Genetic Distance Matrix Update
By US 312 Steve
Mullinax, May 2012
Kudos are due to the many people who collaborated to create this latest update to
the Molyneux DNA Project Genetic Distance Matrix. This was a real team effort! We
have ten new results represented since the matrix was last updated. Welcome, and
thank you to all the new participants! Kudos to those who helped fund and recruit
the new testers; to those who compiled and analyzed and integrated the information;
to those who published it; to those who submitted pedigrees. We all owe ourselves
congratulations on pulling the new results together!
To the few DNA participants for whom we have no “line” specified, we request that
you submit pedigree information on your male line, as far back as you have documented
it. Having that information allows the DNA information to be a valuable adjunct
to traditional genealogical research. If you have this information already online,
please send me a link. If not, send a gedcom or a simple email, or a pedigree on
paper. Let’s make the best possible use of all our valuable information!
The Genetic Distance Matrix is a part of a suite of tools that ties all reported
genealogical and DNA information together. These include, besides the matrix: the
Family Tree DNA Molyneaux Y-DNA Project, the web cards, DNA results on IMFA web
site, member spreadsheet, DNA strategy and the bubble chart. We look forward to
updating all these tools again following the Mx Genealogy Workshop in August.
As a reminder, the cell at the intersection of one participant (kit #) in a row
and another participant in an intersecting column is a number between zero and five
representing the genetic distance between that pair of participants. The lower the
distance number, the closer the relationship, and the higher the probability those
two participants have a common ancestor within a given number of generations.
One point that caught my interest: in the Haplogroup R matrix, there are two test
results belonging to the Branford line that have a distance of just one. Besides
confirming the close genetic fit of the two Branford participants to each other,
note that the Branford line has no close genetic matches with any other line in
the matrix. This suggests that the Branford line may not be closely related to the
other Hg-R Mx’s. It would be interesting to hear about any evidence that supports
or contradicts this tentative conclusion.
I invite you to treat the Genetic Distance Matrix as a set of clues to Mx genealogy.
We are all prospecting among the various troves of available data, to glean what
conclusions we can about how the different lines may be related. Happy prospecting,
and please let me know any thoughts, conclusions and suggestions that the Distance
Matrix and its associated information spark for you!
.
(This is an update to an Article that originally appeared in Mx-World, August 2010.
View the original article...)