This Y-SNP has tested positive for around 70 to 80 submissions. There are many large surname clusters shown in the M222 Project: Daugherty and variants (49), Cowan (35), Ewing (22), Burns / Byrnes (22), McLaughlin (21), Dunbar (12), Wilson (12), Howle (10) and around 600 other submissions with ten or less submissions for other surnames.

There are many good testing candidates for this Y-SNP testing that were found:

1) Within the M222 Project, there are around 350 possible testing candidates that match 70 % of the M222 fingerprint. However, at 8 of 11 (82 %) match, 59 of 59 submissions have tested positive. Since the current chance of testing positive for a 8 of 11 match is currently 100 %, it is not recommended that these submissions be tested for M222. Sponsors of these submissions should pool their funds for new "Walk The Y" tests that could reveal new Y-SNPs that descend from M222.

2) Since the scope of this Y-SNP has not been extensively tested to date, there are many submissions between 55 and 73 % of the match of the M222 fingerprint. Only twelve submissions have been tested in this range and all have tested positive except for one negative test. It is highly recommended that any submission that matches between a 6 of 11 match and a 8 of 11 match should test for M222. Both the M222 Project and the Y-Search query show many possible testing candidates in this range. There are 12 submissions shown in these two queries that should be tested. It is highly recommended that any submission should be upgraded to 67 markers first to see how well each submission matches the M222 fingerprint.

Only ten to twenty of the possible 350 testing candidates should be tested for M222. Since 59 of 59 submissions have tested positive at a 9 of 11 match of the fingerprint, more than 90 % of the possible testing candidates have extremely high odds of testing positive which would not be a good usage of DNA funds. For those submissions that match the M222 fingerprint a 9 of 11 match or higher, it is highly recommended that funds be pooled together for additional "Walk The Y" tests that could reveal new Y-SNPs that descend from M222. Since M222 is a very large branch and there are many larger surname clusters, it is recommended that submissions within these surname clusters should be tested first. There are currently five surname clusters that have 20 or more submissions: Daugherty (49), Cowan (35), Ewing (22), Burns / Byrnes (22) and McLaughlin (21). In addition to WTY testing for surname clusters, boundary condition submissions could also be tested. These would be submissions that have the lowest percentage DNA fingerprint matches (with higher genetic distance) but still test positive for M222. The Downie and Gillespie surnames appear to be good candidates for testing the boundaries of M222.