When you envision your family tree, what do you see?
The majority of you probably see a strong hardwood column that reaches to the sky, and whose limbs spread in all directions. You see leaves, twigs, trunk, and bark. Supported on the branches you'll find your ancestors, along with names, faces, and dates, telling you from whence you came.
But instead of just seeing your family tree from the outside only, I welcome you to start looking at the inside of your family tree. Look inside to see the sap that runs through its veins, the xylem, the cambium, the phloem, and finally its heartwood. Don't forget the roots. This inner vision of your family tree gives you a more realistic and holistic view of your ancestry.
Since we are not capable of X-ray vision, the best way to understand the insides of our family tree is through the science of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), which has been around since the mid-1800s when Gregor Johann Mendel, an Austrian monk, experimented with pea pods. At the same time, Charles Darwin was embarking on his journey aboard the Beagle to develop his theory of heredity. Neither of them knew anything about DNA, let alone genetic ancestry.
There have been a number of DNA milestones since Mendel and Darwin paved the way for hundreds of scientists around the world to embark on their own journeys to discover the secrets of DNA. Thomas Hunt Morgan published his Chromosome Theory of Inheritance in 1915. The term "DNA" first came into use in 1944. The molecular structure of DNA, also known as the double helix or DNA helix, was discovered by James Watson and Francis Crick in 1953.
The world of DNA profiling - also known as DNA testing, DNA typing, or DNA fingerprinting - was ushered in by British geneticist Sir Alec Jeffreys in the 1980s. Forensic scientists began to use DNA profiling for identification purposes, especially in the area of law enforcement. From murder cases to paternity and immigration cases, DNA testing is also used to discover hereditary diseases, and is considered a main tool used in forensic genealogy.
The Human Genome Project (HGP) ran between 1990 and 2003, and has fueled an interest in genealogy DNA testing for family tree researchers who want to take a deeper dive into their ancestry. The primary goal of the HGP was to determine the sequence of chemical base pairs that make up DNA - in other words, to understand the genetic makeup of the human species.
Which brings us back to your family tree. Just as you need to know the botanical parts to identify a tree, you need to know the basic facts of DNA to understand your family tree. In addition to the trunk and crown, you now have additional parts of your tree that are important to study and discover. Thanks to the advances in family tree DNA, you can find the answers to complex genealogy questions; trace your ancestry on your direct paternal line (Y-DNA); trace your ancestry maternal line (mitochondrial or mtDNA); search for relative connections along any branch of your family tree (autosomal or auDNA testing); reveal the ethnic proportions of your ancestry; discover the history of your ancient human migration; help determine your ancestral homeland; discover your living relatives; and confirm your existing research.
Whether you are hoping to solve a complex genealogical problem or a family mystery, if you have questions about an adoption, or are just curious to know the ancestry and ethnicity of your family, there's a good chance that family tree DNA will answer those questions.
Minggu, 24 September 2017
Minggu, 10 September 2017
Research Family Tree - It is Interesting and Sometimes Important to Research Your Family Tree
There are many reasons to research your family tree and multiple resources are available to do so. Reasons for checking your ancestry can be very wide from just curiosity to health concerns to seeking adoptive family members.
Numerous websites exist to search your heritage. Some are free or have free trials. You can also check your county or parish of birth by means of the internet. If you know where your targeted ancestors originated it is much easier to know where to start. In the United States the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) have an extensive data base for genealogy. So do other religious groups like the Mennonites and the Amish. Someone with a particular heritage may find good results by going through ethnic records. For instance, some Native American Heritage is documented in the Dawes Rolls and in tribal archives.
Although there are many pay per subscription genealogy databases there are also dozens of free sites that have compiled family records. If you have decided to research your family tree you will want to connect to some of them. A good place to begin is to do a search with your favorite search engine. You can begin your search by typing in "free family history", or "free genealogy". You may find marriage records, birth, death or baptism records as well. At times those records are needed if you are trying to prove membership in a more exclusive heritage group.
You might ask where all these databases get their information. Many of them have forums where people join and share the information they have and try to tie it into the information that is already there. Families, businesses, counties and countries submit information to these sites and share their information for free with others who want to research their family tree. Paid sites may, possibly, offer quicker information or more thorough or easier searched data bases, but these other genealogical sites may have details missed by commercial genealogy sites. Types of information besides birth and marriage records are military records, passenger lists, census records, wills, immigration records and often even photos.
It is interesting and sometimes important to research your family tree. There may be indicators of inherited disease or inherited wealth. Research establishes connections, Genealogy is a hobby that is really unlimited, and can go on almost forever. It requires few supplies, unless you choose to purchase them, and may provide surprises that you never dreamed possible.
Numerous websites exist to search your heritage. Some are free or have free trials. You can also check your county or parish of birth by means of the internet. If you know where your targeted ancestors originated it is much easier to know where to start. In the United States the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormons) have an extensive data base for genealogy. So do other religious groups like the Mennonites and the Amish. Someone with a particular heritage may find good results by going through ethnic records. For instance, some Native American Heritage is documented in the Dawes Rolls and in tribal archives.
Although there are many pay per subscription genealogy databases there are also dozens of free sites that have compiled family records. If you have decided to research your family tree you will want to connect to some of them. A good place to begin is to do a search with your favorite search engine. You can begin your search by typing in "free family history", or "free genealogy". You may find marriage records, birth, death or baptism records as well. At times those records are needed if you are trying to prove membership in a more exclusive heritage group.
You might ask where all these databases get their information. Many of them have forums where people join and share the information they have and try to tie it into the information that is already there. Families, businesses, counties and countries submit information to these sites and share their information for free with others who want to research their family tree. Paid sites may, possibly, offer quicker information or more thorough or easier searched data bases, but these other genealogical sites may have details missed by commercial genealogy sites. Types of information besides birth and marriage records are military records, passenger lists, census records, wills, immigration records and often even photos.
It is interesting and sometimes important to research your family tree. There may be indicators of inherited disease or inherited wealth. Research establishes connections, Genealogy is a hobby that is really unlimited, and can go on almost forever. It requires few supplies, unless you choose to purchase them, and may provide surprises that you never dreamed possible.
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