The science behind DNA Connect

Once the saliva samples are received in our laboratory, they follow a series of processes which are briefly explained below:

• Step 1. Identical DNA fragments are identified from among all possible pairs of users in our database. These fragments are known as IBD (Identity by descent) segments.
• Step 2. ·  The length in centimorgans (cM) of each of these IBD segments is estimated. Subsequently, only those that are considered sufficiently informative to designate them as fragments with the same origin and valid for kinship estimation are filtered out.
• Step 3. . The number of cM shared between each pair of users is evaluated and, through a series of algorithms, the possible kinship relationship is established.  The higher the number of shared cM, the closer the family relationship.

In the event that the sample comes from an external company in the form of Raw DNA Data, a preliminary step will be carried out to determine if it is compatible with our system through a quality control process. If the sample passes this quality control, it will be analyzed as any other sample, moving on to Step 1.