On Dec 7, 8:54 am, Thumper <thumperstra...@gmail.com> wrote: > I have been researching the main players in DNA genealogy. I'm still > confused by the various tests and am trying to figure out which > service to use. Thumper - of your contenders ... I will let you decide if contender "A" should actually be banished from your list or not "/ check this out, in regards to GeneBase ... CBC's Marketplace TV show aired across Canada on 12/05/07, can be viewed online at: http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/ I personally prefer a company that is more responsive to the client ... I am not sold on a flash website, but more on the product line and resources that they have to offer :) ------------------------------------ your "B" contender the prices that you quoted for FTDNA are not project "group rates" which are quite a bit cheaper :) if no surname project [or one with a variant of your spelling] exist yet ... you can request one be created on your own, or contact WorldFamilies.net http://www.worldfamilies.net/ and ask them to request it [that is if you don't want to be the project admin yourself] ... and then place your test kit order to get the "group rate" that way :) the FTDNA "group rates" current as of this posting are .... Y-DNA [males only] 12-marker $99, 25-marker $148, 37-marker $189, 67- marker $269 mtDNA [for both males or females] HVR-1 $129 and HVR-1 & 2 $189 Y-DNA 12 marker with mtDNA [HVR-1 only] $179 Y-DNA 37 markers with mtDNA Plus [HVR-1 & 2] $339 Y-DNA 67 markers with mtDNA Plus [HVR-1 & 2] $409 FTDNA also offers a conversion test for those that have already been tested at some other commercial lab :) Y-DNA 12--$59 Y-DNA 25--$89 Y-DNA 37--$119 you can read more about that on the WorldFamilies.net website here ... http://www.wfnforum.net/index.php?topic=7245.msg102379#msg102379 ALSO FTDNA's partnership with National Geographic Society in their Genographic Project https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/genographic/journey.html ... you could order a test kit from them for just under $100 for either the Y-DNA 12-marker or the mtDNA HVR-1 panel ... and after getting your results from them, you could transfer [copy] your results into a surname or geographical project at FTDNA ... which will allow you to upgrade your results and also compare your results with the larger "private" database they have :) public participation in the Genographic Project is processed by FTDNA through the Lab at the University of Arizona ... ------------------------------------ your "C" contender(s) ... is a bit complicated as you are mentioning more than one facility, under the large umbrella of SMGF :) the test "Ancestry by DNA" is Autosomal DNA, which is the 22 pairs of non-sex chromosomes found in the nucleus, which is not Y-DNA nor mtDNA testing, but everything else that comes down to one from all of their ancestors ... that DNA material "recombines" with each subsequent generation, and that type of testing will not tell you from which specific ancestor this or that ethnic / regional heritage came from ... Also the practice of that sort of testing has been reported to produced "dubious results" ... being that there are cases where biological siblings and an even greater surprise of twins who have not received identical test results "/ i.e. we each receive a "mixture" that's recombined and doesn't appear to be in the exact same amounts and/or order / copies :( GeneTree is the up and coming [somewhat] replacement for [the former Relative Genetics, which [SMGF] Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, sold to Ancestry.com this past summer 2007] ... preforming search in the GeneTree database, will pick up on "matching" results from the SMGF database also :) problem here, is you most likely will not be able to contact those distant genetic cousins that you might match up with [without some genealogical detective work on the outside] ... The free testing that SMGF offer themselves is great for those who want to see how it works, but don't want to put any funds out just yet :) But keep in mind [1] they will "not" tell you when your results will be posted to their public database, [2] your identity is kept "private" so no one will be able to contact you through there ... so you ask how will I know when my results are posted, and/or how will I find my own results :) When you submit your test sample to them, you will be required to also submit at least a 4-generation pedigree chart [which in turn will be combined with your results when posted to the website ... yes "privacy" of names and data on living individual in your ped-chart will be blocked out] ... SMGF does send out notices to those who are on an "update mailing list" when the website is updated, approximately 2 to 4 times a year ... once you get one of these notices, you can go to their website and run a search for your surname and from the data you supplied on your ped-chart, you will be able to tell if and which test results are yours, when they eventually get posted :) also note that test results can take up to 6 months to a year or more before they are posted "/ .... this is their own research and you didn't have to pay for it, so lots of patients is in order here :) oh and one more thing ... they do have genealogical researchers on staff, that will take the liberty of adding / correcting your ped-chart [sometimes without rhyme nor reason] and amend your data supplemented with [AFN info] Ancestral File Number ... typically something you can find at FamilySearch.org online submitted LDS records :) ------------------------------------ your "D" contender ... briefly mentioned above also :) this is their second time Anestry.com has venture into the DNA arena ... they have a cleaver way of selling more markers than most will actually get results for :) i.e. marker 464 normally has four copies reported as a, b, c and d ... "some" people have additional copies at this marker e, f and g the former [RG] Relative Genetics advertised 43-markers not 46 "/ Incidentally ... RG [now DNA-Ancestry] and DNA-Heritage a UK company, both use the Sorenson Lab, and test for the exact same markers and number of them :) ------------------------------------ On the ISOGG www.isogg.org website click on "Resources" and in the category of "DNA for Beginners" there are two links for some informational comparison charts ... they need to be updated just a tad, but still useful :) note that the RG transition has been completed just yet "/ Hope this was some what helpful :) Ken - hdpth-DNA a co-founder of ISOGG www.isogg.org the International Society of Genetic Genealogy .

hdpth-DNA wrote: > > your "B" contender > > the prices that you quoted for FTDNA are not project "group rates" > which are quite a bit cheaper :) I just wanted to add that when we bought our test kit at FamilyTreeDNA, we had not joined the surname project - hit the wrong button at the wrong time <grin>. However, when we asked to be added to the surname study for the particular surnames for the males we had had tested, we did receive a refund from FamilyTreeDNA (at least we did on one of the projects, I haven't checked with my husband to see if we got the same refund on the other project). Cathy