Thursday 16 July 2009

Family Tree DNA July sale

As part of a special summer promotion Family Tree DNA are offering discounted prices on three of their most popular kits for a limited period until the end of July. The details are as follows:

- The Y-DNA 37-marker test can be purchased for US $119 (£73). The usual price is US $149 (£91).
- The Y-DNA 67-marker test is available for the special price of US $199 (£122). The normal price is US $238 (£146).
- The high-resolution mtDNAPlus test can be purchased for US $119 (£73). The usual price is US $149 (£91).

These prices only apply to orders placed through surname or geographical projects. Anyone with the surname CRUWYS, CRUSE, CREWES, CREWS, CRUISE, CRUCE, SCRUSE, SCREWS or any other similar variant is invited to test through my CRUSE/CRUWYS DNA project.

I am also looking for people to join my new KENNETT DNA Project. If you have proven ancestry from Devon you are invited to join my Devon DNA Project.

Family Tree DNA now have around 5,500 surname projects. If you are not eligible for testing through any of my projects you will probably find another project in which your surname is included. FTDNA also have a huge variety of geographical projects, and a full list can be found here. If you are interested in participating and cannot find a suitable project do get in touch and I will see if I can help.

There are considerable advantages to testing with Family Tree DNA as they provide extra services and facilities which are not available with any of their rivals, such as a huge range of deep clade tests and other advanced tests, and the ability to join the numerous large geographical and haplogroup projects. They are the only company to provide the high-resolution 67-marker test. They are also the only company to provide a haplogroup assurance programme so that you can be confident that you have been assigned with the correct haplogroup. (There have been numerous reports of Ancestry customers being given incorrect haplogroup assignments and as Ancestry have no facility to order the necessary SNP tests to confirm the haplogroup these customers are having to pay to be re-tested at Family Tree DNA.) The International Society of Genetic Genealogy provide comparison charts on their website for the various tests. Their Y-DNA comparison chart can be found here. Their mtDNA comparison chart can be found here. The charts are in the process of being updated. Note in particular that Ancestry no longer provide any guarantee that they will store your sample. Family Tree DNA is the only company which provides archival storage for 25 years inclusive in the price of the test. Storage is particularly important if you are getting an elderly relative to take a test on your behalf, especially if your relative is the last in his particular line. Genetic genealogy is a fast-moving science with new and more advanced tests coming onto the market every few months, and you want to be sure that you have some DNA available to take advantage of the new developments. If you have any questions about DNA testing you are welcome to contact me by e-mail for advice.

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