• Introduction to Molecular Genealogy
• Family Tree
• DNA Testing
• Your DNA
• Mitochondrial DNA
• Y Chromosome DNA
• Autosomal DNA
• X Chromosome DNA
• Haplogroups
• Mutation and Haplotypes
• Putting it all together
• How to use a DNA kit
• Understanding your results

Family Tree

A family tree shows the relationships of children and parents back through time. Through the study of genealogy, it is often possible to build a very large family tree.

Genealogy involves going back through written historical records that document major life events such as births and marriages. But the written record is incomplete. Many written records have been lost or destroyed over the years.

And in many cases, births and marriages were never recorded. The result is a dead end in the family tree. Inside our bodies, we carry another record of our family relationships. It is our DNA.