Hi Sam (and others who are interested), The Deep Clade refines the DNA further on the tree of mankind. It's interesting anthropology wise, but no so from genealogy wise perspective. So if someone is R1b1a2, they can be refined to R1b1a2a1a1b4. When someone logs into their page, they can see where that fits on the tree of mankind.
The new Y-DNA 111 upgrade: When I did my dad in the end of 2005, the most markers a male could get was 37. Then they brought out 67 a couple of years later. About 2 years ago, they were working on 90-some markers. Now that they've got that worked out, it turned out that they can identify with 111 markers instead. Amazing how far they have come in a little over 5 years. The 111 was developed for men who had too many matches at the 67 marker level. Right now, we don't have that problem in the Azores project (but maybe one day when the project gets to be pretty big). Sam, your brother is up to 67 markers with no matches yet, so I wouldn't upgrade him at this time. FTDNA stores the vials for 25 years from when the test was taken. Yes, the DNA material can degrade over time, but unless your DNA has been there a while and your brother is in poor health, I wouldn't take advantage of the deal at this time. The newest test on the market is the autosomal DNA. FTDNA calls that the Family Finder test. It tests all lines back at least 5 generations from the testee (or person donating the saliva). Lionel Holmes on this list got a match earlier this week. I think they turned out to be 6th or 7th cousins. So that's 7 or 8 generations back? It went a little further because of the intermarriage. The DNA didn't get lost in the shuffle of the autosomal DNA. More of the same got passed down. It's best to go with the oldest person in your family (I did my dad because he's one generation older). Also, the pedigree has to be pretty good back 5 generations. If you have 4 pai or pais incognitos lines, it will be hard to tell where the match is. If you have only 1 in a more recent time period, you'll be able to weed out your known matches with the common ancestor to the one you don't know. This Family Finder test is $90 off. I did my dad's at the Holiday Sale last Dec. It was only $30, so this current price is really good. Hope this helps, Cheri Mello Azores DNA Project Family Tree DNA Admin -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
