Question

has anyone done their mtDNA

Comments

Hi Maree,

Do you have a specific question regarding mtDNA testing or a particular mtDNA test?

This page indicates that over 8000 WikiTreers have entered an FTDNA mtDNA test here.

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Yes. U3a1a.

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I did mtdna but see it only shows autosomal in my profile. Can I change that?

Thank you!

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Hi Sherry,

Your profile shows both your mtDNA and auDNA tests.

Answer 1

Hi Maree

My mother did her mtDNA for me.  It is a very common grouping, apparently, yet it doesn't exactly match anyone!  At least it is available now.

Cheers

Shirlea

Answer 2

I’ve been interested in genetic genealogy for a long time. I first tested my dad’s mtDNA in 2002. It hasn’t helped me with determining any ancestors, though. The autosomal DNA test, on the other hand, was a game changer. I’ve broken down numerous brick walls that would otherwise have remained unsolved...

Answer 3

my mtDNA test has NOT been very useful finding matches or confirming a certain surname.

My father's Y-DNA test confirmed no one slept with the neighbor or milkman.  I have since had autosomal surname matches but I was really starting to wonder.  The Y-dna test has NOT helped find any matches.

here is a G2G thread that might help https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1021715/would-it-make-more-sense-to-mtdna-my-mom-or-me-or-both

Answer 4

I am a Unicorn I guess. mtDNA has been very helpful to me for confirming my grandmother was the child of the family she reconnected with, in 1923. auDNA was used after the intial discovery to make further connections.

The biggest thing that helped was the fact that other people who were 0 matches to me did a good job of identifying their Earliest Known Ancestors (EKA) with locations and dates. As it stands I have two 0 matches who have EKA's who lived at the same time and in very close proximity (North East Counties of GA) to my EKA. There are others that have a 0 distance to me who live in the region as well, though I have not worked to try and make a connection. Working to make a connection almost always involves using auDNA in tandem.

The other thing that was a big help was a database that is now defunct. A new Database is available and growing so it could be a help as it allows matches to most Y or mtDNA testing past, present and furture: mitoYDNA.org

Mags

Answer 5

Yes - it really helps to get the highest level of testing and resolution you can with mtDNA. My own results looked mysterious for quite a while until I wrapped my head around what it reveals - my mother's mother's mother's ... mother. That involves a name change every generation! So that is hard to reconcile with an interest in identifying 'brick walls'. But if you can go far enough back on paper (5 to 7 generations) it begins to give one a better since of maternal origins. In my case it proved that our French-speaking Cajun Catholic grandmother was descended from a Reformed German Palatine refugee in 1680. My point is that tests like BigY700 (paternal line) and mtDNA regions (maternal line) don't identify specific individuals as much as explain the cultural appropriation, transitions, and ethnic/anthropological origins of our present family lines (with associated genetic clusters of cousins, near and distant). I've been pleased with the results.

Answer 6

Yes, I did it and have one match.....never have been able to contact the person, they have no tree posted....we are a genetic  distance of 0, so knowing who the person is or their tree would be extremely helpful.   Alas, no other matches.

Answer 7

I have done mtDNA with Family Tree DNA and added refined mtDNA tests to try to find better matches.  MtDNA provides distant matches that have been extremely difficult to tie any family tree.  My understanding is we can get matches no closer than 5000 years away. To me, that is nearly impossible to make sense of.

My mother's mother's side of the family was born in Lithuania.  I would say at least 95% of my matches are Norwegian. Very few provide family trees.  I have so many various dotter surnames, like Andersdotter.  It was an eye opening discovery in that regard.

All but 1 of my matches is deviated by 3.  The one is a 1.  I emailed the entire group with my puzzle regarding these matches and made a joke about marauding Vikings but only got a response from my 1 deviation.  She is a doctor in Norway and not sure at all how we tie.

My father's YDNA helped immensely to confirm hunches in my genealogy and AuDNA has provided some very rich, specific and unanticipated leads and suggestions.  I have met so many cousins.

Comments

Hey Laurie,

You can take a look at your particular Haplogroup mutation rate by inputting it into Scaled Innovations, then look at the SNPs tab. Mine had two mutations happen about 5,200 years ago.

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Just a quick note that Rob at Scaled Innovations doesn't display the actual variants associated with the mtDNA haplotree branches, only the nodal branches themselves. So we can't tell from there the number of separate and independent mutations that had to occur to get us onto one specific branch or another. For example, from H1a to H1a4 requires only one mutation at locus 9341. But from H1a to H1a6 requires three mutations, at loci 151, 11893, and 16189. Many currently-identified terminal nodes signify only a single mutation from the hierarchically next-higher parent node, but others can indicate more than a half-dozen.

Answer 8

Yes, and the morning after my results posted my e-mail box was full of joyful messages in French and English from Quebec City.  It turns out that I had triangulated one of the Filles du Roi, my first maternal ancestor to arrive in New France in 1669.  Her first descendant had tested several years earlier, but no match all that time to provide her "ancestral signature.".  I wondered where else I could spit to make people so happy.  I would later come to realize how special it is.  My mother is from a familly of 12 kids; There are 42 kids in my generation.  But of all their offspring, about 55 at this point I think,  when filtering just the daughters of daughters of daughters who will potentially pass on this mtDNA, there exist only...TWO!  This tells you how precarious these strains are, even in the context of "revenge of the cradle"  Catholic procreation!  For those who don't match anyone, it's feasible that they may likely never.

Comments

Interesting! And very confusing for me