Hi!R. Livingstone wrote:While the DNA project is very interesting to me, I feel perhaps a bit thick when reading forum posts on the subject. I tried looking up “L21 mutation” using Google – but only found descriptions of when and where it developed – not what it is or how it is discernible. I purchased a layman’s book on DNA (“Genetics for Dummies”), and at least I now understand what an STR stutter is – but I was very disappointed that the book completely skips the subject of gene mapping, and only briefly touches on mutations. Does anyone have a recommendation of a book with a more thorough overview of the subject? (I don’t mind if it is technical in nature – but please bear in mind my background is in the physical, rather than biological sciences).
This is very understandable. L21 has only recently been discovered, and to be honest it is still not clear what it "means". What we can say so far is like this:
Most Western European men are in a male line called R1b1b2 or, to give it a simpler name, R-M269, where M269 is an SNP mutation that defines the line. This now appears to have entered Europe from the Middle East possibly at the time of the first farming in Europe, but probably even a bit later, maybe about the time that metallurgy began. In its original areas of the Middle East, Greece and Italy it is not dominant, but it looks local because many sub branches are only found there.
Apparently it got on the train of a major movement from somewhere near Hungary into Western Europe. This may even have been the famous Indo European one, which brought riders on horse back, and the language which would become Latin, Gaelic, English etc.
Within R-M269 is a branch called R-L21 which is by far the most common one in Ireland and Scotland. It is less common in Europe, where other "flavours" of R-M269 are also common. Here are some maps for L21: http://www.familytreedna.com/public/R-L ... on=results
Within R-L21 there are more branches. But we need to find more SNP mutations in order to define them clearly. The STR markers we genealogists use change to often, and they can change back and forth. This is what makes them great for genealogy, i.e. looking at comparisons over only a few centuries instead of longer periods.
So for now all we can do is look at the STR markers, searching for clear patterns. One of the most significant discoveries that can be made by doing this is that a very big % of all Scottish R-L21 men have quite a different looking STR signature than the typical one - showing us that they have a common ancestor and are a clear branch within R-L21. Because we have no SNP to define them we tend to refer to them with names like R-L21-Scots.
Our chiefs are in R-L21 Scots, and so for example are our MacKinley correspondents.
Most people in R-L21-Scots appear to have a relatively recent common ancestor, making it difficult to tease them apart sometimes. Some people have suggested they might all go back to someone "big" in the early Gaelic kingdoms of Scotland. Many of the families are ones with "Mac surnames", and there is a good number of clan chiefs in this line.
Perhaps I should stop here and ask if this is helping?
Best Regards
Andrew
