Tarling DNA genetic surname study

Tarling surname genetic study
- further details

If you have not already done so, please see the Tarling surname genetic study home page.

We have just started the Tarling surname genetic study. The first details appeared on the Tarling myfamily.com site to get the project underway; and we are now widening the invitation to any man with the surname Tarling Tarlin or Terling; the full 43 marker test from DNA-Heritage will cost just US$189 (about £95) as part of this study. To get your free kit and details please see below or read on for more details...

    Genetics studies for genealogy have moved on apace over the last few years:
    The Y-chromosome is passed from father to son - like surnames. The Y-chromosome DNA mutates (evolves) slowly; and so the closer the match from two men, the closer the paternal line. So this is the sort of test we propose to use. They test little areas - called markers - and the more markers we measure the more accurate the result.
    Current tests are about £120 (say US $200) for a single test of about 40 markers (generally recognised as a useful number). This technique is great for taking a collection of living men with the same surname and clustering them in groups.
      The test requires wiping a cotton bud round the inside of your cheek (not just after you've eaten a ham sandwich, otherwise you may find the results say you're genetically related to a pig!) and sending it off. And Bob's your 9th. cousin, or not. No medical or similar information can be gleaned from the results - it uses bits of the massive amount of unused junk DNA we all have. It's all quite routine and simple and the technology is all here now.

Mitochondrial DNA follows the maternal line - passed from mother to all children (not in the nucleus of the cell), but mutates at a different speed. Best used for the analysis of movement of ancient tribes, not a lot of use for family history, except possibly ethnic deep background.

Autosomal DNA is the stuff we get from both parents, but it's mixed together in complicated ways so we don't know which bit comes from which ancestor. This makes it extremely difficult to unravel. However I guess that in 50 years time we'll be using that as the basis for family history (watch this space). So keep a DNA sample of any living relative! This is the stuff they use for forensics because it unique to us alone (well us and any identical twin).

In order to have some Y-chromosome DNA we need people with Y-chromosomes: and they are men. So there's nothing sexist about asking only for men (and in fact the mtDNA passed from mother to child has been fundamental in studies of the migrartion of tribes - and the Seven daughters of Eve work).
Although most of the people we would like will be men with the surname Tarling there are a couple of circumstances where this might not be the sole strategy: If someone with a Tarling/Terling natural father was adopted or changed their name they might still have the paternal Tarling/Terling gene and we'd be particularly interested in including them. On the other hand someone who was an illegitimate son of a Tarling/Terling mother, but took the Tarling/Terling surname would not carry the Tarling/Terling paternal gene.

Our shortlist for commercial providers was the following three labs.

1) DNA Heritage http://www.dnaheritage.com/
2) Family Tree DNA http://www.ftdna.com/
3) Relative Genetics http://www.relativegenetics.com/

all three provided an excellent service and are recommended.

Graphic on the left from Relative Genetics

After an initial pilot we have selected DNA-Heritage as our preferred provider - although we are also delighted to work with results from Family Tree DNA.

For a free kit and further details:

To get your free kit and instructions and further details please either contact Stephen Tarling with your name and postal address (to send the kit) OR go to
http://www.dnaheritage.com/oracle/join.asp?GroupUnique=612853142&Surname=Tarling
and sign yourself up.
To do it yourself, basically you scroll down the page linked above and click on the button marked "Use these markers" just above where it says 'The full 43-marker test is just $189'. Then fill in your details on the next page carefully (you heard about DNA Heritage from 'Our Surname Group'), and then click on submit. There is nothing to pay at this stage and no credit card details are needed at this stage. They send you a free swab kit and instructions and I'll send you more details. If you then want to go ahead you send off the samples to them and when they have your results ready they will then invoice you. When you get the results let me know and I'll compare them.

If you know of any man who can trace his paternal line back through a Tarling (or Terling, Tarlin etc.) please contact Stephen Tarling.

Questions?
Chris Pomery's book "DNA and Family History" is excellent, it retails for about £13 ($20) or is available for less from Amazon. Anyone who wants to ask any further questions on this particular study is most welcome to contact Stephen Tarling.

Graphic on the right from Family Tree DNA

To the Tarling surname study home page.

URL: http://www.tarling.net/dna2.html First posted 16 Dec 2004 Latest update: 22 Aug 2005