Genetic genealogy testing company FamilyTreeDNA has launched a mitochondrial-DNA database called MitoSearch <www.mitosearch.org>. The free site lets you enter results from any testing company and search for mitochondrial DNA (also called mtDNA) matches. Tests of mtDNA, which is passed from mother to child, reveal “deep ancestry” and can give information on ethnic origins. Results assign you to a haplogroup — the equivalent of a maternal branch in the world’s family tree.

FamilyTreeDNA also operates Ysearch, a database of approximately 10,000 people’s Y-DNA test results. Blankfeld expects MitoSearch to grow more slowly than Ysearch. “Far fewer people test their mtDNA compared to Y-DNA,” he explains. See the February 2005 Family Tree Magazine for a layperson’s guide to genetic genealogy.

 

From the April 2005 Family Tree Magazine