Riegel DNA ProjectRiegel DNA ProjectThis page created 21 Mar 2010
This article is intended to provide a basic background as to how DNA analysis works and how it can be applied to the study of the Riegel families. It is by no means a comprehensive treatment of the subject, nor does it try to use technically correct terminology when simpler language will suffice. It is a "beginner" treatment designed to provide a basic understanding of the concepts involved. Please note that except when used as a given person's surname, the name "Riegel" when used below is intended to include all spelling variations.
The DNA analysis used for genealogy is a small part of the total DNA a person has in every cell. There are two principal portions of DNA of interest in genealogy:
Of the two, the Y-DNA is most commonly used, I suppose because it in general follows surnames and thus attracts surname associations and the like. We will talk here about Y-DNA because that's what we are using for the Riegel DNA Project.
The segments of Y-DNA being used are passed more or less unchanged from father to son, but with occasional mutations from generation to generation. One can order tests for various numbers of "markers", commonly 12, 25, 37, and 67. The more markers tested, the greater chance of finding these occasionally mutations. Since only males have Y-DNA, only men can be tested.
If you look at the Y-DNA Results page on our official website each of the numbered/lettered columns is one marker. The two samples we have so far both tested 37 markers. If these two samples were from men who were closely related, the markers in each column would be the same, with perhaps one or two differing by a value of one or two.
The term "Genetic Distance" is a measure of the number of differences between two samples, and can give a statistical estimate of the number of generations back you have to look for the shared ancestor, based on estimates of the probability of a mutation in any one generation. Note that the labels in some columns are in red - these are the markers that are most likely to change from generation to generation.
We currently have two samples – one from a man known to descend from Mattheis Riegell of Rheinland-Pfalz and one from a descendant of Simon Riegel of Lancaster Co. The results have been divided them into two "groups" as we will get to momentarily. The actual results are on the lines with the two "Kit numbers." With these two samples there is no matching at all - very few of the marker are the same or even close. The "genetic distance" the service computed between them is 42, on a scale where anything over 6 means probably no common ancestor for thousands of years. That means that these two men are not related since well before recorded history. In this case we didn't need 37 markers to tell us that - the first 12 would have told the story quite plainly.
Since there is currently only one sample in each group, the Mode means nothing - it's simply the same value as the sample itself. It may be more useful as we obtain more samples.
Based on the initial results showing no connection between our two subjects, and on the finding in Riegell to Riggle and by subsequent researchers that there appears to be no connection between these two Riegel families, our two subjects have assigned to separate groups within our study. One group is for descendants of Mattheis Riegell and the other for those of Simon Riegel. Should further testing disclose additional unrelated families additional groups will be established.
With only one sample in each group there is a risk that the conclusion that the two families are unrelated is wrong. Y-DNA is passed from the biological father to his son. There is always the chance of what is politely called a "non-paternity event" – an unknown adoption, or any other case where the supposed father isn't actually the father of the child. So it would be best if additional samples from descendants from each family could be tested, preferably descendants as distantly related as possible. If several descendants of the same family yield the same or close results, we can be confident that we know the pattern of that family, who all share a common ancestor.
So a first priority of the project is to obtain additional samples from descendants of Mattheis Riegell and Simon Riegel, from subjects as distantly related to the current subjects as possible, to verify that we do know the correct patterns of these two families.
So the first thing we can learn for DNA testing is what we have tentatively concluded here - whether family groups with the same surname are, or are not, related within some reasonable number of generations. So if someone who cannot trace his ancestry to any known Riegel family matches others known to be part of one of the known families, he knows there is a link someplace, if only record of it can be found. On the contrary, our two initial test subjects know that they need not look for a connecting link, because none exits.
This kind of information had proved quite useful to other surname study groups. In the case of one surname group I participate in it was believed from family traditions that most or all the families of that surname in the U.S. were related. To the considerable surprise of some researchers, it was proved through DNA study that there were at least three totally unrelated families of that name in the U.S. Tentatively identified ancestors have had to be rejected, and the search is on now for the actual ancestors of several branches. In one case, a DNA match has been found between a family in the U.S. and a small unlinked family group in England. As a result research is underway to identify the actual connection by traditional methods.
For our Project a second priority is to obtain samples from descendants of each of the known Riegel families. These would include the family of Herman L. Riegel of Missouri (Riegell to Riggle, pg 5) and the descendants of William Riegel of Dauphin Co., William J. Reigle of Perry Co., and the Riegels and Reagles of York Co., Pennsylvania (Riegell to Riggle, pp 553-6) if any can be found.
In addition to these families mentioned in Riegell to Riggle, there are no doubt a number of other of family groups with Riegel surnames who have been unable to connect their ancestry to any of the known lines. This Project can help them learn whether they are in fact related to the known families, and thus whether searching for connections to those families might be fruitful. In fact, it can potentially help them to find those connections, as discussed next.
As mentioned above, there are occasional mutations when a father passes his Y-DNA to his sons. If we had a dozen or so samples from descendants of Mattheis who descend from various branches of his family, we would likely find one or more mutations – single markers that differ slightly. If we then examine results from men who cannot trace their Riegel ancestry back to a known descendants of his, but whose results do match those of his descendants, we can look for matching patterns of mutations. If such matches are found, they would tell us which branch of the family the un-linked group belongs to. That hopefully narrows the field of search, because researchers in that family group they would then know which branch contains their ancestors.
From this discussion it should be clear that the more samples we can obtain, from the widest distribution of different branches, the more valuable the information becomes.
A probably less useful but still somewhat interesting result in DNA testing is the identifying the "haplogroup" of the subject. The haplogroups of our current test subjects are shown in the column labeled "Haplo" on our results page. Haplogroups essentially identify very ancient branches of the human "family." Experts argue vigorously about the specifics of these groups, but they generally reflect various branches that migrated to different parts of the globe as humankind spread across the world. The difference between the R1b1b2 group of one of our participants and the I2a group of the other says their male ancestors parted ways tens of thousands of years ago. I find the map in the article on Haplogroup I on Wikipedia interesting as a way to understand the general concept of how these groups reflect ancient origins of peoples.
Hopefully this article provides a basic idea of the utility of this kind of analysis, and motivates you to consider whether you might be interested in participating, or encouraging others to do so. Only males who are direct-line descendants can be tested, but others can assist by finding eligible males and urging them to participate.
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