About DNA Testing
DNA
and its Uses in Genealogy
DNA
Concerns
DNA
and its Uses in Genealogy
A
paper on DNA and its Uses in Genealogy is available as a PDF here.
It
includes a number of references which are also listed and linked to
from the sidebar.
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DNA
Concerns
After reviewing all the
available material you may
still have concerns. Typical concerns include cost, and fear or
ignorance
of what might be revealed.
Cost is unavoidable,
though at under £100 sterling it
is not unmanageable. Cost can be shared. Close family members
(brothers,
cousins, even second cousins) will yield the same or similar result, so
only one
test is required per extended family. Interested members of a family,
including
females, who are often the most committed genealogists, can share the
cost.
Fear and ignorance covers
fear of the test itself, and
fear of what might be uncovered. The test itself should be
no
barrier. It is simple, painless and self administered. You are simply
required
to take a swab from the inside of your cheek.
Two concerns about the results are that the test is medically
informative, or it can
identify someone as an individual. Neither is an issue. The
bits of
the Y-chromosome DNA tested are not
part of any genes and contain no medical information.
Thought of logically a DNA
change that affected health would be less likely to survive, and so
would have
no use for genealogy. Also the tests are looking at a small number of
DNA
sequences that can be expected to change only every 12 generations, so
they will
clearly not be unique for any individual.
The test indicates
whether two or more people have a
common ancestor within a given timeframe. Of course this might show
that two
individuals are unrelated, which might be a concern if they thought
they were. This
is why I recommend that two people who know they are related more closely
then
3rd cousins, do not both take the test.
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