One in a Million - the genetic memorial

Why "One in a Million"?

There are a variety of commercial companies offering DNA tests for recreational or genealogical purposes (including Ancestry, FamilyTreeDNA, 23andMe, MyHeritage and Living DNA). But the chances of identifying a soldier with the help of one of these commercial DNA tests are remote, perhaps one in a million.

But each missing soldier was "one in a million" to somebody. And that unique place that each soldier occupied in someone's heart deserves to be remembered.

The genetic memorial is simply another way of creating a memorial for each soldier. A secondary aim is to potentially help identification of the soldier (should his remains ever be found), in the knowledge that the chances are "one in a million".

So why do it if the chances of identification are miniscule? 

Because even one identification will mean something to someone. 

Because even one success is a great success.

Because many people are passionate about doing anything they can to help. 

Because the act of helping is cathartic and fulfils a deep need to do something. 

And because “at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them”.

Informative DNA Donors

This genetic memorial involves identifying "informative DNA donors" who either have done or could do a DNA test that might help in the identification of a missing soldier.

Traditionally informative DNA donors were restricted to those on the direct male line (i.e. the path of Y-DNA) and the direct female line (i.e. the path of mtDNA) but, with recent rapid advances in DNA technology, any relative now qualifies as an informative donor (i.e. the path of atDNA). Click here to learn about the 3 different types of DNA.

The traditional approach to "informative DNA donors"
(men are in blue, women are in pink)

So really, all you need to do is trace all living relations of the soldier - all of them are potentially informative DNA donors. It would be useful to trace at least two relatives on the direct male line (informative Y-DNA donors) and two on the direct female line (informative mtDNA donors). Providing the link to your family tree will clearly identify these lines. And if anyone on the family tree has already done a DNA test (of any sort), they can be identified by marking them in the tree as "Y-DNA tested" or "atDNA-tested" or some other similar wording.

Next, you could write up a brief summary of the relevant information. This could be posted as a document on Dropbox (for example) or as part of the soldier's profile in his family tree (on WikiTree for example).  The link to this document / summary can then be posted on the Soldiers Database.

Details you could include in your document / summary might be ...

1) a brief biography of the soldier

2) a link to his online tree

3) your contact email address for enquiries

4) names, initials, ID's or DNA kit numbers of any of his wider family who have already undertaken DNA testing, the type of test, the company they tested with, and their relationship to the soldier. For example ...

Jane Smith (born 1942), atDNA (Ancestry), 2nd cousin twice removed

C.M., Y-DNA (FTDNA, 610977) & atDNA (MyHeritage), grand-nephew

211475, mtDNA (FTDNA), 1st cousin once removed

T592273, atDNA (Gedmatch), 3rd cousin once removed 

Take note of the following precautions:

• As a rule of thumb, you should privatise the names of anyone born within the last 100 years (e.g. use initials instead). Be sure to respect privacy. Don't publish the full names of living people without their express permission.
• Similarly, if you want to include a birth year for someone (this is definitely not essential), do not use full dates of birth as these are often used to access people's bank details.

Commemorative Project at FamilyTreeDNA

If anyone is interested in giving a DNA sample specifically for your memorial, there is a commemorative project at FamilyTreeDNA which has been running since 2015 and anyone is welcome to join. It's called the WWI Missing-in-Action Legacy Project. This project accepts any kind of DNA, whether it is Y-DNA, mtDNA, or atDNA. 


Why do this?

It is worth repeating again that DNA testing for the One in a Million project is highly unlikely to result in the identification of any recovered remains. The chances are roughly one in a million. So why do this work? 

Because by emphasising the apparent futility of the work, the project will serve to manage public expectations about the chances of identification. If the chances are 1 in 1,000,000 (for example), then this work has only a 33% chance of identifying 1 of the 300,000 missing men. 

Because the act of doing the work is in itself an act of commemoration. 

And because, even though the chances of identification are "one in a million", we are commemorating a soldier who was "one in a million" to somebody.