Finding Relatives in a Database

Abstract

Determining relative relationships of people who share a common ancestor within at least a threshold number of generations includes: receiving recombinable deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence information of a first user and recombinable DNA sequence information of a plurality of users; processing, using one or more computer processors, the recombinable DNA sequence information of the plurality of users in parallel; determining, based at least in part on a result of processing the recombinable DNA information of the plurality of users in parallel, a predicted degree of relationship between the first user and a user among the plurality of users, the predicted degree of relative relationship corresponding to a number of generations within which the first user and the second user share a common ancestor.

Description

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising: receiving, by a computing system and from a user, an opt-in election to consent to being presented with information about potential relatives among a plurality of users in a relative finder database, wherein the relative finder database comprises recombinable deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence information of the plurality of users, including that of the user;determining, by the computing system and from identical-by-descent (IBD) segments from the recombinable DNA of the user and the recombinable DNA of the plurality of users, relative relationships between the user and each of a subset of users from the plurality of users; andproviding, by the computing system and for display on a client device of the user, a representation of a graphical user interface indicating the relative relationships between the user and each of the subset of users in tabular form, wherein each entry in the tabular form displays, for the user and a particular user of the subset of users, a predicted relationship and a percent of DNA shared.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein an entry in the tabular form displays an icon selectable by way of the graphical user interface that facilitates making contact between the user and a second user to which the entry applies.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, further comprising: receiving, from the client device, an indication that the user has selected the icon; andin response to receiving the indication, providing, for display on the client device, a representation of a second graphical user interface that prompts the user to enter a personalized introduction message and to select personal information that the user is willing to share with the second user.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising: receiving, from the client device, the personalized introduction message or selection of the personal information; andin response to receiving the personalized introduction message or selection of the personal information, transmitting an invitation to connect to the second user on behalf of the user.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the second user has opted-in to being presented with information about potential relatives among the plurality of users.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising: receiving, from a second client device associated with the second user, an acceptance of the invitation to connect; andin response to receiving the acceptance of the invitation to connect, updating the relative finder database to indicate that the user and the second user are connected.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising: based on the user and the second user being connected, revealing identifies, genetic information, and existing relative relationships of the user and the second user to one another.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising: based on the user and the second user being connected, inferring an additional relative relationship between the user and a third user from an existing relative relationship between the second user and the third user.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from the user, a number of generations as a threshold relationship value, wherein each of the subset of users has a respective common ancestor with the user that is no more than the number of generations from the user.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein determining the relative relationships between the user and each of the subset of users comprises determining common patterns of nucleotides between the user and each of the subset of users.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the common patterns of nucleotides between the user and each of the subset of users are common lengths of recombinable DNA of the user and recombinable DNA of at least one of the subset of users exceeding a predetermined threshold.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the entries in the tabular form are sorted according to closeness of the predicted relationships with the user.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the entries in the tabular form are anonymized to hide identities of the subset of users.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein each of the subset of users has opted-in to being presented with information about potential relatives among the plurality of users.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein each entry in the tabular form also displays, for the user and the particular user of the subset of users, a number of IBD segments shared.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, having stored thereon program instructions that, upon execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations comprising: receiving, from a user, an opt-in election to consent to being presented with information about potential relatives among a plurality of users in a relative finder database, wherein the relative finder database comprises recombinable deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence information of the plurality of users, including that of the user;determining, from identical-by-descent (IBD) segments from the recombinable DNA of the user and the recombinable DNA of the plurality of users, relative relationships between the user and each of a subset of users from the plurality of users; andproviding, for display on a client device of the user, a representation of a graphical user interface indicating the relative relationships between the user and each of the subset of users in tabular form, wherein each entry in the tabular form displays, for the user and a particular user of the subset of users, a predicted relationship and a percent of DNA shared.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein an entry in the tabular form displays an icon selectable by way of the graphical user interface that facilitates making contact between the user and a second user to which the entry applies.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, further comprising: receiving, from the client device, an indication that the user has selected the icon; andin response to receiving the indication, providing, for display on the client device, a representation of a second graphical user interface that prompts the user to enter a personalized introduction message and to select personal information that the user is willing to share with the second user.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising: receiving, from the client device, the personalized introduction message or selection of the personal information; andin response to receiving the personalized introduction message or selection of the personal information, transmitting an invitation to connect to the second user on behalf of the user.

20. A computing system comprising: one or more processors; andmemory containing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising: receiving, from a user, an opt-in election to consent to being presented with information about potential relatives among a plurality of users in a relative finder database, wherein the relative finder database comprises recombinable deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequence information of the plurality of users, including that of the user;determining, from identical-by-descent (IBD) segments from the recombinable DNA of the user and the recombinable DNA of the plurality of users, relative relationships between the user and each of a subset of users from the plurality of users; andproviding, for display on a client device of the user, a representation of a graphical user interface indicating the relative relationships between the user and each of the subset of users in tabular form, wherein each entry in the tabular form displays, for the user and a particular user of the subset of users, a predicted relationship and a percent of DNA shared.