Part 449s – Smith Robertson Genealogy – Grandmothers Abraham (J) and Goodey (H1a1) mtDNA Results

Morning,

It is amazing what information and data is available today online. At times I wonder if the "grey matter" between my ears will either explode or simply turn into mush... but I am enthralled at times at the amount, whether good or bad, is readily available and accessible. In my further research of my ancestors and the search for my genealogy I am continually trying to understand as much and everything that I possibly can.

With the good news, that my father's maternal mtDNA is classified as J, and whereas my own maternal mtDNA is documented as H1a1, I have determined to find out as much as I can about mtDNA. (Please be assured that I DO NOT account for all that I discover online and on the Internet as gospel truth.) The above-inserted image if a model of human migration based on Mitochondrial DNA from Familypedia.

Here is a question. How does the attributes of one’s grandmothers’ mtDNA influence a person’s makeup and being? My grandmothers were Jeanne Lucie Ernestine (née Abraham) Smith and Mann, J-mtDNA, and Madge (née Goodey) Robertson, H1a1-mtDNA.

Accordingly mitochondrial DNA or mtDNA spans 16,569 DNA building blocks. This represents just a fraction of the total DNA in cells. The mtDNA testing done Family Tree DNA, that is the three, HVR1, HVR2, and CR Reference Sequence tests, tests all 16569 Positions against the Cambridge Reference Sequence (CRS). The results of the each test are the recorded differences against the CRS. The CRS is NOT a record of the earliest human mtDNA. It appears to be the sequence conducted in the 1970s “of the mitochondrial genome of one individual of European descent” which is used as the comparative base point. (See Wikipedia – Cambridge Reference Sequence).

The immediate differences results from the Cambridge Reference Sequence are as follows:

For the Smith, Abraham, July, Merle, Castex line – J-mtDNA Haplogroup

HVR1 – 16069T; 16126C; 16145A; 16172C; 16222T; 16261T; and 16519C

HVR2 – 73G; 242T; 263G; 295T; 315.1C; 462T; and 489C

For the Smith, Robertson, Goodey, Crossley, Parker, Kendal line – H1a1-mtDNA Haplogroup

HVR1 – 16162G; 16209C; and 16519C

HVR2 – 73G; 263G; and 315.1C

CR – 750G; 1438G; 3010A; 4639C; 4769G; 6365C; 8860G; 10993A; and 15326G

This information and data can be somewhat prodigious to learn and absorb. The following YouTube clip from the National Geographic Genographic Project helps me to understand a wee bit of my J-mtDNA ancestry.



Regards, and enjoy the Super Bowl,

Jim