GENEALOGY-DNA-L Archives

Archiver > GENEALOGY-DNA > 2002-08 > 1028416824


From: M Shelton <>
Subject: [DNA] Testing Accuracy
Date: Sat, 03 Aug 2002 16:20:24 -0700
References: <11f.144fc77d.2a7da93f@aol.com>


> This exciting variability may be
> a simple matter of quality control in the lab.
>

As a project coordinator trying to get lines with my last name to test, I find this very
depressing. More than once I've seen where labs have retested on a request and come up
with different alleles from the original test. I am tempted to do this myself as the
paper trail for my personal line shows a close relationship to another line, but the DNA
test results are 9 out of 12 for the relationship. If a paper trail did not exist, the
problem might never be known and at the least retested. How often are these "mistakes"
made in the labs???? So far in my project of 13 test results, 8 are still "orphans" by at
least 2 alleles.
Margaret Shelton



> Re: [DNA] Test Variability
>
> I've been watching this thread for a while and wonder if there isn't a much
> more simple explanation. While it is exciting and exotic to believe that one
> has found a mutation in an allele between two brothers, there is a much
> higher probability of a "false positive reading of 24 for Ken" or a "false
> positive reading of 23 for the other brother" or a "clerical error in the
> lab for either brother", or a combination of all these possibilities. Have
> the tests been repeated for both brothers? This exciting variability may be
> a simple matter of quality control in the lab.
>

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