So far, in its short life, we've only thought of the DNA as a physical, one dimensional relationship to our body and its functions, and our unique identification. There may be much more depth than just the superficial. Modestly, many of us disclaim aspirations to grandeur. Yet it has been claimed there are two million living descendents of King Robert the Bruce, a rather energetic and virile King of Scotland, who, it is claimed, had 26 legitimate children, and another 28 of the little tykes outside the blanket, as the saying goes. His DNA must have been a blueprint driven by rocket thrusters, a real powerhouse.
T here are now family groupings which take a very active interest in their surname medical history.
One such, on the internet, report their well organized re-unions investigating the excessive intrusion into the line by Altsheimers disease. The family have documented this incidence from the late 19th century when they emigrated to the U.S. of A. from the Ukraine. They have even charted their passage from Germany by a grant of lands in the 17th century from Katherine the Great of Russia where they settled in two villages, Frank and Walter, near Odessa, the inhabitants of which also trace the same excessive trait. While there is much to be discovered by medical genealogists there is a growing apprehension and curiosity about where is the DNA connections. T he DNA is not only a blueprint of the living, it is also a trail to the past, perhaps our only legitimate trail to trace.