I have been involved in DNA Testing for over 10 years having started with the National Geographic Project in 2006. During the course of the years I have read and learned much about DNA Testing and what it will and will not do.
I have recently learned that a DNA Group in Social Media is giving wrong and misleading information about DNA in an effort to draw people from legitimate projects sponsored by DNA testing Companies. People are being told: "mtDNA is still too useless until we get a massive increase and even then I don't think being in a project will really help. The only real help for mtDNA is to look at your matches and contact them. Nothing more is necessary". This statement shows me a total lack of understanding DNA. mtDNA is useful. If two tests match at the full sequence testing level and live in the same geographical area. (in this case an island or better Freguesia in the Azores), then the odds that they have a common maternal ancestor is greatly increased. I recently came across a project where the founding women from the Arcadian region in Canada were being matched to their female descendant's mtDNA. I can guarantee that a person who tests their full sequence mtDNA with the results of W3a2 with a female French Canadian line are a direct maternal line descendant of Marie Marguarite who was born in France around 1620. So to say that MtDNA is useless is ignorant. I was a family finder match with a gentleman and when I looked at his profile I saw he was and adoptee. I also noted he had done the mtDNA and his results were he was a W3a2. When I contacted him for more information he told me his adoptive parents were told he was of Canadian and Irish decent. I told him of the French Canadian W3a2's and that gave him his first big clue in finding his biological mother. When I checked back with him several months later he had broken his maternal wall thanks to mtDNA and Autosomal DNA testing and yes Marie Marguarite was his maternal line. People are also being told "The same thing goes for people who have done Family Finder testing. I see no reason to join a project - zero". It is well proven that Autosomal DNA testing will identify relationships and rule out relationships. For those who have taken this test, know, Family Finder will give you results that help in breaking down walls. Why should you join a DNA Project with Family Tree DNA (FTDNA)? FTDNA regards privacy of the individual most important and will not release information to 3rd parties for research or allow open searching of results. Your contact information is only given to persons that you match. FTDNA search tools are better than any which you will find on social media. FTDNA allows you to isolate matches that belong to a single project. FTDNA administrators are given opportunities to further their knowledge at yearly conferences in Houston with DNA experts such as Spencer Wells. FTDNA administrators are held accountable for enforcing company rules in regard to privacy. The FTDNA administrators will never make changes to kits unless they are directed by the owner of the kits or add or delete projects they belong to unlike the owner of this group on Facebook. The bottom line is that this individual has a vendetta against the Azores DNA Project and the Portugal project because the Administrators refused to provide personal information that they had a fiduciary responsibility to protect. If you feel your DNA Test logon password is compromised then I urge you to change it so that just you have control over your information and not any unscrupulous person on social media. Rick Richard Francis Pimentel Epping, NH Co-Administrator Azores DNA Project. Researching, Riberia Grande, Riberinha, Achada Grande, Bretanha, and Ponta Delgada, Sao Miguel, Acores -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to azores+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/azores.
