Holiday DNA Testing Special- FTDNA Schweiger
Until Dec 31, FamilyTreeDNA is offering it’s Annual Holiday Special. Male line YDNA tests are being offered at a much reduced price of $119. This price is $5.00 more than last year, the significance is that the prices were cut in half a year ago a part of a price war and DNA test prices have returned to pervious levels by Ancestry.com and are creeping b up with FTDNA. I suspect the price may increase even more than after this Holiday Discount program. Last month, FamilyTreeDNA reduced costs for female line DNA tests with new processing equipment. A complete mtDNA test now costs about $249. Five years ago it was over $800 and $450 since then. Now we have economical testing for female lines that are usable within a historical time frame.
DNA testing has become a very helpful tool for confirming genealogies old and new since about 2000. Prices and testing have improved from about $250 to $300 for a few markers in 2000-2002. In 2003 very good tests came about with price reductions to about $180-200. Two leading DNA companies had a price war in 2008 resulting in prices being cut in half.
The actual use of DNA is very simple. All you need to do is to get a DNA test done form a direct line male descendent. The numerical values of the tests are not as important as whether you get a match between your lines DNA and others. The match is what counts. DNA testing is complicated by those who do the cheapest tests resulting in what might seem to be a close match but isn’t, or because or people use an incorrect genealogy as their foundation.
The goals ofSurname Project like the Switzer-2 are to help others of all lines of Swishers, Switzers, Sweitzers, and Schweitzers etc as well as the wives and daughters ofthese families. We have established one of only four other mtDNA Projects; there are few because mtDNA is so much harder to use. But female line testing is actually is even more powerful in sorting out families using DNA once one thinks about it and properly establishes a testing plan, goals and objectives.
The Goals of our Switzer Surname Project including the various surname variances, include obtaining a verified DNA haplotype both genealogically and genetically verified:
1. of allEuropean Schweitzer an d Switzer lines by regions, provinces and even villages. Currently about a half dozen are known down to the village level. We have a good two dozen or so whose European origins are known but no details.
2. of all emigrant/immigrant Switzer lines to any country or Continent.
3. of all emigrant/immigrant Switzer lines to the American colonies United States and Canada as well as elsewhere.
4. of all colonial lines not connected with known immigrant ancestors as well as any lines that have no connection to their previous origins.
Paul Pettit
Swisher, Switzer Schweitzer Surname Project Administrator
https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?Group=Switzer-2