DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the genetic fingerprint of all living things. Human DNA is located on pairs of chromosomes. The sex chromosome is made up of a pair ( either XX [female] or XY [male] ). Therefore a male receives the X gene from his mother and the Y gene only from his father.

DNA is composed of sequences of bases which recur in certain repetitive patterns. It is small portions of these repetitive base pairs that are studied through sophisticated state-of-the-art scientific techniques.

Names (numbers) are assigned to these portions called DYS. Comparing these DYS numbers between different samples allows one to prove or disprove a common ancestor.

For more details, see:
www.familytreedna.com/faq2.html

(Our objective is to avoid highly scientific explanations and discussions on our web page, but we do hope to add a few other elements that will help explain certain features of the study, so check this  page occasionally in the future).