Eliseu, You can think of DNA as going to the market to buy produce. You need passion fruit to make maracuja, bananas to make banana bread, and oranges to make orange juice (that's my attempt to make this example Azorean)! Most people don't make banana juice. Each fruit has a certain purpose.
DNA is like that. We have Y-DNA, mtDNA, and autosomal DNA (Family Finder). Family Finder is a broad overview of ALL your lines going back about 200 years from your birth. We've got enough people testing now that they are finding matches that they know. Y-DNA is a narrow focus. It looks at your father's father's father's line only. You can get both genealogy and anthropology matches from that. mtDNA is also a narrow focus test. It focuses on your mother's mother's mother's line only. Usually the results are anthropological in nature. It is best used in conjunction with another researcher - say you and I thought our mother's mother's mother's were sisters and we both did a mtDNA test. If it comes out to be a match, then we are. The last time I heard Bennett Greenspan (founder and CEO/President of FTDNA) he believes the only way to get mtDNA matches of a genealogical nature is to built the mtDNA database until it reaches critical mass. I had my dad do YDNA for me. His Y is Portuguese. We also need critical mass in the Azores. We will need 1 man from each unique family who settled there to test. My dad has 0 YDNA matches of genealogical nature. He's got lots of matches of an anthropological nature though. Since my mom has no Y (being female) I tested her male cousin. That line is Scottish. I believe cousin Mike tested for me in 2007 or so. Only the last couple of years have we started to get genealogical matches. Both of my parents' mtDNA are British Isles lines. There are sooooo many people of British Isles descent in America. My mom has 12 mtDNA matches but none are perfect matches. My dad has 84 matches! Two of them are perfect matches, but the match is beyond genealogy. So I'll have to wait for critical mass to happen. Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada -- For 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." --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Azores Genealogy" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/azores.
