DNA Testing Daytona Beach FL

11/6/2009 By Lauren Gamber Discover the truth behind six common genetic genealogy misconceptions—and figure out how DNA testing really fits into your
family tree search. Jenny Oligos suspected that her great-grandparents had emigrated from Piraeus, Greece, just like her friend Helen’s (Helen and Jenny have the same maiden name), but she couldn’t locate the documentation to prove her hunch. After years of scouring immigration records, she finally found her holy grail.
A second cousin who collected family heirlooms gave Jenny their great-grandmother’s hairbrush, which still contained a few wispy strands. Jenny had heard that scientists can use the DNA in hair to trace a person’s genetic origins. She carefully wrapped the brush and sent it to a DNA testing company for analysis. Because Helen had already confirmed through records that her ancestors had emigrated from Piraeus, she sent a sample of her own hair to the company for comparison.
Six weeks later, Jenny received a full report that provided the answers she’d sought for years. Not only did she find out that her ancestors had in fact hailed from Piraeus, but she also learned that she and Helen are fourth cousins.
The company even identified who Jenny and Helen’s common ancestors are. Cousins currently living in Greece had obtained samples of their ancestors’ DNA by exhuming their bodies. They’d submitted the DNA samples to the same testing company, which maintains a database genealogists can use to find genetic matches. Now that Jenny has identified her family’s origins, she can focus her research efforts.
Does this tale of genealogical discovery sound far-fetched? That’s because it is. Jenny Oligos is a figment of imagination. The story illustrates common misconceptions about DNA testing, the latest trend in family history research and the source of much confusion—and even fear. Let’s tackle those misconceptions one  by one so you can learn the truth about your genetic genealogy testing options.
Myth 1: Geneticists use hair and blood samples to trace a person’s ancestry.
Although scientists do utilize hair and blood samples for paternity tests and forensic analysis, there’s no need to draw blood or pluck hairs for a genetic genealogy test. When you order a DNA test for yourself or someone else, you’ll receive a cheek-swab kit or a mouthwash kit in the mail—complete with instructions, a consent form and a return envelope. For the cheek-swab kit, you’ll use a sterile swab or toothbrush-like device to painlessly scrape the inside of your cheek for a few seconds. (The company may provide multiple swabs in order to obtain backup cheek-cell samples, just in case the first one doesn’t yield clear results.) For the mouthwash kit, you’ll swish the supplied rinse for a specified amount of time and spit it back into the container. Then you’ll just sign the consent form and mail it and your DNA sample back to the company. You should receive results in the mail or on a password...

1/29/2010 By Lauren Gamber Men and women may not come from different planets, but we do have different DNA. Find out how gender (yours and your ancestors’) affects your genetic genealogy options. DNA testing can connect you with living cousins, steer your research away from dead ends and lead your ancestral investigations in promising new directions. But trying to figure out which test (Y-DNA? mtDNA?) will provide the answers you seek can get confusing. A genetic test costs anywhere from $100 to $1,000, so you don’t want to waste money on the wrong one.
  So first we should mention what DNA testing can’t tell you—regardless of gender. It won’t reveal ancestors’ names or their birth and death dates, or the country they were born in; you’ll have to turn to traditional resources to learn these details. It also won’t prove that two people are related, though it can provide strong evidence of an ancestral connection and even suggest when—and where—the most recent common ancestor (MRCA) might’ve lived. Bottom line: Genetic testing can’t replace traditional genealogy research, but it can complement it.   Gender plays a big role in determining which DNA test could solve your research problem—and in what answers a test can give you. Here’s how to use your genetic assets to your genealogical advantage.   DNA’s sexual revolution Nearly every cell in the human body contains 23 pairs of chromosomes, threadlike strands of DNA that make up our genetic code. Twenty-two of these pairs, called autosomes, look the same in men and women. The 23rd pair, the sex chromosomes known as X and Y, decide a person’s gender. Women have two X chromosomes, one inherited from each parent. Men have one X and one Y chromosome, the X from the mother and the Y from the father.   The Y chromosome is passed virtually unchanged from father to son, just like a surname. That’s why genetic genealogists use portions of the Y chromosome (also called Y-DNA) to trace paternal lineage—what’s listed on the top line of a pedigree chart (see the illustration on page 53). A man today should have the same Y-DNA (and theoretically, the same surname) as his father, his father’s father, his father’s father’s father, and so on. (Exceptions to the DNA-surname link occur in cases of adoption, infidelity or the occasional genetic mutation—more on this later.) Geneticists can determine whether two men, particularly those with the same surname, are related by comparing their Y-DNA. If they share an ancestor, their Y-DNA test results will be identical or nearly identical.
  Y-DNA also can come in handy if a surname has changed through adoption or the assimilation process (for instance, my husband’s Italian ancestors changed their last name from Colucci to Colucy). “There are people who do share a common DNA origin, but they don’t share a surname,” says Scott Woodward, executive director of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation . Say your great-grandfather was adopted. If y...

5/1/2006 By Susan Wenner Jackson and Diane Haddad Genetic genealogy doesn't have to be scary. We'll spell out what this revolutionary science can do for your family search. Sometimes, records and oral histories aren't enough. Every genealogist smacks into brick walls, feels the chill of a paper trail gone cold, frustratingly fails to prove family fables of famous lineages. Many of us wonder about cousins out there we haven't yet encountered, and may never get to. But these traditional roadblocks don't have to bring your research to a standstill anymore. Family history researchers everywhere are exploring a new frontier that's brimming with answers: genetic genealogy.

By examining genes, scientists can tell whether one person shares an ancestor with another, about how long ago that common ancestor lived, and even where his ancient homeland is. "DNA is a record of who we are and how we're related to each other," says Scott Woodward, who heads the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF) < www.smgf.org >. "DNA can identify an individual, link him to a family and identify extended family groups." Its accuracy in determining family relationships is unparalleled, and researchers are building global genetic-genealogy databases as you read this.

This hot new genealogical realm even has a cute name: Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, co-author of Trace Your Roots With DNA (Rodale), coined the term genetealogy. Her Web site of the same name < www.genetealogy.com > is a m...