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Downloading Your Family Finder™ Data

The Family Finder - Downloads page allows you to download your autosomal raw data to analyze the results of each SNP.

These Family Finder raw data files contain your DNA results code (A, C, T, G, etc.) for each of the thousands of locations tested. It is most useful for those advanced users who want to compare specific segments of their DNA with others. 

Because the Family Finder raw data files contain results from thousands of SNPs, the files are large. We have compressed these files for a faster download. There are many free programs available on the internet for extracting GZIP files. Please note that Microsoft Windows and Mac extract utilities do not work with GZIP files. 

Accessing Your Raw Data Download Page

You can access Family Finder Downloads from your dashboard or your navigation bar.

To access from your dashboard:

  1. Sign in to your kit.
  2. On your dashboard, locate the Autosomal DNA Results & Tools widget.
  3. On the Autosomal DNA Results & Tools widget, click the See More button, and select Data Download.

To access from your navigation bar:

  1. Sign in to your kit.
  2. On the navigation bar at the top of the page, go to Results & Tools > Autosomal DNA >  Download Raw Data.

Family Finder Data Files 

  • Build 37 Concatenated Raw data - This file includes all autosomal SNPs including those found on the X chromosome. Autosomal raw data is formatted according to the Genome Reference Consortium Build 37 (GRCh37) structure for SNP positions. 
  • Y-SNP Raw Data - (Genetic males only.) This file includes all Y-SNPs. 

Downloading your raw data

Family Finder raw results files are comma-separated-variable (CSV) files. We compress them into GZ (zipped) files for storage and portability. To properly read these files you must first extract them from their compressed format. To extract the CSV file from the GZ file, you will need compression/decompression software to unzip the file. There are many free programs available on the internet for extracting GZIP files. Please note that Microsoft Windows and Mac extract utilities do not work with GZIP files. 

Once you have extracted a CSV file, you can open it with a text-editing program or a spreadsheet program.

Reading your raw data file

The results files contain the following four data columns:

  • RSID – Displays the RS number for the SNP per the NIH dbSNP database.
    • The Y-SNP raw data file will show either the RS number and/or the SNP name in this column, but might also include FamilyTreeDNA and Illumina naming conventions for the SNP.
  • Chromosome – Displays the name of the chromosome where the SNP is located. For an autosomal file, that is 1 through 22. For an X-chromosome file, that is X.
  • Position – Displays the specific location on the specified chromosome of the SNP.
  • Result – Displays the allele values for the SNP.

These tables show the possible values for the Result column and their meanings. We report results according to each microarray chip maker’s specifications.

Result*

Allele Value

Meaning

*For genetic males, the Y-SNP raw data file shows doubled values (DD, II, AA, CC, GG, or TT) as placeholders even though the males only have one Y chromosome. Example: On the Y-SNP file your might have AA at a position, but in reality, it is only A. 

DD

deletion, deletion

There are two copies of the deletion. This is a homozygous value.

II

insertion, insertion

There are two copies of the insertion. This is a homozygous value.

DI

deletion, insertion

There is one copy of the deletion and one copy of the insertion variant. This is a heterozygous value.

AA

Adenine, Adenine

There are two copies of the adenine variant. This is a homozygous value.

CC

Cytosine, Cytosine

There are two copies of the cytosine variant. This is a homozygous value.

GG

Guanine, Guanine

There are two copies of the guanine variant. This is a homozygous value.

TT

Thymine, Thymine

There are two copies of the thymine variant. This is a homozygous value.

CT or TC

Cytosine, Thymine

There is one copy of the cytosine and one copy of the thymine variant. This is a heterozygous value.

AG or GA

Adenine, Guanine

There is one copy of the adenine and one copy of the guanine variant. This is a heterozygous value.

—

no call

The results were not clear for this SNP. A small percentage of results like this are expected from microarray chips.

 

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