Message: Free DNA sequencing to build family tree database
By Muzaffar Ali
LAHORE: The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF) has set up a collection centre at the University of Health Science (UHS) to provide free DNA sequencing to the people interested to learn about their ancestors.
The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation is a non-profit organisation dedicated to building the world's foremost collection of DNA and corresponding genealogical information. The Foundation is a world leader in DNA research with direct application to genealogy. Their work complements other studies that focus on the ancestry of humankind. The SMGF was inspired by discussions in 1999 between philanthropist James LeVoy Sorenson and Prof Scott Woodward about using DNA in genealogy. Since that time, SMGF has collected more than 60,000 DNA samples, together with four-generation pedigree charts, from volunteers in more than 100 countries around the world.
Dr Waseem Haider, DNA research scholar at the UHS, told Daily Times that he had been appointed by the SMGF to collect DNA specimens in Pakistan. He said it was very easy to give a specimen. Interested people could send specimens by rising plain water for 45 second and then putting it into a container, he said.
DNA sequencing could tell various things like identifying people coming from the same ancestry or identifying the ethnic group one belongs, he said. He said the genetic science believed that all peoples had sprung from common ancestry and that ethnic groups and castes like Hashmis, Jutts, Raputs, Khans, Lodhis or Mughals could further determine their origin through DNA sequencing. He said the test could precisely determine back to the eighth generation and that it could go back as far as 50 generations, but after that it would be less reliable.
He said there were mainly two types of tests – mitochrondrial DNA (mtDNA) passed down from mother only to daughter and Y chromosome DNA (Y DNA) passed from father to son.
Haider said the SMGF would eventually create an extensive family trees that would allow genealogists to find links among people through the genetic information.
