Draft Help: Haplogroups

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A haplogroup is a genetic population group of people who share a common ancestor on the patrilineal or matrilineal line. Haplogroups are assigned letters of the alphabet, and refinements consist of additional number and letter combinations.^[1]

Current convention for the Y-DNA haplogroups has been to adopt a shorter method of identifying the haplogroup and subclade individuals belong to than as described in the ISOGG Wiki. By listing the major branch of the haplogroup followed by the terminal SNP the system becomes much easier for non-scientists to track where they belong on the various DNA trees.

For example, using the short-hand method, I1a2a1a1a1 becomes I-L338, and R1b1a2a1a1c1a2b2a1a becomes R-FGC13609.

Limitations

23andMe and National Geographic's Geno 2.0 test are primarily autosomal DNA tests, but they will also report your paternal line and maternal line haplogroups.

23andMe and Geno 2.0 do not report yDNA haplotype information or the mtDNA differences most useful for genealogy. Y haplotypes are revealed by Y-DNA37 or Y-DNA67 tests (12, 24, 37, 67 or 111 Short Tandom Repeat (STR) markers). mtDNA differences are shown as Hyper Variable Region (HVR) differences from the RSRS or rCRS.

The haplogroups reported by 23andMe and Geno 2.0 began thousands of years ago. They identify the broad branches of human ancestry. They may be useful for rejecting a genealogical connection but they are not useful for confirming one.

For example, if two men are in different haplogroups we can be certain that they have different fathers. However, if two men are in the same haplogroup we cannot be certain that they have the same father. Far from it. Millions of men are in the same haplogroup. On the other hand, if their haplotype is a close match we can confirm that they share a common paternal ancestor in a genealogical time frame.

Entering or Editing a Haplogroup

On your DNA Tests page you can enter a haplogroup when adding or editing a DNA test.

To edit your haplogroup, click the "Edit or Enter Details" button to the right of the test.

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1. ↑ http://www.isogg.org/wiki/Haplogroup