Re: Porter Y DNA
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In reply to:
Re: Porter Y DNA
David Maynard 7/04/07
Hi Cathy,
I'm glad I can be of help, but I'm not all that experienced myself.I don't recall how long it took for my DNA kit to arrive; I got it from National Geographic to whom I sent my original sample which I later had transferred to FTDNA.I don't think it took more than two weeks and probably half that.After I had my samples transferred, when I sent in a request for further testing, it took about 5 weeks for me to get my initial results (I had more than one test done).I believe that a later test took much longer than the predicted time.I thought it was because my sample was unusual and they had to check it again but it might just have been that it wasn't that good of a sample to begin with.
Recently, when I requested a test of my sample and one for my son to check for CCR5, the mutation that implies resistance to HIV and historically smallpox (or something similar.It was originally thought to be a resistance to the plague but there seems to have been a change of opinion to smallpox), I received a kit for my son who had to provide a sample to be sent back to FTDNA.Our order was placed on April 19.He received his kit, sent back his sample, and got his results on May 17.They already had my kit and I did not receive my results until May 31.My son is resistant, meaning he had one copy of the mutation.I wondered if perhaps I had two copies and that they were retesting to make sure, since that would be unusual, but when my results came back they were normal; I don’t have any mutations.My son’s mutation evidently came from his mother who was apparently quite pleased that she was a bit out of the ordinary.
So, my conclusion is that perhaps my sample isn’t the best rather than being unusual from a lab’s point of view.Also, the test made on my son’s sample was fairly simple; I believe that when you have a 37 marker test they do the 12 marker group first, then the ones that make up the 25 marker test and then the ones that complete the 37 marker test so that you may get your results in three installments.
Now, how do they compare results from different companies?I believe that some of the markers are well known and are tested by all of the companies, but some of the marker sites are known only to the company which has located them on the y chromosome.These would be proprietary and kept secret so that only the company that has found the marker location can test for it.I think that FTDNA has acquired another firm and thus can now test for that firm’s private markers.FTDNA offers tests now for markers that they don’t normally include so that you can have even more than the 67 typically available in their standard tests.In some cases people have tested with one company and then also with another to get a wider range of markers and perhaps to double-check the markers that both companies test in common.
There are places where these results may be recorded, such as the name projects or sites like Ybase: genealogy by numbers or ysearch.You may register with these databases and record your values for the various markers you have tested.They usually have a place for you to enter data that includes all sorts of markers, many of which you will not have tested.There is also the Sorenson database but I’m not sure if you can just enter your data or if you actually have to send them a sample.Once you have been included in a database or a name project you will see how your numbers compare with other people’s numbers.If you have the same surname and few differences with another database entry, you are probably closely related.However, a name like Porter was given to all sorts of people who were not at all related and perhaps to some that were somewhat related.You could find that you are the only member of your particular, well, rather than branch perhaps we should say, Porter tree.
I hope this helps some.Waiting can be very difficult and when the results come they may actually make things seem more confusing, but perhaps also more interesting.I would suspect that with the name Porter, while you may find other Porters closely related, you will probably find a close connection to one or more non-Porter families.I imagine that a person with an existing family name might have acquired the name Porter, so a connection between the two may be closer than that of two family names where neither is an occupational or locational surname.
Ralph