A Florida amnesiac has finally figured out his identity with a lot of help from strangers, genetic genealogist CeCe Moore and DNA testing. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-22891" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Benjaman_Kyle-199x300.jpg" alt="Benjaman_Kyle" width="199" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Benjaman_Kyle-199x300.jpg 199w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Benjaman_Kyle.jpg 401w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" />

Benjaman Kyle, who was <a href="http://www.doenetwork.org/cases/1007umga.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">found beaten</a> and semi-conscious behind a south Georgia Burger King 11 years ago, has spent the last several years in Jacksonville Florida, working in a kitchen. His story received national attention with coverage on <a href="https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129668438" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NPR</a> and Dr. Phil to name a few.


“My identity has been found,” Kyle posted on his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/benjaman.kyle.9/posts/10207885434472513" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Facebook page</a>. “It is now the start of the eleventh year since this began and I never thought this day would come. A little over two months ago I was informed by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cecemoore1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CeCe Moore</a> that they had established my Identity using DNA.” 


It was thought that the beating left him with “retrograde amnesia,” so that he could remember more recent event, but the past was largely blank. CeCe spent two years working with a team comparing matches from several DNA testing companies, including 23andMe where he had more than half a dozen close cousin matches and dozens of more distant cousins.

Looking at surnames, geography and the little information that Benjaman had – which included a specific birth date – she was able to find several likely matches, according to a <a href="http://www.news4jax.com/news/man-with-no-name-finally-knows-his-real-identity/35286594" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Florida News station</a> that covered the story this week.
One of the few memories he retained was of Indianapolis. The search connected him with family in Indiana, including several brothers.
Over the summer testing confirmed a family match.
He didn’t reveal his real name yet because:
“I am reserving my new name, for now, until I have met my new found relatives,” he said.

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23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

DNA Testing Helps Amnesiac

Scott Fisher, the host of the syndicated family history radio show and podcast <a href="http://extremegenes.com/ep-104-23andme-dna-day-and-pursuing-a-jail-break/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Extreme Genes</a>, talked earlier this month with 23andMe’s Senior Director of <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21027" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/@PITER-23andMe-JoannaMountain-43.jpg" alt="@PITER-23andMe-JoannaMountain-43" width="200" height="285" />Research Joanna Mountain.


For this episode, Fischer and Joanna spoke again about ancestry features focusing in on some of the more common questions from customers. Fischer previously spoke with 23andMe population geneticist Kasia Byrc, PhD, about some of the science behind DNA testing, and he will continue to feature an expert from 23andMe on his show each month to delve into the ins and out of DNA testing for ancestry purposes.
Talking to Joanna, Fisher learned that many customers from the United States have family stories about Native American ancestry and they often test with 23andMe to explore that side of their family history.
“Sometimes they find it in the DNA, but sometimes it’s not there,” Joanna said during the show.


That doesn’t always mean that those family stories are wrong, but that the Native American ancestry has been lost over the generations, Joanna said. The DNA evidence might not be there anymore but there may still be cultural evidence of that ancestry.
Fischer also asked about adoptees and what typically motivates them to test.


“Actually they have a lot of the same questions (as other customers),” Joanna said.
But for adoptees, testing is often the only option to find out some very basic information, like their ancestry, said Joanna, who oversees research projects and the development of ancestry product offerings at 23andMe.
The show also featured David Allen Lambert, Chief Genealogist of the New England Historic Genealogical Society and American Ancestors, Sarah O’Connor of <a href="http://www.geneartistry.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GeneArtistry</a>.com, and Tom Perry from <a href="http://www.tmcplace.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TMCPlace.com</a>.


Check out the podcast <a href="http://extremegenes.com/ep-104-23andme-dna-day-and-pursuing-a-jail-break/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.

Another Extreme Genes Podcast

A large new study spearheaded by researchers at Montreal’s <a href="http://www.mcgill.ca/channels/news/novel-gene-implicated-osteoporosis-255200" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">McGill University</a> found a rare genetic variant with a large impact on bone<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-22843" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Bone-x-ray-234x300.jpg" alt="Bone x-ray" width="234" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Bone-x-ray-234x300.jpg 234w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Bone-x-ray.jpg 612w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 234px) 100vw, 234px" /> density and the propensity for some people to fracture bones more easily than others.
This study – a meta-analysis that pooled data from 27 different cohorts totaling more than 53,000 people and included contributions from researchers at almost 100 different institutions including 23andMe – sheds new light on the genetics behind bone mineral density and fractures.
But the work also illustrates the potential for whole genome sequencing and the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/sep/14/uk-dna-shared-in-worldwide-search-for-genetic-causes-of-disease" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">power of large reference panels</a> like those developed by the <a href="http://www.1000genomes.org/about">1000 Genome Project</a> and <a href="http://www.uk10k.org/">UK 10K</a> to identify rare variants that have a strong influence on common traits and diseases.
“Our study illustrates that larger reference panels, covering relevant ethnicities, will facilitate the discovery of low frequency and rare variants,” the authors said.
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This approach offers a promising avenue for finding what scientists refer to as the “missing heritability” problem. For  many conditions scientists know that genetics plays an outsized role in its <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/quiz-answers-heritability-demystified/">heritability</a>  – or the variation of a condition within a population that is due to genetics. But scientists have yet to identify many of the genetic factors involved, thus the term “missing heritability.”
<h6>Bone Mineral Density</h6>
In the case of bone mineral density, its heritability is estimated to be about 85 percent. Yet genome wide association studies have only identified variants that explain about 5 percent of that variation. So researchers in this study used a mixed approach. They wanted to look deeper into the genome for rare, low frequency and non-coding genetic variants that may play also play a role.
The approach included whole genome sequencing, exome sequencing, and genotypic data. It also included data imputed through the use of whole genome sequence reference panels to find rare and non-coding genetic variants.
The approach worked, allowing this team to find a rare non-coding variant that had a four times greater effect on bone mineral density than the average effect of all other variants previously identified to be associated with the condition. This rare variant had a large effect, suggesting that the gene has an important functional role in bone development.
<h6>Testing in Mice &amp; replication</h6>
After making the finding, the researchers tested it in mice. They looked at how changes to a variant near the EN1 gene might impact bone mineral density. It turned out to have an affect on limb development in mice.
Then the team looked to see if they could replicate their findings. They wanted to see if a rare non-coding variant near the EN1 gene, had a very large effect on bone mineral density. Using data from other cohorts – including 23andMe – the researchers were also able to replicate their findings.
<h6>Importance of Non-Coding Variants</h6>
The researchers used data from about half a million 23andMe customers. These customers who consented to research also gave information about fractures.  In addition, the team looked at additional findings regarding several other variants. These were other variants they found that were also associated with the condition.
The study offers new insight into the biology of bone development. But it also is a good proof point on leveraging large whole genome sequencing reference panels. Doing this allows researchers to impute data from multiple cohorts and search for relevant rare non-coding variants involved in other diseases and conditions.

Genetic Influences on Bone Density and Fractures

Scientists have unearthed a trove of bones in a South African cave belonging to a previously unidentified early human relative.
<div id="attachment_22837" style="width: 277px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22837" class="size-medium wp-image-22837" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/F1.large-1-267x300.jpg" alt="Composite skeleton of Homo nadeli along with other bones found at the Rising Star Cave in South Africa. Photo: Lee Berger, Wits, photographed at Evolutionary Studies Institute" width="267" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/F1.large-1-267x300.jpg 267w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/F1.large-1-768x863.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/F1.large-1-911x1024.jpg 911w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/F1.large-1-783x880.jpg 783w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/F1.large-1-1050x1180.jpg 1050w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 267px) 100vw, 267px" />Composite skeleton of Homo nadeli along with other bones found at the Rising Star Cave in South Africa. Photo: Lee Berger, Wits, photographed at Evolutionary Studies Institute</div>
<h2>Rising Star</h2>
Found in the “Rising Star Cave,” the new species has been dubbed homo naledi – naledi is the Sosetho word for star – and fills in more detail about the story of human evolution.
“We’ve found a new species that we are placing in the genus Homo, which is really quite remarkable,” <a href="https://twitter.com/LeeRberger">Lee Berger</a>, a paleoanthropologist, who led the research told the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/sep/10/new-species-of-ancient-human-discovered-claim-scientists">Guardian</a>.
There’s much to ponder with the new finding and some intriguing implications discussed at length in two <a href="http://elifesciences.org/content/4/e09560">new papers</a> about the bones as well as a new <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/dawn-of-humanity.html">Nova</a> special. For one, the find adds more information in the big gap in the fossil record tracing back to the dawn of humanity. 
<h2>Homo Naledi</h2>
One of the papers also details where and how the bones were found and covers various theories about how they got there. The implication from that paper is that the bones – more than a 1,000 bones and bone fragments from at least 15 individuals – were possibly brought there for burial. If true this would suggest that homo naledi were advanced enough to actually have a ritual for burying their dead.
“If true it points to advance behavior,” <a href="http://bluelionphotos.blogspot.co.za/2015/09/the-rising-star-interviews.html">said John Hawkes</a>, and paleoanthropologist from the University of Wisconsin who is a co-author of the paper.
That would also point to such things as social bonds, and other kinds of communal structures.
The excavation and its implications are covered at length in the upcoming issue of <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/150910-human-evolution-change/">National Geographic</a>.
<h2>Ancient Human Relative</h2>
The team believes the bones &#8211; as yet undated &#8211; represent a new ancient human relative that adds another chapter in the human story.
The bones have some characteristics that are similar to both modern humans and other ancient human species that pre-date it. They were long-legged and slender with hands and feet similar to humans, but their brains were only about a third of the size of modern humans.
In the wonderful <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/dawn-of-humanity.html">Nova</a> program, scientists say the find should more clearly change how we look at the human family tree, where there were likely many different species that branched out in different ways, some crossing back to contribute to what ultimately became modern humans, while others went extinct.

Hello Cousin

Blurring the line between stranger and relation, the artist <a href="http://laurelnakadate.weebly.com/">Laurel Nakadate</a> used DNA testing to connect to hundreds of cousins who she
<div id="attachment_18738" style="width: 235px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-18738" class="size-medium wp-image-18738" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Suki_Dhanda_Portrait_LR-225x300.jpg" alt="Laurel Nakadate. Photo: © Suki Dhanda, 2011, Courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Suki_Dhanda_Portrait_LR-225x300.jpg 225w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Suki_Dhanda_Portrait_LR-660x880.jpg 660w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Suki_Dhanda_Portrait_LR.jpg 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />Laurel Nakadate. Photo: © Suki Dhanda, 2011, Courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York</div>
photographed for a series of arresting portraits.
The photos, all taken outdoors, at night with the subjects alone and lit by only a flashlight, convey both intimacy and distance at the same time. We first <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/strangers-and-relations">wrote about</a> the photo series two years ago.
Called <a href="http://www.tonkonow.com/nakadate_relations.html">“Strangers and Relations”</a> the portraits also beg the question of what those two terms really mean.
Would you feel any different standing alone at night in the middle of nowhere with a stranger pointing a camera at you, if that stranger was a relative?
Nakadate, who spoke with us about her project, said the idea for the work came after thinking about the distant cousins she found through 23andMe and another company. This collection of people, who were strangers to her,   shared a common ancestor, and that mix of the familiar and foreign is what spurred her to embark on a what ended up being a 50,000 mile journey around the United States photographing her distant cousins.
Her portraits from Strangers and Relations have been displayed across the country, most recently in her former hometown of Des Moines, Iowa.
Below are just two that are featured in the series.

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				<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="200" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Relations_Tyler2_MG_0651_LR-300x200.jpg" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="" aria-describedby="gallery-1-18736" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Relations_Tyler2_MG_0651_LR-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Relations_Tyler2_MG_0651_LR-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Relations_Tyler2_MG_0651_LR-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Relations_Tyler2_MG_0651_LR.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
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				Tyler, Texas #2, 2013. © Laurel Nakadate, Courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York
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				<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="200" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Relations_Cleveland_MG_9246_LR-300x200.jpg" class="attachment-medium size-medium" alt="" aria-describedby="gallery-1-18731" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Relations_Cleveland_MG_9246_LR-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Relations_Cleveland_MG_9246_LR-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Relations_Cleveland_MG_9246_LR-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/LN_Relations_Cleveland_MG_9246_LR.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
			</dt>
				<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-18731'>
				Cleveland, Ohio #1, 2012 © Laurel Nakadate, Courtesy Leslie Tonkonow Artworks + Projects, New York
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Strangers No More

Bolstering the theory that modern society’s fixation on cleanliness might actually be hurting the development of healthy immune systems in children, <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/349/6252/1106.full">a new study</a> published this week in the journal Science suggests that exposure to the kinds of <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-22620" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dairy-cow-300x200.jpg" alt="dairy cow" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dairy-cow-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dairy-cow-768x511.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/dairy-cow.jpg 849w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />bacteria found in the farmyard may actually protect children from allergies, hay fever and asthma.


The development of asthma and allergies is complicated and involves many factors both environmental and <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/new-genetic-associations-found-for-allergies-and-asthma/">genetic</a>. Asthma and allergies, which are strongly linked to each other, are among the most common diseases in the industrialized world. But several studies have shown that in the last few decades there has been a surge in the number of people in developed countries who’ve developed asthma or allergies.
There are many theories offered to explain this surge, one, the “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2841828/">hygiene hypothesis</a>,” suggests that an increasingly sanitized environment inhibits the development of the immune system, making people more prone to allergies and asthma.   Another theory is that increasing exposure to chemicals and pollutants are the culprits.

<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 300px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class=" wp-image-6151 aligncenter" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/allergy.jpg" alt="allergy" width="250" height="222" /> Allergies of a Feather Flock Together 
People with allergies tend to be allergic to multiple things. Sometimes this makes sense – being allergic to cats and dogs for instance – other times the groupings make you scratch your head. Based on our research survey data, we found that if you are allergic to one insect’s sting, it is more likely that you’ll be allergic to another. But food allergies do not appear to be associated with other kinds of allergies.You can learn more about these associations<a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/factoid/factoid_allergies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> here</a>.</div>

In the study published in Science researchers looked into why children who grew up on dairy farms appear to be protected from allergies, hay fever and asthma.


In mice, researchers found that low-dose exposure to farm dust triggered an inflammatory response that later protected the mice from developing asthma induced from dust mites. Looking at the biology, the researchers found that the exposure modified a particular enzyme, A20, which is involved in this defensive inflammatory mechanism.
For many with asthma, that enzyme is disabled.
While the new study adds more support for the hygiene hypothesis, the researchers said they still must look at to see if this protective mechanism lasts into adulthood.

Allergies And The Hygiene Hypothesis

When he was 21, Gary Skillings tried to contact his mother through a nun at the Catholic orphanage from which he was adopted in the 1950s, but she didn’t want to see him.
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_22818" style="width: 168px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22818" class="size-full wp-image-22818" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/safe_image.php_.jpg" alt="Gary Skillings' Photo" width="158" height="158" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/safe_image.php_.jpg 158w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/safe_image.php_-150x150.jpg 150w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 158px) 100vw, 158px" />Gary Skillings&#8217; Photo</div>
“That was kind of a heartbreaker,” Skilling told <a href="http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-auburn/2015/08/30/dna-test-brings-florida-man-home-maine/1771495">the Sun Journal newspape</a>r in Maine. “But I honored her wish.”


Although he longed to know more about his background and who his mother was, Gary didn’t search any further after that failed attempt to make a connection. But he was left with at least one bit of information, his mother’s first name, Aline. Fast-forward a few decades, Gary was able to use 23andMe and genealogical records to learn more about his mother, and connect with cousins he never knew he had.


His story, nicely told by the local paper in Lewiston Maine, includes meeting more than 50 relatives, cousins, aunt and uncles who welcomed him into the family.


“They had this reception for me and all these people showed up,” he told the newspaper. “They were all total strangers to me, yet all related.”


They shared photos and family stories with him. He learned more about his now deceased mother, Aline Mary Cotes, and his out-of-wedlock birth. He found a close cousin, who knew about his birth and actually knew about Gary’s effort to contact his mother so long ago. She had vowed to keep it all a secret.


Check out the story <a href="http://www.sunjournal.com/news/lewiston-auburn/2015/08/30/dna-test-brings-florida-man-home-maine/1771495">here</a>.

Mending a Broken Heart

After reading a recent <a href="https://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2015/08/misophonia_research_disorder_of_irritation_by_chewing_lip_smacking_sniffing.single.html">Slate piece</a>, we thought it might be worth taking one more bite at <a href="http://www.misophonia-uk.org/">Misophonia</a>.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-2937" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/mouth-150x150.jpg" alt="mouth" width="150" height="150" />


It’s one of those conditions that you might not know is a condition, even if you have it.
<a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/misophonia/">Misophonia</a> – from the Greek word meaning hatred of sound – is characterized by feelings of rage triggered by other people chewing, sipping or chomping on their food. It’s more than just not liking bad manners at the table, but a real visceral reaction to that sound or other kinds of sounds such as sniffing, lip-smacking and even other people breathing.


Many with the condition have the same kind of surprised reaction that writer Megan Cartwright described in her Slate article. 
 

“Other people have this?! “ she asked.
She thought it was just her.
No other people have it, but often just think that it&#8217;s just them. Although Cartwright looks at a few recent small studies a little skeptically, 23andMe recently conducted an internal study looking at more than 90,000 customers who have consented to research and found that about 20 percent reported that they were “filled with rage” by the sound of others eating.


The percentage found in 23andMe’s study was similar to the numbers found in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24752915">a study</a> cited by Cartwright that was done last year by psychologists at the University of South Florida. That work also found that the condition appeared to be associated with psychiatric conditions such as anxiety, depression and obsessive compulsive disorder. But other researchers said characterizing the condition, as a psychiatric disorder is a mistake.
She interviewed Dutch researcher Pawel Jastreboff, who with his wife and co-researcher, Margaret Jastreboff, first came up with the term misophonia. Pawel suggests that the condition has more to do with learned behavior by an individual with an existing <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25726280">sensitivity to sounds</a>.
23andMe’s research, which focused on people of European ancestry, identified a specific genetic variant, , associated with misophonia that is near the gene <a href="http://www.genecards.org/cgi-bin/carddisp.pl?gene=TENM2">TENM2</a>, which plays a role in brain development.

Chew on This

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-are-haplogroups">What are haplogroups?</h2>



Haplogroups are genetic classifications or ancestral groupings within a population, typically defined by shared, inherited genetic markers or mutations. These markers are passed down from a common ancestor. They can be traced through the analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) for maternal haplogroups and the Y chromosome for paternal haplogroups. Haplogroups provide insights into human populations&#8217; historical migrations and evolutionary history, helping researchers and genealogists understand the genetic relationships and ancestral origins of individuals and groups.



Many 23andMe customers that contact Customer Care are confused by their haplogroup assignments and what they actually mean.



<figure class="wp-block-image alignright size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1024" height="432" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Haplo-inline-1024x432.png" alt="" class="wp-image-33670" title="haplogroup map" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Haplo-inline-1024x432.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Haplo-inline-300x127.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Haplo-inline-768x324.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Haplo-inline-880x371.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Haplo-inline-1180x498.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Haplo-inline.png 1501w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /></figure>



If you still aren’t sure what your haplogroup is, check out our <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/?_gl=1*10vpw0b*_ga*NDA5NTc3MDk2LjE2ODA4MDgwMTU.*_ga_G330GF3ZFF*MTY5NzEyNjEzOC41OC4xLjE2OTcxMjYxNDAuMC4wLjA.">DNA Ancestry Test</a> as a first step. <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">Knowing your haplogroup</a>, and how you can use it, can give you much more clarity about your own ancestry. So in the interest of helping you out, we will walk through an example of a <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/23andmes-updated-maternal-haplogroup-report">maternal</a> and <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/updates-to-23andme-paternal-haplogroup-assignments">paternal haplogroup</a> assignment, and explain how knowing your haplogroups can place you in the human family tree and connect you to your ancestry.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-haplogroup-assignment-example">Haplogroup Assignment Example</h2>



In this case we&#8217;re using someone who is Asian, who has roots&nbsp; in Southeast Asia. But his maternal haplogroup – B4’5 and more specifically subgroup B5a1a – is most commonly found among Native Americans of the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-haplogroups-can-help-uncover-the-migration-of-your-ancestors">Haplogroups Can Help Uncover the Migration of Your Ancestors</h2>



So why is that?



What connects him to Native Americans?



This is where understanding a little bit about haplogroups is helpful in placing you and your ancestry in the broader context of human history. Each haplogroup describes individual branches – or closely related groups of branches – on the genetic family tree of all humans. All members of a haplogroup trace their ancestry back to a single individual.



In this case, the individual shares his maternal haplogroup with many Native Americans because 12,000 years ago people migrated from Asia to Alaska, when sea levels were lower.



Or another way of looking at it is that descendants of his ancient maternal ancestor – a common ancestor he shares with many Native Americans – had crossed the Bering Land Bridge to populate the Americas.



Looking deeper into his results his maternal haplogroup is a subgroup of B4’5, specifically B5a1a. It has its own history where it broke off from B4’5 in Southeast Asia.



Recent migration patterns have altered the global distribution of this haplogroup, but that ancient history is written in his DNA and being able to read that and identify his maternal haplogroup connects him to that history.



The ability to trace back a person’s maternal haplogroup back so far – more than 50,000 years in the case of B4’5 – has to do with how it is passed down to each of us from our mother, and her mother, and her mother’s mother, and so on back in time.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-difference-between-maternal-and-paternal-haplogroups">The Difference Between Maternal and Paternal Haplogroups</h2>



Understanding the differences between a maternal and paternal haplogroup, goes can help you better use this information to better understand your ancestral origins.



<h6 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-maternal-haplogroups">Maternal Haplogroups</h6>



Maternal haplogroups are determined by defining variants in your mitochondrial DNA. Everyone &nbsp;inherits &nbsp;their mitochondria from their mothers. Unlike your other pieces of DNA, your mitochondrial DNA is the only type of DNA that is found outside of the nucleus. For this reason, your mitochondrial DNA does not recombine with other types of DNA. Because your mitochondria is inherited directly from you mother and undergoes very little recombination, you will share the same maternal haplogroup with any relative you share a direct maternal line with. For example, you, your mother, your brother, your sister, your maternal aunt, your maternal grandmother, etc. would all share the same maternal haplogroup as you. And that maternal haplogroup traces back through the generations to a single mutation at a specific place and time.



In the case we&#8217;re looking at, his maternal haplogroup is one that is shared by many people, not only of Han Chinese ancestry, but also with many Polynesians, Native Americans, and Southeast Asians.



<h6 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-paternal-haplogroups">Paternal Haplogroups</h6>



Now that we’ve looked at maternal haplogroups, we can turn our attention to paternal haplogroup assignments. In this case the person&#8217;s paternal haplogroup assignment is O3a3c1*.



It traces to East Asia and is also common among Han Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos and Malaysians. The paternal haplogroup assignment is &nbsp;determined by defining variants in your Y Chromosome. The Y chromosome is the sex-determining chromosome for males, which men inherit from their fathers. Therefore, unless you inherited a Y chromosome from your father, you will not have a paternal haplogroup assignment. (You can find out more about this <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/a-fathers-day-ode-to-the-y-chromosome/">here</a>.) This is why women will see this page is unavailable to them within their 23andMe account, but in a moment we’ll explain how women can determine their paternal haplogroup.



First understanding a little bit more about the the Y chromosome is helpful. The Y chromosome does undergo recombination with the X chromosome, but only does so at the ends. So about 95 percent of the Y chromosome remains relatively intact across generations. For this reason, the Y chromosome is a reflection of your ancient paternal ancestry. You would therefore share a paternal haplogroup assignment with any male relative that you shared a direct paternal line with.



<h6 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-paternal-haplogroups-and-women">Paternal Haplogroups and Women</h6>



A woman can infer her paternal haplogroup if a male relative on her paternal line has been genotyped by 23andMe.



Because both the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA change so little over generations, they are very informative about your ancient ancestry. But that is not to say that they do not change at all. In fact, &nbsp;each letter and number that you see within your haplogroup corresponds to a set of defining mutations in your mitochondrial DNA or your &nbsp;Y chromosome. This marks a period in time when your haplogroup branched off into a distinct line. So, for example, it may mark when a population first migrated out of Africa, or when another group became geographically isolated.



<h6 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-assigning-haplogroups">Assigning Haplogroups</h6>



23andMe is able to trace your ancestry based on these mutations. That is because they occurred in distinct geographical locations during specific periods of time. Haplogroup assignments can even be traced back to specific languages.



That DNA evidence is often corroborated by the fossil record. Our oldest fossils date back 200,000 years. They were found in Omo Kibish in Ethiopia. According to genetic and paleontological records, Homo sapiens only began migrating out of Africa 60,000-70,000 years ago. They moved from Africa into the Eurasian continent.



Some of these migrants moved along the Indian coast reaching first Southeast Asia. They then migrated to Australia around 50,000 years ago. Since then, different migratory events have spread our species across the continents along different routes and paths.



We are able to trace migratory patterns based on defining mutations in mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome DNA.



In the case in this post, ancient ancestors who were part of his maternal haplogroup were among a group of individuals who were in Southeast Asia. Some of those individuals eventually migrated across the Bering land bridge to populate the Americas. Some stayed around East Asia and developed some new defining mutations in their mitochondrial DNA making them B5a1a.



It is important to keep in mind that your mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome account for very small portion of your DNA. It is also a small portion of your overall ancestry.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-autosomal-dna">Autosomal DNA</h2>



As most haplogroups arose over tens of thousands of years ago, these pieces of DNA generally reflect your very ancient ancestry. It&#8217;s possible for two people to share the same haplogroup assignment but no recent ancestry. So for example, while you may share a paternal haplogroup with Stephen Colbert, you probably don’t share any recent common ancestors.



A large portion of our DNA is found within your autosomal DNA. This DNA undergoes recombination with each successive generation. Your results analyzing your autosomal DNA therefore generally reflect your ancestry from within the past five to ten generations. Therefore, it is not uncommon for the ancestry found within your haplogroup or your <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry">Ancestry Composition</a> to differ from your own. This does not mean that any of these pieces are incorrect. They are each simply describing a different part of your rich and unique ancestry.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Learn More</h2>



You can find out if your <a href="https://www.23andme.com/test-info/genetic-health/">genetics</a> might Increase your risk for any health conditions with 23andMe. You can see a more recent <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/23andme-updates-paternal-haplogroup-assignments">blog post about haplogroups here</a>.

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