Welcome to The Turner Project


Now, for the first time in history, genealogists are able to determine scientifically if a male of their line is related to any other male of the same surname.  Thus, DNA is a perfect companion to conventional research in order to confirm lineage.

There are a wide variety of applications for Y-DNA testing.  Y-DNA testing can be used to confirm the paper genealogical research for your family tree.  It can determine which family trees with the same or variant surnames are related and can provide clues to help you with your genealogy research.  It can help eliminate lines to which your own can not be related--always a help on a common surname.  These are just a few of the applications for Y-DNA testing.


THE BASIC PRINCIPLE BEHIND Y-DNA TESTING--A Kindergarten Level Explanation


Only males have a Y-chromosome.  This Y-chromosome is known to be transmitted from father to son virtually unchanged at conception.  Testing the Y-chromosome provides information about the direct male line (the surname line), meaning the father to his father to his grandfather and so on.  Specific locations tested on the Y-chromosome are called "DYS markers."  Occasionally a mutation occurs at one of the markers on the Y-chromosome at a conception.  A mutation is simply a small change in the DNA sequence--sometimes called a copying error.  They are natural occurrences and take place at random though infrequent intervals.  Overall, they are estimated to occur once every 500 years per marker.  Thus, mutations can be valuable in identifying branches of a family tree.

Each marker has a name assigned to it by the scientific community, such as DYS #391, DYS #439 or GATA H4, etc.  The scientists classify these markers as Short Tandem Repeats (STRs) because at each of these marker locations a short DNA code repeats itself.  The value reported for a marker is the number of times the code repeats at that location and is called the "allele value."  As an example, the number of repeats that one male might have on DYS #391 could be 12 repeats.  Another male might have 15 repeats on that same DYS #391.  The number of markers (DYS numbers) tested depends on the test ordered--12 markers, 25 markers, 37 markers,67 markers, 111 markers or 500 markers.  The result will be a string of values at each DYS marker tested that in combination produces what is called a haplotype or DNA signature for the person testing.  We would then be able to tell that two males of the same surname with matching DNA "haplotypes" or DNA signatures likely share a common male ancestor at some point in the past.  The closer the matches, the more recent in time the common ancestor is predicted to be.  Too many mismatches and we know those two males are not apt to share a common ancestor.

The haplotype of STR values can usually predict the "haplogroup" to which a person belongs which points to deep ethnic origins.  Two people who do not share the same haplogroup will never be related.  A predicted haplogroup can be confirmed by a different type of test to determine the presence or absence of specific Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms or SNPs.


WHAT IS A SURNAME PROJECT?


A surname project is a project which is established to test and compare those with a common surname or variants of that surname.  The project has a leader known as the Group Administrator.  This person collects the lineage outlines of the members so we know what family lines are being documented, assists members with understanding their results, typically interprets the results for the group, and may publish for the group’s benefit this information on a website either through Family Tree DNA's website or on another off-line website they maintain.  The Turner DNA Project does not maintain a website outside of Family Tree DNA Company.  Administrators are volunteers and get no monetary compensation for their role so they can give unbiased recommendations on the test that would best benefit the person desiring to be part of the project.

Because the Y-chromosome is ONLY found in men, those who take the Y-DNA test MUST be a male of the surname Turner to be part of this project.  For females who are interested in the Y-DNA result for their surname or family tree, a close male Turner relative would need to provide the sample.  Although there is a Family Finder test that a female who has a Turner line may take, it cannot be directly compared to the Y-DNA test results of male Turners for the surname project purposes.  Females doing a FamilyFinder test may not join the project.  Likewise, mtDNA tests which test for the person's direct maternal line .


JOINING THE "TURNER" SURNAME PROJECT


Click on the Join button at the top of this page to join the Turner project.  Joining the project requires the purchase of a y-DNA 37 marker or higher test.  The following two groups are accepted into the project.  1) Males whose surname is Turner with an unbroken paternal line of male Turner ancestors back to their earliest documented paternal ancestor and 2) Males of other surnames ONLY if their y-DNA test results match a significant number of Turner men at the y37level or higher.  Each member must provide the Group Administrator a paternal lineage including dates and locations, where known, back to their earliest documented male Turner ancestor.  Information on living people is not made public.  If you have a question, please e-mail the group administrator before ordering a test.  The project is not a discussion group.



ANCESTOR LISTS FOR KITS


Ancestor lists submitted by the project members for each of the kits are accessed by clicking on "About" at the left side of the Activity Feed page and then clicking on the "Results" tab on the "About us" page.  Please read the guidelines for using the ancestor lists.  These lineages are specifically for the use of members only.  Members are requested to not share any lineage information with persons who are not also members of the project.  Ancestor lists are to be mailed directly to the group administrator of the project at the above email address so I can add those to our lineage outlines.  No information on living people is included so be sure we can tell who those may be in your lineage and we will substitute the word "Living."  Mothers of testees are also not identified by name even if deceased.  Kits on the Y-DNA results chart are identified by most distant ancestor’s name--NOT by the testee’s name--for privacy.  We no longer list contact names or e-mail addresses associated with kits due to new regulations, i.e., the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, which went into effect on May 25,2018.