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If you're considering doing DNA testing for genealogy purposes, the sales are the time to do it. I don't see a deadline for this sale but it will be around the end of the year; I'll update this thread when I figure it out.
https://www.familytreedna.com/products.aspx
Prices are given in US dollars.
The Y37 is the entry level YDNA - male line (father's father's father ...) test, for matching to find relations with the same surname ... or who are in the same paternal line even if the surname is not the same, which can help find the true paternal line for anyone with a broken link. That test is discounted from 169 to139 dollars = £91.
Y67, the next step up, is where really meaningful matches are likely to be found. It is discounted from 268 to 228 dollars = £150.
The Family Finder tests can identify relations up to the fifth cousin level. It is discounted from 99 to 89 dollars = £59.
Traditional genealogical methods are then used in all cases to determine what the relationship actually is (if a match is found that is within the reach of paper records).
This is not your Ancestry-style "your ancestors were Vikings" testing. It is for people looking for actual genetic matches, for interest or to help solve one of the little mysteries many of us have or discover in our traditional research.
Matches will only be found if a matching person has tested, of course.
In testing my two parents' paternal lines (YDNA - in my mother's case, a male-line descendant from her father) ...
I had amazing luck on one side, finding a very close match (in genealogical terms: very probably within the reach of records ... if only I could find any for my line) that answers one question by raising more, but such is life!
On the other side, I found a 100% match ... which turned out to be someone in the US whom I had already 'met' on line via a census record for our shared English great-great-grandfather ... so at least we both know we are his 'legitimate' descendants :-)
but since the gr-gr-grfather was an only son of an only son of an only son from their village of origin, and the only other child born in that village with the surname in question by the mid-1700s was a girl, I suspect we - the rather numerous descendants of the man in question who had two wives and about 10 kids - are actually all that is left of that name from that place anyway. What's curious is our pretty distant but definite match with a batch of Quakers from another part of the country, but too far back for our parish records to converge.
You could find yourself solving a mystery for a cousin over the pond searching for their English emigrant roots. There are many of them.
The more people who test over the years, the merrier - the larger the databases and the more chance of matches.
On the question of databases, I can advise how to protect your privacy absolutely if you decide to test (and I recommend doing that, i.e. anonymously all the way). And answer any other questions from anyone interested, at least to an 'informed amateur' degree of knowledge.
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figured out the end date of the sale: midnight 31 December, Houston Texas time, so the wee hours of New Year's Day :-)
also I should note that if you start with an entry level test like 'family finder' or Y37, the same sample (cheek scraping) can be used to upgrade to higher level YDNA testing or have other tests done on (for instance, YDNA for a male sample or mitochondrial DNA for a female sample, if a 'family finder' was already done), if something comes up that you want to investigate further.
that is what I did after starting with the Y37 test and finding what seemed to be a match with someone with the same background as my parent's ancestor: a person in the United States whose emigrant ancestor was from the same small area of the same county, with the same occupational background ... and the higher level testing confirmed the match.
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Ancestry is sending out 20% off notices on its DNA testing.
(maybe just through the north american portals ... my sub is at .co.uk but I have an old dead account at .ca where I once bought some pay-as-you-go credits to look for a lost sheep, and that's where I got notice of the offer ... the price is £69.00 at .co.uk but the sale price at .ca is 119 cdn dollars which is hm, £59.00 ... ah, I see, there is a sale on at .co.uk today as well, normal price is £99.00 - !)
anyway ... please don't fall for it!
the 'family finder' test at FTDNA is cheaper ... sale price of 89 US dollars is £59.00 and it gives you much better results, analysis, support and chance of finding a cousin match.
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In reading various blogs about the dropping of FTM by Ancestry I came across this gem about AncestryDNA charging its clients to test the DNA and then selling the info on....
http://www.wired.com/2015/07/another-personal-genetics-company-selling-client-data/
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Yes indeed. Never ever ever give the Ancestry octopus anything of yours.
For 23andMe, which started this whole data-selling exercise (see the link inside the article you linked to, which is a darned sight too cheery about what's going on),
http://www.wired.com/2015/01/23andme-partners-big-pharma-find-treatments-hidden-genes/
it's clear that things work just as they do with radio stations.
You think you are the customer of the commercial radio station, and the music it plays is the product.
Actually, you are the product being sold ... by playing music, the station gets you to listen to it, and then it sells your listening ... your spending, that is ... to its sponsors. The sponsors are paying to have *you* delivered to them so you will spend your money on their products.
So, ditto with these data-sharing DNA companies. They want your DNA to be able to sell access to their databases, composed of your DNA, to things like drug companies (Pfizer in the case of 23andMe). They hook you and reel you in by offering genealogical or medical info from their analysis of your DNA ... and in Ancestry's case it sounds like they are selling your genealogical info/research along with your genetic data !
I would never give Ancestry an iota of personal info ... I do not have a tree there, for darn sure, just for starters.
I have major complaints about FTDNA's privacy practices ... for one thing, 'volunteer' surname project administrators who are simply other users like me have access to the info in my account which includes name and address and whatever genealogical info I put in it ... which is why there are no names or addresses or genealogical info beyond ancestral county / approx dob in my account :-) That info is very sensitive for some people (like adoptees trying to discover parentage or people with family skeletons trying to confirm actual relationships) and they should not have to jump through hoops to protect their privacy, if they are even aware of the issues.
But as far as I know, FTDNA is not 'partnered' with any outside corporation that it sells access to its customers' genetic data to. It is 'partnered' with National Geographic's Genographic Project in the sense that it does the lab testing for that project, but I know of no corporate connections.
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I've never had a tree on Ancestry - nor would I use their DNA testing if I was going to have it done.
I've always believed you lose ownership if you put things on line and now that they are ditching FTM and expecting folks JUST to have their tree on their website - well..................................!
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