(19-1) GENETICS AND GENEALOGY

The hottest topic in genealogy these days is "genetealogy", a word coined by Megan Smolenyak to combine "genetics" and "genealogy". Already, tens of thousands of people have paid to have their DNA analyzed to determine their lineage or their relationship to others.

Megan Smolenyak is the author with Ann Turner of Trace your Roots with DNA, a copy of which is in our library. She also has a website http://www.genetealogy.com/ which has links to many online articles on this subject. Anyone wishing to learn more about DNA analyses should explore this site. Just click on "Genetealogy Articles" at the top of the page.

I found one article particularly interesting. The Feb. 6, 2006 issue of Newsweek has an article entitled DNA Testing: In our Blood, an overview of what is being done. You can read the article online or the magazine at your library. It describes some results which overturned family history or beliefs. Like any research that you do, you must be prepared for what you might find. It might be good, it might be bad, or maybe just amazing.


Betty Eichhorn