I'm sure some of you are having a hard time assimilating all the news
regarding genetic testing and the many uses to which the knowledge of
DNA has been applied just in the last ten years. I know I am!
Whether we understand it or not and whether we even approve of some of
the uses, we are nevertheless using it to advantage in genealogy.
The URL below links to a 7 minute video telling the information Edward
Ball learned about his family.
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2007/11/09/long.edward.ball.genetic...
I believe Edward Ball is referring to three types of genetic testing.
It seems he had previously researched the Ball family, possibly using
the Y-DNA test we are now using in the CARROLL project. Then he spoke
of locating a female cousin to take the mtDNA test. That would not
show the female lineage of Ball's own Mother, but he was interested in
the female lineage of his father.
He did not mention an autosomal test, but he did mention having 4% of
his ancestry from Africa. An autosomal test is one test that can show
a percentage of ethnicity in the report. I hope he consulted a
geneticist to help him arrive at his conclusions.
Most likely someone did tell him that most tests which report a
percentage are based on the number of tests that have been taken so
far throughout the world. These percentages may change somewhat as
more people are tested. The Y-DNA test results should not vary no
matter how many are tested. However, it will surely be easier to find
a match as more men are tested.
Have any of you sent a sample for any test other than the Y-DNA test
done by FTDNA? If you have, would you please share with us the kind
of test, the lab you used, and the benefit (or lack of benefit) you
obtained from the test?
Lura