What is the paternal haplogroup?

Haplogroups are large groups of haplotypes, sets of alleles at specific locations on an individual’s genome. They allow us to define genetic populations and contain information about a person’s past, since changes in these regions very rarely revert, and subsequent changes accumulate.

The paternal haplogroup are the haplogroups of the human Y chromosome. Since only males carry the Y chromosome in humans, this haplogroup is determined solely in the paternal lineage. It is genetic information that is transmitted only from fathers to sons.

Various studies have taken advantage of this characteristic of the paternal haplogroup to perform phylogenetic studies and study their dispersal and distribution throughout history. Your paternal haplogroup tells the journey of your male ancestors over thousands of years and kilometers.