Ancestry Magazine

In the world of genetic genealogy, I descend from Helena, a “daughter” of ancestral Eve. My father descends from Jasmine. We know this because we tested our mitochondrial DNA. The results identified us as descendants of certain “clan mothers,” but more importantly, the results provided us with the potential for finding other people who descend from the same line of women.
Until the turn of the 21st century, using DNA results for genealogical purposes wasn’t realistic, nor was it affordable. But that changed—quickly. I learned about the potential of DNA after hearing Bryan Sykes, author of The Seven Daughters of Eve, at a conference in 2001. In 2002, I donated blood and a pedigree chart to the BYU DNA Study Project. Two years later, I wanted to see how mtDNA could help me in my research; I was pleased to learn that blood was no longer a requirement.
You don’t need to understand the science of DNA to test your mitochondrial heritage. You simply order a kit and let others do the interpretation for you. The test won’t link you to all the missing names in your umbilical line, nor will it likely immediately yield a cousin who shares your female ancestors. But it can give you more clues for finding those links.
In July 2004, I purchased two kits—one to test my mtDNA and another for my father’s Y-DNA and mtDNA. My dad was 87 at the time and I was feeling the pinch of eternity neverlasting. (He’ll celebrate his 90th birthday in May 2007, still going strong.) The kits included two cheek scrapers, two collection tubes, and paperwork.
After doing my own procedure, I instructed my dad on his—stroke the inside of the cheek for about a minute with the scraper provided and release the brush end of the scraper into a collection tube. After eight hours we repeated the process—taking two samples ensures the accuracy of the results. We then attached tracking labels to the vials and mailed everything back to the testing company.
After a few weeks, we received e-mail notifications, links to a website that would help us understand our results, and, later, a hard copy of our results in the mail. We learned which haplogroups each of us belonged to and we received e-mail addresses for other people with similar test results. My test hooked me up with 30 other people. My father has not yet yielded any mtDNA matches, but his Y-DNA test gave us 43 good candidates to compare family histories with.
I also learned something else: as a descendant of Helena, my female line is pretty common. But, as a descendant of my father’s mother who, like my dad, is a descendant of Jasmine, I’m just varied enough to be really unique.

Laura G. Prescott can be reached at www .lauraprescott.com