More specifically, self-identification with the Jewish priestly caste reflects an oral tradition of transmission by inheritance from father to son with no halakhically sanctioned mechanism for introgression of males who are not descendents along the paternal line from the founder of this male dynasty. Accordingly, this tradition carries with it specific scientific predictions based on the molecular genomics of the Y-chromosome. Since, as noted, the Y-chromosome is also transmitted from fathers only to their male offspring, it is predicted that the Y-chromosome of historically and geographically dispersed priests should have a significantly greater similarity of DNA sequence markers compared to Y-chromosomes of other groups. Comprehensive clarification of the patterns of paternal relatedness, based on NRY marker analysis, requires combining haplogroup with haplotype analysis, to trace actual lineages. Indeed, several research studies beginning in 1997, and carried out over many years and across several continents, reveal a statistically significant greater degree of similarity of such NRY markers among contemporary Jewish priests compared to other groups tested. This similarity applied equally when tested across Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi communities. This finding has been durable and has withstood the test of a decade of verification.
More specifically, self-identification with the Jewish priestly caste reflects an oral tradition of transmission by inheritance from father to son with no halakhically sanctioned mechanism for introgression of males who are not descendents along the paternal line from the founder of this male dynasty. Accordingly, this tradition carries with it specific scientific predictions based on the molecular genomics of the Y-chromosome. Since, as noted, the Y-chromosome is also transmitted from fathers only to their male offspring, it is predicted that the Y-chromosome of historically and geographically dispersed priests should have a significantly greater similarity of DNA sequence markers compared to Y-chromosomes of other groups. Comprehensive clarification of the patterns of paternal relatedness, based on NRY marker analysis, requires combining haplogroup with haplotype analysis, to trace actual lineages. Indeed, several research studies beginning in 1997, and carried out over many years and across several continents, reveal a statistically significant greater degree of similarity of such NRY markers among contemporary Jewish priests compared to other groups tested. This similarity applied equally when tested across Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi communities. This finding has been durable and has withstood the test of a decade of verification.