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Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a molecule found in nearly all human cells and contains the information for the development and function of all living organisms. A human DNA molecule is a double helix shaped like a twisted ladder. The human genome is the complete set of human genetic information found within 23 pairs of chromosomes for each person. Half of the chromosomes come from the father and half from the mother. These 23 chromosomes reside within the nucleus of the cells and some DNA is also found in the mitochondria. | Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a molecule found in nearly all human cells and contains the information for the development and function of all living organisms. A human DNA molecule is a double helix shaped like a twisted ladder. The human genome is the complete set of human genetic information found within 23 pairs of chromosomes for each person. Half of the chromosomes come from the father and half from the mother. These 23 chromosomes reside within the nucleus of the cells and some DNA is also found in the mitochondria. | ||
== Why use it in family history research? == | |||
DNA is a powerful tool for genealogists and can be used to prove or verify conclusions that cannot be solved any other way. Autosomal DNA is likely to solve problems up to five generations back, but the fewer generations the test takers are removed from the research problem, the greater the odds of success will be. Y-DNA can be used to solve problems up to 25 generations back. Adoptees and people who don't know their parentage can also use DNA to identify their biological family too. All adoptees have the right to know who their biological family is, but the adoptee only has the right to a relationship with those family members if they consent to it. | |||
== DNA Testing Risks == | |||
DNA testing can reveal information that you did not expect and can be painful. You may learn for example, that the man who raised you was not your biological father, you may learn that your grandfather fathered a child outside of his marriage, or that you are really adopted. The view of this author (Tanner Tolman) is that DNA can only add to your family. All blood is family, but not all family is blood. | |||
== Autosomal DNA == | == Autosomal DNA == | ||
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One major disadvantage to mtDNA is that it mutates at a slow rate. A person whose mtDNA perfectly matches yours could be related through a common ancestor that lived anytime within the past 500 years. Also the direct maternal line usually has a different surname at every generation so surname projects are useless. | One major disadvantage to mtDNA is that it mutates at a slow rate. A person whose mtDNA perfectly matches yours could be related through a common ancestor that lived anytime within the past 500 years. Also the direct maternal line usually has a different surname at every generation so surname projects are useless. | ||
== DNA companies == | == DNA companies == | ||