In the Future?

The future of Family History and Genealogy will no doubt include the study of genetics as a more-and-more mainstream part of the subject. Some of us will embrace this more readily than others, but I am sure that this will be a very useful tool to us in years to come.

How can genetics help?

The appeal is that it can be used to determine beyond doubt whether distant cousins are related in the male or female lines by comparing Y-chromosones (for the male line) and mitrochondial DNA (for the female line). For Stanley family history of course we are interested in the surname Stanley and therefore the direct male line from our common male Stanley ancestor.

Privacy issues.

It seems to me that probably the big issue at the moment is privacy. I am not happy about sending my personal DNA halfway across the world for matching with prospective distant cousins. However this is an issue that I imagine we will get past as time goes forward, this issue is too important to family historians to let this issue block us permanently.

The Stanley DNA project.

I am no expert on this subject but I think its something that we will all need to start thinking about. You may be interested to learn that Dick Stanley & Nell Stanley have already set-up what they are calling the Stanley DNA project. I have no personal interest in Nell & Dick’s project, but would like to thank them for taking this initiative which I understand has already had some positive results.

For more information on this subject you should contact them directly.