Gail and others who want to know, Here's the gory details.
When a kit is purchased for the first time, Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) in Houston, Texas will mail out a kit to you within 1-2 business days (sales seem to take longer; orders placed over the weekend sometimes take a couple of days to get the kit out). The postal service takes however long to get to the customer based on location from Houston, Texas. Once you get it, you follow the directions and mail it back. However long that takes. Once it is received in Houston, you receive an automated response from FTDNA saying the kit has been received. Then your DNA vials are placed in a batch with others to be overnighted to the lab at the University of Arizona. This happens every Wednesday night. The vials are there on Thursday. First the geneticists begin extraction, then sequencing, then the verification. Two geneticists must read your data forwards and then backwards and both readings between both geneticists must agree. Then the results are sent back to FTDNA in Houston. Depending on the size of the batch and the test ordered, this can take anywhere from 4 - 6 weeks. Bennett Greenspan, president and founder, then releases your results and your personal "MyFTDNA" becomes active. An automated response is then generated to say your DNA results are in. For those who have ordered one type of DNA testing in the past and want to order a different test, once the fee is paid, FTDNA sends notification to the University of Arizona and they pull the vials (stored for at least 25 years). The process of extraction, sequencing, etc, begins. As for the matches in Family Finder, that's another email I've been working on with screen shots. Let me see if I can finish that one up. Cheri Mello Listowner, Azores-Gen Researching: Vila Franca, Ponta Garca, Ribeira Quente, Ribeira das Tainhas, Achada -- To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. Follow the confirmation directions when they arrive. For more options, such as changing to List, Digest, Abridged, or No Mail (vacation) mode, log into your Google account and visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Azores. Click in the blue area on the right that says "Join this group" and it will take you to "Edit my membership."
