This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list.
Surnames: Calhoun
Classification: Query
Message Board URL:
http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/QNH.2ACEB/1227
Message Board Post:
Hi, all,
I apologize if you received this message as part of another group. I'd like to suggest
something to the group. I have this group's surname in my ancestry. There is something
called the Sorenson Molecular Geneology Foundation. They use DNA info to help identify
ancestry. There are a couple of things that makes this Geneological DNA database unique:
1) they use all of the DNA information, not just Y-chromosone or maternal mitochondrial
DNA, 2) therefore, they need every one to send in their DNA, not just men, 3) It's
FREE, they'll send you a free kit and will analyze it for free. However, you won't
get any info back from them. Anyone can search their database for free by using their
genetic markers, but you'll need to find out your genetic markers from some other
company. To request a free kit go to:
http://smgf.org/request_a_free_kit.html
From their website:
"The non-profit Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF) is building the
world's largest database of correlated genetic and genealogical data. Our database
uses sophisticated DNA analysis to link individuals together, while maintaining strict
confidentiality of participants' information.
The SMGF database pursues the following objectives:
Build the public database by collecting DNA samples and corresponding genealogies from
throughout the world
Make the information useful to genealogists by allowing public access to the database
while maintaining the privacy of contributors
Help people get past “brick walls” within their genealogies by providing information about
specific ancestors to whom they are biologically related
Create analysis tools to enable genetics to be used in new ways for genealogical research
DNA samples with associated four-generation pedigree charts have already been collected
from over 50,000 volunteers by SMGF. Up to 170 genetic markers (specific regions of DNA)
are analyzed for each individual. The corresponding pedigree chart is also extended as far
as genealogical databases allow; extended pedigrees currently include over one million
ancestral records.
The database will be released in stages. When each portion is ready for public release,
free access will be available through the SMGF Website. The first database release,
comprising paternal-line (Y chromosome) genetic data and corresponding genealogies,
includes data for more than 12,000 individuals and hundreds of thousands of ancestors.
SMGF also continually conducts research into new methods of using DNA analysis for
genealogical research. A significant focus of our research is to identify and trace
ancestral origins, with genetic identity defined by factors of demographic separation as
well as by time period.
We are also researching ways to use the inheritance models of various types of genetic
data to trace different genealogical lines. We are experimenting with new genetic
clustering algorithms, the statistical reconstruction of ancestral trees, the inference of
ancestral genetic signatures, and the inference of surname based on paternal-line
DNA."
Please tell everyone you know.
David Sigmon