Friday, October 30, 2009

Obtaining my 43-Marker Y-DNA Test Results

Earlier this year, I wrote a series of posts (links to all of them here) about my experience with a 20-marker Y-DNA test performed by Genebase - it was a Christmas gift from my daughters which I greatly appreciated.

Last year, I received my mitochondrial DNA results from the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF), and joined GeneTree to share those results.

Earlier this month, I received an email from SMGF that offered my Y-DNA results from the cheek swab taken several years ago for only $19.50. I thought it was a pretty good deal, especially since it is a 43-marker test. I signed up, paid my money, and the results came to my GeneTree account yesterday. I spent several hours working with my markers, entering them into DNA Ancestry and YSearch, and comparing the results to other persons on GeneTree, DNA Ancestry and YSearch.

Most genealogists understand that the Y-chromosome DNA test (Y-DNA) reveals the patrilineal ancestry of a male, his father, his father's father, and on down the line to infinity. Each person in the patrilineal line will have the same Y-DNA markers, except for when mutations occur. If two persons have the exact same marker values, then they share a common ancestor back in history. The differences, caused by mutations, in the markers can indicate how far back there is a common ancestor. The number of markers tested are important, because the percentage of common markers between two people can define the number of generations back to the most recent common ancestor (MRCA). A 43-marker test will provide better results than a 20-marker test or a 13-marker test.

I logged onto my GeneTree account, and saw:


On the DNA Tab, I clicked on the Y-DNA Profile:



This page told me that my Y-DNA results indicate that I am in the R-M207 Haplogroup and have the R1b1b2a*-S128 haplotype. It also told me information about my haplogroup, and about the history and geography of Haplogroup R.

I clicked on the "Maps" tab below the "Y-DNA Results" banner, and saw:



I wasn't surprised that the R-M207 Haplogroup is concentrated in western Europe, and especially the British Isles. My earliest known Seaver ancestor - Robert Seaver (1608-1683) was English, and came to Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1634.

The next tab on the "Y-DNA Results" page is for "Markers," so I clicked on that and saw:




While 47 markers are listed, four markers on the list do not have results for some reason.

I double checked the marker values on my 20-marker test from Genebase and the results are identical.

My next post in this series will describe finding possible matches in the GeneTree database. Later posts will show finding matches in the DNA Ancestry and YSearch Y-DNA databases.

1 comment:

Steve Danko said...

Hi Randy,

You ordered a 43 marker test and, indeed, 43 markers were reported. Three additional null markers were reported (DYS394/19b, DYS464e, and DYS464f) for a total of 46 markers.

These three additional markers are rare. Almost nobody has them and, indeed, it appears that you don't have these markers, which is why a null value was reported.

If you had had these markers (instead of a null value) you would have received results for 46 markers rather than the 43 markers you expected.

Really, there are no surprises here. Most people don't have these three markers.

Steve