Sinclair DNA on Family Tree DNA, Our Most Listened-to Blog Talk Radio Show

I've hosted quite a few Blog Talk Radio shows about our Sinclair family DNA study. Of them all, the one with the most listeners featured Bennett Greenspan, one of the founders of Family Tree DNA.

Click here to launch the show.

Bennett makes this complex subject easy. I highly recommend listening in, no matter what level you are in your own DNA.

How Sinclair DNA members avoid getting pulled into the hype

As in many aspects of life, there's a tremendous amount of hype that happens in particular parts of the DNA world. This blog post is about avoiding the hype and staying focused on the facts.

1. No one, I repeat, NO ONE knows with any real certainty who their ancient ancestors were. When I say ancient, I mean sometime around or before the 1300s. Genealogists who are good at what they do, know that records before the 1600s are incredibly scarce. So if someone is claiming that they know with absolute certainty who their ancestors were in the 1300s, it means that they must be of a royal family in England, France, or elsewhere. Or they're simply making it up.

While records run out sometime around or before the 1600s, DNA cannot get close enough to that time period to finish the story. There are currently a few SNP tests which can give you some sense of the geography of a common ancestor who might have lived about 1000 AD. But that leaves a 600 year gap. And lots of things could've happened during that 600 year gap.

Traditional records-based genealogy research works backwards in time. DNA research works forward, from our exit out of Africa, to where we are today. The advent of SNPs has allowed us to get much closer towards the 1600s. And while it is tempting to think that you have solved it,  you will most likely be proven wrong. For this reason, I offer point number two.

2. Watch for words which signal proclamations. There are a bunch of Yahoo groups out there, many of which contain very solid researchers. But often, lurking in the shadows, are some of what I call "true believers."

How do you recognize a true believer? You will see people using words like:

• We've solved it
• Certain
• Absolute
• Definite
• Finally
• Merovingians
• Holy Grail
• Bloodline
• Knights Templar
• Da Vinci Code

And here are some words you will not see them using:

• Possibly
• Probability
• Evidence
• Footnote
• Chance
• More research
• Lewis C.  Loyd
• K.S.B Keats-Rohan
• Non-Internet research
• Library
• Trip to the NAS
• I'm not sure

3. Choose your Sinclair researchers carefully. I don't blame Dan Brown, really. He could not have known the effect his book, The Da Vinci Code, would have on the genealogy and DNA world. A quick look around the Internet will show you many families (with only the slightest of links to the Sinclair family) who have decided that they are in fact our blood relations. Even within our own family the book has caused huge divisions. A few members of our family are utterly convinced they descend from a supposed union of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. This is not a subject which should even be discussed when one is working on DNA. If you doubt me, look at how your local library (there's that word again) puts The Da Vinci Code on its shelves. It's in the fiction section.

We have a wonderful group of people researching the history of the Sinclair St. Clair family. We host this group on Google Groups, and we maintain high standards. If you are a serious researcher, and have some reason to be researching the Sinclair St. Clair family, please get in touch with us at our website StClairResearch.com

Our methodology page at the Sinclair DNA website

Keep up with our Sinclair family DNA study on Facebook

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The Sinclair DNA study puts out frequent YouTube videos.

Our First Sinclair DNA Video

Back when I first made a major overhaul of the Sinclair DNA website, this video was on it. Parts of one of the charts has changed, and we've certainly learned a lot more, but the basic approach has proven true - Let the data lead where it may.
Click here to see it on YouTube - http://youtu.be/hafEg--GWlE

Sinclair DNA U106 SNP

This week on Tumblr, I've put up an article about the Sinclair DNA Study's U106 Lineage. In it, I cover our 4 very different SNPs -
U106*, Z9*, Z1 and Z1.

If you're a member of the family and are thinking of taking our DNA test, please learn more about the power of SNP testing.

Click here to learn more about the U106 SNP in the Sinclair DNA study.

There's a great deal more on the U106 SNP at the Sinclair DNA website.

Thinking of joining the Sinclair DNA study? Click Here.

Our original video that we put up on the launch of the Sinclair DNA website.

Rosslyn Chapel, built by William St. Clair

This is a beautiful video about Rosslyn Chapel. The protective canopy is now removed. William St Clair directed the construction of Rosslyn in the mid-1400s.

Joining Sinclair DNA

If your last name is St. Clair, Sinceler, Sinkler, Sinclair, or any other variant, then the Sinclair DNA test is a good bet for you to get answers to your genealogy. We manage the DNA of over 200 participants. We've got a great group on Google Groups that can help to point you in the right direction for your research.

Click here to join the Sinclair DNA study.

Sinclair DNA Mystery Lineage on Blog Talk Radio

For many years now, we've had a lineage that goes through part of Virginia, through Pennsylvania, Ireland, and southern Scotland. Yet we haven't found a common ancestor, so we've referred to them as our "Mystery Lineage." We're not yet sure where their common geography in the UK is.

Now, thanks to hard work of several of the members of this lineage, and some lucky breaks, the DNA of this Sinclair lineage seems to be pointing to some common areas.

Keep an eye on our website as we get the genealogists of this group together to discuss their research and how the DNA seems to be corroborating it.

You can hear several of our "radio shows" in which we discuss Sinclair DNA at this link.

In this next show, listen for clues that can help your own DNA study. This Sinclair lineage has definitely shown patience and inventiveness in their approach to DNA.