Best company for East-Africans

[Outsider]

I would like to know which company has the most East-African DNA and is better for us. I am Somali and from a tribe that always claimed an Arab forefather ( whether that happened or was only a cultural colonisation) but I expect to be Eb1b1 like most people of the region. Now, since some Arabs are Eb1b1, how would I know my forefathers were Somalis and not Arabs?

Also, is the autosomal worth to be done?

Last question: how many days can you keep the samples before sending them? I am interested in checking my mother Y DNA but can do it only when I go back home and get my uncle's samples. I can do it the day before my departure and mail it within 3 days.

[Outsider]

I am wondering how accurate are autosomal tests.

Also, how many days can you keep the samples before sending them? I am interested in checking my mother Y DNA but can do it only when I go back home and get my uncle's samples. I can do it the day before my departure and mail it within 3 days.

[Rebekah Canada]

Hello,

There is a strong bacteria killing agent and preservative in the collection vials. They will be good for many years without trouble, so a few days is fine.

[Outsider]

I was trying to modify my first post but I just re-posted a second version. Please tell me how to delete the initial post
Thanks.

[Outsider]

Thanks Rebekah. That's great to know.

[efgen]

Hi Outsider,

Family Tree DNA has a very large E1b1b1 (E-M35) project. I don't know of any other genetic genealogy company that has such an extensive Y-DNA study on E1b1b1. The E-M35 project also accepts results from other companies via an external companion website that it maintains, but it gets relatively few of those.

Offhand, I don't know how many East Africans have tested with Family Tree DNA or any other company. However, we can compare your results with any published studies that have been done on East African populations.

The first step is to find out if you're indeed in E1b1b1 or another haplogroup, by taking a Y-DNA test.

If you do turn out to be E1b1b1, it will probably also be beneficial to do some SNP testing to find out your subclade of E1b1b1. We can then compare your results with published studies of the various subclades to see if any of them have been found more commonly in Somali or Arab populations. We do have many Arab people in the E-M35 project, and there's also a separate project that specifically focuses on Arab E1b1b1. So you could participate in both projects and any other relevant ones that might exist.

The E-M35 project also maintains its own discussion forum, and there was recently a thread about East African DNA that may be of interest:

http://community.haplozone.net/index.php?topic=3607.0

We also maintain a list of published papers/studies that include E-M35 data and information:

http://community.haplozone.net/index.php?topic=473.0

Regards,
Elise
E-M35 Project, Volunteer Admin Team

[Tourist]

I would like to know which company has the most East-African DNA and is better for us...

Hi Outsider,

FTDNA is your best option, having a bigger genetic database than all of the other DNA testing companies, and then FTDNA also offers the Ysearch option, too. But the question is, how many East Africans could be aware of DNA testing and then how many of them could be willing to pay the cost of such testing? And that is where real progress could begin.

BTW, far upstream I have an African Aborigine SNP marker, and so you and I might be related, after all.

Best,

Doug