Group Doubles in Recent Months!
As the 'Numbers' in the sidebar indicate, the membership of our project has more than
doubled since the last newsletter. We have grown from seven members in January
to 15 in October. We have our colleague, Piet Venter, in Pretoria to thank
for a large part of this growth. Piet, who has been your group administrator's
right hand man dealing with our South African cousins, published a letter telling
about our project in the South African newspaper Beeld, which resulted in catching
the attention of a number of interested people, several of whom went on to become
participants in our project. A big Tip of the Hat to Piet and a hearty Welcome
to our new members.
DYS#464, an Interesting Marker
Most participants, when joining our project, start with the minimal 12-marker test.
However, several of our group have elected to order tests with higher marker counts,
and this has resulted in an interesting finding. It seems that the South African
line contains the unusual feature of having the marker known as DYS#464 repeated
six times, instead of the more common four. These repeats are identified as 464a
through 464f, and can be seen in the posted results on our group's
Y Results page at Family Tree DNA or on the
Test Results page at www.venter.org.
You will notice that those of us that do not
have as many repeats just have blank spaces for these markers. The DYS#464 marker
has been known to repeat as many as seven times, so you will see a space for 464g
on the charts, as well.
As you all know, the Y-chromosome features used in genealogical analysis are know as
Short Tandem Repeats (STRs). These are where a specific sequence of the DNA chemical
bases, say CAG for example, are repeated a number of times at a specific location.
Three repeats would appears as CAGCAGCAG. The location is identified by a 'DNA
Y-chromosome Sequence Number' or DYS#. As an example, all of us in the Venter Surname
DNA Project have a value of 12 at marker location DYS# 388. The means that a specific
sequence of bases is repeated 12 times at this location. Now, DYS#464 is a special case
in that not only is it a base sequence repeated a number of times at one location, but
also that this entire set of repeats is taken as single element and is itself replicated
at other locations as well. In this case it may be replicated in any where from four
to seven locations in total.
And even more interesting, the number of repeats at location DYS#464a differs from
the number of repeats at DYS#464d, which differs from the number of repeats at 464f.
In fact, the number of repeats for each of the six occurrences of the DYS#464 marker
are 12, 12, 15, 15, 15, and 16, respectively. And further, these values are the same for all three men who
have been tested for these markers, indicating that they were most certainly inherited
from Hendrik Conrad Venter, the forefather of all of the South African Venters.
Therefore, DYS#464 will be a major piece of the puzzle when trying to identify the
European origins of the South African clan.
The Venter Surname Research Group
In an effort to foster a group identity and provide a more informal setting for the
exchange of information and ideas, a 'Google Group' has been established for the benefit
and use of our project members.
This is a private group and is only accessible by members. But once a member, you are
free to participate to the degree that matches your level of comfort. That means you
may choose to do nothing more than monitor what the rest of the group is doing, or you
may partake to the fullest by initiating discussions, posing questions, posting exhibits,
up-loading files, and putting up your own personal web page or pages. As a member you will be
able to send e-mail directly to other members individually, or use our group e-mail
address to send messages to the group as a whole. Your personal pages can be used to tell the
group about yourself, post pictures, or for anything else you may wish to share with
the group.
As an example of what can be done, a copy of the South African family tree has already
been posted (which currently is available to be viewed by the public). Others will
be added as they become available.
It is hoped that this will help us develop a group identity, a feeling of camaraderie,
and allow each of us to become known as the person we are rather than just a kit number
and a haplotype. All project members
are encouraged to join. All you have to do to apply for membership is to go to our home
page located at: The Venter
Surname Research Group and follow the link on the right side of the page. You will
need a google account and if you don't already have one you can create one from a link
on that page. Just register using your current e-mail address.
We look forward to seeing you all on the inside.
Our Web Pages are Always there for You.
The Surname
Research Center
The Venter Surname DNA Project
The Venter
Surname Research Group
Family Tree DNA
Mitochondria DNA
In our quest to follow our paternal ancestry through the Y-chromosome, sometimes
we forget that we also have a way of following our maternal line. This can be done
through the analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).
Some of you may have read the fascinating book by Bryan Sykes, "The Seven Daughters
of Eve", which tells the story of how the study of mitochondria DNA came about and
explains how almost the entire population of Europe can trace their ancestry to any one
of just seven women. These seven women founded their genetic lines as a result of a
specific mutation in their mtDNA and that mutation has been passed down through the
generations. Determining your mtDNA haplogroup will tell you from which of these
seven women you have descended.
Two men of our group have elected to have their mtDNA analyzed, and one woman has
join to have her mtDNA analyzed. So far, only two of the three results have been
posted and you can see these results by going to the
group web page
and clicking on "mt Results" near the top of the page.
Even though the Venter DNA project was founded in order to investigate the Venter
paternal line, mtDNA analysis is certainly an interesting complement to the effort.
And while women are not able to directly participate through Y-chromosome analysis,
they are welcome to join us for mtDNA analysis.
Questions?
From time-to-time a project member will have a question regarding his test results
or just DNA in general, and will e-mail his query to me, the group leader.
I am always willing to help in any way possible, but you should know that the real
experts are at Family Tree DNA. I have asked them questions in the past and have
always found them to be very willing to help, quick to reply and thorough in
answering my question. You can find their e-mail address by going to your Personal
Results web page at familytreedna.com and clicking on the "Contact" tab in the upper
right corner.
Prepared by Robert Venter
Venter Surname DNA Project Group Administrator
Send e-mail to:
venter.genealogy@comcast.net
Venter