Haplogroup Answers from the Experts

If you have read my last two postings, you may be aware that Jim McKown came up with a whole new haplogroup of which he may be the sole member. It is based on him
being positive for SNP P66+. I could tell you what the letters SNP refer to, but
beyond that I haven't a clue. Meanwhile, FTDNA responded to my email by saying that
P66+ is a very unstable SNP and may revert to the ancestral line. I also got a reply
from one of the principle analysts in the FTDNA Lab. and he says that they reviewed
Jim's P66+ twice, from two DNA samples and it is still P66+.

He goes on to say that they will review my P66- as well. It will be interesting to
see the result. Also, I would think that they would have to review the P66- results
of the other seven men with strong Maguire DNA. That is because these SNP's go back thousands of years and I would think that all of the men in the Ulster Heritage Group
Mag Uidhir II classification would have very similar deep ancestry as well. As you can see, I am out of my depth here and so, unlike politicians, I will sit down and shut up.

More From FTDNA

For those of you who have been tested by FTDNA, it appears to me that there will be
no substantial downside to the changes being made. They now say that you may copy
your existing matches if you want to, but then goes on to say BUT WE DON'T SEE WHY
YOU WOULD WANT TO.

Also, all of the matches at 33/37 and 60/67 and better will still be there so I see
no reason now to print out a copy of existing matches.

Meanwhile, there should be a substantial upside to the improvement in the FTDNA
Tip Tool which calculates the percentage probability of having a most common ancestor with any of your matches. They call this calculation the Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor (TMRCA). Two administrators, Barry McCain, of the Ulster Heritage Group and Joseph V. Dononhoe, of the Breifne Clans Project, have long regarded the FTDNA calculation to be unnecessarily conservative. They have been using probabilities of 55% to 85% as being all that is needed to determine
the number of generations to the Most Recent Common Ancestor(MRCA.

FTDNA's Changes to Improve TMRCA

FTDNA has a warning of pending changes when you click on your personal results page
and then click on Matches. These changes have now been sent to the project or group
admiistrators. The only thing required of those tested by FTDNA to date is to print
and save their matches so they can be reconciled with the new changes.

Apparently all of the genealogical DNA companies are having to conform to a new standard so that they all compare the same short tandem repeats (STR's). Of more
interest and concern to us is that these changes will make for a much more accurate
standard for Time to Most Recent Common Ancestor calculations. It is expected to
to affect about 10% of the membership. They haven't let on to the members, at this
point which 10% will be affected. It is very important to stay attuned to measages
from the administrators so you will know if you are affected.

I am in sort of a fringe position since I have more matches with the families in or close to the Maguire Clan and thus could wind up more in or more out as a result.
The TMRCA change is long overdue and the road is longer and more tortuos than I expected.

I expect a better appreciation from all of this as to just what my ancestry is.
That is the reason for having taken the tests and no matter how the cookie crumbles
Iam what I am and that's all I am---whatever that may be.