Smgf

[Cats]

Does anyone have any opinions, good or bad, about participating in the Sorenson Foundation DNA study?

[gthirkleby]

Smgf

Yes good and bad.

Ambitious project which will probably be the very best DNA site one day. However 8 months later I and the many friends I introduced are still waiting to find our results. Having said that please don't let this put you off.

John Hall

[Francois]

Sorenson Foundation Study

Does anyone have any opinions, good or bad, about participating in the Sorenson Foundation DNA study?

I have been part of this DNA study for the last 3 or 4 months and I found 5 exact matches in Central Africa which made me think that my connection with Africa is much closer than I thought. They are very professional just like Family Tree.

Catherine

[fmoakes]

Smgf

I have already tested, else where, for everything that SMGF tests. I recently ordered a free kit from SMGF and submitted a sample, with GEDCOM, just to aid their effort. Their database is already a prime source for many DNA researchers. I encourage everyone interested in genetic genealogy to order and submit a test kit.
Floyd Oakes
Y-I1a*, mt-K1a
Ysearch: NTX73

[Jambalaia32]

Needs records to participate;I like a Haplogroup

Does anyone have any opinions, good or bad, about participating in the Sorenson Foundation DNA study?

At Sorensons you have to know 4 generations of ancestors to participate and I only know 3, so I couldn't have participated and like I said they don't use haplogroups,and I like knowing my Haplogroup.

Jambalaia32

[Jambalaia32]

No new unusual Matches here !

I have been part of this DNA study for the last 3 or 4 months and I found 5 exact matches in Central Africa which made me think that my connection with Africa is much closer than I thought. They are very professional just like Family Tree.

Catherine

Are you're matches Caucasian or African? Inquiring minds want to know. My Sorenson matches matched the Haplogroup that FamilyTree confirmed for me which is the Tyrol IceMan of Austria-they wouldn't just turn into AfricanNegroes because they were tested at Sorenson's. Though you can be anything depending on whom you breed with.And I'm speaking on the side of my family that was tested-the maternal side-the one I can access.(One my Sorenson matches were a tropical Island family-they're half AustrianIceMan and half Polynesian -I match them on the half IceMan side) I also have a Iceman-Tropical Hawaiian Match at Family Tree. Some Tropical people have an IceMan parent like me.

Jambalaia32

[michael]

smgf

those clows have had my sample for 15 months - what could they possibly be doing ??? email does no good

[Pleroma]

those clows have had my sample for 15 months - what could they possibly be doing ??? email does no good

This organization is non-profit and the tests are free. A very long wait for your results to appear is expected.

If you want quicker results and customer service, you have to shell out the money and go with a for-profit company.

[PDHOTLEN]

RE Sorensen

I did it a long time ago. But the website, that I bookmarked, doesn't seem to go anywhere, whenever I check for matches. And they don't use 16519, so I have only 16270 in my HVR1, according to them. And like has already been mentioned, they don't show haplogroups. But they do show geographical sources for everybody. Accordingly, I have near matches from Brazil and Australia. But none of them have my 228 (HVR2) except one. And I don't know what haplogroup they're in.

[FredSpringer]

Making Connections

Where Sorenson could improve is allowing participants to contact one another. There is no method for contacting someone you match in their database. There has been talk of this changing, but I don't expect it anytime soon. As has been discussed, things seem to take a long time at Sorenson.

[MMaddi]

Where Sorenson could improve is allowing participants to contact one another. There is no method for contacting someone you match in their database. There has been talk of this changing, but I don't expect it anytime soon. As has been discussed, things seem to take a long time at Sorenson.

I doubt that they will change their database to allow participants to be contacted. Remember that SMGF is a research foundation, not a commercial company. This is why their test kits and tests are free. You're helping them in their research by providing a DNA sample and a family tree.

This is why, once they have your results, they add them to the database but you are not contacted to be informed of the results. They are interested in the results for their research and have no responsibility or interest in informing the participants of their personal results.

Even with the long wait for results and the lack of transparency of whose results are whose (including your own), the SMGF database is still a tremendous resource for getting some idea of from which geographic area you may have ancestry. Plus, we may see important breakthroughs some day from their basic research into genetic genealogy.

[FredSpringer]

With respect to price and wait time, I have to believe that everyone understands that it costs nothing so you are following the SMGF calendar and not yours. The point I am making is that because there is no transfer of information between participants, this database should not be considered to be a tool for making genealogical connections, but rather only a research database.
If that were to change, I believe that SMGF could be a valuable tool in aiding people trying to research their lineage. However, it is extremely frustrating to find a match to someone who might just be that gateway through your brick wall only to find out that there is no way to contact them.
Other facilities have hashed out the legalities of making contact information available, I think SMGF could as well.

[Ann Turner]

SMGF covers 16519.

I did it a long time ago. But the website, that I bookmarked, doesn't seem to go anywhere, whenever I check for matches. And they don't use 16519, so I have only 16270 in my HVR1, according to them.

They do test the complete HVR, including 16519. In fact, it's in their top 50 list of mutations. When you constructed your query, did you select a testing lab that covers that range?

[Barb]

making contact

I have done sirname paper trail and computer searches in geneaology for over 20 years. There is a wealth of data available if you learn where to look.
Most of it is not linked to any DNA, but you can get around that:
Choose a full name from the pedigree shown with your DNA match at SMGF, then enter that name into the Roots Web search engine.Try every name from SMGF, because some may not be in the system. I have found additional family information along with the email addresses of geneaologists researching people who happen to have my identical mtDNA.
So far I have not found my specific antecedents from Tenn., but all the SMGF matches came from the west coast of England. I can use the sirnames and look at the brothers and sisters, who they married, where they died, to get more names and a geographical trail. Try it, its addictive!

[wmccown]

Smgf

I have read several comments about Sorenson not making it possible for those tested to contact one another.

Ysearch was created for just that purpose. It is a free service provided by FTDNA. It is up to you how much information you want to post to that site
but this is your chance to get your e-mail out there where it might really benefit you. You join the group and provide the information. Not only can others find you, you can find "matches" you don't know exist.

If everyone tested by Sorenson posted their results, pedigrees and yes, haplogroups from some lab who provides them, to www.ysearch.org. we would all be well served. There are entire Scottish clans who religiously post those things to there clan websites but totally ignore ysearch. Ysearch could be a much more valuable tool to all and is apparently the only clearing house for use by those tested by any and all labs..