A. No. It is important that those with similar surnames participate, such as Moodie, Mooty, and Mudie. Changes in spelling through the years mask the true historical relationships. Including any spelling variations will increase our understanding of the correct relationships.
Return to top Q. What is the purpose of the project?
A. This project hopes to establish a picture of the relationships among the various Moody lines
in the world, and especially those lines which have immigrated to the United States. For
example, in the United States, there are a number of Moody lines which originate in the
Northeastern states and other lines from various Southern states. This includes an
understanding of how the spelling variations of the Moody surname fit into that picture.
Return to top
Q. Can the study conclusively prove historical relationships?
A. In short, test results provide supporting evidence of the relationship between two lineages.
It remains important to use other research to establish the feasibility of and to further confirm
any relationships. You cannot tell exactly where the linkage is between the two male
researchers, only that they have a common male ancestor somewhere on their family trees in
the direct male line going back in time.
Q. How does y-chromosome DNA testing work?
A minimum of 37 markers on the Y-chromosome are analyzed (up to 111 markers may be tested and the more the better),
and a numeric value is assigned to each marker. The sets of numbers are then compared to the results from other participants in
the study. The higher the number of matching values, the more likely it is that both subjects
have a common ancestor. The greater the number of matching markers, the more recent the
common ancestor. The comparison actually results in a statistical probability of how many
generations have passed since the most recent common ancestor of any two participants.
If you remember high school biology, in humans the 23rd chromosome is the "sex"
chromosome. Females have two "X" chromosomes and males have an "X" and a "Y"
chromosome. The Y-chromosome is passed from father to son, basically unchanged, from
one generation to the next. Tests of tiny chemical markers in a part of the Y-chromosome that
changes (mutates) slowly over time yield numeric values that are collectively called a
haplotype. This haplotype is compared to haplotypes of other individuals to determine if they
share a common ancestor. Because this study uses the y-chromosome, we can only use results from male participants.
Since most Western societies trace surnames through the male line, it also means that men
probably need to have some variation of the Moody surname to participate. The exception
would be a man whose natural father was a Moody but who has a different surname because
of adoption or some similar situation.
A. FamilyTreeDNA will send you a kit with two small brushes and vials. Two samples are taken to ensure that one will be useable.
Each brush is rubbed against the inside of your cheek to collect buccal cells, placed into a vial, and then mailed back to the lab.
Q. How many male descendants in a family line should be tested?
A. Normally only one sample is needed from a close family group to establish the
Y-chromosome marker values of that line. However, "non-paternity events" do occur which will
mean finding other members of that particular line to participate. "Non-paternity event" is the
term used for situations where a presumed straight-line descendancy is broken. These
situations would include undocumented adoptions, infidelity, a child born to an unwed young
woman and raised in her family as a "brother," and similar circumstances. So, if one participant's results don't match any of the other results in the study, he may be
descended from an entirely different Moody line or he may have a "non-paternity event" in his
lineage. In such cases, another member of his line could be tested to help determine whether
a new line is involved or there is a possible non-paternity event. This second participant
should be as distantly related as is possible -- testing a first cousin isn't going to reveal a
non-paternity event if the event happened earlier than one of their fathers, as they have the
same Moody ancestors from their grandfather on back. Finding a third, fourth, or fifth cousin to
be the second participant would be more beneficial. There is some value in testing several members of the same ancestral line. Even though a
mutation in one measured marker may occur only once every 500 generations, any individual
may be that "lucky" man who gets and then passes on the mutation.
Q. Which y-chromosome DNA test is best?
A. Participants must use at least the 37-marker test. FamilyTreeDNA also offers a 67-marker and a 111-marker test and the more markers tested the better.
Q. What about privacy?
A. Only males have the Y-chromosome and it's passed from father to son, from generation to generation, with infrequent change (mutation). Names of
the participants are confidential aside from any sharing a participant agrees to. FamilyTreeDNA has
its own privacy policy. That policy allows participants to chose among various levels of privacy.
Q. What if I only know a few generations of my family history?
A. The test results may help you focus your research efforts on a particular Moody
line. Depending on how many distinct genetic lines are found among the different lineages
and surnames, testing may show your line has a common ancestor with a documented family.
Q. What's in it for you as the project administrator?
A. As the project administrator, I don't receive any payment, commission, or additional
discount, etc. from FamilyTreeDNA or any other party. All testing fees go directly to
FamilyTreeDNA. I donate my own time and a few dollars to assist participants and maintain the project web site.