Testing My Parents INSTEAD of Me? Please Advise.

[NorskyGal]

I just discovered this whole DNA testing thing on the Web today and I obviously have a lot to learn since everything seems like jibbberish to me as I read the posts!!

However, I think I might be right about one thing regarding the DNA testing:

I am a female, so I can only have one test done--the mitochondrial test. Now...if I really wanted to be thorough regarding these tests, would it be safe to assume that instead of me being tested, I should have my mom and my dad tested? And furthermore, my dad should have both tests done? (My mom has no brothers so the paternal line can't be tested on her and I have no living grandparents.)

I'm anxious to hear what you all have to say.

[KerryODair]

I just discovered this whole DNA testing thing on the Web today and I obviously have a lot to learn since everything seems like jibbberish to me as I read the posts!!

However, I think I might be right about one thing regarding the DNA testing:

I am a female, so I can only have one test done--the mitochondrial test. Now...if I really wanted to be thorough regarding these tests, would it be safe to assume that instead of me being tested, I should have my mom and my dad tested? And furthermore, my dad should have both tests done? (My mom has no brothers so the paternal line can't be tested on her and I have no living grandparents.)

I'm anxious to hear what you all have to say.

I will try to give you some advise on this situation. I am sure other people can also add information. I am not an expert but I have some knowledge. Your best case would be test your grandparents on both your mothers and fathers side of the family if they are available for testing. This would give you the most information in regards to your family. If they are not available for testing, your father would have his father's y-dna and his mothers mito dna. Your mito dna is the same as your mother. Remember the female gets two x dna one from mother and one from father. The male gets a y from the father and a x from the mother. I believe that the x from father in a female can only been done through whats called an autosomal test. As of this point in time it is still somewhat being developed in terms of its accuracy. I am a little hazy on this point. Maybe someone on forum can give more information on mito dna. I specialize more in the y-dna. Anyway I hope this helps.

[Bill Hurst]

Kerry's recommendation about testing your parents instead of you is fine. Only one point: mitochondrial DNA has nothing to do with the x-chromosome. It's a separate type of DNA outside the cell's nucleus.

Bill Hurst

[lgmayka]

You and your mother have the same mtDNA, and you don't have any yDNA; so only you or your mother need be tested.

On the other hand, you would want to test your father's yDNA and mtDNA.

[ragnar]

Does your mom have any living uncles ? Or, if any of her uncles are deceased, did they have any male children ? If yes to either question, then their Y-dna can be tested to get your mom's father's dna. If the answers are no, then did your mother's father have any brothers (and then any of THEIR male children etc).

[tomcat]

All the above advice is good. It is always best to test as many family elders as necessary (or possible) to answer your genealogical questions. And having their DNA samples in a lab, makes future testing, with other tests, more convenient and economical.

Tom

[tomcat]

You MIGHT be able to learn something about your mother's paternal line by testing her x-chromosomes. As she has no brothers, the easy means of discerning from which grandparental line each x-chromosome came, is not available. But if your maternal grandparents were ethnically different or there is a family history of an x-linked trait (such as a disability) that descends maternally, you could infer from which line each of your mother's x-chromosomes derives.

Your father could also have his x tested, his x came directly from his mother and is 50/50 composite of his maternal grandparents.

As FTDNA has just bought a lab that offers x-testing and FTDNA is promising to expand that line of tests, you could email FTDNA or contact the lab director of (recently purchased) DNA-Fingerprint, Thomas Krahn and inquire if this line of testing is appropriate to your genealogical interests.

Tom

[bobr]

The X chromosome has nothing to do with MtDNA. The Mitochondrion (Mitochondria is plural) is the part of the cell that provides energy to the cell. This is passed on as a duplicate from the Mother.

[marvallen]

No one said that it did...