You can see the Y-line, paternal (blue) and mitochondrial, maternal (red), lines on the pedigree chart above. (Courtesy dna-explained.com) Deciding to use DNA testing to help in your genealogical research can bring up many questions: Which test do you need? Which company should you use? Will you find many matches? In 2009 I decided I would have my DNA tested to see if I could find matches on my maternal lineage. I had hit a brick wall researching my maternal second great grandmother, Melissa, who had married a William P. Tickle, about 1838. Researching women in the sixteenth through the nineteenth centuries is difficult, as their maiden names seldom appear in public, private, or legal papers.