Customer Reviews

DNA & Genealogy

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

DNA & Genealogy by Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick & Andrew Yeiser is a delightful change from the mystifying technical jargon that stops most of us from understanding this fascinating subject. If you want to get your DNA tested and then understand the results: this is the read. It will even help you with the `next steps.'

DNA & Genealogy by Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick & Andrew Yeiser is the ideal handbook for anyone starting out in Genealogy using the DNA tools available. It is particularly useful for single surname project administrators. The book is well-written, simple to understand, guiding you through some of the the intricacies of this complex science with gentle care and with no small touch of humour. By the time one reaches the end of this book there will be a basic understanding of the subject of DNA and its uses for genealogy, certainly for the non-scientific layman. Inter dispersed among the pages are several interesting stories and anecdotes. For those of a scientific bent, there are numerous footnotes and website referrals where one can dig further for more detailed scientific knowledge, for which which some of us would shrink. For someone starting or running an existing DNA Surname Project, this is definitely the book to get.

DNA & Genealogy is delightful to read! It is very well written, well organized, logical and very informative. It provides basic information necessary for understanding DNA, the history of DNA progress, a description of the practical applications, such as inherited diseases and criminal identification. The book's main emphasis, however, is on Y and Mitochondrial DNA Testing for Genealogical Surname Data Base comparisons and analysis. And, on this topic it does a really superb job of providing detailed, comprehensive data, with tables and analysis regarding haplotyes and surname test matching results, mis-matches, etc., along with information on associated web-sites and test labs. All of this is coupled with very interesting and often humorous anecdotal stories that make the complicated science of DNA & haplotypes "real" and therefore understandable and enjoyable. I highly recommend the book, particularly for those interested in Y and Mitochondrial DNA Testing for Surname Database analysis.

After having my Y and mtDNA analyzed, I wanted to be able to get an overall perspective and understanding to intrepret results and to understand the logic of the terminology. It is an excellent book for a layman who wants to grasp the subject. Too often technical books begin and delve right into the technology which in turn is discouraging and a turnoff. Fortunately this text proceeds at an acceptable pace and doesn't require too much re-tracing until the later chapters. Each chapter is sprinkled with anecdotes that are interesting, but can break one's concentration. I found it best to finish a chapter and then return and read the anecdotes.
I usually want to be advised of the background of authors and would have preferred some explanation of their background and basis for expertise.

Colleen Fitzpatrick explained how DNA can be used in geneology so that I could understand it and really enjoyed reading the book. Her book broke the subject down into digestible parts that were understandable by the layman.

DNA & Genealogy by Fitzpatrick and Yeiser (2005 by Rice Books press) is a book that starts with explaining the basics of genetics to explain the differences in the maternal history in DNA of the mitochondria bodies and the paternal DNA in the cell nucleus. The difference as explained is easy to understand, even for the non-geneticist. The reason the mitochondria DNA is handed down only through the maternal line and its implications are important to understanding matriarchal ancestry. The DNA from nucleus contains the Y chromosome that traces only the paternal ancestral history.

These differences are expanded by different mutations (changes) in the Y chromosomes DNA that allow genealogists to verify the relatedness of persons with the same family name among males, and sometimes find "non-paternity events" such as adoptions and connections among lines with a different surname.

The book goes into detail that can be a bit too complicated for some people, but the information is there if one can study and be willing to read other books such as "The Seven Daughters of Eve" by Bryan Sykes (2001) or "Deep Ancestry" by Spencer Wells (2006).

The book does relay heavily on the "Genome Project" by National Geographic Society and supports one testing lab at the expense of other excellent gene testing projects.

This is a great book for all of us folks who are new to this DNA testing business for genealogy. It's written in a style that, for the most part, cuts through the techno-jargon as much as possible and speaks to me in my own language. The sidebar stories are fascinating. Super book!

I have not completed reading this book, but thus far I have found it so very helpful and informative. As a administrator for our Blassingame DNA project and a newbie to DNA & genealogy, I needed and still need all the help I can get. This books provides this help. I highly recommend it. Barbara L. Eades

Serious genealogists hobbyists and professionals will be excited by this new resource, which thoroughly explains the new science of DNA testing and how it can be applied to family history research. Although this book is not for everyone, if you have successfully passed high school biology, you should be able to manage the information and its technology in this excellent reference. Wouldn't it be interesting for a man and his wife to go back in time to discover about when they might have had an ancestor in common? DNA testing and analysis had give you that and much more. It can even give you an idea what part of the world your pre-historical ancestors lived and migrated to. The authors practice what they preach and tell how we can do it too, with many DNA labs and companies listed and compared. We rated this book four hearts.

"DNA & Genealogy" is very good at defining and explaining important terms like: 1) Nucleotides (A, G, C, and T base pairs) where sequences of them provide information for the creation of proteins in order to sustain life. 2) Nuclear DNA - used to trace paternal ancestry and Mitochondrial DNA - used to trace maternal ancestry. And, these can be used to do so because they are nonrecombinant, passing down virtually unchanged over thousands of years. 3) Alleles, DYS numbers, haplogroups, markers, MRCA -most recent common ancestor, STR, SNP, etc.

Some other explanations in the book I think worth mentioning here are:

1. Regarding the Human genome - it is a tightly wound string of DNA so long, comprising of 3,147M base pairs - it would stretch to the Sun and back.

2. Most mutations have no effect except occasionally.

3. Surname studies exist and the book shows where to locate them. Plus, the book describes different DNA tests which exist.

4. There is a worthwhile discussion about "errors" - that looking at a sample of something, one can rationally come up with probabilities of how long the sample is removed from the original. The same reasoning could be used evaluating copies of a manuscript and of course, DNA mutations. Plus, there is a discussion about stepwise and infinite allele models for handling DNA mutations.

5. Kleinfelter's syndrome is discussed - the rare existence of extra X chromosomes for some people.

6. Gender-related intelligence differences are on the X chromosome - explaining why girls are generally more intelligent, but there are more boys who are retarded and more super intelligent. Hence, although the average girl IQ is equal to the average boy, the distibution is not the same. Mutations, and girls having an extra X chromosome explain the differences, which compensate for mutations. Plus, no human trait has evolved more than intelligence.

7. In rare cases, mitochondrial DNA is inherited from the father.

The only real negative about the book, is that it is several years old, and more is new, like new testing services, like 23andMe.

Anyway, the book is a good one, for introducing a reader to the study of ancestry using DNA.