Please ignore mtDNA and Y chromosomal haplogroups

[djknox]

So I should ignore my Y and Mt results because they tell me a lot about a small number of distant ancestors. Instead I should only bother with autosomal testing so that I can learn very little about a slightly larger number of closer ancestors?

ah! There's the rub! Genetic Genealogy offers very little about most of one's ancestors, and a little more about a few of them. Well summarized!

[djknox]

If you go back 1,000 years, your autosomal DNA has been diluted to the point of irrelevance. But your mitochondrial haplotype is still going strong. It all depends on what you are interested in. I'm not especially looking for living relatives. I'm more interested in my long-range family tree, at least at this point.

Fair enough - but out of curiousity, what has mtdna told you about your long range family tree? Has it told you who they are (by tribe) or where they lived (by region) or more importantly, at WHAT TIME were they part of that TRIBE or living in THAT region? Just curious to know what some people have learned from mtdna & Ydna haplogroups?

[djknox]

Nope. I think he is wrong. People can find meaning in getting a certain haplogroup especially if it is a rare haplogroup. Look at how he was addressed in the comments on that issue of say a person who get 100% European on autosomal, but gets the Native American haplogroup. That speaks volumes. His answer to that also rests this issue for me.

Sorry people I think it is sad how quick people can be to discount the direct maternal and paternal lines as if they are meaningless. These, as PDHOTLEN pointed out are not going to recombine or mutate so fast, so in most cases you have a clear picture. Actually a big turn off for me has been reading the folks on the 23&me forums bash the yDNA and mtDNA tests as if they are useless. Wow, even with the autosomal you are not getting 100% of all of your ancestors. And I do look at my Family Finder cousins that have done Y or Mito testing and ponder if it can be significant part of my ancestry. I have some lines that I will never be able to test for Y or Mito or autosomal for sure because they are a brick wall. This would be the case of my father's father's mother. So unless I can learn more if she had a sister with descendants then there is no one to test from that line.

Anyway I think all tests have useful meaning in them. Even my having mtDNA H, even just knowing it is H (and a ridiculously bushy branch) told me that I needed to continue looking for my direct maternal line in Europe not America.

Yes all tests provide some meaning. But each of us are the net result of hundreds, thousands of maternal & paternal lines. To focus on only 2 of them and place some disproportionate value doesn't "seem" sensible to me. However, I am curious about whether people do think there is some disproportionate value to their paternal & maternal lines? In my opinion, many hold this disproportionate value simply because they have nothing else to grasp onto, as autosomal doesn't provide much beyond several generations!

Mine is not an indictment of mtdna or ydna - I actually like those tests BECAUSE they do offer me something to chase - BUT, he is correct in that they represent an insignificant portion of one's genealogy and thus they should be remembered in such context.

[madman]

Yes all tests provide some meaning. But each of us are the net result of hundreds, thousands of maternal & paternal lines. To focus on only 2 of them and place some disproportionate value doesn't "seem" sensible to me. However, I am curious about whether people do think there is some disproportionate value to their paternal & maternal lines? In my opinion, many hold this disproportionate value simply because they have nothing else to grasp onto, as autosomal doesn't provide much beyond several generations!

Mine is not an indictment of mtdna or ydna - I actually like those tests BECAUSE they do offer me something to chase - BUT, he is correct in that they represent an insignificant portion of one's genealogy and thus they should be remembered in such context.

Ydna is very useful but mtdna is a joke ftdna needs to find a way to use xdna

[PDHOTLEN]

Fair enough - but out of curiousity, what has mtdna told you about your long range family tree? Has it told you who they are (by tribe) or where they lived (by region) or more importantly, at WHAT TIME were they part of that TRIBE or living in THAT region? Just curious to know what some people have learned from mtdna & Ydna haplogroups?

My mtDNA is basically all I have to hang on to. All the other family tree threads run into brick walls. But comparing my U5 with others with related haplotypes helps point to the NW Europe geographical area. And my expensive Ancestry.com membership lets me put together a tree, although I've had to change aspects of it as new insights arose. My Y-DNA line is also interesting. But it looks quite limited to Norway before my g-granddad came over from the old country. I don't have living relatives to take DNA tests. Anyway, it's a pastime or hobby.

[Solothurn]

There was talk of an X browser when the FF first came out.

Just talk though

ftdna needs to find a way to use xdna

[josh w.]

Fair enough - but out of curiousity, what has mtdna told you about your long range family tree? Has it told you who they are (by tribe) or where they lived (by region) or more importantly, at WHAT TIME were they part of that TRIBE or living in THAT region? Just curious to know what some people have learned from mtdna & Ydna haplogroups?

I have an Ashkenazi background and my PF is 100% Near Eastern--Jewish. However my Mt dna subclade clearly originated in Europe rather than Asia. The history of Jews in Eastern Europe suggests that this line entered the Jewish population no earlier than the 1300s.

[1798]

Fair enough - but out of curiousity, what has mtdna told you about your long range family tree? Has it told you who they are (by tribe) or where they lived (by region) or more importantly, at WHAT TIME were they part of that TRIBE or living in THAT region? Just curious to know what some people have learned from mtdna & Ydna haplogroups?

I believe that my U5 MTdna line came to Ireland in the Mesolithic and my Y-
Z156 line came here in the Bronze age.
I have found a lot of cousins but not by dna tests.

[Táltos]

Yes all tests provide some meaning. But each of us are the net result of hundreds, thousands of maternal & paternal lines. To focus on only 2 of them and place some disproportionate value doesn't "seem" sensible to me. However, I am curious about whether people do think there is some disproportionate value to their paternal & maternal lines? In my opinion, many hold this disproportionate value simply because they have nothing else to grasp onto, as autosomal doesn't provide much beyond several generations!

Mine is not an indictment of mtdna or ydna - I actually like those tests BECAUSE they do offer me something to chase - BUT, he is correct in that they represent an insignificant portion of one's genealogy and thus they should be remembered in such context.

Actually knox if you paid attention to what I said toward the end, is that I find value in all the tests. I am not a big fan of the mtDNA as my haplogroup is large and common, and a lot of the newer subclades haven't really been studied that I know of. The only thing it can tell me is that my direct maternal line is European. As for the yDNA it looks like you can get better resolution with that. I can't wait to upgrade my brother's test to more makers and or SNPs. Hopefully i can get a clearer picture. It is also obvious that you will not get every single one of your ancestors represented in your autosomal tests. But the tests do provide some answers so I will take what I can get out of them.

I like to look at some of my matches who took the Y and Mito tests, and sometimes wonder could this particular lineage represent my direct paternal great grandmother? Of course I will never know unless I can find out if she had any siblings that had children.

Another poster pointed out some matches will only talk to people who share their same yDNA and mtDNA lines. That is totally crazy to do. I have not come across that problem that I am aware of anyway. Most who I have tried to correspond with do respond and try to find a connection.

The point is the Y and the Mito are very important due to a basic simple fact.
Man (yDNA) + Woman (mtDNA)= CHILDREN TO PASS ON DNA! (At least in most cases LOL)

[madman]

Actually knox if you paid attention to what I said toward the end, is that I find value in all the tests. I am not a big fan of the mtDNA as my haplogroup is large and common, and a lot of the newer subclades haven't really been studied that I know of. The only thing it can tell me is that my direct maternal line is European. As for the yDNA it looks like you can get better resolution with that. I can't wait to upgrade my brother's test to more makers and or SNPs. Hopefully i can get a clearer picture. It is also obvious that you will not get every single one of your ancestors represented in your autosomal tests. But the tests do provide some answers so I will take what I can get out of them.

I like to look at some of my matches who took the Y and Mito tests, and sometimes wonder could this particular lineage represent my direct paternal great grandmother? Of course I will never know unless I can find out if she had any siblings that had children.

Another poster pointed out some matches will only talk to people who share their same yDNA and mtDNA lines. That is totally crazy to do. I have not come across that problem that I am aware of anyway. Most who I have tried to correspond with do respond and try to find a connection.

The point is the Y and the Mito are very important due to a basic simple fact.
Man (yDNA) + Woman (mtDNA)= CHILDREN TO PASS ON DNA! (At least in most cases LOL)

I think you meant this

Man (YDNA / XDNA) + Woman (XDNA) = CHILDREN TO PASS ON DNA!

Mtdna is just a protein its not the same as Xdna

[Táltos]

I think you meant this

Man (YDNA / XDNA) + Woman (XDNA) = CHILDREN TO PASS ON DNA!

Mtdna is just a protein its not the same as Xdna

Actually I am well aware that it is the X chromosome that determines if the child will be female and the yDNA that determines if the child is male.

My point was that only males can pass the yDNA to their male offspring. Though a male can inherit the mtDNA they cannot PASS it on to their offspring. Only the females can do this. Hence the direct maternal line.

[madman]

Actually I am well aware that it is the X chromosome that determines if the child will be female and the yDNA that determines if the child is male.

My point was that only males can pass the yDNA to their male offspring. Though a male can inherit the mtDNA they cannot PASS it on to their offspring. Only the females can do this. Hence the direct maternal line.

Males pass on there ydna & xdna.

Females pass on ether of there xdna.

and mtdna is worthless.

[Táltos]

Males pass on there ydna & xdna.

Females pass on ether of there xdna.

and mtdna is worthless.

The point is mtDNA cannot be passed on from males. Males also do not have the ability to pass on their father's X chromosome. mtDNA is the powerhouse of the cell hardly something I would call useless.

And though I find the X chromosome absolutely intriguing, the science is not there to even tell for the females with a lot of certainty which came from her mother and which is from her father's MOTHER.

[Javelin]

mtdna is worthless.

Take all your mitochondria out of all your cells, let's see how long you can live without them.

[madman]

Take all your mitochondria out of all your cells, let's see how long you can live without them.

If I could I would its what makes you get older.