DirkDNA

I am a native of Germany and a chemist by profession, currently developing efficient chemical transformations to convert fermentation products, which are produced from renewable resources (sugars) as the nutrient, into high-value chemical intermediates that are currently being synthesized from oil.

As a child, my first goal was to become rich. The fastest way to do so is to find something of value by digging for it. Thus, archaeology and mineralogy became my hobbies. Since minerals have a chemical structure, my interest in chemistry developed. To stay fit, I later picked up running as a hobby.

On April 13, 2005, I read in a Yahoo News story that the Genographic Project is being launched. Thus, on the following day, I order test kits for my parents, who provided their samples in May, and I then mailed them off to Houston. Thereafter, I forgot about it for nearly a year! Finally, on March 19, 2006, did I log into the Genographic Project page to receive their test results, and immediately transferred them to FTDNA.

Now, all samples from my extended family (N23468, N23469, N38663, N46362, 109889, N51281, N60178, N67520, N70668, 160141, & N78605), from those I have sponsored (N45657, N45770, N54263, N69568, & N74379), and the samples of some (DNA-)friends are in my (small) Kogel DNA Research Project at FTDNA.com. In addition, many members of my family are also being tested via 23andMe.com: everyone's raw data will be contributed to Leon's HIR analysis. 

My special interest is Y-DNA = E-M35-M78-V22, and how its carriers participated in many of the great ancient cultures of the Near East / Northeastern Africa.

I am looking forward to constructively contributing to make this ISoGG Wiki a central place of reference, data compilation and analysis, and presentation of results related to our hobby of Genetic Genealogy. Hopefully, we will be able to establish a respectful atmosphere, where everyone's constructive contribution will be valued (which is not the case in Wikipedia).

Sometimes, I am being asked how I came to be interested in Genetic Genealogy. The genetic and deep-ancestry part attracted me to it.

Feel free to look at my TEDx slides (11.3 MB .pdf) while listening to the video. I am available to give presentations or even a work-shop about Genetic Genealogy in either English or German. The location can either be within ~ 2 h driving distance of Lansing, MI, or also worldwide, if all travel costs are covered, unless I am there on vacation.