PHILIP MARKHAM

GENETIC GENEALOGY

I have recently started my participation in “Extreme Genealogy” i.e. joining the worldwide Genographic project by sending in a DNA sample. It’s a long drawn out process, but very exciting, I am being tested for my direct Markham line (Y chromosome) with Family Tree DNA (Y-DNA-67)

Benefits of Surname DNA Testing

                                                                     * Eliminate or confirm relationships.
                                                                     * Focus research towards related families.
                                                                     * Direct research into a geographical area.
                                                                     * Direct research into a specific timeframe.
                                                                    * Establish country or region of origin.
                                                                     * Confirm variant surnames are same family.
                                                                     * Learn your family's pre-surname migration.
                                                                     * Strengthen weak paper trails.
                                                                    * Avoid pursuing false connections.

All my results have now come in, including a deep haplotest, which confirms that my original group of I1a is correct:

See my results (Philip Raymond Markham M10) at: http://worldfamilies.net/surnames/m/marcum/results.html Here I /we are compared to other Markham researchers that have taken the test up to now, remembering that this is still fairly new technology. I am very much encouraged by the fact that John A R Markham and I are possibly related, albeit very distantly maybe up to 36 generations ago, or 900 years! One thing is certain though, we are NOT related to the "noble" line of Sir John Markham, lord of West Markham (in Nottinghamshire), a king's serjeant, d 1329 (see the Patriarch page on the same site).

Summary:

The genetic markers that define my ancestral history reach back roughly 60,000 years to the first common marker of all non-African men, M168, and follow my lineage to present day, ending with M253, the defining marker of haplogroup I1a.

If you look at the map highlighting my ancestors' route, you will see that members of haplogroup I1a carry the following Y chromosome markers: M170 > M253 > M258 > M307 > P19> P30> P38.

The full text from FTDNA is as follows:

(That I) was analyzed for Haplogroup determination using the Single Nucleotide Polymorphism test. The analysis shows that you are positive for the following SNPs: M170+M253+M258+M307+P19+P30+P38; and negative for the following SNPs: M161-M21-M223-M227-M26-M72-P37.2 According to the current classification, you have been assigned to: Haplogroup I1a. The I1a lineage likely has its roots in Northern France. Today it is found most frequently within Viking/Scandinavian populations in northwest Europe and has since spread down into Central and Eastern Europe, where it is found at low frequencies. The network is still evolving as the world´s anthropologists discover more halogroups and sub-groups. However these results are definite and not subject to change.

Looking at Ken Nordtvedt´s (the HG I “guru”) "Present Sub-Clade Tree Structure of Y-Haplogroup I", http://knordtvedt.home.bresnan.net/SNPTree-I.jpg would confirm just this result.

More on the origins of haplogroup I1a;

From Wikipedia (click for hyperlink) RootsWeb.com and the International Society for Genetic Genealogy

Note: (from ISGG) I-M253/I-M307/I-P30/I-P40 has highest frequency in Scandinavia, Iceland, and northwest Europe. In Britain, haplogroup I-M253 is often used as a marker for "invaders," Viking or Anglo-Saxon

Description:

What's a haplogroup, and why do geneticists concentrate on the Y chromosome in their search for markers? For that matter, what's a marker?

Each of us carries DNA that is a combination of genes passed from both our mothers and fathers, giving us traits that range from eye color and height to athleticism and disease susceptibility. One exception is the Y chromosome, which is passed directly from father to son, unchanged, from generation to generation.

Unchanged, that is unless a mutation a random, naturally occurring, usually harmless change occurs. The mutation, known as a marker, acts as a beacon; it can be mapped through generations because it will be passed down from the man in whom it occurred to his sons, their sons, and every male in his family for thousands of years.

In some instances there may be more than one mutational event that defines a particular branch of the tree, This means that any of these markers can be used to determine your particular haplogroup, since every individual who has one of these markers also has the others.

When geneticists identify such a marker, they try to figure out when it first occurred, and in which geographic region of the world. Each marker is essentially the beginning of a new lineage on the family tree of the human race. Tracking the lineages provides a picture of how small tribes of modern humans in Africa tens of thousands of years ago diversified and spread to populate the world.

A haplogroup is defined by a series of markers that are shared by other men who carry the same random mutations. The markers trace the path my ancestors took as they moved out of Africa. It's difficult to know how many men worldwide belong to any particular haplogroup, or even how many haplogroups there are, because scientists simply don't have enough data yet.

One of the goals of the five-year Genographic Project is to build a large enough database of anthropological genetic data to answer some of these questions. To achieve this, project team members are traveling to all corners of the world to collect more than 100,000 DNA samples from indigenous populations.

and

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11080816/site/newsweek/

Here is a short description of dna:

With the exception of the egg and sperm cell, all of the cells in our body contain 23 pairs of chromosomes, 46 in total. One chromosome from the pair is inherited from our mother and the other one is passed down from our father. This is a picture of all of the chromosomes in a cell (this type of picture is called a karyotype).

Both males and females have 23 pairs of chromosomes. However, in male, the 23rd pair consists of an X-Chromosome and a Y-Chromosome, whereas females have two X-Chromosomes. The Y-Chromosome is special because it carries ancestral information regarding a male's paternal line.

DNA looks like a twisted ladder and is often referred to as a "double helix". The double helix consists of two complementary chains of DNA twisted together.

If we were to hypothetically untwist the DNA strand and lay it flat, it would look like a ladder. The two sides of the ladder are called the DNA's "backbone". The steps inside the ladder are representing "bases". There are 4 types of bases in DNA: A (for adenine), C (for cytosine), T (for thymine), and G (for guanosine). In the DNA strand, A always pairs with a T, and C always pairs with a G. The unique sequence of the A, C, T, and G in DNA forms codes which carry genetic information.

When DNA is deciphered by genetic testing, the DNA code can be written in the following manner:
A G C T G G G A C A A T G G G C G C T A G G C C C C C C...

No two individuals (except for identical twins) have exactly the same genetic code and that is what makes everyone unique. However, all males with the same surname who are originated from a common lineage will share the same or very similar genetic code in their Y-Chromosome. Unrelated males from a different family line will have a different Y-Chromosome code.

A male inherits his Y-Chromosome directly from his father. The Y-Chromosome that a male receives from his father is very special because it holds a lot of valuable information about his ancestry. This is because the Y-Chromosome is passed down along the male line, relatively unchanged from generation to generation. A forefather will pass his Y-Chromosome down to all of his sons, and they will then pass it down to all of their sons, and so on throughout the generations along the male line. Thus, males who are descendents of the same line will have the same or nearly identical Y-Chromosomes.

When a Y-Chromosome genealogy test is performed, the laboratory examines specific regions (markers) along the Y-Chromosome called "hypervariable" regions. Hypervariable regions are areas within the Y-Chromosome that may differ greatly between different family lines. The type of hypervariable region which is studied in Y-Chromosome testing is called STR markers (stands for "Short Tandem Repeat" markers). STR markers are regions of the Y-Chromosome where small chunks of the DNA are repeated over and over again. The number of times that these small chunks of DNA repeat themselves in the Y-Chromosome is variable amongst different family lines.

By testing your Y-Chromosome, a DNA laboratory can provide you with your Y DNA markers which is specific for your ancestry. Because all males with the same ancestors will have the same or similar Y DNA markers, you can enter your Y DNA markers into GeneBase to solve questions about your ancestry, to conclusively link family lines and to discover your distant relatives who share a common ancestor with yourself. DNA testing has become the most exciting and fastest growing branch of genealogy.

When a Y-Chromosome test is performed, up to 44 Y-Chromosome markers are analyzed to generate the unique "profile" for that individual. Two males with the same male lineage with the same forefathers will have the same or similar profiles. The closer the match in profiles, the more recently two individuals shared the same forefather. Obviously, the more markers that are tested, the more powerful your test becomes and the more information you will obtain when searching in GeneBase.

http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/ydna_intro_about.php

Philip

12.05.2007