Encourage Natl Geographic Testing??

[cacitoo]

I asked very distant relatives of a unique surname to test y-DNA. Not knowledgable he chose Ancestry DNA which does no paternal testing. (upon discovering this I suggested the FTDNA yDNA testing & why) He is now asking me about the following: Geno 2 Next Generation Genographic Project Participation and DNA Ancestry Kit" run by National Geographic.

I know nothing about the company. Any reason to encourage him to or not to go ahead with Nat'l Geographic? Big difference in cost to FTDNA? I am comfortable with FTDNA as I had my brother test our own surname withi this company.

[lgmayka]

In the past, National Geographic tests were actually executed by Family Tree DNA. Thus, yDNA/mtDNA results and the DNA samples themselves could be transferred into an FTDNA account.

With this Next Generation test, the questions are:

1) Will the results and samples still be transferable to FTDNA?

2) The number of tested autosomal SNPs is now comparable to that of Family Finder. Will NG's NG autosomal results be transferable into Family Finder?

[ajmr1a1]

The shipping date of the Geno 2.0 NextGen is October, 2015 which seems to correspond with FTDNA's annual conference.

I was hoping that this NatGeo offering would include SNPs to cover
HVR1-HVR2, and that it would be transferable to FTDNA's database.
Otherwise, female testers are short-changed in some respect because
males can transfer their yDNA results to FTDNA.

[jsarnacki]

For me, the only advantage to testing with National Geographic Geno was that it gave a cool informational report of the journey of your mtDNA and yDNA (if you are a man) and their haplogroup. It is fun, interesting reading. But the report is not individualized, just the haplogroup journey as a whole. That said, I did end up upgrading my husband's yDNA and my mtDNA once I transferred the results to FTDNA. Now, my husband's Geno results did include SNP's that my dad's FTDNA only yDNA test didn't include, but I still had to upgrade it to y37 to get better match results. I also haven't found a need for SNP's yet. Maybe as my research progresses I will see more value.

I agree, females are short changed with mtDNA results (in general). The cool paper was fun to read for me as well, but I don't find any use for mtDNA right now in genealogical research. Shared ancestors are just too distant to figure out where they are. I really wouldn't waste time/money with mtDNA (already wasted time/money with 3)

Personally, I would stick with FTDNA for yDNA unless you want the report (journey of the haplogroup but no personal information) and will also upgrade with FTDNA as needed. Either way, with FTDNA, you can start out with cheaper yDNA tests and upgrade as needed and as you can afford. (Get at least a y37 though to start)

[jsarnacki]

Oh, I will add, with Geno we liked that we were providing results for researchers.

[Jim Barrett]

I asked very distant relatives of a unique surname to test y-DNA. Not knowledgable he chose Ancestry DNA which does no paternal testing. (upon discovering this I suggested the FTDNA yDNA testing & why) He is now asking me about the following: Geno 2 Next Generation Genographic Project Participation and DNA Ancestry Kit" run by National Geographic.

If you are wanting Y-DNA STR results you need to verify that they will be included in this test.

[cacitoo]

Thanks so much to all of you with your input on National Geo vs. FTDNA.

I thought of the Surnames factor that we would really like to see. TASH is the surname since 1700 U.S. Scots-Irish. But they changed their name to the TASH. Hoping the y-DNA would divulge close matches of another name. Does National G. provide yDNA matches with the surname(s)?

I have e-mailed the question to them. Will see what they say.

[grahcom]

I have both done Geno 1 (y & mt) and Geno 2. All transferred to FTDNA. BUT I still had to do the mtFMS and Y111 and Big Y and FF at FTDNA to get the results I wanted.

In my opinion you are really just making a donation to National Geographic's Genographic project by doing their tests.

So if you have the money to donate then by all means do the test, if you want to find out more of your own family history, use the money on FF, Big Y etc.

[cacitoo]

Received an answer from Natl Geographic. I was quite appreciative as they spelled right out what I was wanting to know as follows:

Hello,

Thank you for contacting the Genographic Project. The Project is anthropological in scope and is not designed to assist with any genealogical pursuit. Participants will not be matched up to others in our database by surnames. I can suggest contacting Family Tree DNA for more information about genetic genealogy testing.

I am sorry I could not assist you further.

[Parameswara]

If you are wanting Y-DNA STR results you need to verify that they will be included in this test.

I don't think Geno 2.0 Next Generation will test Y-DNA STR. Geno 2.0 Next Generation is a continuation from Geno 2.0, which is use MicroArray Chip genotyping method.