Mein Familien-Name ist Werlen. Ein Gerd Werle aus Sao Paulo schlug mir eine DNA-Analyse vor, um abzuklären ob wir gemeinsame Vorfahren haben. Kostenpunkt USD 277. Ich habe das abgelehnt.
1. Die Vorfahren von Gerd Werle kamen aus Ostpreussen und sind sicher keine Verwandte.
2. Ich schicke nicht eine DNA-Probe und Geld an eine mir unbekannte Person.

Inzwischen habe ich mich informiert. Im Internet findet man relativ viele Firmen, die Privatpersonen DNA-Analysen im Zusammenhang Ahnenforschung anbieten. Kostenpunkt CHF 300-1000. Den seriösesten Eindruck hatte ich von „Oxford Ancestors“ (http://www.oxfordancestors.com/). Nicht zuletzt, weil dieser Anbieter den im Zusammenhang DNA-Analysen wichtige Datenschutz ernst nimmt und eine klare Preispolitik hat.

In der Ahnforschung mittels DNA ist das sogenannte Y-Chromosom wichtig. Dieses Chromosom wird ausschliesslich auf der Vater/Sohn-Linie übertragen. Ohne eine DNA-Analyse des Stammvaters kann man m.E. allerdings damit nur die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Zugehörigkeiten zu bestimmten Volksgruppen feststellen (In Grossbritannien ist z.Z. beliebt, sich zu runden Geburtstagen eine DNA-Analyse zu schenken, die darüber Auskunft gib, ob man von Kelten, Normannen oder Wikingern etc. abstammt).
Mit DNA-Analysen können wir nicht feststellen, ob z.B. ein Werlen aus dem Lötschental von einem Gommer-Werlen abstammt oder umgekehrt – da wahrscheinlich noch viele andere Walliser, die einen anderen Familien-Namen haben, vom gleichen unbekannten Urvater abstammen.

Da obige Information meine Interpretation ist und vielleicht auch noch andere AVG-Mitglieder mit dem Vorschlag einer DNA-Analyse konfrontiert werden, in der Beilage noch der (englische) Text einer wissenschaftlich präziseren Auskunft.

Franco Werlen
www.werlen.ch

Beilage
Dear Mr Werlen,

In reply to your query a Y-Line analysis will not provide absolute proof of a Common Paternal Ancestor (CPA), for the reasons given below. However it may provide evidence which says such a hypothesis is \’highly likely\’ or \’unlikely\’.

Our Y-Line service analyses Y-chromosomes and is therefore obviously for males only. Customers of our Y-Line service receive a high quality certificate as shown on our web site. Our customers also receive an explanation of how to compare Y-Line signatures.

The data we provide is designed for use in genealogical research and, when compared to data from relatives or used in conjunction with our MyMap service, can help to determine the ancestral origin of the surname. However, our MyMap service only covers the UK mainland and unfortunately would therefore not be helpful in tracing the origin of surnames from other countries.

The Y-chromosome is passed from father to son, which means that male relatives who have an uninterrupted male-male link will share the same, or very similar Y chromosome signatures. This service would only show a connection between family branches if the descendants to be analysed have an uninterrupted male-male link back to a CPA.

It should be noted that known descendants of a CPA may produce Y-Line signatures that are a perfect match. There is also a possibility that there may be slight differences in the Y-Line signatures of any known male descendants, because it is estimated that there is ON AVERAGE a 2% (i.e. a 1 in 50) chance that between any one generation and the next a father and son will have a Y-Line code differing at one of the ten markers.

However, very different Y-Line signatures of males thought to be closely related are sometimes seen, because of a non paternity event at some point in time (i.e. the true biological father is not the person stated to be the father on the paper record – paper records do not always tell the truth – DNA doesn\’t lie!).

Using the 2% value and a generation time of 25 years, this means that in any given family line you would only expect to see ON AVERAGE a change in one of the ten markers every 1,250 years. So, a ten marker analysis is useful for providing supporting evidence for a common ancestry say 1,000 years ago, but is not sufficiently discriminatory to indicate if a common ancestor had arisen fairly recently and would certainly not be able to say if two men were, for example, father and son or great uncle and nephew. For this shorter focus more markers would be required.

A Y-Line analysis is usually used as a tool to test a hypothesis arrived at by some previous knowledge, such as a paper trail or family rumour or a common surname. Looking at it in reverse (i.e. having the results then trying to form a hypothesis) isn\’t always helpful.

This is because it is sometimes the case that individuals with different surnames do share a common Y-Line signature, without there being a recent CPA. Although in European populations and those groups that trace their ancestry to that continent there is a close connection between surnames and the Y-Line signature, it is unusual for a Y-Line signature to be exclusive to one surname only. Conversely, individuals with the same surname may have different Y-Line signatures. It is not possible to say before the analysis if any given individuals signature will be one that is seen quite frequently, or is not very common.

When comparing Y-Line signatures any conclusions drawn rely on statistical analysis of the results. This means it is only possible to say that a relationship between two men is \’highly likely\’, or \’likely\’ or \’unlikely\’. This analysis will not provide absolute proof. If two branches of a family are related the results will also allow you to work out approximately when a common paternal ancestor existed. However, this time estimate is not very accurrate in individual cases as the range of possible times is very large. For much larger groups of Y-Line signatures, the time estimate does becomes more accurate.

As the specific parts of the Y-chromosome DNA that we analyse are known as \’junk DNA\’ (DNA that has no biological function), the results of this analysis in isolation do not provide any information on physically or genetically-inherited characteristics or on any issues relating to place of origin, race or ethnicity.

So in summary:

1) If males with the surname of Werlen in each of the three valleys (Goms, Lötschental and Schattenberge) share the same or a very similar Y-Line signature this would provide supporting evidence for a CPA. The analysis is not likely to be able to pinpoint when this CPA existed. However, if this signature was found to be frequent in the population as a whole this evidence would not be as strong as if the signature was not as common.

2) If males with the surname of Werlen in each of the three valleys have very different Y-Line signatures (but within each valley on its own the signatures were similar) this would suggest that they did not share a CPA in the 9th century. However, as mentioned this could also be due to a non paternity event at some point in time.

I hope this information is useful to you, but please do not hesitate to contact me again if you have any further queries.

Thank you for your interest.

Yours sincerely,

Marie Kitchin,

Senior Scientific Officer,
Oxford Ancestors
www.oxfordancestors.com