Myth 1

Females can NOT do an ancestral DNA test!

It depends!

Which ancestral DNA test are you talking about?

There are 4 types of ancestral DNA tests: autosomal, X-DNA, mt-DNA and Y-DNA.

Females can do 3 of them: autosomal, X-DNA and mt-DNA BUT females can NOT do a Y-DNA test as only males have the Y sex-chromosome.

Where does this myth come from?

Let’s go back 18 years ago to the year 2000, when 2 companies began offering direct-to-consumer ancestral DNA testing to genealogists. There were only 2 types of ancestral DNA tests available at that time:

• Y-DNA
• mt-DNA

Females could ONLY do one of those 2 DNA tests: the mt-DNA test. A female will never be able to do a Y-DNA test, as females do not inherit a Y sex-chromosome.

In other words, a female did not have the ability to use her DNA to gather information on her patri-lineal line. It just wasn’t possible unless she tested her father, a brother or a paternal uncle.

But, what if she didn’t know who her biological father was? She was stuck!

She would need to wait 7 years for the ancestral DNA testing company 23andMe to show up on the ancestral DNA testing scene. In 2007, 23andMe offered the FIRST EVER autosomal DNA test (an autosomal DNA test looks at ALL of the lines of a tester within 200 years). A female now had the ability to find her biological father using her own DNA by taking an autosomal DNA test.

A basic understanding of the history and evolution of direct-to-consumer ancestral DNA testing busted this myth!

Myth 2

An mt-DNA test will give you information on the entire maternal side of your family tree.

No.

Your family tree is made up of many, many, many ancestors and it has two sides to it: paternal and maternal.

An mt-DNA test looks at a testers mothers, mothers, mothers, …. line ONLY.

An mt-DNA test will NOT give you the entire side of your maternal tree.

Myth 3

Only a female can pass on her X sex-chromosome.

False.

A male will pass on his mothers X sex-chromosome to his daughters.

A female will pass on a recombined X sex-chromosome of her parents to ALL of her children.

Is your preference to memorize facts or understand them? If the later, click here to get the hang of sex-chromosomes.

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Myth 4

Males can NOT do a mt-DNA test.

False.

Everyone (males and females) inherited mt-DNA from their mothers and can therefore do a mt-DNA test.

A female will pass along her mt-DNA to all of her children, a male can’t.

The only type of DNA a male can pass on that a female can’t is the Y sex-chromosome.

Myth 5

Your mt-DNA,

the maternal side of your family tree

and your X sex-chromosome

are all the same thing.

No, they’re completely different from one another and often confused.

mt-DNA

An mt-DNA test looks at your mothers, mothers, mothers, … line ONLY.

It is one VERY SPECIFIC LINE in your tree, but your tree has many, many, many lines.

maternal side of a family tree

The maternal side of your family tree is made up of many, many, many maternal ancestors/lines.

Your mothers, mothers, mothers,… line is ONLY one very special line within the many, many, many maternal lines.

X sex-chromosome

The important thing to comprehend about the X sex-chromosome is the inheritance pattern, which is easy to “get” when you have a solid grasp on chromosomes and sex-chromosomes.

Here’s the X sex-chromosome inheritance pattern for a male [XY]:

–> a male will get his one and only X sex-chromosome from his mother, which is a recombined X sex-chromosome of her parents

Here’s the X sex-chromosome inheritance pattern for a female [XX]:

–> a female will get a recombined X sex-chromosome of her mothers parents AND a X sex-chromosome from her fathers mother

Note: don’t be surprised when you’re hanging out in those Facebook Groups and notice people confusing the above ALL THE TIME. But, not you!

Myth 6

All mt-DNA tests are the same.

No!

Not all the various types of mt-DNA tests out there are created equal! You should know the differences between them in order to decide which one is the best fit for your DNA goals, if at all.

AncestryDNA doesn’t offer mt-DNA testing and 23andMe will only give you a mt-DNA haplogroup assignment.

23andMe will NOT give you mt-DNA matches.

Do not confuse a mt-DNA haplogroup assignment with instant access to mt-DNA matches.

If you’re looking for mt-DNA matches, you only have one choice: do a full sequence mt-DNA test with Family Tree DNA. Once you do the test, cross your fingers! Why? ‘Cause you need an excellent mt-DNA match for it to be genealogical helpful, as mt-DNA mutates very, very, very slowly.

BONUS Myth

All humans get half of their DNA from their mother and the other half of their DNA from their father.

False!

Most people think they get 50% of their DNA from their fathers and 50% of their DNA from their mother. You’d be correct if you were ONLY talking about autosomal DNA, BUT, what about the mt-DNA that comes ONLY from your mother?

All humans get more DNA, overall, from their mothers!

Don’t forget! There are 4 different types of DNA:

• autosomal
• Y-DNA
• X-DNA
• mt-DNA

Tip: when talking about DNA, be specific. What type of DNA are you referring to?

Did you bust open some myths about your mom’s DNA and gain some new ancestral DNA testing knowledge along the way?

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