SOME INTERESTING RESEARCH IN DNA

At this time (October 2007), there are eight male LEALs who have done a Y-DNA test.Their Oldest Known Paternal Ancestors (“OKPA”) are:

1. LEAL, Cruz, born in the early 19th century in Ubaque in Colombia. (LEAL branch in Colombia and the Netherlands; Haplogroup J2f);

2. LEAL, Avelardo born round about 1870 in Mexico (LEAL branch in Mexico; Haplogroup G);

3. LEAL, Jose, born in 1770 from Los Ramones in Mexico (LEAL branch in Mexico; Haplogroup R1b);

4. LEAL, Manuel born on 8 January 1868 on the Isle of Pico in the Azores, Portugal (LEAL branch in the USA and Portugal; Haplogroup unknown);

5. LEAL, João Soares born in 1845 in Sao Gabriel, Rio Grande do Sul, in Brazil (*) (LEAL branch in Brazil; Haplogroup unknown);

6. LEAL, Nepomuceno born round about 1860 in Ortega, Colombia (LEAL branch in Colombia; Haplogroup R1b);

7. LEAL, João born round about 1902 in Portugal (LEAL branch in Brazil and Portugal; Haplogroup I);

8. LEAL, Joaquim born round about 1917 in Penafiel, Portugal (LEAL branch in Portugal; Haplogroup J2).(*) It is unclear whether the paternal surname of this oldest known paternal ancestor is indeed LEAL (LEAL may possibly be the maternal surname).Analysis & conclusionsI have compared the 12 markers of the descendants of all the abovementioned individuals (those who did the actual tests) to find out whether any are genetically related to one another.The genetic distances vary from 6 to 19 on the 12 markers tested. Although not an expert on the subject, I believe it is safe to say that given the genetic distances none of the tested individuals are related to one another.In other words, there are at least eight unrelated LEAL branches.Other conclusions that can be reached:• The two individuals with the closest genetic distance (6 markers) are from Mexico (OKPA # 3) and Portugal (OKPA # 4);• The two individuals with the longest genetic distance (19 markers) are from Brazil (OKPA #5) and Colombia (OKPA # 6);• The ancestors of two individuals originate in Colombia (OKPA # 1 & # 6): they are not related (genetic distance of 15);• The ancestors of two individuals originate in Mexico (OKPA # 2 & #3): they are not related (genetic distance of 12);• The ancestors of three individuals originate in Portugal (OKPA # 4, # 7 & #8): they are not related (genetic distances of 16, 10 and 8);• The ancestor of the one individual who originates in Brazil (OKPA # 5) is not related to the three individuals who originate in Portugal (genetic distances of 16, 12, 14);• There are at least two LEAL branches in Brazil (OKPA # 5 & # 7): they are not related (genetic distance of 12).Oscar Leal