About Genetic Genealogy

How did we end up where we are today? DNA studies have shown that people shared a common ancestor who lived in Africa between 50,000 to 200,000 years ago. As our ancestors migrated out of Africa into the rest of the world, small changes called mutations occurred in their DNA. As generations passed, each mutation links our ancestor to a specific time and place in history. The mutations that we find in our own DNA tell the story of our own ancestral past.

Genetic Genealogy allows us to trace the path of our ancestors and find out who they were, where they lived and how they have migrated throughout the world. Order a participation kit and begin a journey of discover to trace your deep ancestral origins and pursue the origins of your surname. Login to your control panel to use Genebase tools and view the progress of your projects, conduct your own searches, and generate professional research reports.

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Your Journey Begins

Participation is simple. Begin by ordering a public Participation Kit. Your kit will arrive in the mail and contains four swabs. Simply use the swabs to rub inside of your cheek for 30 seconds, and mail them back to the laboratory using the pre-addressed return envelope provided in the kit.

Once you receive your results, your genetic journey begins. You will receive a certificate outlining your ancestral markers and your predicted haplogroup which depicts your ancestral origins. Next, your journey continues as you become part of the DNA Ancestry Project, a dynamic global project which will show you which part of the world your ancestors originated, what their race was, and where they have scattered throughout the world. You can even find out if you descended from famous lines using the "famous DNA" feature. In addition, you will be able to find out how you are related to others with the same last name by participating in DNA Surname Projects. Genebase also provides search and analysis tools which allow you to search for long-lost family lines. Genetic genealogy is the journey of a lifetime.

The most popular test for genealogists is the Y-Chromosome test. The Y-Chromosome is passed down along the male lineage, from father to son to grandson, and so on. For most cultures, this is exactly the way that the surname is passed down (e.g. from father to son, along the male line). Thus, the Y-Chromosome test is a powerful test which allows genealogists to trace the origins of their surname. Take the surname "Smith" as a hypothetical example. The "Smith" surname is passed down from father to son for many generations. A "Smith" male from 300 years ago may have many male descendents, who then had male descendents, and so on. Over the centuries, this "Smith" male may have thousands of descendents with the "Smith" surname spread throughout the world. The Y-Chromosome test can allow genealogists to trace the surname and match together individuals with the Smith surname and tell them if they came from the same line and originated from the same common male ancestor. This is because all males with the same male ancestor along the paternal line should have the same Y-Chromosome. Thus, a "Smith" male may choose to have his Y-Chromosome tested and matched against other males with the "Smith" surname. This type of testing can allow large groups of individuals with the same surname to be linked together. With some surnames, there are different male ancestors (lines). By testing the Y-Chromosome, you can reconstruct the picture of your ancestry, determine which line your surname came from, and determine which other family lines you are related to.

Another test which is popular with Genealogists is the mitochondrial DNA test. The mitochondrial DNA test is useful for tracing the female line, for example, your mother's mother's, mother's, motherÁK. and so on. Mitochondrial DNA is passed down from the mother (not the father) to all of her children. Her female children will then pass it down to all of her children, and so on. Because the mitochondrial DNA is passed down from the mother along the female line, mitochondrial DNA testing can allow you to uncover the female line of your family tree. The reason that mitochondrial DNA testing is not as popular as Y-Chromosome DNA testing is because most genealogists are more interested in researching the origins of their surname (thus the paternal line). However, for those who are interested in furthering their research by uncovering the female line, the mitochondrial DNA test will be able to accurately trace your female line. Furthermore, the mitochondrial DNA test will allow you to determine the part of the world that your female line originated from as well as migration patterns of your ancestors along your female line. If your female line is of Native American descent, the mitochondrial DNA test will be able to detect this. Thus, the mitochondrial DNA test is useful for genealogists who want to piece together a larger puzzle for their family tree.