tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post8904812581719069347..comments2024-03-21T19:08:05.737-07:00Comments on Genealogy's Star: Can DNA Testing Help You Find Your Ancestors? Part TwoJames Tannerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-49366734359621367282014-03-27T12:28:57.162-07:002014-03-27T12:28:57.162-07:00As you point out, James, DNA must go hand-in-hand ...As you point out, James, DNA must go hand-in-hand with paper research. But I think you haven't addressed an important point when it comes to DNA and genealogical research: Both yDNA and mtDNA have the power to falsify a "perfect" genealogy based on an impeccable based on paper research. The pursuit of negative findings, too, is a critical part of doing good genealogy.William Flowersnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-8478129980177913372014-01-22T08:12:45.323-07:002014-01-22T08:12:45.323-07:00I think DNA research applications for genealogical...I think DNA research applications for genealogical research are directly related and equivalent to fingerprinting. [Even identical twins (who share their DNA) do not have identical fingerprints.] It is all a matter of assigning a degree of confidence. [Since the early 20th century, fingerprint detection and analysis has been one of the most common and important forms of crime scene forensic investigation. More crimes have been solved with fingerprint evidence than for any other reason.] Dermatoglyphics is the science by which we can [determine whether these impressions could have come from the same individual. The flexibility of friction ridge skin means that no two finger or palm prints are ever exactly alike in every detail; even two impressions recorded immediately after each other from the same hand may be slightly different.] So if we want an ancestry background check, we should gather all the family fingerprints and put them all together and compare them, both for the father's side and the mother's side. Then, with the same degree of confidence of determining DNA "matches", we should be able to directly trace back all our ancestry. Yes, No, Maybe? Biometric [identification utilizing a physical attribute that is unique to every human include iris recognition, the use of dental records in forensic dentistry, the tongue and DNA profiling, also known as genetic fingerprinting.] The problem I have with all of this is the logic behind the big story, because I am told that DNA is the "engine" that creates all of this unique identification in every human being. That, however, says to me, that over generations of time, every person, father, son, mother daughter, brother, sister, relative, each had a former DNA "engine" creator that produced another individual that in and of itself, starts off life with its own altered DNA "record" (it must be so to produce individuality); this then produces other altered DNA "records" in its posterity. So the issue is not with the continuous replication process which is so nicely discussed exactingly in family history DNA related venues, it is with the very fact that everyone who is a human being is individually genetically altered. And unless you can trace genealogy created patterns in fingerprints, iris recognition, or some other form of biometric identification, you certainly cannot with confidence, trace back with any form of certainty, unique DNA profiling, which ever so minutely changes from one person to another, over all generations of time. This is of course my own personal opinion on the matter, fortified by my own experience of seeing enthusiastic DNA potential "matches" contradicted by written record sources.Thomas Milton Tinney, Sr.http://academic-genealogy.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-65607747932641874562014-01-21T13:48:16.196-07:002014-01-21T13:48:16.196-07:00It would be nice if that were always possible. But...It would be nice if that were always possible. But without the paper research, DNA has limited application to genealogical research. it may be interesting to know for sure who your parents are, but how far back can that go without researching first? That also assumes that your relatives will cooperate in adding their DNA to the study assuming they will talk to you in the first place.James Tannerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02989059644120454647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1527613590529958801.post-3225218315144278782014-01-21T12:31:23.239-07:002014-01-21T12:31:23.239-07:00Sure, one can posit situations where DNA evidence ...Sure, one can posit situations where DNA evidence isn't helpful. But you wouldn't have any difficulty developing situations where additional conventional genealogical evidence isn't helpful either. Nore to the point how do you know the documentary evidence is giving you the truth? As Helen Leary wrote a long tome ago “Science and the law are in agreement: there is only one way to prove kinships beyond reasonable doubt — DNA” Find that on the BCG website.JDRhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06471656063812824731noreply@blogger.com