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Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2007-10 > 1193251525


From: (Bonnie Schrack)
Subject: Re: [DNA] About Genebase and Ancestry.com
Date: Wed, 24 Oct 2007 18:45:25 +0000


John wrote:
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G'day,
I am very very confused! First of all I think I got scammed by
Genebase and now, I think, this post is telling me that other
supposedly reliable companies are associated with Genebase. Will someone help me please?
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Hi John,

I can see why you would be confused by many of the postings that have appeared on this list. Remember that GeneBase and GeneTree have absolutely no connection, they just happen to be companies whose names start with "Gene." I know of no reputable company that has been associated with Genebase.

Genebase is not what I would consider a reliable company at all, and I feel very sorry for all its customers. If you wish to continue to pursue genetic genealogy, I hope you will give it another chance by going to one of the other reputable companies.

Please don't be confused by the postings that have been posted by confused people. Here is a brief guide to some entities that have been mentioned:

Sorenson Genomics: a private LAB which is contracted by many companies to do the actual testing for them. They are well-respected in the field, I believe. There is nothing disreputable about hiring them to do testing.

Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation: a *non-profit* organization which operates separately from Sorenson Genomics. Both of these were founded by Mr. Sorenson, but that does not mean that either of them runs or is owned by the other. SMGF has the goal of helping people all over the world find their common ancestry as a way of unifying the human family, etc.

Relative Genetics -- a company which formerly offered DNA testing and a full range of genetic genealogy services. They had the Sorenson Genomics lab doing their testing. They have now been absorbed by Ancestry.com, a superpower in the genealogy field.

GeneTree -- a company which formerly focused on offering paternity and identity testing, which has now partnered with SMGF to allow people to find their matches in the SMGF database and with one another, and (eventually, we hope) make contact with their matches. It has social networking features. They also use the Sorenson Genomics lab for those who order tests.

All of these companies are in some ways connected, that is, they're friendly with eachother, but that does not mean that there are no legal boundaries or protections that apply to their operations -- on the contrary. If you think about it, most large companies are interconnected with other related companies, but we don't usually give this a second thought. Maybe we should, but I feel like there's a little too much paranoia surrounding the Sorenson companies. I really haven't seen them do anything unethical.

Well, enough for now, I have other work to do --

Bonnie

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