Description

GENE201 Module 3 M3A3: Y-DNA Project

This project helps evaluate your understanding of Y-DNA, including the unique inheritance pattern of Y-DNA, and using Y-DNA to understand relationships.

This is a project to study Y-DNA Surname Projects, followed by a series of questions. Follow the instructions below, and answer the following questions.

Instructions: A DNA Surname Project is a group of Y-DNA test-takers that compare their Y-DNA test results. Typically, the test-takers have the same surname or have related surnames. The Bettinger DNA Surname Project (https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/bettinger/about (Links to an external site.)), for example, is designed to determine whether all males with the Bettinger surname are paternally related.

Review the Bettinger DNA Surname Project located at (https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/bettinger/about (Links to an external site.)), including the Y-DNA test results shown on this page of the project: https://www.familytreedna.com/public/Bettinger?iframe=yresults (Links to an external site.). As you can see, there are currently less than 10 males in the project, and report their origins as Ukraine, Germany, and Poland. Several of these males have done additional SNP testing to determine their place on the Y-DNA tree (shown by the Haplogroup in green), while others have an estimated Haplogroup (shown by the Haplogroup in red).

Question #1: Based on these results, how many different high-level haplogroups (represented by a single haplogroup letter such as “Q”) are represented? What haplogroup or haplogroups are represented?

Question #2: Based on the Y-STR results, which two members of the project might be very closely related to each other?

Question #3: Based on these results and your answers to the above, are all Y-DNA test-takers in the Bettinger Surname Project related to each other in a genealogically-relevant timeframe? Why or why not? What does this tell us about the origins of the Bettinger surname?

Question #4: What might you do to recruit more members to the Bettinger DNA Surname Project?