I think we’re moving to the solving of this case eventually, and DNA is the key. The only problem is double: looks like forensics do not have much DNA to work on, and we know that Zodiac was extremely careful when it comes to fingerprints, for instance, so maybe none of the letters/envelopes/postacards he sent has his DNA on it, plus they were sent almost 50 years ago so it may have disappeard anyway

Richard, IF this is true – and if it is, this should have been the thrust of the show, not a throwaway at the end – my interpretation is the lab in Florida is not Gedmatch (which is not a lab).

A possible scenario is the first lab obtained a partial profile, and forwarded it to a genealogical lab to attempt to sequence the rest.

With Nichols, they only had a 7 percent profile but sufficiently sequenced the rest to allow a run through Gedmatch.

Yes, I shouldn’t have put that in. The thing that caught my eye was "Analysts then looked for similarities between the Zodiac profile and family members who have already submitted DNA to a public database."

For analysts to have a ‘profile’, seems to indicate a ‘genetic profile.’ Which we were of the understanding didn’t exist after the questions arising from the 2002 Cydne Holt show. The route appears the letters were sent to a lab, then the resulting profile entered into GEDmatch.

My guess though is the host was sloppy and making assumptions, based on the GSK methods.

Let’s let someone corroborate it.

Dr Cydne Holt 2002: First she removes the stamps and flaps "I would then try to recover DNA from the cells that have been deposited on the letter when somebody had licked it." She uses a centrifuge to separate the cells from the sticky adhesive (Detective Poyser 2018: "said that the DNA sample was hampered because technology didn’t exist at the time to separate the glue used on the stamps and envelopes from the genetic material.) She uses the newest DNA detection technique called polymerase chain reaction.

Why cut the stamps and letters if you are swabbing only the exterior, and refer to "licked" if you are not testing the seal?
https://youtu.be/uzXy2JbI_iM?t=3648

Jumping around for a moment and speculating – but when someone licks a stamp and applies it, wouldn’t some saliva cells typically end up on the outside of the envelope?

Why not take whatever they came up with to initially rule out ALA and KQ, and run that through Gedmatch?

Apparently sequencing can take as little as one day. And Gedmatch is free.

Or has that sample disappeared or become corrupted?

Do they have ALA and Qvale’s DNA to make comparisons?