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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2007-01 > 1167673528


From: David Faux <>
Subject: Re: [DNA] TOP-10 Wish List for 2007
Date: Mon, 1 Jan 2007 09:45:28 -0800 (PST)
In-Reply-To: <000001c72d2a$7f9b0290$20a2bbd8@Jessie>


No Will, there is not enough interest from enough people to pay for the basic development costs of these downstream SNPs. People should be expecting this of Collosus and we can keep ourselves occupied with discovery of brand new things. The onus has, I am sure much to the pleasure of the very large firms, been on us to come out first with new products, they assess how well things are doing, then press the cookiecutter into the dough and offer what is advantageous. We are loath to assemble the new Cruciani markers in a package because we will be trumped soon if they sell. Mind you we will still do it because that is our choice. Volume and exchange rates for customers west of Europe ensure that we are always struggling. Mind you, if the larger company cannot get the markers to work it kind of defeats the purpose but to their credit they will generally forge ahead since other successful products can offer sufficient compensation to tide them over. Others are welcome to
spill red ink for a while - we have seen too much of that color. Perhaps each company can take turns. We find great interest in these lesser known clades but we need a "critical mass" to make the effort even pay for itself let alone show commercial viability. We have a lot of good stuff. When this is flying off the shelves then we can get back to doing R&D but not before - except for that which we know will be "commercial".

As an example of what can discourage a smaller firm lets look at M284. No one but EA offers this important marker. Eveyone who is old I1c should test their status on this marker as it is the only marker downstream of M233 and will put a person into Ken's Isles variety immediately - although it has been seen in Iberia, its probable homeland. People, despite the obvious advantages of having high quality (saliva) DNA safely in London (always best to have DNA in two or more secure locations) are really are not interested enough to test for M284 and will make their own attribution - predict themselves to be or not to be.

We will do some custom work for our own customers and will go the extra distance for those who have shown support. The large firm will not do any SNP testing for anyone except the people who have taken the Y-STR tests. We are moving more and more to this model as we shift our focus away from a market that is highly saturated in North America to Europe where we have a vast number of connections and a great potential. I will bounce between Canada and the USA so for now we will maintain the status quo but the exchange rates alone are making our products seem less appealing since we use a lab in the UK and have to pay our costs in Pounds Sterling. From a strong base in the UK we can work to serve the needs of even the smallest of groups - I think it only right and proper that they get the same attention as R1b but we can't do that under present conditions any longer. Many in Europe would rather work with a European firm and our offices in Ireland and Scotland and perhaps
next, Austria, will work to our advantage and that of our customers. The North American office will always remain open so customers here and Australia and so on can expect the status quo. Because we are driven by research goals there is a significant difference between us and a towering giant who of necessity must think volume volume as priority one. It is good to have choices and EA will be here for me to hand it off to my rapidly expanding group of grandchildren - surely one of whom will decide to study medicine and genetics. There is nothing that can put us out of business due to a novel corporate structuring so your DNA is safe in London for a minimum of 25 years.

We look forward to serving the needs of all our loyal customers as we engage in a restructuring and redeployment of resources.

You know what my wish is for 2007? That principals of other companies participate as I have in outlining their plans for the future and addressing questions on forums such as Rootsweb. We have been accused of being secretive because of our protection of the S-series (which as Ann pointed out is no different from another company and the P-series). Well, I challenge my counterparts at FTDNA, OA, DNAH, RG and others to speak as forthright and directly as I have to the public. Here, the Yahoo ISOGG group and
www.dna-forums.org would be ideal venues. Of course some questions are best directed to the company personally - but others are of broader interest and openness and honesty are always very refreshing - and ultimately the customers benefit so surely it is a win - win situation.

Happy New Year one and all.

David Faux
Principal
EthnoAncestry


Wil Husted <> wrote:
David wrote:

>S21 and S28 are the most informative SNPs in the largest haplogroup in all
>of Europe and the Americas.

Right off the bat my reaction is then why not look into increasing knowledge
of the less well-known haplogroups and sub-haplogroups such as ISOGG's
I1b1b. etc? To me it would really be interesting and enlightening to take a
peek or two farther downstream in I1b1b and some of the other less
well-known groups. However, I suppose it would be economically infeasible
for a lab to spend the funds necessary to discover new SNPs for the less
populous tribes. On the other hand, maybe there might be more interest from
people with haplotypes representing the smaller, less well-known but
infinitely more interesting (GBG) clades and subclades.

I'd like to see more of a "don't count your money while you're sittin' at
the table" approach to this DNA stuff but I guess the cards are stacked
against us little guys.

David, I am a past customer of EA and hope that you keep us lonely I1b1b
folks in mind for the future.

Wil



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