Tims Blog: Tracking the Armenian DNA: Part 1

After watching Spencer Wells's "Human Journey" on PBS I've decided to participate in the National Genographic project. The premise is simple: there are approximately 18 major paternal lineages (also known as haplogroups) in the world today. The National Genographic will collect your DNA sample, run series of tests and determine to which of the lineages you belong. The results are accompanied by an analysis as well as the short description of the evolution of your lineage.

" The test identifies the major human paternal lineage to which you belong and the geographic regions associated with this lineage through the analysis of SNPs and bi-allelic markers on the non-recombining portion of the Y-chromosome.Your $100 DNA kit buys you a personalized genetic analysis,including an online overview of your ancestral history. The analysis reveals where and when your haplogroup originated and how they lived. "

This sounded like an interesting thing to do, so I sent my DNA kit over in April and today I got the results back. Basically they determined that I belong to a rare European ancestry and they need more time to perform additional testing. Huh ?

So far what I've known about my heritage could be summarized as:

I am of a Armenian heritage
The earliest reliable accounts of my family history indicate that my ancestors lived in the area near lake Van (historical Armenia, now Turkey)
Due to the series of tragic events in Armenian history (such as being massacred by turks) my family is now dispersed throughout the world.

I will post more results as they become available

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