Answer: FamilyTreeDNA is a division of Gene by Gene Ltd., which can be seen as the copyright holders on, among other pages, the Discover reports. While Gene by Gene Ltd. is based in Houston, Texas, it was acquired by Australian company MyDNA, Inc. in January 2021. ("Houston-based Gene by Gene and FamilyTreeDNA acquired by Australian firm")

Answer: This depends on what you want to find out and/or who else has tested before you. The Big-Y700 is without exaggeration probably the most valuable patrilineal test you could take to answer any questions you have and any questions that others of your family may have now or in the future, so it is a somewhat 'selfless' upgrade to make which will be beneficial for generations – while it is expensive, the worst outcome for upgrading is contributing to genealogical and scientific knowledge that will long outlast you.

If you take a Y-37 and find a dozen matches with the same last name as you, that you never would have guessed existed because their connection predates the 1800s or even 1700s, then you should be mindful that whatever paper trails may have existed to verify those connections are probably lost (if they existed at all), considering none of your family genealogists even thought of these until you swabbed your cheek in the 21st century – you are then one of the first to tread this forgotten ground. So, if you want to map out something with these relatives, perhaps to zero-in on migrant ancestors for example, then you most likely need to upgrade to Big-Y700. The project administrator understands that Big-Y testers' trees are taken into consideration when calculating birth dates of haplogroup ancestors, meaning you could probably find the approximate birth date of a man with two or more Big-Y testers and compare with records.

If your closest Y-DNA matches already have Big-Ys and you know how you relate to them in such a confirmed, sure way that you taking the test would be 'redundant', then the best that your own Big-Y could do would be to refine or back-up the scientific data. After that, Y-111 might be the only test that certain branches need from then on.

Answer: Again it depends but most often the answer is yes. If both of your parents are alive, testing them instead of yourself will capture a better representation of your recent ancestry – basically, genetic inheritance is random; when a child is conceived, autosomal DNA is rearranged and thrown together in unpredictable ways, so testing the older members of your family better sorts the noise into cleaner categories and makes it easier to sort through your matches. If you are concerned about how DNA companies may use your data, then this might be a better tactic—Note that if you use Meta's products and services such as Facebook, then this should not be a problem for you.

Answer: No, not in any genealogically meaningful way – if you have a result like this then you most likely only took an STR marker test (Y-37 or Y-111). Any help that this will provide you for genealogical purposes will be incredibly limited, and this result is usually only 'predicted' anyway. It can be helpful to imagine terms like 'haplogroup' and 'SNP' to be synonymous with 'certain ancestor' – in other words imagine R-M269 to be a man in a family tree in relation to all the other haplogroups; R-M269 is an ancient ancestor to thousands of lineages, so while you and other R-M269 -predicted testers do share this group and ancestor as opposed to somebody of J-M410 or E-M2 ancestry, you are super distant with the overwhelming majority of them and should only consider those in your matchlists to actually be your possible relatives rather than looking for every descendant of R-M269, even if they share your last name.

Answer: The farthest female who you can verify on the test taker's mother's directly-female line. Never a male; men cannot pass on mitochondrial DNA, so entering a male into that section will not be helpful for matches or administrators (especially if you have no visible tree).

Answer: At this time, there is no restriction against non-Australians joining, but no benefit is yet seen for your joining if you share a last name with settlers of Parramatta township although this could change depending on project activity and usage. If you do join, your Y-DNA and/or mtDNA results will be placed in a general 'Not an Australian lineage?' category for the time being if your lineage shows more evidence (usually through your family tree) of being for example American and not Australian.