Going from a Y37 marker to a Y67 marker, what is to be gained?

[charlesmkeenan1]

Hello all:
I have tested at FT DNA on the Y 37 marker and have one match which is at the second level. It is the closest match I have.
From your experience, what is to be gained if this match and I were to upgrade to the Y67 marker.
 - How much more information re: relatedness would it provide? We have no documentation of any relationship but share the same surname.
- Would it be better to have this match get a autosomal DNA test done that at least measures a degree of relatedness?
Looking forward to your responses. The company indicated I may find which strands match, which doesn't seem to push the information forward.
Sincerely
Chuck

[davidft]

The higher up the Y scale you go the more accurate the results are so yes a Y67 test will highlight matches there are more closely related to you than say a Y37 or even a Y12 test. This is what ftDNA says on its site and sums it up well

More markers mean more confidence.
Our Y-DNA tests check for specific markers on the Y chromosome. 37 markers is a good place to start and can confirm close relationships. Increase your marker count to 67 or 111 for even greater confidence!

Also if you test with ftDNA when you get your results it gives you a TiP report which basically tells you at what level you are connected with a percentage probability eg it may say there is a 35% probability that your common ancestor is within 4 generations, a 56% probability that it is within 8 generations etc The advantage of having a higher number yDNA test is that it makes these predictions more reliable and hence meaningful. The disadvantage is that if you have tested at say Y67 but your match has only tested at Y37 then the best projections can be made is at the Y37 level

The problem with any of these results is they won't tell you where you are related (unless it is a very very close relationship). You will at some point have to resort to paper records, your tree and your matches records/tree.

An autosomal test, or familyfinder test, is good for trying to find familial links but again you are going to have to resort to paper records and trees at some point. If you do have an autosomal test done you can upload the results to a comparison site like Gedmatch where your results can be matched against people who tested with different companies (NB if you intend to do this check that Gedmatch will take the data from your tester company).

[charlesmkeenan1]

thanks David.
Chuck

[Kamante]

davidft - what type of SNP testing might advance the cause? Bill

[davidft]

davidft - what type of SNP testing might advance the cause? Bill

I don't think I know enough about SNP testing to comment on that. Sorry.

[Kamante]

The Y37 marker test results should include a predicted haplogroup for the test taker. The haplogroup could be explored in detail by upgrading the FTDNA kit to the BigY (approx. 26,000 SNPs) or to the appropriate SNP pack (if the BigY expense is not currently in the budget).

Once Charles knows more about his SNPs, then the other Y37 person could test for Charles' most downstream SNP (the one closest to the present) - a test of just one SNP costs US$39.

[davidft]

Yes but the bigY costs $575 which is a lot to suggest anyone spends when there might be better options out there. What really needs to be established is what Charles' precise objective is and I am not sure we know that

[Kamante]

I agree. That is why I mentioned the SNP packs.

From my own experience, at the Y67 level, I had two matches (with different surnames from mine and each other) with a genetic distance of 4. Through BigY testing, followed by YFull analysis, it was determined that the two matches and I had a common ancestor about 600 years ago. [At the Y37 level, the genetic distance of each of these matches was 3.]

[RobertCasey]

If you have only match at 37 markers, it is not extremely likely that you will get more matches by upgrading to 67 markers. However, upgrades will sometimes reveal new matches or even eliminate some of your 37 marker matches.

So you may be in situation where you need to "build your YSTR cluster." This would require testing different sons or grandsons of your oldest proven ancestors (only if born before 1800). Also, if you suspect another line could be related to your line, encourage or sponsor that test would be another good option. However, 67 markers is the "gold" standard (both quality and cost) start this process.

Here are some major advantages of 67 markers: 1) Your 67 markers can be analyzed by many haplogroup admins and your haplogroup (1,500 to 2,500 years old) can be predicted. This would save testing costs and would allow you to directly test the most recent SNP pack test. Since this is an Irish forum, around 75 % of Irish are R-L21 and my R-L21 predictor tool predicts 50 % of R-L21 testers, you may have the luck of the Irish and may get predicted to a more recent YSNP than FTDNA's prediction:

http://www.rcasey.net/DNA/R-L21_SNP_Predictor_Intro.html

2) 67 markers is really required to chart the connections between testers. Under R-L226 (I am one of the admins for this project), I have charted 80 % of this Dal Cais haplogroup. The above predictor tool will predict L226 with 100 % accuracy to date after several thousand tests. So if you are predicted L226, you have a 80 % chance of getting charted as shown in this massive chart that charts 80 % of the currently known 520 67 marker L226 testers:

http://www.rcasey.net/DNA/R_L226/Haplotrees/L226_Home.pdf

I always recommend testing to 67 markers prior to any YSNP testing. Also, I rarely recommend upgrading to 111 markers unless under very special scenarios. The L226 SNP pack was recently designed by FTDNA and is very leading edge. During the last two years thanks to 65 Big Y tests under L226, we have grown to only knowing about L226 to discovering 44 branches under L226. We are adding one new branch every one or two weeks in a very consistent manner. One third of these branches are now genealogical in nature as they are dominated by one surname.

If you have ties to Munster, Ireland, L226 is the only known YSNP branch that is 90 % Irish and 80 % origins in Munster, Ireland. L226 is extremely dominated by Dal Cais surnames. Most of YSNP branches are named DCXXX in honor of our Dal Cais origins. Here is link to my L226 web site and the Irish Type III (L226) web site:

http://www.rcasey.net/DNA/R_L226/R_L226_Private.html

http://www.irishtype3dna.org/index.php

If you are a Casey with ties to Munster, Ireland, I am also sponsoring a 37 marker test.