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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2005-12 > 1135455154


From: charles <>
Subject: Using one lab or multiple labs for DNA tests
Date: Sat, 24 Dec 2005 15:12:34 -0500
References: <20051224190856.46521.qmail@web32603.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <43ADA4B8.8090703@hargray.com>
In-Reply-To: <43ADA4B8.8090703@hargray.com>


Dale:

Dittos. Choice is good. In the last month or so I've ordered DNA tests
with four different labs: FTDNA, DNA-FP, DNAH, and EA. In the last five
years I've ordered tests from and used eleven different labs/orgs at
various times my numerous personal and public Genetic Genealogy DNA
testing projects.
http://www.kerchner.com/labmerge.htm

For a list of testing labs and organizations see my DNA Info page:
http://www.kerchner.com/dna-info.htm

Charles Kerchner, P.E. and GGP
http://www.kerchner.com/

Dale E. Reddick wrote:
> Hi Folks,
> I concur with Mike's comments. And like him, I'm basically a newbie.
>
> And for a newbie, I think Mike has stated things quite well. Based on
> my own experiences, what Mike has had to say seems to be quite accurate.
>
> I've even gone further when parsing out how to have tests performed.
> Recently, a distant cousin of mine contacted individuals with an
> identical surname to that of our colonial Georgia German ancestors. I
> advised a member of that family to test with DNA-Fingerprint, as that
> company is co-located with them in Germany. I wanted their DNA testing
> experience to be as easy as possible for them - as they are new to it.
> I advised them to be sure and be tested on the set of panels offered by
> DNA-FP that most closely matched those offered by FTDNA. I even
> e-mailed Thomas Krahn about what sort of test I thought they should have
> and Thomas kindly replied to me that he would advise them
> appropriately. I think my approach in regards to this testing is just
> pure common sense - go where things will be easiest for those who are
> being tested.
>
> Now, at the same time I had another individual wanting to be tested for
> a possible match to my Reddicks in Georgia. It's not at all certain
> that this lady's nephew will match me and my cousins, but it's
> possible. Her g-grandfather had been recorded in several censii in
> middle Georgia - near where some of my relatives lived. I suggested
> that she have her Reddick nephew tested with FTDNA. Why? Because it
> made sense to do so. That's where the rest of us have been tested at
> 12, 25, and 37 markers. Here's the interesting part to this - she and
> her nephew are African-American. Her g-grandfather was born a slave or
> else was born to former slaves. And he had the Reddick surname and was
> in a county where my Reddick relatives had lived. I don't know what
> outcome to expect, but I eagerly await the results of this young
> Reddick's testing. I expect to learn things from him being tested.
>
> Basically, I think that you choose whichever firm offers the best option
> to complete the task you have set before you.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Dale E. Reddick
> Co-Administrator, Reddick / r320 DNA Surname Project


> Michael Maddi wrote:
>> List,
>>
>> I'm just a newbie myself, only having joined this list
>> in July and having been tested for 37 markers yDNA and
>> HVR1 and HVR2 mtDNA at FTDNA in October. At that time
>> I also joined and became co-administrator of the
>> Sicily project at FTDNA. So I don't have all the
>> experience that others have - but on the other hand I
>> don't have the baggage that might bring along.
>>
>> First of all, from everything I know and have read on
>> this list, to me FTDNA is the best place to have a
>> project. I am using their website template and
>> fine-tuning it a bit, but I may move the website to
>> geocities or something like that in the future. Right
>> now what FTDNA provides for the website is quite
>> adequate. I do appreciate their quality customer
>> service. A couple of weeks ago, a potential member had
>> a problem in joining the project. With one e-mail to
>> FTDNA, it was resolved and he was a member the next
>> day. Another example of their responsiveness to admins
>> is the question of joining more than 2 projects. My
>> co-admin and I had an e-mail exchange with Bennett
>> Greenspan in October about the need to allow customers
>> to join more than 2 projects, e.g., a surname, a
>> geographical for the paternal line and a geographical
>> for the maternal line. Now we all see that FTDNA has
>> greatly expanded the number of projects a customer can
>> join, even more than we requested in October. Another
>> great advantage is having the ability to attract new
>> members who initially tested through National
>> Geographic's project - 7 of our 21 members were
>> initially from that project.
>>
>> Now, as to SNP testing, it's no secret that FTDNA has
>> had serious problems with turnaround time. The
>> turnaround time for their YSTR testing has
>> significantly improved recently. I'm not so sure that
>> that's the case with their SNP testing. Time will
>> tell. This is the reason I had the multiplex test at
>> EA. I was predicted R1b by FTDNA but had no close
>> matches in their database, so I was skeptical of that
>> prediction and wanted an SNP test. The multiplex at EA
>> gave me just what I was looking for. It also confirmed
>> that I'm R1b1c. I am awaiting S21 and M160 test
>> results from EA. It's clear that if you're sure that
>> your haplogroup is R1b, EA is the place for a SNP test
>> because of all the groundbreaking work they're doing
>> there. If you're not R1b and already have your YSTR
>> testing at FTDNA, their new SNP testing options are
>> attractive. The only question I have is whether they
>> have devoted enough resources to improve their
>> turnaround time significantly. One of our members just
>> ordered the SNP test for the J haplogroup. I will be
>> watching closely to see how soon he gets his results.
>>
>> So the bottom line is this. Maybe FTDNA is not Bob
>> Stafford's cup of tea, but for most people who want to
>> start a project, it's the best place to go. If you
>> want to talk about SNP tests, it's not so clear that
>> FTDNA can effectively offer the range of services of
>> EA and other companies, although that may be changing.
>> I hope that is changing because the more companies
>> that do a great job, the more options we have.
>>
>> Mike Maddi

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