Can someone update the DNA test page to allow entry of GEDmatch kit for Living DNA???

Question

GEDmatch Genesis allows import of files from test providers other than 23andMe, FamilyFinder, and Ancestry and WikiTree allows one to add tests from those other providers . . .  however, the WikiTree form does not have a field for entry of the GEDmatch field although it does display it when listing the item.

Comments

what is Living DNA? and how is it different from Genesis that everyone else is talking about?

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Living DNA is a DNA testing company based in Britain. It does things...er, a little different than the larger companies.

Genesis is an expected update--currently in beta only--of GEDmatch.

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Yeah I'd like to see a place for Living DNA as well . I am due to get my husbands results back from that company mid August and my own in mid September. Living DNA breaks down the UK in about 21 different area and includes Scotland .. most companies seems to shove Scottish results in with Irish which is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard.

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Here's news: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/506515/did-you-see-that-you-can-now-enter-gedmatch-genesis-kit-ids

Answer 1

Thom,

You are correct using the GEDMatch ID is very important.

Please take another look, I think you will find that the field to do the entry is there.  When the DNA test is added there is a field to enter the GEDMatch ID.  First enter the test taken, then you will see  that there are two boxes, one for FTDNA and one for GEDMatch.

Comments

It's been reported here that Gedmatch Genesis IDs are formatted differently from standard Gedmatch IDs, so they aren't compatible with WikiTree's forms.

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Thanks Philip!  The question was in regards to Living DNA.  FTDNA (FamilyFinder) is acknowledged as working fine along with Ancestry and 23andMe.  For Living DNA, which is one of the 'others,' no such field is presneted.

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Yes, it is two letters and seven numeric digits rather than one letter and six digits.  For the latter, the letter represents the test provider but I don't know if any such encoding exists for the Genesis kit numbers.

In any case, it should not be a heavy lift to update the code to allow Genesis kit numbers.  Genesis also handles the big three providers and supposedly does a better job of matching so these kit numbers might be mainstream someday.

Answer 2

I have a feeling that LivingDNA do not do matching yet, nor can you add their results to other providers.

Comments

As Thom and others have pointed out, Gedmatch Genesis apparently does accept LivingDNA data, and it allows matches to data from other companies.

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However, Gedmatch Genesis, although it does accept LivingDNA data, is not compatible with WikiTree.

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Not sure what you mean by incompatible . . . WikiTree does not host any DNA results rather just the provider, the ID, and alternate IDs such as GEDmatch, ySearch, mitosearh.   That the Genesis kit number cannot be entered for Living DNA test entries is a type of incompatibility I suppose but that is the target of the query - i.e. that someone could tweak the code.

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GEDmatch says they support the following:

Family Tree DNA (FTDNA)
AncestryDNA
23andMe
Genes For Good (Both 23andMe format and VCF)
MyHeritage
FTDNA (Oxford Univ)
GeneByGene
WeGene
Genos Research
Full Genomes
Genotek
YFull

I have 1196 matches.  944 of those describe the provider and the frequencies break down thusly:

382 Anncestry (US, UK, AU)

195 FTDNA

168 23anMe

159 Living DNA

17 Genes for Good

10 MyHeritage

4 HGDP

3 GPS Origins

2 Full Genomes Corp

1 YSeq

1 WeGene

1 Genotek

1 National Geographic

Answer 3

I opted into Genesis within a couple of weeks of its launch. I have both a production GEDmatch kit number and a Genesis kit number...for precisely the same raw atDNA data. As do, I suspect, the vast majority of Genesis participants.

After all, Genesis is still in beta. I believe it remains to be seen how numbering in current production and Genesis--and raw data--will be consolidated. I think it's a very good bet that current production kit numbers will not be changed. That would be a disastrous UX and PR move. But I got no warm-and-fuzzies that Genesis numbering won't be altered. And I think it's a certainty that identical raw DNA results will no longer be identified differently unless one becomes a free service and the other a for-fee-only service.

Regardless, verdict is out while it's still in beta.

It likely would be a minor tweak (though I don't speak for WikiTree) to allow Genesis kit numbering to be entered in profiles. The bigger issue, though, is what would have to be done retroactively with a few hundred db entries after Genesis is no longer in beta test and goes production and changes whatever it chooses to change. That could result in a great deal of pain...not just the programmatic removal of a numbering schema, but what if dozens of profiles had "confirmed by DNA" sourcing information manually added?

 

Comments

Edison, am I correct when I say, the kit# you get in Genesis is only compatible for comparison with others who also have uploaded to Genesis and not with the regular kit #s?

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Correct you are. As of now, no "production" kit numbers can be searched or compared from within Genesis, and no Genesis kits can be searched from the production site. The databases look to be completely distinct...for now.

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Thank you Ed.

And if I am also correct in saying Genesis is the only way Living DNA can be uploaded to GEDmatch, then there is not any real value as of yet to adding Living DNA to the list of DNA companies WikiTree allows entries for.

Other members would not be able to compare their DNA information with it.

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You do have a way with words.  :-)

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Why thank you!  I appreciate the knowledge you bring to G2G.  I am constantly learning something new from you :-)

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Genesis is the only way results from Living DNA and several other organizations can be imported.  It also allows results from Ancestry, FTDNA, and 23andMe to be imported and many of those persons with GEDmatch kits have created GEDmatch Genesis kits to enable

The statement that others would not be able to compare is not exactly true only that they cannot compare their normal kit to the Genesis kit.  In other words, there is real value.

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What I meant Thom is not enough value at this time because 1) you have to be tier 1 to use Genesis and 2) not very many people yet have added their Raw DNA to Genesis yet and 3) it is still in the Beta stage.  Not to mention, casual users of Gedmatch (which are the majority) will not be using Genesis.  Once it gets going, is out of the Beta stage and more users are using it, then it will have some serious value.

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Let me address point one first . . . I do not see any requirement to be 'tier 1' I am not currently tier 1 and loaded my results as well as several relatives.  The imports included Living DNA, FTNDA, 23andMe, Ancestry tests.

That the number of contributors is relatively small is true and I do agree with your point of view but will share that I have already had Genesis matches contact me with my results having been imported only recently.  As for the total population being small, your contribution will help build that base even if you do not expect much value in the near term.

As for casual users of GEDmatch . . . well, those using GEDmatch are less casual than most but there is also the argument that one does is not well served by matches to persons who do not have trees and do not respond to queries.  In other words, the signal to noise ratio is better now than it will be later.  I am not saying this is my opinion but there is some validity to the argument.

Long story short, if you don't see value in it then wait.  I have already seen results and am glad I did not wait.

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I apologize, I was incorrect in what I said about tier 1.  Genesis is a separate log-in from the regular GEDmatch.  

But my ultimate point is, because Genesis is in the Beta stage, it would be better to wait before adding this as a comparison tool to WikiTree.  I am not a fan of jumping on things still in the Beta stage because they go through many changes before getting to a settled place.  If Genesis turns out to be a great comparison tool for other companies like Living DNA then yes, we should definitely add those companies and the Genesis format kit#s to WikiTree.  But this requires quite a bit of additional work for whoever does the software coding for the website--another reason for my recommendation to wait.

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I meant to add: Now that I realize this is not a tier 1 feature, I will log-in and add my Raw DNA to the pool to help move things along :-)

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I very much agree about the point that it is beta.  It will be rolled out to the entire site at some point and the databases merged.  What that means for changes to the current WikiTree software only time will tell.  

 

Honestly though, I was just hoping that a line of code or two could be tweaked to allow the new format kit numbers to be included as 'GEDmatch IDs'  that this information can be included in the regular text box is an acceptable work-around.

Answer 4

I'm also interested in this. It will be a couple of months before I get my Living DNA results.

My understanding is that Living DNA is far more detailed and advanced. Instead of just seeing Germany or Great Britain, they break down the test into dozens of different regions within certain countries. I'm not sure how this would relate to Wikitree, as I'm still new and trying to learn how WikiTree DNA works.

Comments

Might be interesting reading: https://dna-explained.com/2017/05/04/livingdna-product-review/.