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Last Updated: 07/04/2008

HOW DNA TESTING CAN HELP BREAK THROUGH A BRICK WALL

A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO DNA TESTING

By
Carol May

With technical assistance from
John Chandler

Chandlers, have you hit a brick wall in your ancestor search?

Sooner or later your paper trail will go cold. It may be only a generation or two back or it may be many generations back. Now what?

That is where DNA testing may help you break through that wall. This is a simple and painless test – swab the inside of the mouth, pop the two swabs into the envelope provided, and mail it. Confidentiality is guaranteed.

Our “blueprint” is in our DNA

Just like a house has a “blueprint” each person has a blueprint. Each person’s blueprint is in their DNA. DNA is in the genes, which are in the chromosomes, which are in the cells, which are in the person. The parts of each person’s blueprint come from parents. Only the DNA from a tiny portion of only one kind of chromosome is tested. As you read further, you will find out what it is and what we are looking for – in simple English.

It’s not like on TV and, no, you don’t have to dig up ggg-grandfather

Unfortunately, when many of us think of DNA testing, we think of what we have seen on TV. While there are various kinds of DNA tests: for paternity, for old bones at archaeological sites, for crime scenes, and for diseases, those tests are NOT the kind of test used by those searching for their ancestors. And no, you don’t need to dig up great- great-great grandfather even if you could locate his grave. In fact, the test used by the Chandler project would be useless on old bones because the DNA would be too deteriorated to use.

Usually, at this point people ask: “Then how would I compare my DNA sample to, hopefully, my ancestor’s DNA sample?” Well, you don’t. What we do is test living male line descendants and compare their DNA to find matches among them.

So what kind of DNA test are we talking about?

It is the “Y” chromosome test and it asks only one question. That question is:

As a Chandler surnamed man, do I share a recent common ancestor with other Chandler surnamed men that have been tested?

It’s a “Boys Only” club 

The “Y” chromosome test is available only to men simply because men have the “Y” chromosome and women don’t. That chromosome is passed almost unchanged through the male line, from the first man to his sons, to their sons and so on. Changes (mutations) that do occur over time are what differentiate one family from another. If this sounds like a “Boys Only” club, it is. The reason the test is not useful as a paternity test is that it doesn’t identify individuals, but family groups.

What about the girls?

Women who are interested in the Chandler DNA Project can ask a male Chandler surnamed relative to be tested. Testing a father, brother, uncle or male cousin effectively tests your Chandler lineage, too, provided that the male tested really is your relative and not an adoption of some kind. There is a test for women that follows the female line, but that test would not be useful for this project because women’s surnames change every generation upon marriage. The test used for females can also be used on old bones in an archaeological dig.

Finding a Common Ancestor

When enough markers match among those tested with the “Y” chromosome test, it means that they share a common ancestor. The more markers that match, the more recent the common ancestor likely was. Markers are specific identifiable places on a chromosome. Nothing is 100% certain, unlike death and taxes, but a high degree of certainty can be established if enough markers match.

There are many Chandler families

As Chandler is an occupational name (originally candle makers) we don’t expect all Chandlers to be related and DNA testing has shown that they are not. A very small number of modern Chandlers descend from the le Chaundelers who followed the Norman army to England soon after 1066. For the next 300 years in England, surnames were only used by landowners, for inheritance purposes. Most people did not have surnames, as they owned nothing that could not be passed on by hand. It was not until the period 1350 to 1450 that the use of hereditary surnames became common throughout the English population. This naming - often by trade (e.g. Baker, Smith, Chandler), sometimes by location (e.g. Hill, Marsh, or the name of a town or village), occasionally by appearance (e.g. Long, Small) - would have happened village by village throughout England. Consequently, most of the people acquiring the surname Chandler in this way would not have been related to each other - they would only have been occupied in the same trade. As of this date around 100 Chandler men have been tested and a majority has found matches. As of this writing, 13 separate Chandler families have been found. We have found matches with Chandlers in the US, Canada, England, and Australia.

Comparisons can only be done for those who have been tested and while descendants from many different Chandler families have been tested, not all Chandler families have been tested yet. We feel sure that continued testing will reveal more Chandler families.

An Englishman finds American matches!

In addition to helping individuals find their Chandler ancestors, the Chandler project is looking for Chandler roots in England through DNA testing. One of the happy surprises is a match between an English Chandler and an American Chandler family that are not only separated by the Atlantic Ocean, but by 400 years! Another recent discovery was a match between an Australian and a Nebraskan.

Looking for patterns or haplo whats?

This is how we go about finding out what an ancestor’s DNA pattern (called haplotype in DNA speak) is. Let’s say our immigrant ancestor had two sons. If we get DNA samples from descendants of the two sons that match, it would pretty much tell us what the immigrant ancestor’s DNA haplotype was.

Testing markers

You have a choice of how many markers that you wish to have tested. The good news is that you can have your test upgraded to test more markers if you wish. You do not have to provide a new sample to do this, but would have to pay an additional fee.

It is recommended that you test 25 markers, although you may test more. You may get an answer with the 12 marker test, but often the results can be unclear with that few. The 12 marker test can tell you if you are definitely NOT related to a family. If you have a very common haplotype (pattern), 12 markers would be too few to distinguish you from other families (Chandlers) or otherwise. With a very common haplotype your common ancestor may have been an anonymous man who lived a couple of thousand years ago! In that case more markers would need to be tested. There can also be coincidental matches when too few markers are tested. None of these scenarios is helpful for a genealogist.

For genealogy you need test results which shows a common ancestor in what is called “genealogical time.” This means within in the time people began using surnames which was about 600 years ago.

The Most Recent Common Ancestor

In “DNA speak” what we are looking for is the Most Recent Common Ancestor (MRCA). When, say 37 markers are tested and if those 37 markers match, the chances are fair to middling that the MCRA can be as close as four generations or less. What gets DNA experts excited is finding a change which is known as a mutation. Yes, the word mutation scares people – genetic diseases, scary movie monsters, etc., -- but these small mutations (changes) on the “Y” chromosome do not cause diseases. These mutations are what allow scientists and genealogists to identify families.

What if you find no match?

Well, if you found no match, you found out who you are NOT related to. Your paper trail could have been faulty, you could have had an unrecorded adoption, a name change, or an “event outside the marriage” as the DNA folks put it. The DNA experts even came up with a formula for the odds of that happening. Or you may just need to be more patient as more and more Chandlers are being tested and you may find a match in the future in which case you will be informed of the match.

Finding your family without a paper trail

Sometimes there is a gray area. This is also where a paper trail or testing more markers helps, but even if you have no paper trail if enough markers match you have found your family. Now, to find out which individual from that family that you descend from will take you back to old fashioned ancestor hunting, but now your research will have focus as you look through old records. Now when confronted with dilemmas such as which is your Joseph, as there was more than one descended from different immigrant ancestors in your family’s old home town, you will have the answer.