What DNA Test

[nestagj]

Hello - have been fascinated about Ancestral DNA since the first book that came out about - was it the Seven Daughters of Eve ? But now I need some advice.

I am not looking for recent family connections - know pretty well our recent origins - within a small area for many years - a couple of hundred but I would love to know whether we are celtic or something else.

The male line - I do not have a brother but only have one male cousin on my dad's side (dad died a few years ago and his only natural brother died this week leaving one son and two daughters.  My mother's only brother is quite elderly - he has two sons neither of whom I know very well.

I would test myself for the female side.  OH yes - would like to test my OH as well - he has no male cousins on his Mum's - so we would be a bit stuck there but no problem on his dad's

Which tests would you recommend ?
Thanks
Nesta

[nestagj]

Help please ??
N

[Skoosh]

Surprisingly poor response to your question Nesta. This subject usually raises a heated discussion and much handbag swinging 
 I think your paternal line is the way to go, via your relatives on that side. I used "FamilyTreeDNA", and see how you go from there.
The breaking down of the human genetic code is possibly the greatest discovery since sliced bread, hugely interesting, although it hasn't yielded much info' in my own case.

All the best,

Skoosh.

[nestagj]

Thanks for getting back to me Skoosh - so which one do I ask for ? - it all totally confuses me !!

N

[davidft]

I think part of the reason for the poor response to your query is the recent bru-ha-ha we had on here between detractors and supporters of DNA testing. This has left some chastened and wary of replying in my opinion.

To directly answer your question which tests would you recommend it is hard to say because you do not really say what you want to find out. Of course I realise this is a catch 22 situation as if you don’t know what tests can do how can you say what you to find out.

However from your post I am making the assumption that you want to find out your ethnic makeup across all your lines and going back many thousands of years. If this is the case then maybe you should do a combined test.

(the following is lifted from a post by supermoussi on another thread)

The two best current combined tests are National Geographic's Geno2 test and BritainsDNA Chromo2 Complete Combined test:-

 http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Genographic_Project

 http://www.britainsdna.com/products/complete

Of course if you do a combined test as a woman you won’t have the YDNA results so what you could do is do the combined test for yourself and get your cousin to do the YDNA test to get your father’s Y line (the more markers tested the better so go for 67 or 111 markers). For your other half he could just do the combined test and being male would pick up his YDNA inheritance as well as get his mother line.

However if you look at the costs of the tests you will see the costs can very quickly run into hundreds of pounds so you need to think carefully.

If I was you (which I am not!) and money was unlimited then I would get

Geno 2.0 - Genographic Project Participation and DNA Ancestry Kit $200 (although supermossi says the britainsdna product is more up to date).
For your cousin 67 marker YDNA  $268
For your otherhalf Geno 2.0 - Genographic Project Participation and DNA Ancestry Kit $200

All that costs about £500 so that is a major investment and you have to question whether the limited results you will get back is worth that amount. Only you can answer that.

(Oh and I am biased towards www.ftDNA.com which is why I choose their 67 YDNA test and the Geno 2.0 test which they do for National Geographic. Others may disagree)

If anyone more knowledgeable in this field than me wants to correct anything I have said, please feel free - afterall we are all learning in this area.

[nestagj]

Thanks David for your reply - yes I'm more interested in the ethnic make up athough the family is White british and has been and still is based in North West Wales; my OH's Mum is from Suffolk tho' so that may be more interesting.

I had not realised that it was so expensive tho' I had seen a couple on family tree dna which were $49 each and thought as I was not looking for recent matches or relatives that hey would be OK - see my confusion.  I will have to think long and hard now to see if I can afford it; especially as I want to do some decorating in the house !!
Nesta

[kwheaton]

I have an online Beginner's Guide to Genetic Genealogy that you may find helpful: http://tinyurl.com/geneticgenealogyguide

Lesson two is Titled "Which DNA Test"

In order of ease and success rate Y-DNA, atDNA and finally mtDNA.
Kelly Wheaton

[Skoosh]

Can we look forward to the time when every kids DNA is tested at birth for medical purposes as much as anything else.
Or is that too contentious a proposal which might lead to the occasional "domestic" on the floor of the maternity ward? 

Skoosh.

[nestagj]

Thank you for your help - will look at the link later
N