This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Author: ksaxe Surnames: Donald, McDonald, McConnell, MacDonald, McDaniel Classification: queries Message Board URL: http://boards.rootsweb.com/surnames.mcconnell/2469/mb.ashx Message Board Post: Relative Genetics and its partnership with Ancestry.com Relative Genetics (RG) is one of the largest DNA testing companies and offers a full range of DNA tests for genealogical purposes, including Y-DNA tests for 18, 26, and 43 markers. Like Familytree DNA (FTDNA) , they also provide upgrades to allow those who have previously tested with Relative Genetics or other testing companies to obtain results for more markers. Recently Relative Genetics and Ancestry.com announced a partnership. In the future, Ancestry.com will take over the marketing of DNA testing for Relative Genetics, and RG plans to phase out its web site before the end of this year. Most Relative Genetics customers will then access their test results and DNA matches on Ancestry.com. Customers with test results from other companies will also be allowed to add them to the database at Ancestry.com. At the moment, it is still possible for people with DNA test results from other companies to create a Relative Genetics login, input their results, and search for matches. As far as I can tell, their results become part of the RG database. If that is really true, then I hope people enter their results carefully! Most of these results from other companies will probably be moved over to the new Ancestry database. Everybody in the database will have the option of keeping their e-mail address and name private. Relative Genetics doesn't have a Clan Donald DNA project, so men interested in joining the Clan Donald DNA project through testing with Relative Genetics have not been eligible for a group discount. Prices for testing outside group projects at RG have been quite reasonable for the number of markers tested, but because RG and FTDNA's standard tests don't test for identical sets of markers, test results from RG are generally not as useful for comparison within the Clan Donald DNA project as test results from FTDNA. Results from RG are perfect for comparisons with results from the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation because both use the Sorenson Genomics lab. The Relative Genetics website states that pricing following the transition has not yet been determined and seems to suggest that there may be some changes in the tests offered. Still, it is possible to examine the possibilities for comparisons of results from the current tests at RG and FTDNA. The current RG 18 marker test includes 11 out of the 12 FTDNA 12 marker test markers. The one FTDNA 12 marker not included in the RG 18 is a slowly mutating marker that doesn't vary much within Clan Donald and so it is usually not very useful, so the RG 18 test is pretty good for making comparisons with FTDNA 12 marker results. The RG 18 also includes 2 of the markers in FTDNA's second panel, allowing RG 18 results to be compared with FTDNA 25 results on 13 of FTDNA's 25 markers. The remaining 5 markers on the RG 18 are in the FTDNA 37 marker set, allowing RG 18 results to be compared with FTDNA 37 results on 18 of the 37 markers. The RG 26 test includes all 12 of the FTDNA 12 markers, 16 of the FTDNA 25 markers, and 21 out of the FTDNA 37 markers. Another 5 markers on the RG 26 are not in FTDNA's 37 or 67 marker tests and so are not useful for comparing results without further testing of the FTDNA customers. Testing for these markers is available to previous customers of FTDNA only through FTDNA's Advanced Orders process. RG does not offer separate tests for these markers, so FTDNA customers wishing to compare their results with RG customers would probably go through FTDNA or another organization. The RG 43 test includes 12 out of 12 FTDNA 12 markers, 25 out of 25 FTDNA 25 markers, 32 out of 37 FTDNA 37 markers, 34 out of 67 FTDNA 67 markers, and 9 other markers that FTDNA offers through its Advanced Orders process. For more detailed information on the RG tests, go to http://www.relativegenetics.com/relativegenetics/tutorial/marker_comparisons.htm To find out more about go the partnership and its implications, try this RG page http://relativegenetics.com/relativegenetics/ancestry_faq.jsp and Dick Eastman's Genealogy blog http://blog.eogn.com/eastmans_online_genealogy/2007/06/dna_results_to_.html Coming up next time: Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation Important Note: The author of this message may not be subscribed to this list. If you would like to reply to them, please click on the Message Board URL link above and respond on the board.