(Updated 1st April 2015)
I have been thinking a lot recently about DNA testing for genealogy. The discovery of Richard III’s skeleton, confirmed through a genetic link with a living descendant of his immediate family, brought one of the benefits of DNA to the public view – and now the king has recently been buried, bringing the subject to light again. A few months ago the UK’s Eddie Izzard made an excellent programme about how DNA testing enabled him to trace his (and many of our) ancient ancestors from their earliest roots in Africa. I have occasionally been asked by clients about how DNA testing works, so it is something that I need to keep up with, and know what potential benefits it may have for the genealogist. Just exactly what can we find out?
In traditional genealogy, we use written documentation to provide evidence of our heritage, particularly those called vital records: birth, marriage and death. It is very specific, and no professional genealogist would take a client down a family line without making absolutely sure that their evidence is sound.
There are, of course, several problems with this. The main one being, of course, that documentation has a habit of being unreliable. Documents get damaged, lost or destroyed. Human beings write in them, which means they are vulnerable to distortion of facts for various reasons (e.g. bias, vanity, loss of memory etc).
Also, with traditional research, the further back you go, the more difficult it is to find documentation for the common man, so much of our research will end somewhere in the seventeenth or, if we’re lucky, the sixteenth century, unless we have ancestors in the aristocracy.
But even then, there is the huge problem that traditional genealogy relies solely on the surname to trace generations back. Unfortunately, surnames did not come into mainstream use until the middle ages, and before then it was Norman barons who used a surname to denote their origin (e.g. d’Arcy or de Bourg). So before the Norman Conquest we cannot trace single family lines unless our ancestors were royalty.
So, can DNA testing take over at the point where traditional research fails?
There are various testing options for DNA, and you need to research these to find out which is the best option for your needs. Basically, they fall into the following categories:
Y-DNA: This follows the male Y chromosome, which, because it only follows the male line, is quite attractive to genealogists as it follows the surname (unless there are illegitimacies that change that. My own male line, for example would follow the BOTTs back to the early 19th century, and then a line of WALKERs…). To get this tested I would have to ask my brother or my nephew as it is only passed from father to son. Unfortunately, I would not be able to test my mother’s paternal line as there are no living descendants that we are in touch with.
These tests rely on markers to distinguish different lines, and also groups of people who have joined surname studies. A match with a living person with that surname will prove that you have a common ancestor – but is no more specific than that. However, this can be helpful if that person has done more work on their ancestry and you may find that you are able to connect your ancestry research with theirs and get further information. This could help you to get through a brick wall, for example, where you have not been able to sort out which of many possibilities is your specific ancestor.
mtDNA: This is testing that follows the female line, although both male and females can take the test as the chromosome is passed to sons, but only daughters pass it on. According to academic research, there are just seven women that 95% of Europeans are descended from between 10,000 and 45,000 years ago, and with this test you can find out which of these you descend from and when your branch of the world’s population migrated from Africa.
At present, although this is fascinating information, this does not help us at all with more recent genealogical information. However, recent scientific research is revealing that this type of test will be of more use in the future as there is more variety in mtDNA genetic signatures than had been thought.
Ethnic Testing and biogeographical tests can give an indication of your geographical heritage, and what approximate percentage your DNA has of European, African, Asian and Native American. These are interesting, but are not at present very specific or accurate to any fine degree. However, advances are always being made and it may be that in future you will be able to get a more refined breakdown of your ethnic heritage.
I am still a little dubious about how useful DNA testing is to genealogists at present. It seems to be a bit too hit and miss, though I expect that it will improve over time, so I will be keeping an eye on this.
It would not help me to sort out the bewildering amount of BOTTs in Staffordshire that have had me stumped at around the 18th century – because, as I have said this name has come to us through a female on the ‘wrong side of the sheets’. It could, however, help to sort out the even more bewildering amount of WALKERs that are rather more numerous everywhere – as long as there is a WALKER somewhere who has put themselves on the database.
You can get tested through Ancestry – but at present it is only Ancestry.com, and not Ancestry.co.uk that offers DNA testing. You can find out more HERE. Another company that looks very good is 23and me.
If you want more information from a UK company, then http://www.oxfordancestors.com/ is probably a good place to go, or you could try rootsforreal.com. For America try familytreedna.com
If you have tried DNA testing for ancestry and had interesting results, do please leave a comment. I would be interested to know what kind of experiences people have had.
(Image use by courtesy of Zephyris at the English language Wikipedia)
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