In order to
provide
further genetic information about the many branches of the Hooper
family, the Hooper DNA Project is expanding to include testing on the
female line. Testing for the female line involves testing of what
is known
as Mitochondrial DNA or for short mtDNA. This type of testing has
many differences from the Y-Chromosome DNA testing for the male line.
First let's take a brief look at how this all works:
Inside every cell of your body are hundreds of tiny organisms called
mitochondria. These organisms pull oxygen molecules
across the cell's membrane and into the cell. The cell then
uses the oxygen as energy to perform all the functions unique to that
type of cell. Mitochondria are actual living organisms that eons
ago formed a symbiotic relationship with cellular life. The
mitochondria
received a warm, safe place to live and the cells got the oxygen that
allowed them to develop into ever more complex forms.
Every one of the billions of mitochondria in your body are identical to
one another. Also every mitochondria in your body is identical to
every mitochondria in your mother's body. Your mitochondria were
inherited directly from your mother and she inherited her's from her
mother and so forth down through the ages.
The method of inheritance occurs at conception. Like all other
cells, the mother's egg cells would contain mitochondria. The
father's sperm cell would also contain his mitochondria. When the
sperm and egg cell meet the father's mitochondria enters the egg cell.
However, the egg cell is much larger and contains many more
mitochondria than the sperm cell. The mitochondria in the
mother's egg cell attack and kill the mitochondria from the father's
sperm cell. The mother's mitochondria are the only ones to
survive and as the cell divides and grows into a child, the resulting
child will have mitochondria only from its mother.
Okay let's end this part of the science lecture and move on to history
(with a bit of science thrown in):
If you've followed the news concerning studies and theories about the
development of man, then you may have heard of the "Out
of Africa" theory. This theory contends that the human race
began in Africa and then spread to the rest of the world. Thus
far mitochondrial DNA testing has tended to support this theory.
Moreover, mtDNA testing also supports a theory that says that
every person on
earth is the direct descendant of a single woman. The descendants
of this woman spread throughout the world and over time their mtDNA
slowly changed into the variety found today. No one can say
whether
these theories are really true, but what is true, is that genetic
relationships are revealed through the use of mtDNA testing.
With the Hooper mtDNA Project we will be trying to
join Hooper branches through the female line.
Again, the results from an mtDNA test are going to be significantly
different from the Y-DNA results. They allude to it in the
sentence "your differences from the Cambridge Reference Sequence".
The first scientists to completely sequence mtDNA were from Cambridge
University in England. The Cambridge Reference Sequence (CRS)
essentially comes from one person, it turns out to just be coincidence
that that one person is part of Haplogroup H, the most common
haplogroup in Europe. The CRS has a couple of positions which are
actually the rare form, for example: 263A in HyperVariable Region 2
(HVR2), thus when
FTDNA reports differences from the CRS, many people will have a 263G,
which
is actually the most common base at that position.
The mtDNA tests taken now are compared against this European sequence
and all the differences are noted. So the results you get will be
a listing of how your sequence differs from the Cambridge Reference
Sequence.
When comparing two tests for an ancestor connection, there is no room
for differences. The two sequences must match exactly (or have
the exact same differences from the reference sequence) or there is no
relationship.
The candidate for this testing can be either a man or a
woman, but must have an unbroken female only line of descent from
the target ancestor. The test is easy to take and can be performed
in your own home.
Our project is registered with Family Tree DNA. FTDNA is a
company that is using DNA testing solely for the purpose of
genealogical research. If you have questions about this company
visit their website at: www.familytreedna.com
When you receive your results a report generally describing
mtDNA, the meaning of polymorphism, your differences from the Cambridge
Reference Sequence and the meaning of probability between matches will
be sent to you. Again, the Cambridge Reference Sequence was
determined to be the most common amongst Europeans and is used as a
model
to compare other sequences against. Your results will be a
listing
showing where your sequence differs from the Cambridge Reverence
Sequence
Standard.
If you have questions about our projects, contact: Wade Glascock, Projects
Administrator, or either of the Projects Co-Managers: Hal Hooper or Clay Hooper.