The Three Main Types of DNA Testing
Recent advances in science make DNA testing more reliable and help in criminal investigations and family genetic research. So I enthusiastically embraced the idea of exploring my DNA to understand my genetic matching with the goal of providing insight into my genealogy and cultural origins. In reviewing the types of available DNA testing, I found that three most common DNA testing types exist: Autosomal DNA, Mitochondrial DNA, and Y-DNA testing. Autosomal DNA Testing analyzes DNA from both your parents to help identify recent and distant relatives, along with a general footprint of where your ancestors lived 500 to 1000 years ago and can reveal more about your ethnicity and who you are related to. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA testing) traces a person’s matrilineal ancestry using the DNA of that person’s mitochondria. Since mtDNA can only test a small sample of your family tree through the matrilineal ancestry, it can provide supporting evidence of an ancestor’s relation to you, going back thousands of years. Y-DNA traces a male’s Y chromosome to research patrilineal ancestry, or ancestry through their male line, thousands and sometimes tens of thousands of years.
Ancestry.com describes the three main types of DNA testing nicely:
Y-DNA Testing
JY-DNA testing can be used by people with a Y chromosome to research their “patrilineal” ancestry—their ancestry through their male line. But not everyone has a Y chromosome. Only around half the population, typically biological males, have one. Because of this, Y-DNA testing is only available to around half the population (although someone lacking a Y chromosome can have a family member with a Y chromosome tested).
The Y chromosome is passed directly from a person’s biological father, who inherited it from his biological father, and so on. This makes the Y chromosome useful for tracing back your biological father’s male line. It also provides supporting evidence that someone is related to you.
The primary strength of a Y-DNA test though is that it can trace your biological dad’s male line far back into time—thousands or even tens of thousands of years ago. This is possible because the Y chromosome is passed down with very few changes, generation after generation. The downside is that you can only trace a sliver of your heritage back so far.
Reference: Types of DNA Testing
Mitochondrial DNA Testing
Mitochondrial DNA testing (mtDNA testing) traces a person’s matrilineal (mother’s female) ancestry using the DNA in his or her mitochondria.
Mitochondria, the powerhouses of the cell, are passed down from your biological mother’s egg—your biological father shared none of his mitochondria with you. That’s why you can only trace your biological mom’s female line using mtDNA testing. And unlike a Y-DNA test, everyone can take a mtDNA test.
However, like a Y-DNA test, a mtDNA test can only trace a sliver of your family tree back in time and it can really only provide supporting evidence that someone is related to you. It also can be traced back in time thousands or even tens of thousands of years.
Autosomal DNA Testing
Unlike mitochondrial DNA testing and Y-DNA testing, autosomal DNA testing analyzes most of your DNA that comes from your parents—the 22 pairs of chromosomes that make up your autosomes. The information in these chromosomes can help find recent and distant relatives, as well as find where your ancestors lived 500 to 1000 or more years ago. Autosomal DNA testing is much more information-rich than either Y-DNA or mtDNA tests since it can reveal more about your ethnicity and who you are related to.
Ancestry’s autosomal DNA testing evaluates your genetic code at about 700,000 different locations, or markers, across your autosomal chromosomes, focusing on locations that differ between families and ethnic groups. This information can help you identify which of the more than 350 regions across the globe your ancestors may have lived in.
So far, I have only taken the Autosomal DNA testing offered by Ancestry.com, and am pleased with how the results provide a broad story of my genetic makeup, including sections on: Ethnicity Estimate, DNA Matches with other Ancestry.com members, and ThruLines, which uses Ancestry.com member trees to suggest how you might be related to other ancestry trees through common ancestors. However, as mentioned above, and by Ancestry.com’s own admission, Ancestry.com only offers the autosomal DNA testing which cannot provide definitive insights into the detailed analysis of the patrilineal (Y-DNA) and matrilineal (mtDNA) genetic ancestral links.
Therefore, my next DNA test will focus on Y-DNA and mtDNA testing, ideally one test that offers all three tests with results for: Ancestry, Haplogroups, along with various genetic health tests. This would help me fill in some gaps in my genealogy research by getting definitive results on my patrilineal and matrilineal lines, where I hope to get a more complete picture of my ancestry beyond the four generations of accuracy that autosomal DNA provides. I’m particularly interested in the Ancestry Timeline Report which illustrates when a certain heritage entered your lineage, the Maternal Haplo Report illustrating your haplogroup from your mother’s side, the Paternal Haplo Report about your haplogroup from your father’s side, and a Famous People’s Report would be a nice bonus too – not sure if this is a standard part of testing results.
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Family History
Family Births
- On 1704-04-27, Samuel COLEMAN is born in King and Queen, Virginia, United States
- On 1789-04-27, Frances Garnett TWYMAN is born in Madison County, Virginia
Family Deaths
- On 1579-04-27, Phillip JOHNSON dies in London, Middlesex, England (St Giles, Cripplegate, London, England--Burial)
- On 1591-04-27, Thomas ANSCELL dies in Barford, Bedfordshire, , England
- On 1686-04-27, John FLEMING dies in Charles Parish, York, Virginia, United States
- On 1919-04-27, Harriet Newkirk (Hattie) HALL dies in Greensboro, Guilford, North Carolina
- On 1949-04-27, Henry Shaw TWYMAN dies in place unknown
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