Website: 
              WILDER Connections
              http://www.wilderconnections.org

Welcome to the WILDER DNA Project! DNA testing is now establishing itself as the newest source in the field of genealogy and family history, supplementing knowledge gained from oral family traditions and documented records. It allows family historians and genealogists to establish family connections when documented records are non-existent. Although DNA testing has been popularized by its use in high criminal investigations and paternity cases to prove a relationship to an individual, new tests have been developed that has also turned DNA into a popular tool for determining ancestry. As DNA is passed down from one generation to the next, some parts remain almost unchanged, while other parts change greatly. This creates an unbreakable link between generations and it can be of great help in reconstructing our family histories. Because of the popularity of DNA testing in criminal and paternity cases, quite a few people are under the misconception that Genealogy DNA testing is a paternity test. This is not the case. Genealogy DNA testing is not a paternity test! It is a DNA test that attempts to determine if two people thought to be unrelated actually had a common ancestor. While it can't provide you with your entire family tree or tell you who your ancestors are, Genealogy DNA testing can:Our Purpose The WILDER DNA Project has been created for the purpose of utilizing Y-DNA and mtDNA testing in the hope of answering the many unanswered questions about our ancestry and our possible common ancestors. This project is open to any person, who would like to participate, regardless of location, that is related to the surnames WILDER, WYLDER, or any other surname variations.
Genetic Genealogy DNA Testing There are two basic types of DNA tests available for genealogical testing.mtDNA (Mitochondrial DNA) Tests - This type of DNA is passed by a mother to both male and female offspring without any mixing, so your mtDNA is the same as your mother's mtDNA, which is the same as her mother's mtDNA. mtDNA changes very slowly so it cannot determine close relationships as well as it can determine general relatedness. If two people have an exact match in their mtDNA, then there is a very good chance they share a common maternal ancestor, but it is hard to determine if this is a recent ancestor or one who lived hundreds of years ago. It is important to keep in mind with this test that a male's mtDNA comes only from his mother and is not passed on to his offspring.Y-DNA (Y Chromosome) Tests - This test is only available for males, since the Y chromosome is only passed down the male line from father to son. Tiny chemical markers on the Y chromosome create a distinctive pattern, known as a haplotype, that distinguishes one male lineage from another. Shared markers can indicate relatedness between two men, though not the exact degree of the relationship. Y-DNA testing is most often used by individuals with the same last name to learn if they share a common ancestor. The procedure used to collect the DNA sample is the same for both the mtDNA and Y-DNA tests. Your genetic test kit consists of a cheek scraper and a collection tube. In about five minutes, you will be able to read the instructions and perform a painless cheek scraping. The effect of using the scraper is about the same as brushing your cheek with a soft bristle toothbrush. A backup scraper and tube is included to insure that a good sample is obtained.
WILDER DNA Project Plan The WILDER DNA Project will perform mtDNA and Y-DNA testing on men and women with the WILDER surname, including all variant surname spellings. Family Tree DNA (FTDNA), one of the most prominent research firms in this field has been selected for the DNA project. FTDNA is a Houston, Texas based company founded strictly for performing genealogical DNA testing and analysis. They work closely with Dr. Michael Hammer of the University of Arizona. Dr. Hammer is another highly respected geneticist who is actively pursuing DNA surname research. As part of the Family Tree DNA Surname Project Program, we have obtained the following special group prices for our project: