----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian Murray" <ian.murray(a)tesco.net>
To: <ENG-WORCESTER-L(a)rootsweb.com>
Sent: Sunday 01 2001 11:56 PM
Subject: Genetics and Genealogy
Here is an interesting piece that I read on the
- ButeshireGenWeb-L(a)rootsweb.com list -
(Family History in Buteshire, West Scotland), and contributed by
one of their list members, Charles McCormick.
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
"HOW NAMES ARE IN OUR GENES
What you are called is closely connected to your genetic makeup,
say scientists - and this surprising link reveals a lot about infidelity.
Robin McKie reports
Sunday January 14, 2001
What's in a name? The question has puzzled writers and thinkers
for centuries. Now scientists have provided an answer: our names
reveal the nature of our genes and our biological past. Oxford
researchers have discovered that names are more than labels.
They reveal critical information about our natures and our roots.
The discovery is being exploited by individuals who are using their
DNA to reveal key information about their family trees. One day it
might even be possible to name a criminal simply from the DNA
that he leaves behind at the scene of a crime.
'We have found that a person's genotype and surname are
incredibly closely connected,' said Professor Bryan Sykes, of the
Institute of Molecular Medicine, Oxford. 'It is really quite startling,
and very informative.'
The Oxford group's discovery is the result of a remarkable
investigation into Sykes's own family tree, a lineage that he has
traced back to around AD1300. Surnames were first introduced at
this time, when laws were changed to allow farm tenancies to be
inherited, forcing people to be able to prove their identities.
Nicknames, local geographical terms and - most often - professions
were adopted for surnames: hence the plethora of Smiths and
Millers in Britain. The name Sykes, however, was taken from a
Yorkshire word for boundary ditch - which explains why distribution
maps of Sykes's produce a cluster in villages around Huddersfield.
Surnames are inherited through the male line - and so are
Y-chromosomes, the packages of genes responsible for conferring
maleness on a human. The question Sykes asked was simple:
Were the two linked in any way?
'I got the idea for researching the two when I agreed to give a Glaxo
Wellcome lecture on genetics and genealogy,' Sykes said. 'I knew
its chief executive Sir Richard Sykes would be in the audience, and
so I suggested that we should try to find out if we were related.'
With a DNA brush, used to slough cells from a person's cheek,
samples of their genes were analysed, along with those from
several dozen other Sykeses who had been selected from the
electoral register. Both men, and more than half the sample of
other Sykeses tested, were found to have the same Y
chromosome.
'It was a wonderful discovery, one of those things that shows how
exciting science can be,' Sir Richard said. 'Bryan and I now know
we have a common ancestor with all those other Sykeses.'
In other words, for the past 700 years a lineage of Sykes' genes has
been spreading like a web through generations - and in the majority
of cases has remained unbroken. And what is true for the Sykes
clan applies to the rest of the country. Research on other
surnames has also shown more than half of their possessors share
the same Y chromosome.
Chromosomes are shuffled from one generation to another - except
for the Y-chromosome which is passed from father to son like a
surname. 'What is remarkable is that both name and Y-
chromosome have remained linked for more than 20 generations,'
said Bryan Sykes.
'It would only take a single act of infidelity to break this link, after
all. Yet after 700 years, surname and Y-chromosome remained
connected in more than 50 per cent of the men. That indicates an
illegitimacy rate of less than 1 per cent a generation.'
Such a figure flies in the face of studies which have claimed that -
due to mothers' infidelities - between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of
people are unrelated to the person they call dad. 'Our work flatly
contradicts those figures, and indicates that family life in Britain
has been a lot more stable and trusting than it has been given credit
for,' he said.
Individuals sharing a surname can now send off to the professor for
a set of DNA brushes and sample pouches and so find out if they
share the same Y-chromosome.
Launched last month, the £120 test has proved popular with people
researching their family tree, particularly Americans. In cases
where two unconnected branches of a surname exist - for example,
one from Essex and one from Cornwall - a DNA test can reveal to
which group an individual belongs.
'This test only works with men because it relies on the Y-
chromosome, of course,' Sykes said. If a woman wants to find out
such information she will have to find out via her father or brother.'
Sykes is an expert at tracing lineages - including those of pet
hamsters, shown to be all descended from a single female found in
the Syrian desert 70 years ago.
He has used this knowledge to set up Oxford Ancestors, a private
company that now operates his Y-chromosome analysis service
under the commercial label Y-Line.
It also offers another service - MatriLine - which does for female
DNA what Y-Line does for the Y-chromosome. 'There is a packet of
genetic material called mitochondrial DNA that is inherited through
the female line,' Sykes said. 'We can use that to trace back a
whole web of relatedness among individuals.'
In one case mitochondrial DNA was extracted from a 9,000-year-old
found in the Cheddar Gorge and linked to a local schoolteacher.
Much more is known about mitochondrial DNA than the Y-
chromosome. As a result, Sykes has been able to trace the webs
of family links back to seven women, whom he calls the founding
mothers of Europe. He has named them Ursula, who lived in
Greece 45,000 years ago; Xania, Ukraine 25,000 years ago;
Helena, from South-west France 20,000 years ago; Velda, from
northern Spain 17,000 years ago; Tara, from northern Italy 17,000
years ago; Katrine, from eastern Italy 15,000 years ago; and
Jasmine, from Syria 10,000 years ago.
'Think of them as Eve's daughters,' Sykes said. 'Soon, we will use
our Y-chromosome studies to build a similar picture for Europe's
fathers. Then it will be possible to find out from which of Adam's
sons you are descended.' "
Useful links:
The Oxford Ancestors project
The Science Museum's new Wellcome Wing has a interactive
display showing the geographical distribution of nearly every British
surname Genuki provides help on tracing your family tree
Genealogy.com and
Ancestry.com give access to massive
databanks of surnames "
End.
Best Regards,
Ian Murray
The Murray Lewis Partnership
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