Armed with a pittance budget, and a 6-month test marketing window, graduate student and GeneTree founder Terrence Carmichael set out to prove the value of his UCLA marketing business plan.

He assembled a basic home DNA collection kit, and set to work on the dnatesting.com website. Carmichael then connected what would become one of the many distinguishing features of the GeneTree name: its easy-to-remember toll-free support line (888-404-GENE). The young company soon launched an Internet promotional campaign, becoming the first such company to advertise its consumer genetic testing and counseling services online. By early 1998, GeneTree, Inc. was well on its way toward becoming a full-fledged force in genomics.

The firm sold its first paternity test in February of the same year, and, by the middle of 1998, GeneTree was enjoying its first taste of unqualified success. Its client list continued to grow, as web exposure and word-of-mouth began to take hold, and by 1999, GeneTree had hit the ground running. The new century brought further success, personnel growth and the opening of GeneTree's San Jose offices.

While GeneTree’s initial offerings also included genetic counseling and predisposition assessments, the industry climate soon dictated a reevaluation of the company scope. “It quickly became apparent that paternity testing was where we needed to focus,” Carmichael explains. “Over 95% of our first-year business was in paternity testing.” Calling upon the training that earned him an M.S. in Molecular Medicine and Genetics, the ever-adaptable entrepreneur was clearly ready for a professional shift-of-paradigm.

Sharpening its focus on fast, high quality relatedness testing, GeneTree was soon attracting the attention of industry leaders and investors alike. In Fall 2001, GeneTree sold its assets to Salt Lake City-based Sorenson Genomics, where work soon began on building the state-of-the-art genetics research and testing laboratory that would ultimately become GeneTree's permanent home. By July of 2003, GeneTree's San Jose offices were closed, and all operations, from research and testing to production and client services, were relocated to their current Utah home.

“Since then,” says Carmichael, “GeneTree has expanded its services to include assisting people with determining ancestry, genealogy and assessing their individual health risks.”

Indeed, today’s full-service genomics lab provides testing services for a variety of applications, from paternity, maternity and siblingship testing to special specimens extraction and genealogical analyses. GeneTree's high throughput laboratory protocols have helped build a strong competitive edge in the DNA testing industry, allowing the firm to efficiently process thousands of samples per year. The company’s unrivaled expertise has earned the trust of professionals and individuals in more than 75 countries worldwide.

GeneTree has earned accolades from a wide range of industry authorities and standards bodies; its genomics operation is recognized as one of the nation’s only AABB accredited parentage testing laboratories. GeneTree also participates actively in proficiency evaluation programs, including the College of American Pathologists' paternity, forensic ID, and mtDNA testing, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology's Y chromosome and identity biotechnology proficiency testing program.

As an ISO 17025 certified lab, GeneTree has been honored by Forensic Quality Services-International (FQS-I) for its compliance with exacting procedural and process quality guidelines. Since 2000, GeneTree has strictly adhered to the Better Business Bureau’s Codes of Online Business Practices and Advertising, and has consistently met the BBB's Reliability Program Standards.

From its humble beginnings on the pages of a college business plan, GeneTree has rapidly evolved into one of the most trusted names in DNA testing services. A pioneering spirit has accompanied GeneTree at every step of its development, and continues as a guiding force today. “We continue to expand on our DNA testing portfolio,” says Carmichael, “while focusing on developing new tests.”

-- GeneTree's Products --

GeneTree’s revolutionary home DNA collection kits were designed to be easy-to-use straight from the package, suitable for individuals in all walks of life. GeneSwab™ DNA Specimen Collection Kits have been the choice of thousands of satisfied customers, for collecting quality specimens from the comfort of their homes. For nearly ten years, GeneTree has made specimen collection as simple as swabbing a cheek and dropping an envelope in the mail. By providing collection kits at no cost to consumers, the firm can concentrate on providing high quality DNA testing; GeneTree has never sold its kits—GeneTree only sells results.

Personal and Legal DNA Relationship Testing Services
GeneTree’s relationship testing services are trusted by legal and medical professionals, and respected by scientists and researchers across many disciplines, including the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology industries. This unparalleled genetics expertise has been made readily available to the general public, for answering questions of paternity, siblingship, grand-parentage, and extended relationships—such as cousinship.

GeneTree’s relatedness verification is appropriate for use in making legal determinations, as well as for personal verification; regardless of the application, clients enjoy the same level of meticulous attention to detail and high levels of accuracy.

mtDNA Analysis and Y-Chromosome Testing
Increasing numbers of individuals are taking advantage of the unique ability to further explore their biological heritage, through mtDNA (Mitochondrial DNA) and Y-Chromosome analysis. GeneTree’s ancestral testing incorporates the study of population traits, migration patterns and genealogical characteristics. Test results can be used to reconstruct maternal and paternal lines, and have proven specifically reliable in the verification of Native American Indian ancestry.

DNAdetective: Forensic DNA Testing Services
GeneTree’s Forensic DNA Testing Services give consumers access to technology previously unavailable outside the realms of government and law enforcement. Extraction technicians carefully procure viable samples from items as divers as hair, semen and blood-stained articles, chewed gum, and even licked stamps.

GeneCard DNA Identification System
The next generation in personal identification and documentation follows a pathway through the science of genetics. With its GeneCard identification system, GeneTree collects and classifies loved ones’ DNA signatures, storing samples for future verification needs. This technology represents the definitive method for attaining positive identification for virtually any application.

By having their children’s DNA analyzed and sealed in state-of-the-art laboratory storage vaults, parents are guaranteed an enduring and incontrovertible identification resource. GeneTree’s GeneCard DNA identification system is a particularly ideal means for adoptive parents to achieve peace-of-mind concerning the safety of their children.

SecureGene DNA Banking: Archiving Genomic Information
As the name implies, GeneTree’s SecureGene DNA Banking service allows individuals and corporations to literally bank their DNA. The banking process gives clients complete, stable storage of their DNA blueprints that can be retrieved for definitive identification purposes. Clients can reserve a space in GeneTree’s DNA vaults for a 20-year period; all samples collected for SecureGene DNA banking are insured for viability during the same 20-year storage interval.

Special Extraction Services
GeneTree’s expert extraction technicians are nothing less than artists at their delicate craft. DNA can be culled from items as diverse as hair roots, toothbrushes, disposable razors and other hygienic products, as well as a host of dried bodily fluids, including blood, saliva and semen.

-- The GeneTree Philosophy --

GeneTree has distinguished itself with an unparalleled combination of rigid scientific discipline, technical excellence and individual attention to customer needs. Its genetics testing service has built its name in the most literal sense, around its services. GeneTree is proud of its trademarks: fast, accurate testing, and friendly, knowledgeable customer support.

Scientific Discipline
GeneTree’s team of experienced scientists represents the cream of the genomics crop, comprising some of the top research minds in the rapidly evolving field of genetics testing and analysis. Its pool of Ph.D. and M.S. scientists is dedicated to the tireless spirit of innovation. Behind its bona-fide research and development team, GeneTree and its professionals aren’t merely implementing technology; they're creating it.

By incorporating more than 250 distinct STR (short tandem repeat) markers, GeneTree makes definitive measurements of genetic similarities, charting as reliably as possible, even the most distant biological relationships. The laboratory analyzes markers according to the FBI-developed Combined DNA Index System (CODIS); focusing on these 13 important genetic signposts helps ensure that there is no commercially available means to generate results more reliable than those that GeneTree provides.

Technical Excellence
GeneTree’s dual-sample testing process concurrently examines multiple instances of genetic specimens in-parallel, yielding extremely high levels of accuracy, with inclusion probabilities regularly exceeding 99.99%.

In the increasingly competitive DNA testing industry, customers take legitimate comfort in the knowledge that at GeneTree, the company’s scope extends far beyond capitalizing on existing knowledge; by our perpetual drive to innovate and improve the speed, accuracy and comprehensiveness of DNA testing, GeneTree actively participates in the pursuit of perfection in the industry.

Fast Results
GeneTree paternity test results are released as early as 3 business days following receipt of viable specimens. Upon test completion, our data reporting specialists prepare detailed genetics analyses that are immediately accessible to clients. These reports are then accessible in a variety of formats, and can be delivered both electronically and by mail. Clients can even retrieve their results over the phone, by speaking to one of our knowledgeable client services representatives.

Personal Attention
GeneTree’s unsurpassed testing facilities mean fast, accurate results, delivered professionally and privately. But the GeneTree commitment to excellence doesn’t stop there; every GeneTree customer is backed by a dedicated team of friendly and discreet client services representatives, available during extended hours to answer customers’ questions.

Its single-minded department of client services has emerged as the barometer against which all genetics testing support is measured. GeneTree’s staff of qualified client services representatives is committed to guiding customers through the process of preparing and submitting samples, answering all pre- and post-test questions, providing test status reports, and ensuring that clients fully understanding their results. In fact, the company’s experienced Ph.D. & M.S. experts, themselves, are available to answer even the most technical questions.

Global Responsibility
A business unit of Sorenson Genomics, GeneTree shares the commitment of its President and CEO, James LeVoy Sorenson, whose legendary contributions to medical science, and generous philanthropic spirit, are guiding forces in the laboratory’s daily operations.

Throughout 2005, the reliability of the GeneTree name gave further notoriety to Sorenson Genomics, when the firm lent its industry-leading expertise and world-class genomics laboratory to 2004's Indian Ocean tsunami disaster identification effort, painstakingly processing special specimens in an effort to match DNA for hundreds of the tragedy's victims and their families.

-- The GeneTree Future --

The DNA test of the future will offer significantly more information than whether two individuals are related by blood. Imminent (and some current) developments will focus more acutely upon genetic health applications, from inherited health conditions and nutritional deficiencies to early condition diagnoses and prevention of adverse drug reactions.

GeneTree’s active involvement in genuine scientific advancement takes specific aim at helming technological breakthroughs in the field of genetics; as the DNA research community continues to develop in size and scope, and genetics databases grow in breadth and complexity, advances in ancestral genetics will naturally follow suit.

With existing technologies capable of accurately measuring connections as diverse as cousinship and avuncular (aunts/uncles) relatedness—and beyond, the future of DNA relationship testing is certain to extend well past merely a few degrees of biological separation.

Additionally, GeneTree is committed to developing technologies and processes that will streamline the entire genetics testing operation, optimizing data collection to improve accuracy and speed, and reduce costs. The spearheading of such logistical improvements, coupled with increased exposure as the GeneTree name continues to gain notoriety, promises to have a snowballing effect within the DNA testing industry.

Ethnicity and Genealogy
Recent developments have also made DNA useful in linking individuals with specific ethnic groups and countries of origin. Scientists have employed DNA testing to map human history across the globe, and now know significant details about primitive migration patterns of our African forebears.

Although DNA testing for ethnicity is in its relative infancy, its demand is rapidly increasing; GeneTree is committed to remaining at the forefront of this growing discipline, and will continue to offer its clients access to cutting edge technology, augmenting its products and services to meet developments across the genetics spectrum.

The increasingly popular DNA Surname Project has gained the attention of genealogists and family history researchers. Individuals with common surnames have begun using DNA tests for comparisons that are said to be able to make paternal ancestral links as closely as 8 generations apart.

By helping to compile one of the largest DNA population databases in the world, for the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation, GeneTree's staff of scientists also contributes to the science behind the bridging of ancestral gaps, adding to the overall balance of genealogical knowledge.

Disease, Nutrition and Medication
GeneTree sees increasing promise in the use of DNA markers to assess probabilities of developing genetic conditions like heart disease and cancer. DNA testing can also provide insight into an individual’s nutritional make-up, offering important clues into lifestyle-related factors that might specifically contribute to health issues.

Perhaps more than any other scientific discipline, genetics offers the strongest promise of significant inroads in human lifestyle improvement; GeneTree is, and will remain, at the heels of this potentially revolutionary application of DNA testing, and is excited at the prospect of turning this emerging science into another of its unrivaled offerings.

In addition to providing greater insights into inherited deficiencies, DNA research looks to be able to make specific, personal pronouncements on drug interactions and benefits. Not only does GeneTree plan to offer testing to help determine the probability of positive or negative effects of particular drugs—the company hopes to join the Biotech industry in helping make personalized drug prescriptions a reality for consumers.

By allowing doctors to write prescriptions based on unique a DNA blueprints, science will decrease the likelihood of adverse reactions, leading ideally to less expensive, more efficient and faster-acting drug therapies.

As GeneTree founder Terrence Carmichael puts it, “DNA testing will provide people with more detailed, accurate and personalized information about who they are. It will assist with answering questions such as what types of foods one should be eating, how much exercise one should be getting and the types of drugs one should be taking.” The future of genomics is indeed a promising one, and GeneTree will be there at every turn, creating—and improving upon—the finest offerings in DNA testing and analysis.

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