Maternal DNA

According to a maternal DNA test (mtDNA), I'm descended from a Viking woman. My haplogroup is J1c3f, who lived 4600 years ago.

A haplogroup is a genetic cohort of people who share a common ancestor on either their paternal or maternal line. mtDNA is mitochondrial, or maternal.

A previous maternal ancestor J1c3 is believed to have lived 11,000 years ago while J1c goes back 15,000 years.

The mutation defining haplogroup J is thought to have taken place some 45,000 years ago in the Caucasus. Researchers have called her Jasmine.

J1c3 descendants are found throughout Europe while J1c3f are mostly in northern Europe, although some are found in the North Caucasus and Kazakhstan.

My mother's family are Dutch and German in recent origin, so the DNA information is not surprising.

Viking remains have shown matches for the J1c3f haplogroup in Iceland and Sweden.

King Richard III and Edward IV were both J1c haplogroup, meaning I share a common maternal ancestor with them.

Mitochondrial DNA is strictly maternally inherited and it can help to understand our susceptibility to diseases.

Haplogroup J has been related to longevity in nonagenarians and centenarians but also with age-related disease and hypertension.