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VAN SANTEN

  • 27 members

About us

Fossils indicate that human life started in the highlands of East Africa some 200,000 years ago. Tracing mitochondrial DNA, geneticists have agreed that everyone living today can be traced back to ONE ancestral female who lived in that area about 150,000 years ago. She is affectionately called "Eve". By analyzing many peoples' Y chromosome, it has also been possible to trace every male living today to ONE ancestral male living in the same area about 60,000 years ago. He is called "Adam".

Obviously, "Adam" and "Eve" were not a couple, simply the oldest male and female to which everyone can be traced. Everyone can submit a DNA sample and have it analyzed to determine how their ancestors traveled from Africa to settle the world, at least to a time about 10,000 years ago, depending on one’s “Haplogroup”. This travel-log can be obtained through the Genographic Project.

The Genographic Project is a research partnership between National Genographic and IBM, with support from the Waitt Family Foundation. Having traveled all over the world, its researchers have collected enough DNA samples to be able to map out how earth was populated and which routes were followed by small groups of people after they left East Africa about 60,000 years ago.

I was intrigued when I learned about this and submitted my DNA sample, the results of which have allowed me to find where my ancestors traveled. I also selected to have my results transferred to the Family Tree DNA Project, where it will be held for 25 years and where it can be matched to other people who have submitted DNA and have similar DNA markers.

That's how I ended up starting this website. I want to tell others with the same surname and not knowingly related to me, so that they may submit their DNA to try and trace common ancestry. Submitting a DNA sample is simple: order your kit through one of the projects mentioned above, swab both sides of the mouth, place into a vial, and mail it in. Laboratories used are very trustworthy and use the DNA to establish deep ancestry ONLY. Paternity suits or any other type of profiling is not done.

Order your kit and link to “Adam”, see how Earth was settled. The National Geographic and IBM website for the Genographic Project: https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/index.html

Once you’ve linked up to others with your Y-DNA, you can see parts of their family tree and compare background with yours: http://www.ysearch.org/

Another website I started some time ago is hosted by Genealogy.com and the Family Tree Maker people. It allows a bit more content variety and some pictures: http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/v/a/n/Robert-Van-santen/TREE/index.html