More About DNA

The science of molecular genetics has been very active in recent years.  Genetic testing for genealogy purposes has developed rapidly.  Want to learn more about DNA and genetic genealogy?   Just click on the links below.

Family Tree DNA, Inc. (FTDNA) is the company which has done much the Beatty testing.  Their website explains their services and why they are useful in genealogy.  They have paced on their website a paper titled, “I Have the Results of My Genetic Genealogy Test, Now What?” written by Blaine T. Bettinger, Ph.D. Dr. Bettinger goes into some detail regarding (1) what is and is not genetic genealogy, (2) interpreting Y-DNA results, (3) interpreting mtDNA results, (4) interpreting Family Finder results, and (5) monitoring the field of genetic genealogy.  You can read this paper by clicking here.

As time goes by, more and more websites like BeattyDNA.org are appearing on the Internet.  Some of these contain explanations of how genetics work, how the testing is done, and how it is valuable to genealogy. These sites are valuable sources of background information and most include sample data.  For three examples of such websites, click on: 

Mumma, Clan Lindsay, and BFOOV.

Charles Kerchner has a general purpose and helpful site. His site is targeted more toward beginners. It has links to pretty much anything our participants need to know. The problem is that he tries to service a very broad audience and that makes it difficult to filter out the irrelevant information.

Two books were published recently which are relevant to our project. They provide a background in genetics and much information about interpreting DNA data. They are:

Trace Your Roots with DNA, by Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak (yes, apparently that's her real name) and Ann Turner.

DNA and Family History, by Chris Pomery.

These books can be purchased from various booksellers (such as Amazon.com) or on the authors’ personal websites.  Selected parts of these books may be available to be read on-line.

Most of the discussion of the tests and results are described in some of the specialized language of genetics.  For a glossary of these terms see:  Edmund Rice Asso.