Question

Hi, i have done 16 marker paternal lineage Dna Test. Can i upload the result for ancestry tracking?

Comments

Which company did you test with?

Answer 1

16 markers sounds like it might be a standard paternity test, which uses autosomal STRs. If so, it would not be useful for ancestry tracking. The genetic genealogy tests use hundreds of  thousands of another type of marker (SNPs).

Comments

I vote for Ann's answer. While you can still order a 12-marker Y-STR panel from FTDNA if you know how to go about it, there really aren't any 16-marker Y-STR tests done by any company I'm aware of. But 16-marker autosomal STR tests for paternity, immigration or identification purposes, or forensics are routinely performed. If that's the case, to M's question, that kind of test can't be transferred to any matching/comparison company or service for genealogical purposes.

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Just curious.  What value do you see in Y12, other than it is not as expensive as Y37 or Y67.

I have in mind  a surname project in which at Y12, there are literally hundreds almost a thousand matches, and the matches are all over the geographical map, literally, Russians, Poles,Scandinavians, Arabs, Iranians, Anglo's (America and Europe) but mostly Russians and East Europeans. When narrowed down to Y25, there are roughly 70 matches with men who share a paternal ancestor about 800 years  before the present. in , apparently, northern England.. At Y12 the haplogroup is R-M512 or R1a1a

I realize that different haplogroups have different results but hg R1b1a is the Western Atlantic Modal  and at Y12 there are going to be 1,000 or more matches, virtually all Western European.

Point is that Y12, for genealogical purposes, is useless, maybe of some value for deep ancestry., but certainly not for relatively recent ancestry or genealogical purposes.

Then again, this is merely my opinion, based on the results of one YDNA surname project..

 

 

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Oh, I believe the 12 Y-STR test has little value now and has had it's day. In one rare instance, I've seen unusual mutational copy numbers in that panel for a haplotype within a particular haplogroup, and all 0 GD 12-marker matches went on to match at varying GDs at 25, 37, and 111. But in that instance, after 15 years of testing, there are only 15 0 GD 12-marker matches in that group, of any surname.

With all the post-GDPR changes at FTDNA, I frankly haven't had a chance to explore anything but the GAP for my projects...that and send emails and try to answer questions about the new settings.

But back in the day-- as in just a few months ago :-)  --you couldn't buy a SNP panel or Big Y without first having purchased a Y-STR test...any Y-STR test. So it used to make financial sense, in a few cases, for folks to buy a 12-marker as an entry admission ticket only. That may well no longer be the case.

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Many of my Bahamas DNA Project members have African direct paternal line ancestry with no close matches even at 12 markers.  I recommend that new participants in that project start at 12 and upgrade (using DNA in storage) if a match is found. If you suspect your direct paternal line is likely non-European then Y-DNA12 may be all you need.

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Great point, Peter. So little of my own research (and DNA projects) is African or Asian that I unfortunately tend to overlook, well, entire continents.  :-/

The haplotype I mentioned above is a GD of 2 from the Western Atlantic Modal Haplotype, but one of the STR mutations is at the very slow-moving DYS393; 14 copies rather the AMH/WAMH of 13. And for over a decade now, despite this otherwise common Western European haplogroup (DF27), we've never seen a 0 GD at 12 markers that didn't continue to be a match (of some reportable degree) all the way through the other basic panels out to 111.

FTDNA is still keeping the 12-marker test at the base price of $59, so still 60% cheaper than the 37-marker. There must be a reason that they keep the test as an available option beyond my upgrade-workaround theory.  ;-)

Answer 2

I'd never heard of a 16 marker test before, so I'll be interested in what you answer Lynda!

Did the test provide a yDNA haplogroup?  They usually do, but 16 markers is not very many.  If they did, then you'll enter the haplogroup on your DNA Tests page, as an Other yDNA test (click Select DNA Test).

Answer 3

I hope you did not pay too much for that test Lynda. There are sadly a number of less than scrupulous companies out there advertising CODIS 16 marker tests for genealogy, and they are pretty much useless for that purpose. CODIS tests are used for paternity (for which they are very good), but not genealogy.

The best tests for genealogy, IMHO, are sold by FTDNA and Ancestry, witth 23AndMe coming in a semi-distant third due to their pricing and the fact they mainly focus on medical reports (which I think they overhype).

Comments

The reason that 23andme "overhypes" the medical reports, is because that is their business model, that is where the money is. I suspect that their major source of income is from selling megadata to insurance companies and universities and research institutions.

They have a new privacy policy, and they do state that they don't sell to third parties, but that is obfuscation because they can sell to investors, partners, grantors who then sell to third parties or use the information for their own purposes, like developing a model for underwriting or denying and insurance policy.

AHIP can't use DNA for underwriting because of GINA, but tlife insurance companies can, and that which Congress has put together can by congress be undone, especially when corporations can so freely purchase our congress critters.

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By "overhype" I meant "overstate the usefulness of" Jennifer.