# data[].attributes.body
Overall, I really enjoyed this project. However, I wish I had managed my time better. I felt at some points the directions of what you wanted were not very clear , but with further instruction from you I had those problems solved. I had some trouble knowing how much information was enough and how in depth I should go when explaining the PCR, but I hopefully explained it just the right amount of detail. Next time around, I would have stricter deadlines when it came to working on it, example make one part due for homework. I also hope we can have larger discussion about identity and how it affects us before jumping into the project classwide and then coming back and comparing our beliefs; we did this individually but I wish we could have done it in a class setting. I enjoyed combining science and my identity into one larger project and I hope it can serve as an example to others.

# data[].attributes.body
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B8COlHvt42HebW1RRmtJWWEzVms?usp=sharing

# data[].attributes.body
Here are my citations:

"Genetic Testing: Information." Genographic Project. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2017.

Animal-dream.com. "Horse." Dream of Horse. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2017.

GourmetSleuth. "Chicken, Capon or Squab?" Article - GourmetSleuth. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2017.

"Archaeology Ancient Writing: Arabic." Archaeology Ancient. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2017.

"Silk Road." Silk Road. N.p., n.d. Web. 2017.

History.com Staff. "Stonehenge." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2010. Web. 09 Jan. 2017.

"Culture Crossing." Culture Crossing. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2017.

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/18788523421262054/

# data[].attributes.body
Haplogroups are the different groups of people who share similar genetic traits, that migrated to different areas. We all originate from Haplogroup L0, which is the starting place in Africa. L0 splits off into different groups and those groups split off into different groups as these groups migrated. These Haplogroups are tracked by certain genetic mutations. Let's assume that one person moves, along with a group of people, to a different region, let's call that "Far Far Away", and has a blue star on his belly. This person has a child and then the child, in turn, has a blue star on his belly. This child moves to "La La Land" and he has a kid with someone with a red square. This kid would have a blue star and a red square on his belly. The blue star and red square are passed down and more genetic markers appear and can be traced back to the one guy with a blue star on his belly.  Let's say I look at my belly and I live in "Closer than Far Far Away" and I have a blue star, a red square, purple spots, and an orange triangle. I could trace back my belly symbols to the guys with the blue star and find that my ancestors used to live in "Far Far Away" and moved to "La La Land" and ect. This is how Haplogroups are tracked!

# data[].attributes.body
This is a quote from the Mindy Project, satirizing that many Indian families are very late, they have their own time. My mother jokes about this often.

# data[].attributes.body
Photos of Arabic tablets with early handwriting

# data[].attributes.body
Photo of young Irish Woman

# data[].attributes.body
Young Eastern European Woman

# data[].attributes.body
Young South Asian Girl

# data[].attributes.body
Photo of young Arabian Woman

# data[].attributes.body
Photo of young from Asia Minor

# data[].attributes.body
Photo of young Central Asian Woman

# data[].attributes.body
I am very glad I got my DNA tested because I now have a firm idea where I came from. Growing up mixed I have always been unsure of my ethnicity and have always had trouble identifying myself. When standardized test asked my to choose only one ethnicity I was always confused and saddened that I was not able to choose the ethnicities I wanted and filled out "other". In our society, mixed people are seen as the "other" and sometimes, in extreme cases, can been seen as "disgusting". With this project I was able to see that the everyone was from the same area and yet we are all mixes of different people. It was interesting to see in scientific perspective how these changes came about and how we all came from one place but have changed and become so different through small genetics mutations. I definitely came into the project expecting to see around 50% South Asian and a mix of European regions however, I was stunned to see that I had genetic markers that correlated with people living in other parts of Asia as well. When I sharing my result with others in the class I was stunned by the results I saw and how we as humans judge on physical appearance so much. I was also surprised to find out that I was in a unique position to have only to haplogroups. This discovered reinforced my new belief that many of us are such a mix of different regions and countries that we really shouldn't have this social divide that is so prevalent today. I have come out of this project with a new mindset and a new way to approach combating the social issues that hinder our generation from making progress.  Also I decided to compare a picture of me to a few pictures of young women from these different regions; I tried to find pictures that were of native woman but as many different cultures interbred, it can be hard to find a picture of a pure native to compare to me at my age.

# data[].attributes.body
As I said, I was not even sure what I thought about this result because I was not sure if genetic markers for this region came into my DNA through my mother or father.
To look more closely at this region I decide to choose Syria to do some investigative work.
Syria is located in on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and  is one of the oldest regions to be inhabited. This region has contained historically remnants that have dates back to around 70,000 ago. This region has showed evidence of Neanderthals and mass migrations however there was no written records to solidify these reasons for these migrations The people living in Syria may have hunted and gathered for food until moving into the use of agriculture. The region of Syria has been recorded in biblical text and was the birthplace of many Mesopotamian myths. Today the capital of Syria is Damascus and the largest city is Aleppo and the region is plagued by violence due to a civil war. I decided to focus on physical attributed to see if I had any in common with the people of Syria. I picked a few cultural similarities. In my family, we never place our feet on anyone and we touch our elder families feet to greet them or to show respect. This small gesture is also seen in Syrian culture, but in addition, Syrians also do not show the bottom of their feet to anyone as it is the dirtiest part of the body.  Another culture norm in Syria, is lack of punctuality. In my family, punctuality has never really been a concern and I have gotten used to this way of life. Growing up with different cultural views on punctuality, from my mom and dad, has posed interesting situations but I resonate strongly with the Syrian culture of loose punctuality. Finally, another significant cultural practice my family and Syrians do is to eat everything that is on the plate. If you do not eat everything on the plate is it considered rude or wasteful. This idea of reducing waste was also practiced in my father family and I am conscious everyday. After researching the Syrian culture compared to mine, I realized that I really have much more in common with cultures, I never considered, until now.

# data[].attributes.body
It is believed that Chickens were first domesticated in South Asia!

# data[].attributes.body
It is believed that in Horses were first domesticated in Eastern Europe!

# data[].attributes.body
I was not even sure what I thought about this result because I was not sure if this region came into my DNA through my mother or father! Asia Minor is the region affiliated with the countries of Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and the Caucasus countries. Historically this region was may have been the second area that many haplogroups traveled to while migrating from Africa 150,000 years ago.

# data[].attributes.body
I was surprised by this result but again with the deep ancestry results these results could have been possible. Today, Arabia consists of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Oman, Yemen, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Iran. Historically this regions was the first area the haplogroups migrated to when leaving Africa. The region of Abria may have been the first regions where plant domestication was practiced and contains earliest evidence of the writing.

# data[].attributes.body
I was not surprised to see Eastern Europe because my grandmother on my father's side it Czech. The Eastern Europe regions is associated with the area between the Danube RIver, Black sea, Baltic Sea, Volga River and the Ural Mountains of Russia. The populations that lived in this regions year ago were gatherers and hunters who later begun to use agriculture much like the regions to the south and west of Eastern Europe.
The areas now considered part of Eastern Europe are Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Germany and the Czech Republic

# data[].attributes.body
I was expecting to find Southern Asia in my Regional DNA however, I was surprised by the percentage. This percentage was much much lower than I expected! This region is associated with India, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. My grandfather and my grandmother on my mothers side were born in the region of Sindh in Pakistan, however during the Partition my family was forced out of Pakistan and into India. In addition, with the deep ancestry in taken in consideration fits the regional ancestry.

# data[].attributes.body
Because of the variations in DNA that we can see through DNA sequencing we can track where my ancestors are from. These variation are typically physical traits and these traits have been separated into groups which are called references populations. I have two reference populations. My DNA shows six generations of my family but it can be results can be confusing because of interbreeding. However with the Deep Ancestry from my mother I think I was able to figure out which regional DNA came from my mom and which came from my dad

# data[].attributes.body
Here are the movements of the M Haplogroup

# data[].attributes.body
Here are the first moments of the L3 haplogroup

# data[].attributes.headline
Each Bead string represents a complementary strand of the target DNA. Each String is a different length because of the terminating nucleotides.  These strings are the pieces of DNA that a placed into the gel to be used in the process of gel electrophoresis.   

# data[].attributes.subject
Each Bead string represents a complementary strand of the target DNA. Each String is a different length because of the terminating nucleotides.  These strings are the pieces of DNA that a placed into the gel to be used in the process of gel electrophoresis.   

# data[].attributes.body
The DNA sequencer reads the frequency of the terminating nucleotide and records the color and places it on the chromatogram

# data[].attributes.headline
These two bead represent the difference between a regular nucleotide and a terminating nucleotide. 

# data[].attributes.subject
These two bead represent the difference between a regular nucleotide and a terminating nucleotide. 

# data[].attributes.body
The bead with the prong is the regular nucleotide because it can continue the DNA strand.

# data[].attributes.headline
This is what scientist believe neanderthals could have looked like 

# data[].attributes.subject
This is what scientist believe neanderthals could have looked like 

# data[].attributes.body
Because our ancestor migrated, they came into contact with Neanderthals, who are our "cousin" species. When in coming in contact, many populations interbred, which caused the offspring to obtain special genetic markers from the Neanderthal population. Today, everyone has between 1 to 2 percent of Neanderthalian DNA from the interbreeding and this can be tracked through the genetic markers.  I have 1.1% of Neanderthal DNA and this mean that my ancestors interbred with Neanderthals.

# data[].attributes.body
According to National Geographic, my ancestors had reasons for migrating and leaving their homes.

For my first Haplogroup L3.
-We are descendants of the haplogroups L0 like everyone else

-We were the first modern humans to leave Africa!

-We may have spread out from out from out L3 haplogroup due to the African Ice Age.

-The  African Ice Age brought a drought and in order to escape the drought my ancestors followed the animals and the good weather across the Sharan Gateway.

For my second Haplogroup M
- We are descendants of the haplogroup L3 and haplogroup N

-Haplogroup N moved out of Africa and into present-day Egypt to escape the desert conditions.

-Our Haplogroup M was the first group to make a successful exodus from Africa.

-Our Haplogroup is most commonly found in people living in Pakistan and northwest India

-These haplogroups make sense with they details that my mother provided, my grandfather was the first to leave Indian to move to America and so we can tell that these haplogroups are accurate.

-

# data[].attributes.body
This is a heat map that shows the migration of my and my mother's ancestors and the possible path her family could have traveled The darker the color shows the frequency of the target genes from certain haplogroups.  We are in two haplogroups, L3 and M.
This map show a far migration that reaches through almost all the Continents.

# data[].attributes.body
Below you can see that L0 is the starting group.

# data[].attributes.body
Illustration of Sperm and Egg and the passing of the Mitochondria DNA

# data[].attributes.body
My deep ancestry which is the path that my Mother family took out of Africa, where we all came from around 60,000 year ago. I know that this path is my mothers because the way to figure out what group, of the ones that migrated out of Africa, my DNA came from, scientist have to examine my Mitochondrial DNA. Mitochondrial DNA is only passed maternally because during conception the sperm does not pass on the paternal Mitochondria as pictured to the side. As previously explained because DNA mutates and specific groups that migrated have specific mutations that vary from the other migrators, there are unique genetic markers for each group. These groups are called haplogroups and every person alive today can be placed in one.

# data[].attributes.headline
How did PCR help in finding out where I came from? 

# data[].attributes.subject
How did PCR help in finding out where I came from? 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Created using PowToon -- Free sign up at http://www.powtoon.com/youtube/ -- Create animated videos and animated presentations for free. PowToon is a free tool that allows you to develop cool animated clips and animated presentations for your website, office meeting, sales pitch, nonprofit fundraiser, product launch, video resume, or anything else you could use an animated explainer video.

# data[].attributes.headline
My mother,  my sister,  and my grandmother 

# data[].attributes.subject
My mother,  my sister,  and my grandmother 

# data[].attributes.body
I have always wondered the ancestry on my Father's side of the family and I believe that by getting my DNA tested I will be able to figure out what parts of my ancestral DNA came from my mother and which came from my father. My father has tried creating a family tree which gave him a small window into his ancestry but I wanted the genetic facts.

# data[].attributes.body
The Process:
First We are given a DNA testing kit which contains a few pipets and test tubes where we place our spit.
Then we send the test to National Geographic!

However the process is not as simple as it sounds.

# data[].attributes.body
Hi! This is Sarah Gilbert, and this is my journey through my past.
Here are some pictures of my family!

# data[].attributes.body
I realized that after counting up the regional percentages I was missing 3%! Ahh! but after some research on the National Geographic website I realized that some percentages might be too small to record. I was looking to find out where my Native America region DNA might be and through some math I have guessed that my Great Great Grandmother must have been around 50% or less Native American.  Assuming she is 50% native American, that would make her children, my Great Grandparent, 25%, and their children, my Grandparent, 12.5 and their children, my father, 6.25 and then his children, me, 2.08%. This leaves the possibility that I make actually have genetic makers of a Native American in my DNA but the percentage is so small it did not show up on my report! I may have to get my father tested to see for sure!

# data[].attributes.body
I was able to tell what part of the data came from what parent. The 34% Great Britain and Ireland, the 13% Eastern European  are from my father. So the 7% Arabia, 18% Southern Asian, 3% Asia Minor and 22% Central Asia are from my mother.  So I had 47% from my Dad and 50% from my Mother.

# data[].attributes.body
I was very surprised with this data because when I was dividing the percentages between my parents, I assumed my mother would be all South Asian. However with the deep ancestry maps, Central Asia is a viable result. Central Asia is affiliated with the Ural Mountains and the Caspian Sea, the Himalayan, and Tibet. Historically, Central Asia served as an integral part of World Trade because of the Silk Road. After the dismantling of the Soviet Union the countries that no inhabit these regions of Central Asia are, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Afirhasatin, Trukemsitan, Mongolia and TIbet.

# data[].attributes.headline
My Thoughts on Great Britain and Ireland

# data[].attributes.subject
My Thoughts on Great Britain and Ireland

# data[].attributes.body
I was not very surprised by this result because I always knew that my Father had ancestors in Great Britain and Ireland. This region at first was layered in ice and uninhabitable. As many populations followed good weather when the ice melted many generations began to establish their home in the western European islands. Many of the people living in these regions may have practiced fishing and farming for sustenance. A notable historical monument in Europe, Stonehenge has been traced back to the first settlers of Europe, the Celts. As history progressed, many people from willing or were forcefully to different regions. With the discovery of the New World many people moved to the Americas and many prisoners from Britain were sent to live in Australia and New Zealand.

# data[].attributes.body
Here are the results of my Regional DNA!

# data[].attributes.body
This is the family tree that my Father put together for his side of the family.
*Note Susan Dudock born in Austria

# data[].attributes.body
How can we find out who we came from using a vial of spit?

The Spit contains cheek cells which provide DNA for testing

What is DNA?

DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic acid and is the genetic code that makes us who we are.

DNA is a long molecule made of nucleotides. These nucleotide are called adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine.

DNA is essentially a set of instructions for the cell telling it what its job is going to be

The jobs could include being a muscle cell or a skin cell.

The DNA codes for the production of certain proteins.

These proteins control everything in a cell.

Proteins are what makes eyes blue, hair brown and skin olive

How does DNA tells us where we came from?

The code contains half of your dad’s DNA and half of your mother’s DNA and their DNA is split the same way as well.

Ancestry can be tracked because through DNA because it is passed down the way it is.

# data[].attributes.body
I only really know a lot about my mother’s side of the family and not very much about my father’s. My mother is Indian and born here and both of my grandparents were born in the same area in India, which was Pakistan when they lived there. Both of them left their hometown of Sind during the Partition of India. My family celebrates Diwali and most of the Indian holiday however my grandmother was Christian.

On my father’s side of my family, my father claims that we had family members of the Cherokee nation but I have had my doubts. He is majority Eastern European but I would be surprised to find out that I am Cherokee.  He also says that his mother is Turkish but I have never really had any proof or traditions that have been passed down. I think that I will be able to tell the difference of where my heritage come from my father's side and where my mother’s side comes in.