subject: What Is Mtdna Testing? [print this page] mtDNA Testing is the analysis of the part of the DNA that has been inherited from the mother. mtDNA Testing is also known as Mitochondrial DNA testing. The mtDNA is something that is passed on from mother to her offsprings, whether male or female. So, the mtDNA of you and your mother is the same, while your mother shared the same mtDNA with that of her mother, and so and so forth. The thing to remember here is that mtDNA does not get passed down from the male offspring. DNA testing has become extremely important in todays society. As more and more people look forward to constructing their family tree not only based on hearsay, DNA testing is being used to give accurate answers to genealogy issues. DNA testing is the perfect tool for people who want to trace their roots.
mtDNA Testing, as said earlier is used to determine maternal ancestry. The Mitochondria, which is used during this procedure, is found within each of the cells of the body. The main function of the mitochondria is to provide energy for performing various physical asks. But in genealogy, the way that the mitochondria DNA gets passed on from generation to generation is what holds the most interest among people who want to find out their ancestry. As mtDNA gets passed down by females, every person receives it from their mothers, whether they are male or female. In this way, the mtDNA path travels down generations by getting copied throughout the direct maternal line. In fact, each of us is sitting on a certain branch of the mtDNA tree which has its roots some 1,70,000 years ago in eastern Africa. People with small differences in their DNA are part of the same branch. It is only every few thousands of years that a new branch gets formed on the ancestral tree!
mtDNA Testing determines your maternal line of ancestry conclusively. The mtDNA branches are known as haplogroups. When people traveled around the world, either for invasion or war, they carried their haplogroups with themselves and also developed new ones. At present, there are different haplogroups in different parts of the world. mtDNA Testing makes it possible for you to determine your own haplogroup which will help you find out where your original maternal ancestor hailed from. In a lot of cultures, women are a lot more mobile than men, probably because it is the women who travel from one part of the globe to the other when she gets married and other such reasons. She carries her own haplogroup with her.
mtDNA Testing will help you find out where your maternal ancestor hailed from. This will not only help you reconstruct your family tree but it will also help you determine whether what you have always known about your family ancestry is true.
More and more people are coming forward to get mtDNA Testing done. They do so with the hope that knowing their past can help them understand their future better.
