Now We Are G2a1a -- a Rare Breed, Indeed
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Benedict Topics
28 Now We Are G2a1a -- a Rare Breed, Indeed |
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Benedict Surname DNA Project Pages
Benedict Topics Index
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The latest table for the worldwide group of G2a1 and G2a1a test results is available here. View a Phylogenetic Chart of the latest G Haplogroups here. From the Unknown to the Known When we first started this Project, back in mid-2004, we understood very little about DNA testing or its full ramifications for genealogical purposes. A great deal of learning has since occurred. And with that understanding has come a flood of increasingly complex information. The earliest appraisal of the Benedict haplotype was that it was unusual, perhaps E3a or possibly G. To quote Bennett Greenspan of FTDNA, "Technically you fall within a hole and we haven't yet been able to find enough samples with a profile similar to yours to have a nice tight clean prediction, but I suspect that you are in Haplogroup G." That was the verdict in 2004. We now know that it is not really a hole that we are in, but rather a very narrow niche all of our own. Early on, a new test of our samples turned up the M201 SNP; this verified the designation of haplogroup G. Another round of tests found the P15 SNP, an indicator of haplogroup G2. But I suspected, from the unusual nature of our haplotype, that we were probably more than G2, at least G2a. In September 2005, I requested being tested for the P17 and P18 SNPs, hoping that would disclose both G2a and G2a1 at the same time. So, more recently, in September 2006, a deep SNP test finally turned up the P16 SNP, redefining us as haplogroup G2a. Two members of the Benedict DNA Project were confirmed as being of this rare haplogroup. During October 2006, I was invited to send a sample to the Garvey-Ballantyne G SNP Project, a university research program. On 1 November 2006, I received notice that my sample carried the P18 SNP and that I was officially of the G2a1 haplogroup. In early May 2008, the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) issued the Y-DNA Haplogroup Tree 2008 which contains the latest developments in a rapidly changing field. The Haplogroup G portion of the tree contains much revised data concerning new SNPs that define new clades. As a consequence of this influx of new data the clade structure of the haplogroup has been modified. A result of this is that former Haplogroup G2a is now redefined as 13 new sub-clades. Former clade G2a1, to which we Benedicts belonged, is now divided into two subclades; we are now in G2a1a. Knowledge in this field continues to expand with head-spinning acceleration! Stay tuned for further developments. |
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This Update: 11 May 2008 | |
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