Over the past two decades, the science of genetics has opened a whole new chapter in the search for humanity's origins. By analyzing certains portions of human DNA, geneticists began to see patterns, allowing them to formulate theories on human migration and geographic and cultural contributions to past and present society.

These scientists started to sort these patterns into haplogroups, groupings of similar genetic markings which show a common ancestry through like sequences.

The R1b haplogroup is the most common haplogroup in Western Europe, yet it is found in only a small percentage of Ashkenazi Jews (roughly 10%).

How did this haplogroup makes its way into the Jewish genetic mosaic? There are several possible explanations and theories. However, they remain untested until we have a significant enough sample of data to show whether these results are of recent or distant contribution to the Jewish genetic soup.

That is the purpose of this group, using both science and history as a foundation to theorize on origins of this R1b admixture.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We are seeking data from those with a CONFIRMED paternal Jewish heritage. We're sorry, but it is not a project to compare against Crypto-Jewish claims.

Rather, we are trying to ascertain the genetic origins of those we know to be Jews or have such evidence on their paternal side (ie. the paternal grandfather had a bar mitzvah).

Click here to join our FamilyTreeDNA.com YDNA Project.