Yes, we all carry our ancestors with us! As DNA testing becomes more sophisticated I'm sure we will be able to find out more about our ancestry from the clues in our own bodies. But our genes may also hold secrets we don't want to know: whether we are likely to be susceptible to particular diseases, for example.
The processes by which our genetic material is copied when a cell divides, and how the instructions encoded in the DNA are translated to make the components of our bodies, are quite extraordinary and beautiful. I don't know if anyone has tried to re-create it in a computer animation . . . I will go and have a look.
Thanks Jane. It's a fascinating subject and your explanation is easy to follow. We are such a mixture of those gone before us and I suppose in a way we never really die as the genes are passed on. It's a bit like making a cake - the end result depends on what ingredients have gone into it!
...Perhaps the ultimate in Shane's research is a DNA test. Would it have to be male and would it have to be someone with the actual Oliver surname (that would rule my lot out because they are really Townsends - I think!).
You may regret asking me a genetics question, Linda! But here goes...
There are two main types of DNA test available to family historians:
the Y-DNA test, which looks only at the Y-chromosome, which is only present in men and is passed down from father to son. There are occasional changes by mutation, so comparison of Y-chromosomes between different men can give some idea of relatedness. As you suspected, though, Linda, this test wouldn't help with the sons of unmarried Oliver women: these boys would have their fathers' Y-DNA. These tests only tell you about a man's father's father's father's father's [etc.] ancestry.
the mt-DNA test, which looks only at a special little circle of DNA called mitochondrial DNA. Both men and women have mitochondrial DNA but we only inherit it from our mother, so tests on this DNA only tell us about our mother's mother's mother's mother's [etc.] ancestry.
We have 8 great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents, 32 in the next generation, etc. For a man, having both the above tests would tell him something about only two of the 32 g-g-g-grandparents - and nothing about the other 30. For a woman you'd only be able to say anything about one of the 32. Go further back and the numbers get diluted even more. So when genealogy programmes tell a celebrity that their ancestral homeland is some remote spot on the earth, they mean that that's where ONE of their ancestors came from.
These two types of DNA have been the first for which tests have been developed because their inheritance is simpler (only through the male line or only through the female). For the other types (most of our DNA !) the picture is more complicated because we inherit a mixture of bits, some from our mother and some from our father (and with contributions from many of their ancestors going way back). Some companies are now bringing in a test that can test across a wide selection of different bits of our DNA, which should give a more representative picture of our whole genetic make-up.
Here endeth the genetics lesson. That's probably more info than you wanted or needed! Hope it is of some interest anyway.
I have been watching the said programmes, but age took over, and shame, I fell asleep. I will catch up with it later on PC.
It is not the hair that is attractive to me, but the voice. Usually male Scottish voices seem harsh and seem as though they want to fight, but he could rock me sleep any time!!
The lilt of the Irish have the same effect. Not Northern though.
Mind you the way I feel at times just a good old Oxon sound keeps me happy.
I wonder if you watched your 'heart throb' last night on his programme about Celtic Britain. He had his DNA tested to see where his 'de pre history(?)' ancestors came from and although his mother's side was predominately Scottish, his father's ancesters didn't even exist in Britain, they were mainly Southern and Eastern European.
I'm assuming that he is an 'Oliver' and this isn't just a professional name.
Perhaps the ultimate in Shane's research is a DNA test. Would it have to be male and would it have to be someone with the actual Oliver surname (that would rule my lot out because they are really Townsends - I think!).
Jane, you will probably be able to enlighten us a bit more about this.
