MaeFlowers Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I'm talking about the kind offered by ancestry.com and the like. I am utterly confused by some things. My understanding is that when men are tested, they get both the maternal and paternal lineage. When women are tested, they receive only their mother's lineage. This is where I get lost. Why don't women get their father's lineage? Is it too difficult to isolate? Are the genes of our fathers and grandfathers, etc. lost forever? Let me give an example to ask a few more questions. My fathers family: His mother is Swiss. His father is Scottish (we think) by his father and English and American Indian by his mother. If my father were to have testing, what would his results be? Only Scottish and Swiss or would the American Indian and English also show? What about me? Would none of these things show up on my test? My mothers family: Her mother is Dutch by her father and German by her mother. Her father is Welsh by his mother and English by his father. Would she only show up German? German and Dutch? Or would all influences appear? Would a test for my mother and I show exactly the same thing? I am having so much trouble wrapping my wee little brain around all of this. I am hoping that some of you brilliant ladies can help me out. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Men can find out their maternal and paternal haplogroup because that is traced on the sex chromosomes. Men are XY so they can say the X is from the mom and the Y is from the dad. Since women are XX, they can only find out their maternal haplogroup. If the woman's father gets tested, she can infer that his haplogroup is also hers. Women do get a lot of information about the genes they inherited from their father - but it doesn't say which gene comes from who unless other relatives are linked up and the program can match up certain genes to maternal relatives vs. paternal relatives. (ETA: For example, I did a 23andme test and got info about my complete lineage. I've got a touch of Ashkenazi heritage but it doesn't say which parent passed that on. My parents have pretty similar ancestry (Northern European) but I can assume the Scandinavian stuff came from my Dad since we know his Swedish ancestry. He just sent in his sample so once that is analyzed and linked to me, it will be able to tell which genes I got from whom.) https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/202908000 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaeFlowers Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 So, my mom's complete ancestry will show up but we won't know where it came from? I'm still lost. :blushing: I think it may have to be dumbed down for me a bit more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 If you get a DNA test done through 23andme (and I assume it's the same for similar services) you will get a breakdown of your heritage. 22% Native American, 35% British/Irish, 24% broadly Northern European, 0.5% Chinese, etc. You will see your heritage. But it won't tell you that your FATHER contributed the Native American genes. It can't tell which info comes from which parent. This is the stuff that most people find most interesting. Now, if your father, or someone on his side of the family like his brother or sister, did a test and linked it to yours, and you see that they don't have any Chinese ancestry, then you assume you got it from your mother. So you can rule things out that way. There is also a relative finder feature that get a lot more helpful if you have the DNA one parent linked to yours. It can match up the DNA to your parent (or not) so that tells you which side they are related to you on. Interestingly, while there are some relative matches that have surnames I recognize, there are a few relatively closely-related people who I can't find any connection to. So maybe there's a mistake on my family tree (or theirs), or maybe someone was adopted or the result of an affair, who knows. The haplogroup is a little different. It's a way to trace where your early relatives lived by comparing DNA on the X and Y chromosomes. You will immediately get info about your maternal line (mother's mother's mother....) but not your paternal line (father's father's father ...) because you don't have a Y chromosome. But if your father, brother, paternal uncle etc. gets a test and links it to your results, the program can assign your paternal haplogroup based on that information. It's not complete by any means. It only traces two lines out of MANY. It's a curiosity thing for most people, but it doesn't give you good ancestry information. https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/202906910-What-is-a-maternal-haplogroup- https://customercare.23andme.com/hc/en-us/articles/202906930-What-is-a-paternal-haplogroup- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaeFlowers Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 I think it all just clicked and I get it. Now I am trying to figure out who should be tested in my family. If I am understanding this correctly, my grandfather and father would be the best to test. Right? Testing my grandfather would tell us more specifically my great-grandmothers heritage. Testing my father would tell us my grandmother's heritage. What about my mother's side? Would I just test myself? She has no family left except cousins. Would there be any difference between testing her and testing myself (given my dad gets tested and I know his info)? ETA: What about my ds and dd? I was thinking of giving ds one of these tests when we study genetics in biology next year. If ds is tested, would it be pointless to test dd because we would already know the answers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 My fathers family: His mother is Swiss. His father is Scottish (we think) by his father and English and American Indian by his mother. If my father were to have testing, what would his results be? Only Scottish and Swiss or would the American Indian and English also show? What about me? Would none of these things show up on my test? Your father's test would show French & German, British & Irish, and Native American. The test can't differentiate Swiss because the area mixed broadly. My mothers family: Her mother is Dutch by her father and German by her mother. Her father is Welsh by his mother and English by his father. Would she only show up German? German and Dutch? Or would all influences appear? Would a test for my mother and I show exactly the same thing? Your mother's would show up as French & German and British & Irish. These would also show up on yours. Now, let's say your father is 25% British & Irish and so is your mother. You would inherit 12.5% British & Irish DNA from each of them, giving you a total of 25%. The test would just give you your total, and not tell you which DNA came from which parent UNLESS your parent had a DNA test and linked their results to yours. Then the program could say oh, you and your father both have this common piece of DNA, so the relatives we found that also have that piece of DNA are related on your father's side. The haplogroup thing is just a very minor piece of the whole puzzle. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I think it all just clicked and I get it. Now I am trying to figure out who should be tested in my family. If I am understanding this correctly, my grandfather and father would be the best to test. Right? Testing my grandfather would tell us more specifically my great-grandmothers heritage. Testing my father would tell us my grandmother's heritage. Good questions. If you are trying to build your family tree, then you can get ancestors tested to narrow down which ancestry came from which person. What about my mother's side? Would I just test myself? She has no family left except cousins. Would there be any difference between testing her and testing myself (given my dad gets tested and I know his info)? Testing your mother might be redundant, given that you can infer a lot of information after your father is test. It would help you definitively link up relatives rather than relying on a process of elimination. But it still might be fun for her. :) What Are Some of the Benefits of Having a Parent Genotyped? ETA: What about my ds and dd? I was thinking of giving ds one of these tests when we study genetics in biology next year. If ds is tested, would it be pointless to test dd because we would already know the answers? Your children would have about a 50% match in their DNA, so having their profiles linked together would give each of them a better "big picture" view of their ancestry. In addition to ancestry info, 23andme gives you raw data that you can use to look for certain mutations. Some of the MTHFR mutations can be found out by looking at the raw data. I'm sure there are websites that tell you what to look for but I haven't been that interested, though I did check that my MTHFR genes are correct. So your children would get different raw data. Plus there are surveys you can answer that can help link traits to genes. It's really very cool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaeFlowers Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 Thank you, ondreeuh, for taking the time. I don't know why this just wasn't clicking and I am understanding it a bit better now. One more quick question...does Scottish show up as Irish, Welsh as English and Dutch as French? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Yes/No. You are not given specific European countries because the DNA isn't that precise (people migrated, empires took over, etc.), so you are given regions. I'm going to copy & paste the definitions that 23andme gives for the regions. British & Irish: "When people first arrived in the regions now known as Great Britain and Ireland tens of thousands of years ago, these two regions were physically joined to one another. Today the people of the islands of Great Britain and Ireland descend from Celtic, Saxon, and Viking ancestors." [so this includes your Scottish, Welsh, and English ancestors] French & German: "Connected to the British Isles, Scandinavia, southern Europe and eastern Europe, France and Germany have seen myriad peoples come and go over the last ten thousand years. Genetically and geographically the French and Germans are at the heart of Europe." [This includes modern-day Germany, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Austria] 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ondreeuh Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Here is my referral link for 23andme if you're interested in using their service. They say 4-6 weeks to process DNA, but I had everything completely done 2 weeks after I sent in my sample. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaeFlowers Posted March 7, 2015 Author Share Posted March 7, 2015 Thanks again. I am just getting interested in all family history. My dad has been tracing the family tree for years. Some parts of the family have been easy. My mom's side, especially. Apparently the Welsh kept excellent records. My maternal grandmother's side has been easier, as well, because the last names are rare. But, my paternal grandfather's side has been a dead end at only a few generations. My dad has wanted to have my grandfather tested for a while now and I was thinking about ordering the test as a suprise for him when dh gets paid next. I bookmarked your link so I can use it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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