HISTORY UNEARTHED DAILY

Family Tree DNA welcomes guests from
the 'Conversion to Judaism Home Page'!

Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) began as an idea to allow people who believed that they had a 'Cohanim' background to determine this by taking a simple DNA test. The test results were then compared to the results found in a study of the Cohanim, published in 1996, by Dr. Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona. You may have seen Dr. Hammer interviewed by Leslie Stahl on "60 Minutes" in May of 2000, where he discussed the discovery of the Cohainim gene in the African Lemba tribe.

From these humble beginnings, the idea has grown to allow genealogy to proceed by the use of genetics.

The company has built a comparative DNA database which will allow a person to determine, for instance, if he has the DNA of a Semite. Because the DNA of Jewish men from a Semetic background differs from that of non-Jews from Europe, it is possible in many cases to infer whether a person had Jewish origins.

A similar database is being developed to allow the same types of testing for people who may have had a Jewish ancestor on their female side!

To get a better understanding of how molecular DNA works, you might want to visit the FamilyTreeDNA.com web site.

Pages that would be of specific interest are:

A few dozen questions & answers pertinent to this discussion!

See how we protect your privacy.

Who qualifies for the test.

The basic intro to the site.

Also, you may want to search for surnames in the database by using our search engine at the top right of this page.

Family Tree DNA wishes to thank the 'Conversion to Judaism Home Page'for allowing us to link from its site. We welcome your questions, comments, criticisms and suggestions. Please direct all your comments to the email address listed below. Thanks for visiting!