Ever have a hankering to trace your family lineage to a few centuries back? Maybe discover a great-grandfather whose brave military exploits helped defeat an authoritarian reprobate who wanted to dominate the free world?
Or maybe find a great -grandmother who quashed the movement to scald all new-born kittens in an outdoor wash pot?
If those or any other reasons come to mind, help is on the way.
On Nov. 8, genealogist Capt. Larry W. Thomas is scheduled to discuss tracing your background during the Georgia Archives’ Lunch and Learn Program. The Georgia Archives is located at 5800 Jonesboro Road in Morrow.
According to an advance notice, the Thomas presentation is titled “DNA in your Genealogy: Research for Beginners.” It’s called a presentation for people just learning about DNA testing.
So just what is DNA and how would it help you discover that great-grandfather was the distinguished military history?
My research shows that “DNA ligase is a specific type of enzyme, a ligase, that facilitates the joining of DNA strands together by catalyzing the formation of a phosphodiester bond.. DNA ligase is used in both DNA repair and DNA replication…”
Hmm, that clarifies that.
Translated, I think, it means someone like genealogist Larry Thomas could grab a strand of your DNA and pull another from your great grandfather’s skeleton.
If there’s a match, you’re the great-grandson of a guy who helped save the free world. If not, well, that war hero isn’t your great grandfather and you’d best keep quiet about it.
On the other hand, a DNA test on your great-grandmother’s skeleton could prove she really did save newborn kittens from the wash pot.
The test itself would determine if the great-grandmother who saved the kittens was the wife of the great-grandfather who was a military hero.
That great-grandmother could’ve been married to another great-grandfather, a wayward fellow seldom mentioned at family gatherings.
Me? I don’t need DNA testing. I already know I descended from a long line of Baptist ministers. They include my father, maternal grandfather, two maternal uncles and a paternal uncle. They’d tell you we’re all God’s children.
But it would be interesting to know if back in the War of 1812 my great-great grandmother took a pail of scalding water and through it in the face of an annoying British soldier and chased that dude all the way back to England.
On the other hand, I wouldn’t want to know if my great-great grandmother invited the invading British soldier into her home and served him Southern fried chicken. Unless, of course, she lured him into her home to get a better angle when she threw the pail of scalding water in his face.
