It’s not like they say it is…..

 

For a very long time, genealogists and scientists have been telling us things like:

 

“We can’t find proof of our ancestors past 4 or 5 generations because our DNA gets divided in half each generation back.

 

“DNA matches less than 5 Centimorgans are just noise

 

The problem with this analogy is it is saying we come from nothing traceable after so many generations back. This “world is flat” view has been repeated so many times that people don’t even question if it is right, they just repeat it. However, when asked about YDNA or MTDNA in comparison to autosomal DNA, scientific experts will tell you it is traceable tens of thousands of years. Autosomal DNA is nothing more than combinations of YDNA and MTDNA so why is it treated differently? I believe it is because scientists are looking in the wrong place. I believe they have been taught to see genealogy as simple math fractions or straight lines. No one has figured out how to trace autosomal DNA segments, so experts summarize you can’t go back very far tracing your ancestors or they will be eaten up by the time space continuum, or something like that.

 

I am an inventor and entrepreneur. I look at problems, then I think about them, analyze them, take them apart, then look for the reasons why something is the way it is, then I look at solutions or ways to solve problems. I do this intuitively. I use my imagination, vision and common sense.  This is how I made this discovery, and developed it into a process, also known as a computer algorithm.

 

How did I make this discovery? First, I printed out all the chromosome tables for matches I had to a surname using family finders autosomal DNA kit.  There were so many that I had to put them on the floor and spread them out. Next, I stared at them for a while and decided to look for what was common among them. I took out a highlighter pen and began to highlight everything that matched between each chromosome table.  Some chromosome tables did not match other chromosome tables at any specific point, so I removed them from the floor space. This made the job a little  easier.  After highlighting everything in common, I noticed a pattern. The pattern was the end location number. The end location number was the only consistent pattern among the group of chromosome tables.  Sometimes the start location number matched but not as often and it was not consistent. Sometimes the cM matched but it also was not consistent. The SNPs sometimes matched but they too were not consistent. This means the end location number is the consistent factor for the surname and that surnames can be mapped by the end location number, but only, if every single digit of the end location number matches exactly. The reason this method works is because it comes from computer data.  When your cousin lists their surnames, the data is compiled by a computer and sorted into a database. When you list the surnames of your ancestors, that data is also compiled by a computer and sorted into a database. When you and your cousin are matched by DNA, which is yet another database of information, the current computer algorithm only shows that you match by DNA but does not tell you by which ancestor, how, or why. The reason why is because the DNA company does not know “how” or “why”, nor do they really have time to look at everyone’s Gedcom, troubleshoot the data or figure it out. It takes all of the DNA companies time and resources to load complicated DNA information into a database and find matches for you along with your ethnicity, which is quite amazing when you think about it. The only reason I discovered this pattern was because I was not satisfied with not knowing for sure. I wanted to know why. I wanted to know how. I wanted to know if a pattern or method existed that would allow me to know for sure and why and how I shared a common ancestor with my cousins.  What I discovered makes me very happy. Not only can I map out my ancestors, but sharing this method allows others to map out their ancestors and together, we can map out the human race.  It’s pretty exciting when you think about it. 

 

This method does not apply to what scientists say about DNA inheritance because scientists are looking at the pie scenario or simple multiplication and division. To create life, it takes cell division and multiplication. Finding your ancestors is not like reverse engineering a baby until the baby becomes a mass of cells. It’s not that simple. True, multiplying and dividing cells does make a new human life. Scientists are correct about that. That is not my argument. My argument has to do with proving DNA inheritance of specific ancestors and this part is very important: “You are not the sum total of 50% of your Mom’s DNA and 50% of your Dad’s DNA.  You are the sum total of thousands of individual DNA segments inherited by your ancestors through each parent.” That is what makes you unique. 

 

The ability to determine specific ancestors  is done through chromosome mapping. Being able to find those ancestors is determined by a set of rules. (Be sure to read the rules to save yourself some time.) Although there is some random DNA inheritance going on, there are also certain patterns of inheritance going on as well, so it is not as random as proposed.

 

Let’s compare the traditional explanation, which tells you that it is difficult to find proof of your ancestor’s past a certain number of generations and my computer algorithm process method showing you how you can. 

 

A traditional scientific explanation:

 

Roberta Estes. “Ancestral DNA Percentages – How Much of Them Is in You?” DNAeXplained – Genetic Genealogy, July 25, 2019. https://dna-explained.com/2017/06/27/ancestral-dna-percentages-how-much-of-them-is-in-you

 

 

 Estes is correct in her explanation of number of Grandparents and “amount” of DNA if you evenly inherited DNA in a mathematical equation. The problem with this explanation is that DNA is randomly recombined and passed down in varying amounts and that it’s not evenly inherited in a nice neat numerical percent or fraction. Traditional thinking says “amount of DNA” evenly divided in half in each preceding generation.  Traditional thinking does not consider the meaningfulness of Haplogroups of YDNA and MTDNA that comprise Autosomal DNA. When it is considered, then the picture is no longer a fraction that gets divided into nothing traceable, but something far more meaningful.

 

Traditional thinking about DNA and what it looks like visually: On one side is your mom, and the other side your dad.

 

 Image  from https://www.splashmath.com/equivalent-fractions-games-for-4th-graders

 

These numbers are correct when you are looking at the number of grandparents you have, but it does not mean you inherited an even amount of DNA from all 8 grandparents.  The reason why is all the other grandparents; who are close cousins; and their ancestors who are close cousins, who lived in the same area for hundreds of years swapping DNA back and forth.  The more times it happens the greater the odds that you have inherited the DNA of a community of people.  If your ancestor leaves the community and restarts the same process in a new community, then after a period, some of the DNA passed down in the first community will start to get crowded out. Crowding out will make it appear as though your ancestor is no longer traceable. Crowding out is the real reason why you cannot find evidence of a specific ancestor. The other reasons are NPE (non-paternity events), lack of matches, or family tree errors. This is probably because only so much information can live on your chromosomes. Right now today, we are able to trace DNA segments as small as one centimorgan using family tree dna and gedmatch, but if you use Gedmatch’s archaic samples, you can match common ancestors born tens of thousands of years ago.

 

 We all are at least 50th cousins to each other by a common ancestor. It was not so long ago that we were as close as 4th cousins to each other and in many societies, especially royal or noble families, marrying your first cousin was acceptable. It is because of small communities and cousin marriages that chromosome mapping works so well, making it possible to map out ancient ancestors.

 

Before explaining how to do chromosome mapping, lets go over some basic terminology so it makes sense and is easier to understand.

 

  1. There are 23 chromosomes including the X.
  2. DNA we inherit from out ancestors make up our 23 chromosomes.
  3. DNA inherited from a specific ancestor is a measurement called a centimorgan or cM.
  4. You have large amounts of individual centimorgan measurements on each chromosome.
  5. Some centimorgan measurements are small, as small as one centimorgan and some are very large.
  6. Close family members share larger centimorgans measurement matches and some smaller ones with each other, but not the same exact ones.
  7. Close cousins share fewer large centimorgan measurement matches and more of the smaller ones but not all the same exact ones.
  8. SNPs are SNIPS of DNA called base pairs. Each SNIP has one million base pairs. Different DNA companies test a different amount. Ancestry’s SNP of 300 is roughly equivalent to FTDNA’s 600 yet the centimorgans are an identical match. The reason why DNA companies yield different results is because they each use different algorithms, as seen in this chart by Ann Turner. Centimorgan lenths can vary between DNA companies as well. Currently, there are large variances in cM amount between Family Finder and Gedmatch but the end location number, once found, is consistent and can be used to map out a line.
  9. “The end location number is the only consistent factor, so that is what is used to map out ancestors.” (Pierce, 2016).

 

 

 

 

Viewing the chart above, one can visualize just how many ancestor DNA segments can comprise just one chromosome. Considering the large number of 1 cM = matches we have with other people, one chromosome may have around one hundred individual DNA segments that match cousins. Twenty three chromosomes may add up to a few thousand individual ancestors contributing DNA that uniquely make us who we are. We won’t find all our ancestors, but “Chromosome Mapping by End Location Number” can help find a lot more than found thus far.

 

(Fig. A12a)

 

The illustration above shows chromosomes matches between all male family members. The longer segments represent father and son and the shorter segments represent grandsons. Notice that the DNA segments do not match perfectly and none of the segments are neatly divided fractions. The reason for this is because of random DNA recombination. The reason for random DNA recombination is because we are not Clones of our ancestors, parents or grandparents. Science says that when a baby is created cells grow, then are divided in half over and over to make a human. There Is a difference between an “amount of DNA” versus “individual DNA segments” that we inherit from our ancestors. At first glance you might assume that the fraction theory applies to some of the larger matching segments above. The reality is long matching segments may be made up of groups of ancestors so tightly packed together you cannot see the space between until you compare DNA segments with cousins and more distant family members.

Matching DNA segments.

Matching DNA segments.

(Fig. A12b)

 

 In the illustration above shown on chromosome two are matches between two close family members represented by blue, and close cousins represented by turquoise, red and orange segments. The circled segments represent shared DNA coming from a common ancestor. The highlighted yellow area represents a possible matching segment, but it is not visible because the common ancestor is hidden in a group of common ancestors. It will not show as a match between two close family members but may show up as a match with a distant cousin because matching segments are easier to find with people who are not as closely related.

What about cousins you share a common ancestor with and your pedigree shows you share the same common ancestor, but no matching DNA segment for an end location number can be found? Finding a matching segment depends on how strong the line is, (a strong line is a long line of three or more generations identical by descent), the distance to the common ancestor and whether the ancestor is on your mom’s side or your dad’s side of the family. If you are a female and the ancestor is on your mom’s side, odds are better you will get a match so long as you have a cousin on family finder who shares a common ancestor with you and they meet the same conditions. If you are a male, the odds of finding a match are better if the ancestor is on your father’s side and they meet the same conditions. It does not matter if your match is male or female, it matters if their ancestor is on their mom or dad’s side and what gender they are. If you are female and the ancestor is on your father’s side or a male and the ancestor is on your mother’s side you may get what is called an invisible matches or you may get a collateral relative match nearby. When your parents or any grandparents become cousins by a shared ancestor, this helps to preserve the line and increases your odds of finding a match because it doubles the amount of DNA at that point. Some people have double, triple or even more lines of ancestors with the same surname criss crossing back and forth between the mother and fathers side of the family through cousin marriages.  Those type of lines are easier to trace, even when they are many generations back. 

What about the thousands of grandparents a person has and how do you know which DNA segment can really be attributed to a specific ancestral surname or line?  This is where collaboration between members can further verify and sort things out.   The farther you go back, the more ancestors you acquire. The DNA you inherit depends on which  ancestors are repeat ancestors, which ancestors are long lines and how far back you can go before an ancestor gets crowded out by a stronger line. The answer to this question depends on which ancestors deposited DNA on your chromosomes: the ancestors who are sticky, the ancestors who are repeat ancestors, ancestors with long lines, and ancestors who have stuck around long enough on your chromosomes to not get crowded out by the former two. It’s all about real estate and the DNA segments on your chromosomes are a lot like “who is living in your house for how long and did they come back”? A look at your family tree can tell you. Chromosome mapping can help find proof of  deposit by the DNA segment left behind on your chromosomes. Deposits are also like real estate, except in this case, you won’t be getting your deposit back, however, learning how to do chromosome mapping will provide you with a map of your home for you are a living breathing DNA map to the past, showing you which ancestors left deposits on your chromosomes making you the unique person you are.