Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Journal of Genetic Genealogy - Fall, 2009

The Journal of Genetic Genealogy (JoGG)
Fall Issue, 2009



The Fall issue of the Journal of Genetic Genealogy (JoGG) has just been released. The largest issue in their five year history, packed with a lot of material of interest to Genetic Genealogists. With over 220 pages, you should find about 10 articles and three reports in this issue.


Among the items of interest include an announcement from Whit Athey that he will retire as editor, being replaced by Blaine Bettinger. Many of you should recognize Whit as the creator of the Haplotype Predictor utility. Whit mentions that he has observed genetic genealogists move from dependence upon the scientific community for information, to the use of DNA now being led by "amateurs."


One article is from Roberta Estes, regarding the use of DNA with Native American dispersal and the Lost Colony of Roanoke. "Where Have All the Indians Gone? Native American Eastern Seaboard Dispersal, Genealogy and DNA in Relation to Sir Walter Raleigh's Lost Colony of Roanoke"


Another article is from Chris Pomery, "The Advantages of a Dual DNA/Documentary Approach to Reconstruct the Famiiy Trees of a Surname." Chris outlines a method for combining Y-DNA results with documentary evidence in order to reveal the origins of a surname.



There is also a "Special Section" here, regarding "Cluster Analysis and the TMRCA Problem." This includes about seven articles on:



Introduction by Whit Athey


An overview of the pitfalls and cutting edge views on topics related to calculating Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA). Whit looks at the use of mutation rates, transmissions, over-counting, rho, "genealogical structure factor," an "effective mutation rate" procedure, and more. Nice overview, if you want to take a deep dive into the following articles.


Y-STR Mountains in Haplospace, Part I: Methods
by Peter Gwozdz



Y-STR Mountains in Haplospace, Part II: Application to Common Polish Clades
by Peter Gwozdz


DNA Genealogy, Mutation Rates, and Some Historical Evidence Written in Y-Chromosome, Part I: Basic Principles and the Method
by Anatole A. Klyosov

DNA Genealogy, Mutation Rates, and Some Historical Evidence Written in Y-Chromosome, Part II: Walking the Map
by Anatole A. Klyosov

The Use of Correlation Techniques for the Analysis of Pairs of Y-Chromosome DNA Haplotypes, Part I: Rationale, Methodology and Genealogy Time Scale
by William E. Howard


The Use of Correlation Techniques for the Analysis of Pairs of Y-Chromosome DNA Haplotypes, Part II: Application to Surname and Other Haplotype Clusters
by William E. Howard

You will find the fall isuue of JoGG at:

http://www.jogg.info/
















Tuesday, November 10, 2009

CNN DNA Genealogy Article



CNN is running an article today about the use of DNA for family research. Written by Steve Mollman, it's a story of how DNA research surprised two genealogists on different continents.


About three months ago, Kevin Shepherdson in Singapore discovered a DNA match to Thomas Kurowski of Rhode Island (Thomas Kurwoski is of Polish descent). The two never knew each other.




Shepherdson is a seasoned genealogist, and has since found that they connect from a pair of English brothers who served as Captains in the British East India Company during the 1700's.

The article also includes a few graphics (such as pictured above) about the fundamentals of DNA testing.


You can read the full article here:


http://edition.cnn.com/2009/TECH/11/09/dna.families/




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