DNA is one of the latest tools in the
genealogist’s toolkit. It would be helpful to have a better grasp on the
subject and, like every good conference, the Great Canadian Genealogy Summit
has sessions on how to use DNA to help with your genealogy research.
Family historians embraced DNA
technology from the get-go. I can remember hearing about it years ago when the
only tests available for genealogists were for males because the first
genealogy related tests used the Y chromosome. Technology developed rapidly
after that so now there are basically three types of DNA that can be tested for
genealogical purposes (well, two if you are female and can’t talk any male
relatives into parting with their precious cells.)
Some family historians have really
gotten into this new technology and have impressive colour charts of where
on the chromosomes their various relatives match up. They must have done very well in Math class
is all I can say. I hope one day to be able to decipher one of those diagrams
or at least be able to tell if it is advantageous to test with more than one
company. I hope the DNA sessions will
jump start this side of my research.
A little light reading about DNA for the genealogist
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