Your Genetic Genealogist: Visiting Family Tree DNA's State-of-the ...

I have been a bit behind in my postings, but I didn't want to miss the chance to write about the lab tour of Family Tree DNA's awesome facility, which was definitely one of the highlights of the 2012 FTDNA Administrator's Conference for me. I don't know if you all realize it, but Family Tree DNA is the ONLY company in the field that has their very own lab. They process everything from start to finish in their state-of-the-art facility in Houston for the over 200 different DNA tests that they offer. Some people might find it comforting to know that when ordering a test through FTDNA, this very trustworthy company is the sole handler of their DNA sample.?
This lab is even capable of processing exome and whole genome sequences. (These are available through Family Tree DNA's sister division DNA DTC, both a part of Gene by Gene). Max Blankfeld proudly told me that almost immediately after the announcement, they were already receiving orders for both tests. This is really exciting if you think about it. The first company to offer genetic genealogy testing is, according to The Genomics Law Report, also the only company currently offering these advanced tests-of-the-future in a "truly direct-to-consumer manner".? ("Gene By Gene probably does represent, however, the only commercial company currently offering a whole genome sequence in a truly direct-to-consumer (DTC) manner." DNA DTC: The Return of Direct to Consumer Whole Genome Sequencing, Dan Vorhaus, November 29, 2012)

Okay, on to the lab tour! Tim Janzen has kindly shared both his notes and his photos with my readers. I have added to Tim's notes just a bit, but most of what you see below was written by him. (I lost my notes and, although I did use some of them, the photos from my cell phone aren't as nice as Tim's photos from a "real" camera!)
On November 12, 2012, Family Tree DNA graciously allowed approximately 30 attendees from the FTDNA conference to take one-hour tours of their laboratory facilities in Houston, Texas. Bennett Greenspan, the president of FTDNA, primarily led the tours and Max Blankfeld led some supplemental tours (for those of us who showed up late!). The tour participants all donned lab jackets for the tour, making us feel very official (I got to be Thomas Krahn). Bennett explained the functions of a number of very important pieces of DNA equipment as he took us through the lab.??
One of the first pieces of equipment we viewed is used to extract the DNA from samples that are sent to FTDNA. The DNA is extracted through an automated process. Ninety-six samples can be processed at a time. FTDNA can complete 600 extractions per day and has a 98.8% success rate of extracting DNA on the first try.??

Another piece of equipment held primers that are used to test for specific short tandem repeat (STR) tests and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) tests. Liquid containing the DNA is drawn up through pipettes from small wells in a plate that holds DNA samples.? This process is also entirely robotized so that multiple tests can be run at a time. The lab must repeatedly change the plastic covers on the pipettes to ensure that DNA from two different samples is never mixed as part of the testing.

Bennett Greenspan proudly showed off the robotic DNA storage freezer that the company purchased this past summer. It was designed and manufactured by the engineering company Matrical Bioscience in Spokane, Washington. This piece of equipment took many months to design and build. After it had been built, it was disassembled and shipped to Houston. The installation process in the FTDNA lab took approximately 6 weeks. This chamber stores multiple small trays that hold 96 DNA samples each. The samples are held in small vials about 3/4 inches in height and about 1/4 inch in diameter.? The trays holding the samples are about 4 inches by 7 inches in size. There are thousands of trays stacked on top of each other in a -20 degrees Celsius chamber approximately 5 feet by 8 feet in size. A robot inside this chamber retrieves DNA samples from the approximately 500,000 samples that are stored there in a very strictly regimented and automated fashion. This robot is wired to a computer station outside the room. At the computer terminal a lab technician can enter a series of kit numbers for DNA samples for which additional testing has been ordered. The technician can then leave the area to do other things while the robot automatically retrieves the samples that were chosen. Ninety-six samples can be retrieved at a time and the retrieval process takes approximately 30 minutes. When the retrieval process has been completed the technician then returns to the storage unit, picks up the tray of samples and takes it to another piece of equipment for the additional testing that the customer has ordered, such as upgraded STR panels or individual SNP tests.?
The functions of other pieces of equipment in the lab were also explained by Bennett. One machine is used for mitochondrial DNA sequencing. There is also another piece of equipment that is used to lyse the cells in each of the DNA samples and prepare them for extraction of the DNA. Additionally, Bennett showed us a room that contains thousands of DNA samples that have not yet been processed. These samples are held in long-term storage at room temperature for eventual use by customers who wish to order additional testing. Bennett also took us to a different room where the Geno 2.0 SNP chip tests are being processed. Approximately 154,000 SNPs are tested on a single chip for the Geno 2.0 test. Considering this, the chips are relatively small at approximately 1 inch by 4 inches in size. At the time we were there, thousands of chips were being processed.??
Bennett showed us the new sequencing machines that were recently purchased so that the company can do large-scale complete genome sequencing.?The two new Illumina HiSeq 2000 machines can sequence 10 times as much as the Applied Biosystems DNA Analyzers are capable of using 454 sequencing and can sequence a complete genome in three runs. These machines are approximately 2000 times as efficient as using the primers used in Walk Through the Y testing and are 100 times as efficient as the Applied Biosystems 454 sequencer. FTDNA has two new Illumina MiSeq DNA sequencers as well. The lab now has the capability to sequence six whole genomes in two weeks and 64 exomes at 80x coverage in one week.



The FTDNA lab tour was an exciting experience.? It was very interesting to see all of the technicians at work running the various DNA tests that we as FTDNA customers have ordered. Hopefully, Bennett and the rest of his lab staff will continue to allow these tours for attendees at future FTDNA conferences. If you haven't seen it yet, it is well worth your time and I highly recommend it.?

The following may be overkill for some of you. If so, I will just say goodbye to you here. However, if you are like me and you just can't get enough or want to gain a better understanding of how this all works from the inside, here is a series of photos from the lab tour.









































Thanks to Tim and Rachel Janzen for sharing their photos, Tim for helping to write this and to FTDNA for the spectacular tour.

Source: http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2013/02/visiting-family-tree-dnas-state-of-art.html

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