Genetic Genealogy testing: Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation

We often focus on the commercial DNA testing companies and forget about the non-profit Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, http://smgf.org/ They were the first organization to use DNA testing for genealogy. They began with testing of blood and then moved on to testing with a mouth-wash method. One of their goals was to build a collection 100,000 samples. This was reached a few years ago. These samples have been tested for Y chromosome DNA, mitochondrial mtDNA, and autosomal DNA from Chromosomes 1 through 22 and the X chromosome. At this time the Y DNA and mtDNA results are available for searching by entering your results or by using a surname to search the genealogical charts the participants sent with their samples. The autosomal database has not yet been released for searching.

Did I mention the test is free of charge?

One drawback to the testing is that there is no guarantee that your results will make it into the public databases where you can retrieve them at no charge. However, you can get your results from GeneTree, http://www.genetree.com for a nominal charge.

At this time SMGF is accepting samples from the following populations:

Other Areas of Interest
Reaching the 100,000 participants milestone was just one of the objectives of our project. We are still working to enhance our dataset by actively seeking participants for our database with ancestry from a number of countries and lineages (listed below). If you have genealogical information linking you to one of these areas or have connections that could facilitate collections in these areas please contact SMGF at info@smgf.org.

• Ireland
• Japan
• Sweden
• France
• Germany
• Belgium
• All Eastern European countries
• Lebanon
• Syria
• Jordan
• Egypt
• North Africa
• Switzerland
• Denmark
• Spain
• Portugal