TEST SITE - DO NOT USE - Development only

Josie,

At the risk of oversimplifying this whole thing, I'm posting a few
essential concepts about DNA. Please excuse me if I sound patronizing.

We all have heard that DNA is the blueprint of life.  And it is!..............
Saludos,

Victor

Emilie,

I know we're straying off topic, but just a brief comment about your
reply.  What your neighbor may have been talking about is something
called a trisomy, a rare kind of chomosomal anomaly where there's an
extra chromosome in one of the numbered pairs.  So instead of the
normal XY in a male this individuals have an XYY.  

It is possible that such individuals have exceptional characteristics,
either for good or evil.  One could just as easily become a serial
criminal or a super bright scientist.

Victor


--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Emilie Garcia" <auntyemfaustus@h...>
wrote:
>
> Wow, Victor, I printed out your wonderful explanation below.  I
think I am beginning to grasp something.  I remember learning
something about chromosomes from school so very long ago.  Also, the
man next door talked about some monster criminals, murderers, who were
shown to be "YY".  I thought I recalled that men were "XY" and women
were "XX".  YY's would be genetic monsters, no?  They should be locked
up or killed. They are not really human if they exist.  I wonder if my
neighbor was joking.  I know that often I don't get the jokes.
> 
> Emilie Garcia
> Port Orchard, WA ---

Josie,

At the risk of oversimplifying this whole thing, I'm posting a few
essential concepts about DNA. Please excuse me if I sound patronizing.

We all have heard that DNA is the blueprint of life.  And it is!  Or
to be more exact, each organism's DNA is its own blueprint of life. 
Just think how it is possible to clone an animal (make an exact
genetic replica) from the DNA found in the nucleus of a single cell. 
And notice that in theory a clone could be made from practically every
cell in the body, as most cells have a copy of all their DNA, their
full genome.

Although each cell with a nucleus has their full genome it only has a
small section of it activated, the specific section that contains the
instructions that each cell must carry out.  Imagine a huge theater
performance with many, many actors, where every actor has a copy of
the whole script but some actors only have to read a few lines or a
few pages at most.  So it is with cells; each one has differentiated
to play a specific role in the body.  

We could say, for practical purposes, that for each cell's role or
function a set of instructions are written and stored in a gene. 
There are many things that cells do and therefore there are many
genes.  These genes in turn are packaged into chromosomes of which
human cells have 46.  These cells with 46 chromosomes are called
diploid cells. 

Since we're not clones, half of those 46 chromosomes come from each of
our progenitors.  23 from the father and 23 from the mother to make 23
pairs.  Every chromosome is of equal size to its pair except in males
where the 23rd pair or the XY is an uneven pair.  There's a section in
the Y chromosome that is unmatched in the X chromosome and it is
called a non-recombining section or segment.  

Like I said above, every cell in the body has two sets of chromosomes
or a total of 46, but there's an exception: reproductive cells. 
Reproductive cells only carry 23 single chromosomes or half the number
of other cells and they are called haploid cells.  But each of these
chromosomes in reproductive cells are a combination of the
corresponding chromosome pair in diploid cells.

Since Y chromosome has an unmatched segment that doesn't recombine
with the X chromosome, this segment passes almost unaltered from
generation to generation (but only in the male line or patrilineal
ancestry).  These non recombining sections of the Y chromosome are
what genetic labs analyze in the now famous YDNA tests.

--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Arturo Ramos" <arturo.ramos2@v...> wrote:
>
> Gary is only focused on yDNA... paternal lines and his group is very 
> much focused on the "conquistadores" and Spanish lineages.
> 
> The mtDNA data for Mexico shows that most of the maternal genetic 
> material in modern Mexico is indigenous and given the demographic 
> collapse that occured shortly after contact with the Spanish, and the 
> subsequent movement of indigenous labor around the country, the mtDNA 
> information would draw a very different picture than the data Gary is 
> gathering.
> 
> We might be able to trace the ethnic groups of our indigenous 
> ancestors or at the very least learn about the migration patterns and 
> settlement waves that resulted in the indigenous population of Mexico.

Arturo, 

I asked Gary Felix to comment on your email. I think we all understand that the Americas, 
particularly Mexico and South America, are the mixing of three major cultures/races: 
European, Native American Indian, and African. It would not be unusual to find traces or 
large chunks of DNA from any of these three cultures/races in any Mexican or Mexican-
American. Very few Mexicans or Mexican-Americans can confidently go much further back 
than three generations.  Below are Gary's remarks.



Ed,
please post the following:
 
While it is true the mtdna tells a different story, with just 65 samples in our project of a 
type of dna that mutates slowly, the story is yet to be written. We would need far more 
mtdna samples to draw firm conclusions. Many have joined the Mexico DNA project via the 
mtdna route. As I expressed in Joseph's podcast I am very excited about the mtdna 
possibilities of our NA ancestors. For reference I post to the The Genealogy of Mexico DNA 
Forum updates on mtdna in our project. 
http://www.ybase.org/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=511
 
What we do know is that mtdna haplogroup A within Mexico is most prevalent. Here are 
some links related to mtdna in the americas and mtdna haplogroup A.
 
http://www.genetree.com/product/native-american-data.asp
 
http://www.olypen.com/amelia/aiyana/index.html
 

I have uploaded an article into the files section of Ranchos2 that 
explores the relationship between genetics and Latin American 
(particularly Mexican) history.  It has some intersting data on mtDNA 
distributions among different ethinc groups in what is now the U.S. 
and Mexico.

Genetics and Latin American History.pdf

Surprisingly, the fact that we are all haplogroup A points to our 
maternal ancestors coming to the region after Spanish contact 
(probably from further south) since the groups indigenous to the area 
we are studying tend to have relatively high levels of haplogroup B 
populations.

The following is a link to a very well researched Spanish language 
article on the indigenous populations of the Colotlan/Bolanos area at 
the time of Spanish contact:

http://www.ejournal.unam.mx/historia_novo/ehn09/EHN00907.pdf



--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Josie T. Trevino" <Josiett3@s...> 
wrote:
>
> Hi!  
>  
> Someone once explained to me that the mtDNA results were, in some 
cases, the
> result of Spaniards marrying the "local girls" ........is this what 
you are
> referring to, Arturo?    I do not understand these numbers.....I am 
just
> trying to make heads or tails out of it......and to justify the 
$$$$ I spent
> to get these numbers!  :-)   
> Seriously, I don't mind spending the money if it will give me some 
clues as
> to my ancestors, the migration pattern they followed, etc.  I have 
only
> researched about three or four generations on my Dad's maternal 
line and
> three or four on my Mom's maternal and paternal lines so I have a 
long way
> to go.  I have been focusing on my Dad's paternal Trevino lineage 
and go
> "way back" to about the 1400s in Spain.  
>  
> I really enjoy reading the messages everyone is sending regarding Y-
DNA and
> mtDNA because I am slowing learning a little here and there.  What 
I really
> like is finding out that I have matches to a few in this group, 
Linda,
> Victor, Arturo and an exact match with Ed!  Even though I have 
never met any
> of you in person  I do feel a connection!  The only grandparent I 
knew was
> my Mom's father and he died when I was 7 years old.  My other 
grandparents
> died before I was born.  I only have one brother so you can see 
that my
> familia is very small.......maybe that is why I am always looking 
for "mi

For your information and if you want to post some questions about DNA: 

This is the link to the Ybase Forum moderated by Gary Felix.
http://www.ybase.org/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=511

(You have to register and get a username to participate)



--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, Joseph Puentes <makas@n...> wrote:
>
> well it wouldn't be me to talk on DNA stuff, well not much anyway.
> 
> why not ask Gary Felix and then forward the group any answers you might 
> receive. or go to that discussion group moderated by Gary that Ed 
> mentioned.
> 
> I just don't know enough to comment.
> 
> joseph
> 
> beelieve wrote:
> 
> > Hello everyone in our group,
> >  I am always so very interested in everything I read from our group.
> > I am new at this whole thing but am s l o w l y learning. Much thanks 
> > to Joseph,Arturo and Deena for all your intro help. My DNA results( 
> > via National Geographic special/family tree) on the maternal side are;
> > HER Haplography BE
> > HER differences from CRS
> > 16172C
> > 16183C
> > 16189C
> > 16217C
> > 16391A
> > 16519C
> >  I have not as of yet been contacted from anyone with a similar
match, 
> > but I am hopeful there is someone out there. Also if ANYONE can help 
> > me make heads or tails of what of  these numbers mean, I sure would 
> > like your help.I know my ancestors were from Zacatecas, Mexico.
When I 
> > first started with Rancho's, I had the name of my ggg grandmother 
> > Ancelma Rodriguez (dop 1860?) but have since (thank you Deena) found 
> > the names only of a couple more generations.They are,Agustina Ramirez 
> > and her mother Maria de Jesus Hernandez.
> > Thank you all for your input!
> > Hope

Sorry, Emilie.  That was supposed to be a humorous remark about our
diverse genetic make up in Mexico in reference to all the different
haplogroups of Ed's grandparents.

I was just trying to find an equivalent expression to "heinz 57" in
the US, when someone has a mix of several ancestries.  

Capirotada is a typical sweet Mexican dessert made up of a lot of
ingredients, as Joseph remembers.

Victor


--- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com, "Emilie Garcia" <auntyemfaustus@h...>
wrote:
>
> Victor,
> 
> I thought they called it the "Mestizaje"?  However, that word is not
in my Spanish dictionary.  I found "mescladura" and "mezcolanza". 
What say you, Jose Roman?  What do they call it in Mexico?
> 
> Emilie Garcia
> Port Orchard, WA ---
>   ----- Original Message ----- 
>   From: v.h.villarreal<mailto:raices_regias@y...> 
>   To: ranchos@yahoogroups.com<mailto:ranchos@yahoogroups.com> 
>   Sent: Friday, November 18, 2005 9:00 AM
>   Subject: [ranchos] Re: Trevino match, DNA and the Today show
> 
> 
>   --- In ranchos@yahoogroups.com<mailto:ranchos@yahoogroups.com>,
"Edward Serros" <ed@s<mailto:ed@s>...> wrote:
>   > 
>   > For starters I have 4 grandparents (Serros, Felguerez, Salas,
>   Suarez) and the following is 
>   > the DNA data that I have gathered. They all have a "story", which in
>   some cases made me 
>   > check a great grandparent line. The results sometimes help when we
>   get to the genealogy 
>   > road blocks that we all arrive at.
>   > 
>   > Felguerez great grandfather (Y-DNA haplogroup K), Pinedo (mtDNA
>   haplogroup A), Cerros 
>   > (Y-DNA haplogroup R1b1c*) Salas (Y-DNA haplogroup R1b), Suarez
>   (Y-DNA haplogroup 
>   > Q), Sosa (mtDNA haplogroup C).
>   > 
>   > Ed
>   > 
> 
>   Ed,
> 
>   The Americans talk about the "melting pot";  the Canadians speak about
>   a "mosaic".  The Italians tutti frutti.
> 
>   What could we call the Mexican mix?  Capirotada?  Sopa de Letras?
> 
>   Victor