DNA Why I urge caution

[majm]

May I please urge some consideration to the numbet of quotes within quotes within quotes.  Just look at the following quote - how busy is it now  ,  what message is actually being received by the readers now, and in the future .... a) about the Actual DNA question being discussed  b) the RChatters who have responded online in this very public forum. 

Readers do not need to log in to RChat to read these posts

I think the actual message that is intended to be delivered is being lost,  by several factors .... the actual lines showing which post is which within the quote and  so the intended message is becoming lost.

JM

The gray
I have no idea what experts you have spoken to--but difficult doesn't mean impossible.  A man's autosomal DNA is not a clone of that of his father.  In autosomal DNA, everyone has two alleles at every marker or locus, one donated by the father and one by the mother.  Obviously a father and his son do not have the same mothers.  Their DNA will look different, even though the son received an allele from the father at every marker.  What will look the same is their y-DNA, which is a different story.  Let's say Dad has these alleles, shown as numbers at a marker----12/23.  His female partner has 8/10.  Son will receive a number from each parent out of a possibility of four combinations.  Let's say he receives  10/23.  That illustrates why his DNA is not the same as that of his father.  Now Son can pass down nothing but 10/23 at that marker to his own children.  But Dad can only pass down 12/23 no matter what.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that if Offspring has a 10 at the same marker, combined with another number from his or her Mom, it will not have come from Dad--but Son.

"It would certainly make things easier if it was possible to test the husband and his father, but both of these people had died before DNA testing became generally available as was the mother but perhaps you missed that small point."

You never mentioned that all were deceased, so what was there to miss?  And how is all that the fault of some testing company?  Wasn't that your original point--their so-called lack of accuracy?  If the possible fathers are deceased, then there can't be a paternity test.  There is the possibility of autosomal testing and receiving some DNA relatives, the distance of relativity being calculated.  Let's say the deceased possible father, old Dad, had some other children.  What relationship of Offspring to them?  Or old Dad had some siblings with their own offspring--same question.  In that case, none of the potential fathers need to be alive.  All that's required is luck.

[snip of irrelevant stuff about ethnicity from Guy Etchells]

[Carole Green]

IMHO DNA doesn't lie - unlike people.

[Guy Etchells]

You never mentioned that all were deceased, so what was there to miss?  And how is all that the fault of some testing company?  Wasn't that your original point--their so-called lack of accuracy?  If the possible fathers are deceased, then there can't be a paternity test.  There is the possibility of autosomal testing and receiving some DNA relatives, the distance of relativity being calculated.  Let's say the deceased possible father, old Dad, had some other children.  What relationship of Offspring to them?  Or old Dad had some siblings with their own offspring--same question.  In that case, none of the potential fathers need to be alive.  All that's required is luck.

[snip of irrelevant stuff about ethnicity from Guy Etchells]

Sorry I must correct you.
If you had read the PS at the foot of posting number 76 you will see I did mention they were deceased.

PS All the daughters (5) have had their DNA tested, the older generations are all deceased, mother, father & grandparents.

Threads on forums develop as other people add their views and the discussion develops, that is one of the advantages of a forum it allows discussions to develop.
The thread was started as I felt that many on Rootschat thought because I was an experienced family historian who had developed skills searching archives using original registers, census return etc. I was automatically opposed to the use of DNA for research, nothing is further from the truth.
I do however have reservations on the way DNA is being promoted by many of the popular DNA companies.
The thread has discussed many aspects of the subject since I made that posting in January 2018
Cheers
Guy

[Craclyn]

Database sizes and available tools have moved on a long way since you made the original post, so the opportunities for success are greatly different now.

[AdeleMarie]

I was pleased to read the blog post regarding the improving of DNA testing. I do think it is a worthwhile science and many people have had amazing results. I haven't had mine done, a hangover from my Mum who believed such things were used to categorise and record groups of people for evil purposes. However, I do know a relative who had theirs tested and the results were, well, odd. Native American showed in their DNA when they lived in and came from a small Scottish village. Anyone else had something like this show up?

[davidft]

I was pleased to read the blog post regarding the improving of DNA testing. I do think it is a worthwhile science and many people have had amazing results. I haven't had mine done, a hangover from my Mum who believed such things were used to categorise and record groups of people for evil purposes. However, I do know a relative who had theirs tested and the results were, well, odd. Native American showed in their DNA when they lived in and came from a small Scottish village. Anyone else had something like this show up?

Maybe

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01ogv/

I do believe there are particular problems identifying people as native American, not the least that they are not one homogeneous whole. Probably have to do a lot of reading to make sense of it

[jc26red]

I was pleased to read the blog post regarding the improving of DNA testing. I do think it is a worthwhile science and many people have had amazing results. I haven't had mine done, a hangover from my Mum who believed such things were used to categorise and record groups of people for evil purposes. However, I do know a relative who had theirs tested and the results were, well, odd. Native American showed in their DNA when they lived in and came from a small Scottish village. Anyone else had something like this show up?

Yes, my husband although he did a YDNA  test, it showed up Native American. His family have not left uk/Ireland since at least the mid 1600’s.  He only did the test at the request of a distant (now known) relative who is living in the USA who was concerned he may have had an interloper into his tree. Both his and my husband’s trees have excellent paper trails.  Further tests were done and it has now been confirmed by familytree DNA there are two branches to his haplogroup... Native American and European/Asian decent.  So far there are less than 5 people who have been tested within the European group, 2 more in the USA who I suspect are linked to the same family but have different names. All can trace back to the same area of Ireland

I Would be interested in hearing more about your relatives results

[Rosinish]

Without DNA I would never have known that my dad was not my real father. Something I never suspected for a moment.

I do feel really sorry for you having to go through this as it must be agonising but the way I think, if I had something similar I'd be so shocked I'd be wondering if I'd been assigned the proper results.

To the others with more positive stories, I enjoyed them & understand the need/want to find your true roots.

Annie

[Mart 'n' Al]

My DNA analysis has confirmed certain suspected "recent family ancestral oddities". 

I don't understand how people can be dubious and untrusting about DNA tests, yet happily leave a load of it on every coffee cup, wine glass and beer mug they use.

Martin