Thursday, September 19, 2013

My Genealogy Tests Came Back

My mitochondrial DNA test results, or mtDNA,  came back last Sunday night.
That's the test that delves into your maternal genes or your X side of the chromosomes.

It can tell you where in the world your mother's, mother's, mother's, etc. to your first female ancestor, where their DNA originated.

This geographic region and pattern of migration is called your Haplogroup.
You can be tested for both your mtDNA haplogroup and your Y-DNA haplogroup, which is the DNA from your father's, father's, father's, etc. back to your first male ancestor.

While these 2 tests only give you all the way back on your paternal male line and your maternal female line, it's a start to help prove or disprove your paper trail of ancestors.

Since I am female, I can only have my mtDNA tested, as I don't carry a Y chromosome.  To get my Y-DNA tested I need to have a male relative, either a brother, father, uncle or grandfather on my paternal side of the family tested too.  Having my sons tested won't help, as they carry their father's Y-DNA, not my father's Y-DNA.
I paid for and my only male relative agreed to take the test but he hasn't sent it back yet.  Until he does I won't have a complete picture of the possible Y-DNA information for my genealogy research.

Anyway, back to my mtDNA test results.
Aren't you excited? lolz

My haplogroup is........ J*

Any other Js out there??

About J........it arose from the larger group called JT, and T also broke off and became it's own Haplogroup.

I fellow named Sykes wrote a book a bit ago, in which he says that though we all came from 1 woman, the first "Eve" located somewhere in Africa, the "daughters of Eve" gave rise to the Haplogroups around the world.  These early women each experienced mutations in their mtDNA combined with their migration around the planet gave rise to the differences in humankind around the world.

J or "Jasmine" as Sykes calls her, was a female who lived about 45,000 years ago in the Near East or the Caucasus who developed a mutation in her DNA.  Further mutations occurred in this J Haplogroup at various time frames between 27,000 to 5,800 years later which led to "subclades" or further subgroups of J---- J1a1, J1a2, J1b, J2a, J2b1, J2b2, J2b3.

Haplogroup J mtDNA humans migrated from the Near/East/Caucasus to colonize Europe during the late Paleolithic and Mesolithic eras.

Using the variations in mutations among the J mtDNA persons, scientists have been able to separate the "Jasmines" into 2 groups migrating into Europe---those that took a southerly route via water and the Mediterranean Sea into Europe and those who took the land route through the Balkans and up through central Europe.
My mutations indicate that I am a "Land Route Jasmine" who went to Europe the hard way.
Figures......I seem to do everything the hard way. 8-)
"Jasmines" are associated with and figure prominently into the Neolithic era spread of agriculture, or farming superseding hunting/gathering as a lifestyle around 10,000 years ago.

Distributed over the entire world's population, J Haplogroup has it's highest distribution in the Near East(12%), followed by Europe(11%), the Caucasus(8%), and North Africa(6%).
Within Europe, J Haplogroup is quite low, at only 12% of all native Europeans.

Here is a chart with the breakdown of percentages of Js and it's subclades in Europe.....

  • J* = Ireland — 12%, England-Wales — 11%, Scotland — 9%, Orkney — 8%, Germany — 7%, Russia (European) — 7%, Iceland — 7%, Austria-Switzerland — 5%, Finland-Estonia — 5%, Spain-Portugal — 4%, France-Italy — 3%
  • J1a = Austria-Switzerland — 3%
  • J1b1 = Scotland — 4%
  • J2 = France-Italy — 2%
  • J2a = Homogenously spread in Europe. Absent in the nations around the Caucasus. Not known to be found elsewhere.
  • J2b1 = Virtually absent in Europe. Found in diverse forms in the Near East.

  • It is theorized that some of the recombinations/mutations among J humans produced higher body temperatures, thus some subgroups of J Haplogroup populations do better in colder climates.
    This might help to explain how Js adapted to all that Northern Western European climes like Ireland, Switzerland, and Scandinavian countries and why I like to walk around barefoot in the snow..... ;-)

    Medically, Js are thought to be less susceptible to diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.  They have also found that some isolated groups of J populations tend to be longer lived than the general population.
    On the other side, Js are MORE susceptible to the HIV virus so if exposed, they are highly likely to develop AIDS and do so rather quickly.
    Js are associated with a fairly rare hereditary disease called Leber's hereditary optical neuropathy.
    Try saying THAT 10 x real fast!

    I saw a study where they are studying how a woman's mtDNA can cause her partner's sperm to lose mobility, making for infertility problems with the couple.  They suspect that women with mtDNA of Haplogroup T may have this condition.  Interesting stuff genetics.......

    So what does all this mean?
    It just confirms that once again, the evidence comes back to support that I am the whitest woman on the planet! lolz

    Anyway, that's my earth shattering genealogical news for today.

    Next time I'll enthrall all of y'all with my HVR1 and HVR2 mutations.
    I know you can't wait!! ;-)

    Until then, enjoy this silly video....



    Sluggy




     

    11 comments:

    1. Okay whitest woman on planet, that was very interesting. I am afraid I will not be vying for your title with Native Americans on both side.

      I cannot wait for the next edition. Really!

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      1. Well these tests only measure my Haplogroup for my mother's mother's peeps and my father's father's peeps(when I get my brother's results back), so I can still have NA genes somewhere hidden in there.

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      2. I don't understand how there can be anything hidden. Maybe that would be a good topic for a blog post, not that you need help for topics.

        Delete
    2. Wow!! That. Is. COOL! How amazing that DNA can be traced that far back - I just can't get my head around. Fascinating! And what a neat discovery. I want to try now! Where do you get it done and how much does it cost?

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      1. NLA,
        Thanks for visiting and commenting.

        There are a few companies that offer dna testing for genealogical purposes-family tree dna, 23 and me, Ancestry are the top three-I used Family Tree DNA(familytreedna dotcom)as they have the largest database of clients so you may get more results if you want to genetically match with other folks.

        You can also get at-home kits but you won't get access to a database of folks using those. The prices range all over the place and depend on which test you want done. If you want deep ancestry clues and are male have the Y-DNA test done, if female have the mtDNA test done. There are upgrade levels to these tests too....the more markers they test, the higher the price goes but I'd start with a basic 12 marker test....you can always upgrade later if you need more info.

        There is also an autosomal test or "family finder" test. This tests genetic material all over your dna and not the narrow focus of the other 2 tests. It doesn't give you your haplogroup/deep ancestry info. but does match you genetically with folks in the database who are related within 6 or so generations of your genes.
        The problem is it doesn't tell you HOW you are related(through which of your 4 bloodlines at the grandparent level)so you'll have to do a lot of genealogical work to find out how you are connected to others. The autosomal test will also tell you your admix or what ethnicities/races and what percentage of each are within you.
        I had the autosomnal test done first and it's where I learned that I am the whitest woman on the planet. lol

        None of these are magically tests that will tell you where you came from or who you are related to w/out also doing other research yourself, but it is a great tool in the genealogist's toolkit.

        As for prices, they have come down as a whole but are still a bit of money.
        If price is the largest concern, I'd wait until one of these companies has a sale. I didn't on the 1st one I had done and then it went on sale for HALF what I paid, reg. price was $199 and the sale price was $99. ugh(I did complain and they gave me a small refund tho.lol)

        In July Family Tree had a month long sale and temporarily reduced most all of their test prices so I went ahead and had my mtDNA one done, as well as paid for my son and my brother to each have a Y-DNA test & autosomal test done. All 5 cost me $360.

        You can currently get 12 marker Y-DNA test or a mtDNA midlevel test for as little as $49 and the autosomal test for $99.

        I had the autosomnal done $199, then upgraded it to a mtDNAplus for $49. I paid for 2 Y-DNA(12 markers)+ Autosomal tests($153 ea.)for my son and my brother. I'm out $500 for all this(with my small refund)but I don't foresee upgrading anymore.

        If you want better explanations on what the tests involve, just google "dna testing".

        Hope this helped!

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    3. Wow. That's fascinating - truly - to know almost exactly where you originated! How amazing that we can "see" that far back. Now I'm desperately curious - where do you get this sort of thing done and how much does it cost? Amazing...

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    4. Hmmm I am Irish on one side and austrian on the other....I can only imagine since I though I was the whitest woman alive(think vampire when sun comes out). But I am glad your leg is feeling better

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      1. Well I will gladly share my title with you. lol
        I am the woman who sunburns if she THINKS about going outside....hehehe

        I am such the expert now(HAHAHA)that if you are Irish on your mother's side and Austriam on your father's side, I predict that your mtDNA would come back as H and your Y-DNA would come back as R1b.
        At least the chances are high since those are the 2 most common for those ethnicities....unless you have some weird dna floating around...lol

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    5. This post is spectacular! I love family history. What an awesome bit of information. I'm pretty certain I traced one line in my family back to an individual that came over on the mayflower but I would need to do some major research to verify that. I would love to send in DNA and get info like this though. Geesh, how cool!

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    6. My cousin had some sort of DNA test done and was given the name of the person who most closely matches him, almost an exact match. The guy mailed him a picture. The guy looks identical to my cousin's father. Our g-father was probably ministering to some woman and somehow his clothes fell off and he impregnated her. He must have been a holy roller minister that day. Falling down can have consequences.

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    7. Sorry to post essentially the same comment twice! My first one disappeared when I logged on, and I assumed that it had vanished into the ether, which is why I did a second one. Delete it if you can...

      Thanks so much for all the details on where & how to get this done. I thought it would be far more expensive, so the price is a nice surprise. I've got some idea that I might match you for whitest woman on the planet (my family goes back generations in the UK), but it would be thrilling to find out where I started.

      I'll put this on my to do list! Thanks again.

      ReplyDelete

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