Most of us have been told before that we look like our father or mother. Physical similarities with relatives are often a catalyst that inspires many to trace their family roots.

• It Begins at Birth

The birth of a child always come with the question: Who does he/she look like? I completely devastated my sister a few weeks ago when I told her that her one year old son was starting to look more and more like his father. I thought I was saying a good thing, but our desire to look like relatives we like and to have our children look like us is a strong one.

This desire probably stems from being compared to our own parents much of our lives. It can lead to a desire to perform our own genealogy research and find out more about those ancestors that we resemble.

• Like Father, Like Son

Growing up I was regularly compared to my father and told how much I looked like him. I adamantly denied any similarities as I was sure someone as young as I was could not look like someone so old. With the passing of time though, I have come to see just how valid those comparisons were.

I think it all clicked when I was in high school and saw an old photograph of my father when he was 14 years old. Upon seeing the photograph my sisters had a hard time believing it was my father and not me. That was when I first became interested in genealogy research and my family roots.

• DNA Testing

We are all familiar with DNA testing these days thanks to TV law shows and talk shows. A simple DNA test can do more than just catch a criminal or determine paternity. It is now being used to perform genealogy. You can trace your family roots through DNA!

Given time the old methods of genealogy research will be a thing of the past, quite literally! Paper documents will be replaced by family DNA projects that will link relatives with guaranteed proof. The future of Genealogy has arrived.

Kent Fairbourn is the Great Grandson of John A. Scorup (a member of the Cowboy Hall of Fame) and a Client Account Specialist for 10x Marketing, an Internet marketing company. Go now to Relative Genetics to learn more about Genetic Genealogy.