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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2007-03 > 1174662528


From: Al Bell <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] mtDNA of H in Native American
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2007 11:08:48 -0400 (EDT)
References: <mailman.12106.1174410664.2838.genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com>
In-Reply-To: <mailman.12106.1174410664.2838.genealogy-dna@rootsweb.com>


> Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:03:16 EDT
> From:
> Subject: [DNA] mtDNA of H in Native American
>
> I think I just REALLY ticked off a potential distant relative of mine by
> telling her that her mitochondrial DNA is not typically Cherokee.

I think one thing to keep in mind is that it's possible for Family Tree
DNA and other genetic genealogy firms to mix up samples and make other
mistakes. Example: when I got my first mtDNA results, via FTDNA Kit Number
46, the program was so new that Bennett Greenspan himself was responsible
for writing up my results report, and he got the fourth digit wrong.

I also remember reading about a woman who thought she was dying of AIDS
because a medical testing lab said she was HIV positive. But it turned out
that the lab had messed up the test, and she'd never been HIV positive.

So, if someone really, really cares about a test result and the result
seems odd, it might be worth it to try to submit a fresh sample to
another lab and have the test redone.

Second, even though it seems as if the genetic genealogy firms and the
anthropologists have conducted a lot of tests, the truth is that they're
just starting to scratch the surface.

Example: when I write to scientists about my mtDNA type (a Jewish M*
type), they think of my type as either new or rare. But, in reality, it's
clear from my Family Tree DNA results page that about 1% to 2% of
Ashkenazic Jews share my mtDNA type. The only reason the type seems rare
is that, until very recently, the amount of data collected was much too
small to pick up my type.

Along the same lines: the idea that a Native American could have an H type
seems very strange, but, if scientists had a lot more Native American full
sequence mtDNA results on file, maybe they would turn up a list of, say,
20 Native American people with sequences similar to the sequence of your
possible distant relative, and maybe the geographic distribution of those
sequences would help explain where the H results came from.

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