DNA and Genealogy? Where to start?

I came back from Europe interested in working on my family tree. I have gotten online and read about Family Tree DNA and Ancestry.com and came away with my mind boggled!



I understand the concept of "Genetic Cousins," which seems to be the biggest thing in Genealogy for those who want to go beyond what records allow them to. But, I am confused about who offers what, the benefits of testing all available markers through DNA, and what services will best benefit my research.



Ancestry.com states you can post test results from other companies in one section, and in another section states you can't post Family Tree DNA tests. Should I get DNA tests done with one and complete research with another? Am I missing options I should know about? Where do I begin? How do I maximize results without testing with each and every site, and spending a fortune doing it!DNA and Genealogy? Where to start?
I am in a surname group on Family Tree DNA. Since I am female I had one of my uncles donate his DNA for me since his DNA is identical to what mine would be if I were male...I don't think many women understand that option is open to them.



As far as the software choice, I have used Roots Magic, Family Tree Maker, and Legacy and they all have different points of merit. I would recommend that you try before you buy to see which one feels right to you.DNA and Genealogy? Where to start?
Belonging to Ancestry will make it awfully tempting to use their on-line tree builder. If, for instance, you find your great uncle working as a farmer just outside of Beloit on the 1910 census, you can cite it with a couple of clicks. I use Roots Magic. It, like Family Tree Maker and PAF, is a stand-alone genealogy program. I have to transcribe each census entry.



I prefer the independence.



If you Google "Genealogy Software Comparisons" you'll find opinions by professional reviewers. I've used PAF, RM and FTM. I like RM the best, but my personal prejudices are not Universal Truths. I did work as a computer programmer for 30 years, and I've designed data bases, so mine is an informed opinion from a professional.



I used Family Tree DNA. My Pack line dead-ends with a fellow who died in what is now West Virginia in 1833. Our hope was that another male Pack would match me. (Since we men get our Y chromosome intact from our dads, we are the best subject for DNA testing.)



After I did the test I got a couple of dozen 12-point matches. Reading th efine print, it said we had a common ancestor 600 years ago. That narrows it down to most of the white people in Europe, so it wasn't much help. I'm still hoping for a 37-point match with someone who can prove he is descended from a Pack who died in Maryland in1754. I've gotten a couple of 33 ad 34 point matches, so we know the 1754 one was a grandfather, granduncle or cousin once or twice removed to the 1833 one.DNA and Genealogy? Where to start?
WOW!! Your talking apples and oranges. You need to start on a smaller scale and not try to take on all aspects of genealogical research at one time.

I started at a time when it wasn't the fad of the week (35+ years ago), in fact I didn't even have a computer and the Genealogical Professional Society didn't exist at the time I started. My local library pointed me toward their California reading room, and the local genealogical society, which lead to the LDS library, which wasn't to keen on helping at the time because I didn't want to become a member of the church.

Things have changed so much since those paper and pencil days and being able to dig in the archives in the basement storage of old court houses, and going blind reviewing rolls and rolls of microfilm.



If I were to advise someone new to Genealogy I would suggest contacting the LDS Family History Center nearest you or your local genealogy society and take a few classes. Get the basic how to's down so you don't go off buying software and subscriptions to websites and waste a lot of money.

When I started it was cheap, gas was less than a dollar a gallon and you actually had to do you own research work, Now it has become a big profit making business. I get calls all the time from people who want their entire family tree sent to them (yea sure) and they only know that their Grandfather supposedly die working a gold mine in the mountains in California and his name was John Brown. Also before you rush out and buy DNA kits, understand what you will and will not learn from DNA. I am trying to find the son of a son of a son of my Grandfather to get paternal DNA.. My son won't work, but he did work to learn the about 4 generations back on his fathers side, the man credited with being Grandfather was not and the family name isn't really ours. That was fun for the rest of the family, although I already knew - they wanted to "prove" the lineage to join some family society...Opps!

As far as software is concerned, some is really intended to be used by hobbyists that never get seriously into it and just want a few generations. There is other software that is intended for the serious hobbyists and then there is Genealogical Software for the Genealogists, I say that because I have at least 9 different programs, some I can't even use anymore they are pre-windows. There is a site in Wikpedia that compares genealogical software that I recommend to anyone looking to obtain their first software package - some are free and some very expensive - they all have similar and different features. The biggest thing is to always back up your work, one power serge and you could loose all your work. I do it on paper and on an external hard drive. I also maintain a copy in a safety deposit box. All you have to do is have one fire or loose everything one time to understand back up and off site. If you contact me I would be happy to talk to you about getting started in what I think of as the greatest mystery I ever attempted to solve, or a the divine comedy.
There are 3 types of DNA and it is according to your purpose.



Y DNA passes from father to son only.



Mitochondrial passes from mother to both sons and daughters but only the daughters pass it on to their children



Autosomal you get 50-50 from both parents. Now when you get back to your grandparents it will not be 25% each. You get 50% from your paternal grandparents and 50% from your maternal grandparents. However, it will not be an even breakdown between grandmother and grandfather on both sides of the family. How you inherited this bias will not be how your siblings inherited it unless you have an identical twin.



If you are involved in Genealogy and wish to match yourself with other family trees, Y %26amp; Mitochondrial are what people use for that purpose as they both go back in a straight line virtually unchanged.

Those are the 2 types of testing Ancestry.Com does. Now it represent a very tiny part of your total ancestry. You have 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents, 16 great great grandparents and so on. If you are a male in each generation you would get your Y from only one person. If you are male or female in each generation you would get your Mitochondrial from only one person. For instance, if you are male and you have both done, by the time you get back to your 16 great grandparents, both will not include 14 of them. However, if you are successful in matching yourself with other family trees, you will no doubt discover some of the left out people.



There are many companies that does this type of testing. One advertises they will help you "discover your deep ancestral roots." It is true in those 2 lines only they will assign you to a Haplogroup based on your DNA and show you the origin of your nomadic ancestor going back thousands of years. However, you come from a vast myriad of family lines.



One company that does this type of testing has the largest data base and you can bring their results forward to Ancestry.Com's website.

It is



http://www.FamilyTreeDNA.Com



When you go into their website, if you go under "Feedback" there is a way you can email them and ask questions.



It is more complicated to use Autosomal DNA for genealogy. However, there is one company that will match you with population groups throughout the world. They will not tell you that you are 1/2 of something, 1/4 of something else and 1/4 of another something else.

They probably can't do that as there are no pure nationalities, races or ethnicities. The same DNA crosses national, racial and ethnic boundaries. What they will do is show you your top 20 matches in descending order. The company that does this is



http://www.DNATribes.Com



When you go into their website if you go under "Feedback" there is a way you can email them and ask questions.



Now, I asked DNATribes if my sister with whom I share both parents had the same Autosomal test, would her results be the same and they replied:



"Two siblings will each obtain unique results. Family members do typically share some regional or ethnic genetic affiliations, but in some cases matches can vary substantially between siblings."



Also I asked them if they could break it down by parents and they replied:



"To isolate each parent's genetic contribution in each case, it is necessary to test at least one parent as well."



Now, FamilyTreeDNA does do Autosomal testing but they will not give you an analysis. I had to send my results from them to DNATribes.



Here are a couple of more links that explain DNA



http://www.smgf.org/pages/how_it_works.j鈥?/a>



http://www.pa.msu.edu/~sciencet/ask_st/0鈥?/a>