Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Mitochondrial DNA

Mitochondrial DNA is inherited DNA you get from your mother. Sons and daughters both carry the DNA, but only the female passes it. Restore your mother's DNA and learn about your and her history as well:)

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

We are ALL related to Adam and Eve!

We are all related to Adam and Eve, and each other. With the technology of DNA science and Carbon 14 testing, we now have some of the important life questions answered. Questions like, Is everyone in the world related? How are we related? What path did my ancestry take to get to wherever it is you are now?

First off, Adam and Eve are considered our Most Recent Common Ancestors (MRCA). Everyone is related to them, it is our most recent match. If you don't know how you are related to someone, you can always go back to Adam and Eve. The Adam and Eve talked about here are not the same biblical characters that ate the forbidden fruit. Y chromosomal "Adam" is the name given by Brian Sykes, author of "Seven Daughters of Eve", that indicates this artifact of DNA links us all. A human bone found near Kenya, Africa that dates back about 60,000 years has the same DNA match as every living man. Y chromosomes are passed from father to son only.

Mitochondrial "Eve" is the name Bryan gave to our MRCA on our maternal side. Mitochondria DNA is passed from mother to daughter. Unlike the Y chromosome, both males and females get their mother's mitochondria, though the males do not pass it. Eve is much older than Adam, about 140,000 years old. Her remains were discovered near Kenya, Africa as well.

What this means is that Y chromosomal Adam and Mitochondrial Eve are grandparents to us all. Environment and time mutate are DNA slightly. These mutations help show when and where we migrated. From Africa, most people populated north to Europe while few went west in Africa. Throughout time, these two groups of people's DNA altered with slight mutation. As we populated the world, we mapped out our migration through our DNA.

You can find out your family history to the time of our Most Recent Common Ancestors (MRCA). You can find out what path of migration your lineage took. DNA Genealogy has become of journey, discovering answers of your family past with DNA testing. Y chromosome DNA testing and Mitochondrial DNA testing have paved the way for ancestry buffs.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Jamieson

Sunday, August 2, 2009

Mitochondrial DNA Testing

Mitochondrial DNA Testing was not even a thought until 1963 when it was discovered to have it's own separate DNA. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) is passed down maternally. Your mother passes mitochondria to both her sons and daughters, though the sons do not pass it to their children. Mitochondrial DNA gets passed from generation to generation maternally, and the mtDNA does not change with slight exceptions.

Tracing your ancestry has never had more solid proof then DNA testing, it is virtually almost completely accurate. A book called "The Seven Daughters of Eve" by Brian Sykes explains that we are all related to one common ancestor he named Mitochondrial Eve. Throughout time these "7 daughters of Eve" migrated into Europe (whom are all connected to Mitochondrial Eve through there DNA) and many of us are descended from them. There are around 30 other "daughters in the world, these seven daughters were spread throughout Europe.

Researchers created a grouping system called Haplogroups. These groups were made to show where these certain groups of DNA migrated. Haplogroup H is the most common in Europe, this "daughter is given the name "Helena". About half of all Europeans are descended from her. This Haplogroup originated in Southwest Asia Middle East about 25,000 to 30,000 years ago.

New technology has just surfaced for mtDNA, specifically Haplogroup H. DNA offers a full sequence Mitochondrial DNA analysis. This is for Haplogroup H only, you can go there to see if your qualified. The site also offers any other genealogy test available today including a 67 marker test for Y chromosome ,the only test of it's kind.

I took a Mitochondrial DNA Test 6 months ago. A (High Variable Resolution) HVR1 and an HVR2 analysis and an add in the largest DNA database to discover my ancestry. My migration as everyone else, started near Kenya, Africa 140,000-170,000 years ago. From there, they traveled north and settled in south Europe. South Europe is where a the migration began to split. Some went east eventually populating China, Japan, Australia, etc. while others, including my family, went more north into Europe until they reached the area of Ireland, UK, Scotland and even as far as Germany. As of the last 500 years, my legacy has been populating Northern Ireland (Ulster County).

I have made 3 matches with other people who have taken their DNA. With my already extensive family tree, I was able to help all 3 (relatives) find their connection to my tree. In essence, my family tree grew leaps and bounds because of DNA technology and they found family answers they were not aware of. This was worth it alone, the relationships you make throughout your family history adventure!

For more info check out Mitochondrial DNA Testing

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gary_Jamieson

Gary Jamieson - EzineArticles Expert Author