Project News
A copy of my most recent news email to the project is here.
mtDNA H & HV Project News, August 2009
Dear Hs & HVs,
New discoveries from academics have been slow this summer. The pace at Family Tree DNA has not. During the H Full Genomic Sequence sale an amazing number of orders were placed. Congratulations are due to the lab team in Houston for processing so many orders so quickly.
Considering the economy, the number of orders make it clear that people care deeply about their maternal heritage. There are still about two dozen orders being processed for the project. When they are finished there will be over 1,000 full genomic sequences in the project.
The total size of the mtDNA full genomic sequence database at Family Tree DNA is now at 5,810. It already surpasses the NIH Genbank database in terms of quality and completeness of samples. I expect that it will exceed their total sample count in the near future. As part of their commitment to having the highest quality database possible for customers, Family Tree DNA announced the following updates in Facts & Genes.
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mtDNA Database Upgrade
In the next several weeks, Family Tree DNA will apply several upgrades to our mtDNA database. These upgrades will update everyone to the same mtDNA sequence nomenclature and haplogroup nomenclature. If you have tested your mtDNA, you may see minor changes take place to your motif and haplogroup, and, by extension, to your matches. These represent an upgrade due to developments in science, and will improve the value of your matches. Additional updates may continue to take place in the future as science continues to advance. Updates to your results do not indicate that your original results were wrong; only that improvements in our knowledge due to scientific advancements have allowed us to improve upon your original results and apply these updates to your account.
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You may read more news in the latest edition of
Facts & Genes.
***Website Changes***
In keeping with the developments of science the project has been updated. All project members may now find their kits in the
main project.
Those who have mtDNA full genomic sequence results also have membership in subprojects. For example the subproject for H1 and its subclades is.
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/mtdna_h1/default.aspx
You may view a current list of the subprojects here.
http://www.familytreedna.com/public/h%20mtdna%20haplogroup/default.aspx?section=goals#discovery
Please check back often as the sites will be changing frequently.
*** Supplementary Website***
The
http://wiki.hmtdna.org page will be going off line for a few months for updates. When it is relaunched, it will focus on information that cannot be readily included on the main project pages at Family Tree DNA.
Regards,
Rebekah
Volunteer Administrator
hmtdna@gmail.com