Hi Elaine, I just verified with FTDNA...that 2nd column will display how far out they have tested, not what was ordered. So your new match has the first 12 markers in, but you think they ordered 37. The 2nd column will say Y-DNA 12 because their test is in progress. When the 25 comes in, the 2nd column will say Y-DNA 25. And so forth.
DYS392: That means *D*NA *Y* *S*egment 392. The geneticists name the markers. Mostly with numbers. A few have goofy names (Y-GATA-H4, for example). DYS392 is a slow moving marker. That's very good to have a mutation there when you have a fairly common name. A slow moving marker is where the geneticists DO NOT expect to see a mutation. A fast moving marker is where they DO expect to see a mutation. And mutations in DNA are a good thing (as we are dealing with junk DNA). It allows us to tease the family branches apart. Let's pretend that this is one subgroup in the McNeal project: 13-23-14-11-11-14-12-12-12-13-14-29 And this is your hubby and his cohorts: 13-23-14-11-11-14-12-12-12-13-15-29 As genealogists, we don't care that the first marker is called DYS393 and the next one is DYS390. We just want to compare the numbers. They all match, except where I've highlighted it. If the main group has the top string of numbers with the 14 in it and yours is the bottom string with the 15 in it, there's been a mutation at that position. An ancestor in your tree accidentally made 15 copies of that marker instead of 14. Just like making copies at an office store - sometimes the machine might spit out an extra piece of paper or might short you one sheet. As more and more men test, you can figure out the ancestor who gave off the 15. The founder of FTDNA, Bennett Greenspan, tells this story when he does DNA speeches: When he founded the company, he tested a few relatives. He tested both his brothers. They had the same string of numbers. Then he tested his son. His son had one number different. So Bennett tested himself. He also had the one number different. Therefore, Bennett was the "mutant" and passed an extra copy down. So anyone for practically all eternity who is a Greenspan at that particular mutation will be able to say that they descend from Bennett. It's really nice to see the science of DNA back the circumstantial evidence of our paper trails. I went around and around (before Ancestry.com or DNA - so I was spinning those microfilm reels around and around) with my paternal grandmother's line. I had a lot of circumstantial evidence, but no definite proof, so I didn't want to research the line further back until I was sure. A cousin tested and DNA proved that the circumstantial evidence was correct. DNA also has the ability to disprove things too. A man at my genealogy society was brickwalled on his John White ancestor. Had been stuck there for years. He tested his DNA and did not match a single White. He was matching Christensens. He really thought FTDNA messed up. He came to several of our DNA meetings trying to understand all this stuff. It took a while for him to get over the shock, but when he did, he went back to that county where his ancestors were and started looking at women with the surname of White that were living very close to Christensens and he found them. Cheri Mello Family Tree DNA Admin Azores DNA Project -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
