My husband ordered his from another even 
> though it's the same lab.. he does not have ancestors from Mexico.  My 
> test kit arrived in 10 days, my husbands took 6 weeks to arrive.  I'm 
> waiting for my results now and expect them by the end of June.  I also 
> like how the Mexico site will hold our results for 25 years and will 
> notify us if there is a match with someone.
> 
> I don't fully understand how they analize the results but expect to 
> find African, Espanol and Indio blood lines if my research records are 
> correct.  I'm hoping they break it down in percentages, Joseph, do you 
> know how it's done?
> 
> Linda Castanon-Long