Geno 2 kit mailed just before deadline, not received yet

[KATM]

I had purchased a Geno 2.0 kit about three years ago, and it was kept at room temperature during that time. This kit was bought when FTDNA was still doing Geno 2.0 kit processing, and had an envelope to return to FTDNA's Houston address. I believe that FTDNA was still accepting such kits for processing, up until the Geno 2.0 project end of 31 Dec 2019.

Leaving aside questions for now about whether the preservation fluid was still good, or the sample was taken correctly, I am wondering how long it would take to arrive at Family Tree DNA. The person who finally agreed to do the scraping (under pressure of the deadline of 31 Dec 2019), took it to the U.S. Post Office after using the kit, and got it postmarked there on 30 Dec 2019. USPS tracking shows the package was delivered to Houston on 2 Jan 2020 at 7:57 p.m.

I've been put in charge of checking the results, but so far (11 days after reaching Houston) it has not been received, according to the "Kit Status" message at the Geographic project site.

Is this likely to be a case of the Houston P.O. being slow, as in the past with other FTDNA kits? Is it simply waiting in a mailbag at the Houston P.O., to be delivered when they are good and ready?

[Biblioteque]

I have two recently purchased kits I may keep for a while before using. KATM, you mention "room temperature." Does anyone know if that is good storage, or do some use the refrigerator?

[KATM]

I also have one unused Family Finder kit that has been kept at room temperature (between about 68 to 72 degrees Farenheit, +/- a degree or two) for two years now. My! How time flies. I would suspect the preservation fluid to be good at that temperature range for at least one year, probably because I've read that somewhere. I'm not sure if refrigeration would extend that lifespan. It seems like that would make sense, unless the fluid isn't meant to be refrigerated. OTOH, certainly keeping any unused (or used, horrors!) test kit in a hot car, for example, would be detrimental to it.

This Geno 2.0 kit was expected to be used shortly after receiving it. That did not happen, so it lay forgotten for a long time. Judicious nagging finally got the person to use it, along with the pressure of the deadline for the Genographic project. Prior to using that kit, the longest I had an FTDNA kit before it was used was six to nine months, all kept at room temperature.

[KATM]

An update: today the message changed to

Sample Processing


Success! Our lab has isolated your DNA! The next step in the process is analysis of your DNA to uncode your ancestral journey. As a reminder, it takes eight to ten weeks to process your DNA from the time we receive your sample.

Now the wait begins. I suppose the results should come before the end of March.

[KATM]

Just in case anyone is interested, the message has now changed:

Sample Processing

Your DNA has been isolated and analyzed and is now being verified for accuracy. This is the final process stage, so your results should be ready for you to view very soon!


Quality Control

Your DNA analysis has been completed and we are now performing an important quality control step to ensure your results are correct. During this stage, a laboratory staff member reviews the data for accuracy and checks for potential issues with DNA quality. Any samples with potential problems are flagged and rerun through the entire process. The software-generated results are then combined to produce the finalized data. Once your results have been verified, they will be uploaded for you to see.

—The Genographic Project Team

Perhaps the results will be ready earlier than the original estimate from two weeks ago, of 8 to 10 weeks (mid March to end of March). The results, whenever they arrive, and as has been posted in another thread, will not be available after June 30 of this year:

Your results will be available for viewing and printing via the Genographic Project website at genographic.com until June 30, 2020. After that time, National Geographic’s Geno website will be discontinued and results will no longer be available on the website or otherwise. We highly recommend that you log in to the Genographic Project website prior to June 30, 2020, and download a printable version of your results through the Print Your Results link available on your individual results homepage.

I have re-downloaded a printable version of my own and another relative's results (which I manage), from when we took the Geno 2.0 test about 8 years ago. As well as other pages and information. Some links are no longer working already.

[KATM]

One last report: the Geno 2.0 kit I've been posting about has now completed processing. Results, for a known Swedish direct paternal line (Swedish at least back through six generations), were Y-DNA R1b-L21, and mtDNA U4a1b. I had imagined that the Y haplogroup might be I1 or I1a, but R1b is also represented well in Sweden. An article, "Y-chromosome diversity in Sweden - A long-time perspective," shows the various regions for Y haplogroups in Sweden, if anyone is interested.

I am also finding differences in the reports between two kits tested in late 2012 as "Geno 2.0" vs. this kit as "Geno 2.0 Next Generation" (non-Helix). All three kits were processed by FTDNA for National Geographic's Geographic Project.

For example, when I downloaded the print report for this kit, it included a section on "Your Genius Matches (Present - 120,000 Years Ago)," based on the Y and mtDNA haplogroup results. These "Genius Matches" feature famous figures in various time periods, such as 12,000 - 0 years ago, 25,000 - 12,000 years ago, etc., and including figures related via a long-ago connection, such as Charles Darwin, Abraham Lincoln, Genghis Khan, etc. This is simply selecting famous figures, whose Y-DNA haplogroup has been determined, and showing you those who are connected to your main Y haplogroup. This is similar to what I've seen in the past at 23andMe, although I don't know if they still show such things (I haven't checked for it there recently).

Another difference is that the two older Geno 2.0 kits received (and still show), a result for Denisovan percentage, as well as Neanderthal (as "Your Hominid Ancestry"); whereas this Geno 2.0 Next Gen. kit only shows Neanderthal results, with no mention of Denisovan. As far as I'm aware, among the other genetic genealogy DNA testing companies, only 23andMe gives a Neanderthal percentage, but no Denisovan. Thus, only National Geographic's Geno 2.0 test seems to have been the place to find a percentage for any Denisovan DNA for those who tested with them.

The last difference that I notice is while both versions tested autosomal DNA, giving those results as ethnicity estimates, the older kits had originally been able to download the raw data file (but seemingly no longer available), and the Next Generation kit does not have that option. Next Gen. (non-Helix version) testers are advised they can acquire the raw data only if they transfer to FTDNA, and pay for the file. Since the Geno 2.0 raw data files included markers for mtDNA and YDNA, as well as atDNA, I wonder if that specific file is available from FTDNA, or if Next Gen. testers will have to order separate tests to get such information (and much more).

"Infographics" images from the earlier kits (2012) indicated that 559,515 people were participating in the Geographic Project, and the Next Gen. 2019-processed kit shows 1,006,424; this indicates an increase of 446,909 people tested over seven years.

The earlier kits' option of viewing information as "Our Story" is no longer available. This was a place where those tested could enter information for their maternal or paternal ancestors (per Y-DNA and mtDNA haplogroup in common), and browse others' stories, whether registered or not at the Geographic Project. It was displayed as dots within a graduated blue background, and had a guided tour video as well.

To sum up, the Geno 2.0 Next Generation kit seems to have many of the same results as Geno 2.0 reported in similar fashion, but for other results seems to provide less, in one respect or another. I have no idea what the Helix results for Geno 2.0 Next Gen. provided.