Fullgenomes.com  Review
The people at Full Genomes are experts when it involves the Y chromosome for tracing paternal ancestry, and they can also sequence the data to a greater magnitude than what you might find through chip analysis. The Full Genomes site says that they can sequence your Y Chromosome using a 250 base pair reading at 50x coverage, but some people may not understand why this is significant. Our DNA contains 2.8 billion base pairs, and the length of the reads can seem somewhat inconsequential, but in terms of “50x coverage,” that indicates the accuracy of the sequencing. Experts say that 30x coverage is the minimum for accurate results. With that said, that makes 50x sound rather impressive with the Y Elite 2.0 product.
At Full Genomes, they say that they will analyze the SNPs and the STRs. Both the STRs and the SNPs will link your Y chromosome to your shared paternal ancestors. Once the analysis has been completed, you discover your paternal haplogroup, and that will designate your ancestors. It corresponds to your recent mutations, and the Full Genomes database can help you to find living relatives.
Ordering from Full Genomes
In terms of ordering, the Full Genomes site had a straightforward layout that was navigable and easy to use. However, if you are from the UK, you may have to pay a $50 shipping fee, but they are fast when it comes to sending it. The kit itself cost $18 for two spit kits, and there is a $5 postage fee. The way it works with ordering from Full Genomes, you will have to wait several weeks after you have sent your sample to the laboratory. Afterwards, you receive an email that invites you to access your results.
From the Fullgenomes.com website, here is their description of the basic whole genome sequencing test:
Whole Genome Sequencing Test
Length coverage: 14.0 megabases (callable); 22.0+ megabases covered Read length: 150 base pairs Coverage: 30x Note: FGC SNP calling is based on NGS sequencing which produces certain SNP calls that cannot be validated using Sanger sequencing.
The Results
Once you have set up your account, you will log in and download your interpretation results. This contains several files and instructions that a Sequencing lab will split and analyze. The sequencing lab will have raw data that is generated from the Y chromosome, and the files will focus on four genetic variants: CNVs, SNPs, INDELs and SVs. Unfortunately, even with the instructions, they were extraordinarily complex, so a lot of people might just focus on the analysis itself. Even there, there were thousands of rows of data, which can be hard for the average individual to extract meaningful information of any kind. The test can be pretty fascinating to learn that your ancestors came from Scandinavia or Finland, especially if you never discussed your paternal lineage with your parents. The digital outputs of DNA sequencing are commonly BAM and VCF files, which are manipulated using certain pieces of software
Customer Support
Full Genomes customer support was highly responsive and responded to questions as they were brought up. They were also aware that they were not speaking to an expert, so they didn’t use complicated language. The might not be for the faint-hearted because you do have a steep learning curve, and there is a mountain of research that must be completed.
In total, Full Genomes.com costs $785.00, which is pretty expensive, compared to what else is out there. Also, you cannot expect results for around 12 weeks, which is not the best response time. There is no arguing with the high quality of the company, but there are other options out there that are more cost effective like FamilyTree DNA, which costs $69 and had excellent ratings or AncestryDNA, which cost $99 and both had better overall reviews than Full Genomes.