Welcome to the
CARMACK Surname DNA
Project Information site.
The objective is to match up individuals or
families who share a common male ancestor of the CARMACK
surname (or any of the variant spellings).
Y-DNA testing is relatively new
to genealogy research. Y-DNA is passed from father to son only, through
the generations, with minimal (random) changes. This
Y-DNA "signature" can be used to prove or
disprove lineage and, when compared to the Y-DNA signature of a �cousin�, to
possibly trace back to a Most Recent Common Ancestor.
INTRODUCTION
DNA testing gives genealogy
researchers another avenue to better establish, or disprove
ancestral links
between individuals with a common surname. There are two types of DNA tests
now available for genealogical testing: the Y-chromosome (Y-DNA) test and the
mitochondrial (mtDNA) test. A direct female line can be traced by testing
mitochondrial DNA. Our project is an effort to trace the
CARMACK surname. Since
fathers pass on the DNA in their �Y� chromosome to their sons virtually
unchanged from generation to generation, men with identical, or near identical,
DNA factors can be genetically proven to be descendants of a common male
ancestor. For this reason, our study will be
limited to direct line CARMACK males. Test results will not give the degree
of relationship, but they can prove a common male
ancestor.
The testing laboratory will be
analyzing 12-37 different markers on the participant�s
Y-chromosome (depending upon which test is chosen).
If the Y-chromosomes of two tested individuals match, it will
indicate they both descend from a common male CARMACK
ancestor. This testing will not, however,
identify the specific ancestor from whom a participant descends.
Once enough samples have been analyzed though, a
person tested who is from an unknown lineage could learn which general line he
belongs to and therefore eliminate investigating CARMACK
families from whom he could NOT have descended.
Although more documentary
evidence may still be found, traditional genealogical research may never find
all the connections between the various Carmack family
groups. In addition, there are undoubtedly links that have been made that are
not correct. The availability of Y chromosome analysis now provides a new way to
determine direct male to male lineage, and this is the basis of this project.
OBJECTIVES
The objective is to build up a
database of Carmack family Y-DNA profiles to assist Carmack's world wide to
trace their ancestral roots, and also locate possible long lost branches of
their families. This project can help answer
many things about the Carmack's,
some of which include the following:
- Identify
others who are related and how the different
CARMACK family lines
related.
- Prove or disprove theories
regarding ancestors.
- Breakdown brick walls in your
research.
- Determine a location for
further research.
- Validate existing research.
- How many different common male
ancestors are associated with the CARMACK surname?
- Are the
Maryland CARMACKs related
to the
CARMACKs from Ireland and Scotland?
- Which
CARMACK researchers should be collaborating because they share a common
ancestor?
If your
CARMACK research has hit a �wall�, DNA analysis could be the breakthrough you have been looking for to push your CARMACK
genealogy research back generations by finding connections to other
CARMACK family Lines.
THE PLAN
The CARMACK
DNA Project invites all men with the CARMACK surname
(including all variant spellings) to participate.
Family Tree
DNA (FTDNA), one of the most prominent research firms in this field,
has been selected for our "Y"
chromosome DNA project. FTDNA is a Houston, TX based company founded strictly
for performing genealogical DNA testing and analysis. All work is done in the
lab of Dr. Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona. Dr. Hammer is another
highly respected geneticist who is actively pursuing DNA surname research. As
part of the Family Tree DNA Family Reconstruction Project Program we have
obtained the following special group prices for our project:
- Y-DNA 12-marker test $99
- Good
- Y-DNA 25-marker test $169
- Better
- Y-DNA 37-marker
test $229 -
Best
- Y-Refine 12 to 25 (to upgrade a
12-marker test to a 25-marker test) $90
- Y-Refine 25 to 37
(to upgrade a 25-marker test to a
37-marker test) $59
- Y-Refine 12 to 37
(to upgrade a 12-marker test to a 37-marker test)
$149
You may choose either the
12-Marker or 25-Marker or 37-Marker
test. The 25 or 37-Marker test uses the same markers as the
12-Marker test plus additional ones, so results will be compatible. If you want to
upgrade from the 12-marker test to a 25 or 37 marker test you can do this at a later
date without having to resubmit your DNA, since it is stored by FTDNA and is
available for additional tests. I strongly advise the 25
or 37 marker test.
However, if cost is an issue, the 12 marker test is certainly sufficient for
excluding connections.
Test results will be returned to
both the Family Coordinator and the test participant as they are received by FTDNA. Each participant will
also receive a certificate and report containing his personal test results. The
staff of FTDNA or its testing lab at the University of Arizona will help
interpret the meaning of test results. In addition, information on test
analysis will be published on this website and I will be happy to discuss
individual results as they relate to other results from the group.
No information will be placed
on the website which identifies anyone (no name, email address,
etc). Each test kit has an ID Number, this would be the only
way that information is labeled on the website.
THE Y-DNA TEST
The DNA testing is easy and you
don't even have to go anywhere.
They mail the kit to you and you mail it back to them
-- no blood, no doctors, no visits to collection specialists.
The kit is a padded envelop that contains two
cheek scrapers (swabs) that
look like a tooth brush and their
collection tubes. The test is as
simple as brushing your teeth . You brush
the inside of your cheek with one swab, then do the same with the other
swab at least eight hours later. The
swabs have nice little handles that allow you to push the soft ends off into
their collection tube which is
filled with soapy water. The collection tubes
have caps that keep the swab tips wet and sealed while they travel to Houston in
the envelope. The kit includes instructions for
collecting your DNA sample and also a release form
allowing for sharing of your data results with others in our
project who exactly match.
TESTING RESULTS
Your results will be posted on your own
personal web page at Family Tree DNA. You will use a kit number and passcode to
see the results. You will also get printed results in the mail.
TO PARTICIPATE
All CARMACK and other possible variants surnames are encouraged to participate in the
CARMACK DNA Project. Male CARMACK's
may participate directly. Females do not have the Y-chromosome. However, they
can participate through a male CARMACK relative
(father, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin).
Each participant must request a
test kit (described above), and return the kit to Family Tree DNA
for analysis. FTDNA will provide the necessary instructions with the kit.
Payment can be made by check or credit card.
Please Click
Here to Sign UP for
the
CARMACK DNA Project. Or
Click on the following icon, then click on (C),
find and click on the Carmack project, then fill out form to request to Join the group.
Remember the DNA for your test
must be from a male with the surname CARMACK or a
known or suspected variant spelling.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Only the person providing a DNA
sample and the Family Coordinator will know what his results are (unless the
participant decides he would like to share that information). An ID number and password will be assigned to each sample by
Family Tree DNA. This ID number will be the only identifying information anyone
else sees. Only the test sample and the ID number is
forwarded to the testing lab. No one other than the coordinator and a clerical
person at FTDNA will know who participates in the study or which result is from
which person. Test results and project information that is stored by FTDNA is
kept on a dedicated computer in Houston which is not connected to the Internet.
When test results are posted on
this website, no names of living people will be included.
Instead there will be a code number and some brief information about testee's
earliest proven ancestor and his location. Whatever the case, privacy will
always be preserved.
A FINAL WORD OF CAUTION
There is always a possibility
that you could get disappointing test results. Samples that vary by three or
more markers from the main group may do so for a number of reasons. One
possibility is that they represent distinct lines either older or younger than
the currently observed most frequent line. Another is that there has been a
�nonpaternal event� at an unknown past time. There are several possible types of
nonpaternal events besides a maternal indiscretion. For example, a child may
have been adopted and given the CARMACK name; a man
may have taken the CARMACK name when he marries a
CARMACK daughter; a CARMACK
man may have married a pregnant widow and the child given the name
CARMACK; a couple where the wife is the
CARMACK may choose to give their children the
CARMACK name for various reasons; clerical error in
public documents may assign a CARMACK name to the
wrong person, and so on.
Adoptions have been common in
every age (i.e.. parents died by disease or war and a relative took in the
children and raised them with their name; or young daughters had a child out of
wedlock and the parents raised it as their own).
The number of surname DNA
projects are growing rapidly. Family Tree DNA provides an optional matching
service for people to look for matches among other surnames. In addition, there
is a growing public database at www.ybase.org in which you can enter your result
to try to match up with other people who share your Y chromosome signature.
However, at the present time, those databases are far too small to produce
magical matches to people whose DNA may have strayed from its original surname.
In time, however, it even may be possible for those individuals to search a
database and discover their Y chromosome DNA's original surname.
There have been
CARMACK researchers who dropped by this page since 19 October 2003.