Nearly the entire offering will be on sale these two days, including upgrades that were not on last year’s sale. The sale will begin at 6PM April 19th and will conclude at 11:59PM on Saturday the 21st (Central time, U.S.)

Here are the details, and the prices will be automatically adjusted at our web site and therefore there will be no need for a coupon:

New Kits

Y-DNA 12 regular: $99 sale: $59
mtDNA regular: $99 sale: $59

Y-DNA 37 regular:$149 sale: $129
Y-DNA 67 regular:$238 sale: $199
Family Finder regular:$289 sale: $199
mtFullSequence (FGS) regular:$299 sale: $249

Y-DNA 12 + mtDNA regular: $179 sale: $118
FF + Y-DNA 12 regular: $339 sale: $258
FF + mtDNA regular: $339 sale: $258
FF+ Y-37 regular: $438 sale: $328
FF + mtPlus regular: $438 sale: $328
Comprehensive (FF + FMS + Y-67) regular: $797 sale: $657

Upgrades

Y-DNA 12 add-on regular:$89 sale: $59
Y-DNA 12-37 upgrade regular: $99 sale: $69
Y-DNA 12-67 upgrade regular: $199 sale: $148
Y-DNA 25-67 upgrade regular: $148 sale: $109
Y-DNA 37-67 upgrade regular: $99 sale: $79

mtDNA add-on regular:$89 sale: $59
mtFullSequence upgrade (HVR1 to Mega) regular: $269 sale: $199
mtFullSequence upgrade (HVR2 to Mega) regular $269 sale: $199
mtFullSequence add-on regular $289 sale: $219
Family Finder regular $289 sale: $199

Visit Family Tree DNA quick!

• Access to hundreds of comprehensive reports that interpret your genetic data
• Continual updates to those reports, based on the latest research discoveries
• Ability to share and compare results with friends and family
• Tools to discover new relatives and learn about your ancestry

In many ways, it’s easier to get started because there is just one test to order.  There are two options though. The first is to order the test for $99 but then get billed at $9/mo for the Personal Genome Service (required). Or you can order the full year up front (test and service included) for $207.

The collection method is slightly different than other services like Family Tree DNA or Ancestry – with 23andMe you spit into the collection tube rather than scraping your cheek cells!

Once your results are processed, you can log in and check out tons of comprehensive reports. In addition to learning about your deep ancestry and comparing results with your immediate family, there are other types of reports. Under My Health you can see disease risks and traits (like eye color), among others.

You can sign up for a free demo account to check out the types of reports that are available with a paid account. You get “dummy” data for the Mendel family but it’s enough to give you an idea.

Here is a sample image of what the ancestry area of your account looks like:

This shows the type of health results you can get:

So you can see for one price, you get a lot more information about yourself and current family as well as your deep ancestry.

Take a Journey Through Your DNA with 23andMe.com

There have been a couple episodes where the researchers have used DNA but Blair Underwood has been the only one so far where it was used to find an actual relative. Now, 10th cousins are not particularly close. As they mentioned in the episode last night, it means Blair and Eric (in Cameroon) had a common ancestor in the 1700s.

You may be wondering which DNA test they used. Well, it should not be a surprised that it was an Ancestry.com DNA test, as Ancestry.com sponsors the show.

The test is quite simple – just a quick swab of your cheeks and in a few weeks, you will get a report indicating your “deep ancestry.” It’s likely that the producers ordered a more comprehensive test for Blair in order to have enough markers to find a match with another living person.

You can check out the entire episode on Hulu in can you missed it.

They also have several combination packages where you can save a large amount of money. Now’s the time to give it a try!

You must order by midnight (CST) on April 15, 2011 to take advantage of these awesome coupons! Use the code DNADAY2011

New customers:
Y-DNA12…… $59
Y-DNA37…… $129
…mtDNA……… $59
Family Finder… $199
Family Finder + Y-DNA12… $258
Family Finder + mtDNA…… $258
Family Finder + mtFullSequence + Y-DNA67 … $657

Upgrades:
Y-DNA12 add-on … $59
Y-DNA12 to 37…… $69
Y-DNA37 to 67…… $79
Y-DNA12 to 67…… $148
mtDNA add-on …… $59
mtFull Sequence upgrade … $199
mtFull Sequence add-on … $219
Family Finder add-on … $199

Visit Family Tree DNA today and use the code DNADAY2011 when you check out.

In 1991, two men on a climbing holiday in the Alps happened upon the body of a man half buried in the ice. Although this may sound gruesome, it’s not an unusual occurrence to come upon a body as high as they were in the Alps. The climbers simply assumed it was some poor soul who’d met with an unfortunate accident, marked the spot and continued down the mountain where they then notified the proper authorities.

At first glance it was thought that the body was a gentlemen who was last seen in the area around 50 years earlier. But there were several tools scattered on the ground around the body that appeared to be older than 50 years and on closer inspection it was determined that they were not just fifty years old or even a hundred and fifty. They were thousands of years old and this investigation that had previously been handled by the local authorities now became a discovery of international importance among the archeological community.

The remains of the Iceman, as he soon became known, were flown to Innsbruck, Austria where he was stored, frozen, while an International team of archeologists and scientists was assembled to study this unique find, detail by detail. Professor Bryan Sykes, whose research team at Oxford had been the first in the world to recover DNA from ancient human specimens, was contacted to see if he and his team could find traces of DNA in the Iceman.

Using radiocarbon analysis – carbon dating – it was determined that the Iceman was well over 5000 years old but because his body had been in a frozen state since his death it was possible for Professor Sykes to extract DNA from the remains and conduct additional research. In order to prevent any claims of fraud or hoax about his findings, all tests were conducted and re-conducted from every possible angle. Even so far as to cross-match the Iceman’s DNA with samples of DNA that had been donated by modern day, living, human beings.

Through a remarkable series of coincidences it was found that the Iceman’s DNA was exactly the same as the DNA of modern Europeans. But what was even more remarkable was the the DNA sample for comparison had come from one of Professor Syke’s own assistants. And there was a direct, unbroken link between the DNA of Marie Moseley and the Iceman. Which meant that Marie was a direct descendant of the Iceman himself.

Professor Sykes presents a very compelling and entertaining view of the possibility of tracing the lineage of every human on earth back to seven distinct women – The Seven Daughters Of Eve – who all shared a common ancestor – The Mitochondrial Eve.

Although DNA testing kits for genealogy research are now available to members of the public, before ordering it’s best to determine just what type of kit you’re going to need. And to do that you need to know exactly what results you’re looking for. There are two basic types of DNA testing kits available and each is used for a different reason.

mtDNA Tests – mtDNA tests are used to test the Mitochondrial DNA that is passed from the mother to both the male and female children. Mitochondrial DNA does not mix with other cells so it’s easy to determine that your mtDNA is the same as your mother’s, and your mother’s mtDNA is the same as her mother’s. Because mitochondrial DNA changes very slowly from generation to generation, it’s used best to determine the fact that you’re related to someone, as opposed to just how closely you’re related. For example, testing mtDNA can tell you if two people are members of the same family but it can’t be used to tell you if you’re brother and sister, grandfather and grandchild, etc.

If two people have an exact match in their mtDNA then there’s a good chance they have a maternal ancestor in common but it’s hard to determine if a recent ancestor or one who lived hundreds of years ago. So if all you’re trying to do is prove that your family is descended from say George Washington’s family, then yes, you could use an mtDNA test. But this test will not be able to tell you if George Washington was your grandfather.

Y Line Tests – The Y Chromosomal Test, typically referred to as the Y Line test, is only available for males since the Y chromosome is passed down the male line from father to son. Chemical markers on the Y chromosome create haplotypes, distinctive patterns that can be used to determine the genetic connection between one male and another. This test is generally used by people who have the same last name to see if the have a common ancestor. So your family could use this test to determine if the males were descended from George Washington – assuming you could also get a sample of George Washington’s DNA.

Neither of these tests can be used to gather health information or information about a predisposition to a particular disease. Nor will they allow you to create any kind of identifying personal genetic fingerprint. Rather, in most DNA testing for genealogy these tests are used to determine the line of descent and to confirm a relationship between one family and another.

The opposing theory is that there had to have been more than one woman in order for the human race to grow fast enough and survive the harsh climate. But this theory only means that there may have actually been more than one Eve. Theological discussions aside, I find it intriguing that it would be possible to use mitochondrial DNA testing to trace our lineage back to the dawn of time, whether it’s to one woman or several women. Think of it. My ancestor may have lived in the cave right next door to yours! They may have exchanged recipes for barbecued Mastodon and Spicy Pterodactyl wings!

Mitochondrial DNA, or mtDNA as it’s commonly referred to, is passed from the mother to her offspring, both male and female. But the male does not pass it on to his offspring. It’s only passed by the mother. So my mother passed it to me, her mother passed it to her, and so on. The reason it’s so easily traced is because mtDNA rarely mutates or changes in any way. So I share exactly the same mtDNA with my mother that she shares with her mother.

However, every few thousand years a change or mutation does take place in the mtDNA which creates a new ‘branch’ in the ancestral tree. It’s by following all of these branches back through the centuries and centuries that human beings have been in existence that Professor Sykes has determined we’re all descended from 7 different women who all share the same mother – Eve.

If you’re a fan of Dan Brown then you’re familiar with his now world famous book, “The DaVinci Code”. This book created quite a stir when it proposed that not only was Jesus married but he also had children. Imagine being able to trace your lineage all the way back to the wife of Jesus. And of course, Jesus had a mother so that means you would also be related to her and all of her ancestors. And if you could trace it that far, and be that specific, then you probably could trace it all the way back to Eve as well. And whether it’s one Eve or seven, or even seventy Eves, how interesting would that be?

Regardless of which theory is right, or if either is right, the fact is we’re all related somewhere in time. At some point there was a beginning. It may have been a ‘Big Bang’ that took place over thousands of years or it may have been an over night ‘Creation’ but if you perform the mitochondrial DNA testing back through the eons you’ll see that we really are all related to the Seven Daughters Of Eve.

The simple answer is that you may know 6 people or 600 people or even 6000, but you don’t know if those people are your ancestors. You could be living right next door to someone who’s DNA figures prominently in your genealogical background and never know it. It happens all the time.

DNA testing for ancestry differs from other forms of DNA testing in that it’s a more specific test and your results are entered into a DNA database. Don’t worry though. The actual results are kept confidential. But the reason your information is entered in to that database is so your data can be compared with other people from all over the world to determine if any of them are your ancestors. Isn’t that amazing!

I recently read an incredible story about a gentleman name Chris Haley, a nephew of the famous author Alex Haley. Apparently in Alex Haley’s book “Queen” he made a brief mention of a European ancestor with the last name of Baugh but the family had never been able to track down any proof of ancestry or even that the Baugh family existed. So Chris Haley decided to have DNA testing for ancestry performed.

Now it just so happens that a young woman in Scotland, half the world away from Chris Haley, whose last name was Baff, was also researching her family history. She had run up against a brick wall due to the unusual spelling of her name and had run out of ideas, so she, too, decided to perform DNA testing for ancestry.

Because both sets of information were entered into the database, even though they were half a world apart, these two people were connected by matching their DNA information. How amazing is that?! To think that they had both spent years and years searching for information about their ancestors and by simply conducting DNA testing for ancestry they found each other. They now each have a whole new family to get to know and a wealth of information can be shared between them that will further help their search into their ancestry.

For example, by using DNA testing you can determine the ethnic and racial backgrounds that have gone into your own genetic makeup. But unless you also have a DNA sample from Napoleon, you could not just look at your own DNA results and determine that you’re related to him. You would need a sample of his DNA for comparison and even then the most you could tell is that you were descended from Napoleon but you wouldn’t be able to determine along what lines.

So let’s say you’re just beginning to research your family tree and you have no idea where to start. If you perform a DNA test the best you’ll be able to determine is your racial and/or ethnic origin. But that will at least give you a starting point. You can then go online to research that area looking for surnames. If you were to find someone who shares the same surname and after researching you believe the two of you may be related, then another DNA test could be performed and by comparing the results from both of your tests you’d be able to find out if you were related. This test still would not tell you however in what way you were related, simply that you share the similar genetic material.

Using DNA for family history research is helpful in that you can use it to eliminate possibilities but it doesn’t point them out to you. You still have to do the legwork and research the old-fashioned way – visiting libraries, churches, archives, city halls, hospitals, etc. And you still have to talk to people to gather information. But isn’t that the fun part of researching your family history? The exchanging of family stories and legends is what makes it so interesting.

Think about it. The reason you’re researching your family history is usually because you’re interested in the history, the special events and little stories that make your family unique. How much fun would it be if all you had to do to find out Napoleon was you great-great-great-great-grandfather was to swab out your mouth and be done with it? And even if it did work like that, if you’re a true history buff you’d still want to do the legwork and research to find out all the little details and juicy bits of family gossip. Using DNA for family history research should only be one tiny step of the process. Use it to verify information when necessary but don’t expect miracles. Even those cops have to do a little legwork before they wrap it all up in a bow and identify the murderer by the DNA he left on a cigarette butt.