Explore your Motherline

History of Mother’s Day

Mother's Day in the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is annually held on the second Sunday of May which was signed as a joint resolution by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. It celebrates motherhood and it is a time to appreciate mothers and mother figures. It was established by Anna Jarvis, with the first official Mother's Day was celebrated at St. Andrew's Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia, on May 10, 1908.

Why mitochondrial DNA allows you to explore your "Motherline"?

At Living DNA we are able to test your mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is located in a small part of the cell called mitochondrion. This structure is present in most cells and converts sugar, fats and proteins from the food we it into the energy that powers the cell.

mtDNA is unique in that it can only be passed down from Mother to child. This happens because when the sperm fertilizes an egg do not pass DNA from their mitochondria, only from their nucleus (which contains most of your genetic information). The reason for it is still being debated, but recent research suggests that the sperm’s mitochondria are overworked in the process and are degraded before the fertilization. Additionally, the way mitochondrial DNA is inherited makes it to change less as mutations do not often occur.

With this in mind, we are able to explore your maternal lineage or "Motherline" and its potential history as your mtDNA is most likely mirroring that of your direct maternal ancestors dating back to many generations. This is how we are able to connect to thousands of people all over the world.

Mitochondrial haplogroups

Through your mtDNA, you can be identified into a variety of groups, called haplogroups. Each haplogroup acts a branch on the human motherline tree and its subtypes act like the leaf at the end of the branch; the part that is most special or unique to you. As individuals it is rare that we all share the same leaf but it is likely that we do share the same branch.

We are able extract lots of information from your Haplogroup that allows us to explore the Motherline in as much detail as we can. Using an interactive map to showcase these branches, we are able to display possible migration patterns to show the potential paths that our ancestors took.

4 Generations

Our Co Founder Hannah has been exploring her Motherline in great depth by testing four generations of her family members. Hannah’s daughter, Mother and Grandmother have all tested alongside her to see how much of their DNA is passed on to one another and how much they have each inherited along the way. This is pretty amazing!

Exploring your Motherline starts with just one generation.

You!

Our Living DNA kit offers you your own DNA adventure that will not only give you a complete ancestry breakdown going back to 10 generations, but also the possibility to explore your Motherline and Fatherline. In celebration of Mother’s Day we are offering a 20% promotion until the 14th of May. Simply enter ‘DNADAY5’ at the checkout and start exploring now!