Map of Kinship – An exciting new ancestry feature in deCODEme
The Map of Kinship can be used not only to learn about your relationship to people from the different continents, but also your relationship to populations within the continents.
From a genetic point of view we are all unique, but some individuals are more similar than others. Generally speaking, genetic differences reflect geography. People from the same geographic area tend to be more genetically similar than people from distant parts of the world. This means that the greater your genetic similarity is to a particular population, the more likely you have ancestors that belonged to that group in the past and relatives in the present.
The deCODEme team has recently implemented a new tool, called the Map of Kinship. This tool can be used to explore a person’s ancestry and genealogical relationship to more than 1000 individuals from 53 populations from all over the world.
Map of Kinship rotates in 3D
This tool is based on a powerful statistical method, called principal components analysis, which is used to uncover the hidden patterns of genetic variation that can tell us how closely people are related. Such patterns are of great interest from a historical point of view, as they are the result of thousands of years of migration, from time humans first appeared about 200 thousand years ago and to the present.
In the Map of Kinship, what you see is like a conventional map. However, instead of cities or towns separated by geographical distances, you see the genetic distances between yourself and people from 53 different populations from all the different regions of the world. People from the same population tend to form tight clusters on the Map of Kinship. Likewise, populations from the same regions of the world also tend to cluster together on the map. Your position on the map tells you how closely related you are to the individuals and populations that are shown. The Map of Kinship can be used not only to learn about your relationship to people from the different continents, but also your relationship to populations within the continents. Thus, for example, it can tell you whether your ancestors were mostly from Europe, Africa, Asia or the Americas. If you are most similar to Europeans, then the Map of Kinship will reveal whether your
ancestors were mostly, for example, Scandinavian, Italian, Russian or from the Middle East. If your friends or family have bought a Complete Scan from deCODEme, then you can also see where they fit into your Map of Kinship.
How do I go about getting a Complete Scan from deCODEme?
Joanne
Joanne VanDeusen
27 Feb 09 at 5:58 pm
You can order a deCODEme genetic DNA test from our website http://www.decodeme.com and in certain places, like California, you can order one through your doctor. The ordering process is simple and once we receive your DNA sample it takes us 3-4 weeks to process your genetic information and make it available for you to look at.
All the best,
Jon
The deCODEme Team
admin
28 Feb 09 at 10:14 pm
That map of kinship was interesting. However one thing I would like to point out.
It would be great if you added more samples to the Map of Kinship though; such as;
Europe:
Finns
English
Germans
Polish
Spanish
Norwegian
Asia:
Koreans
Manchus
Vietnamese
I think this would give us a very detailed map of Asia and Europe.
There are a lot of gaps in the map that should be filled. An example would be the huge gap separating the Russians from the French. This gap will most likely be filled by Germans, Polish and other Central and/or Eastern European nationalities. Another example would be the huge gap separating Japanese and Northern Han from the Hezhe and so on. The gap will most likely be filled by Koreans and/or Manchus.
Nevertheless the new “Map of Kinship” feature is definitely very well presented.
shaun fitzgerald
5 Mar 09 at 11:31 am
I’m also assuming the Basque could be the link between Southwestern Europeans and Northwestern Europeans?
About the “Another example would be the huge gap separating Japanese and Northern Han from the Hezhe and so on.”
I mean the gap surrounding the Mongola.
shaun fitzgerald
5 Mar 09 at 11:55 am
The Basques, French Basques in this case, don’t really link up with any ethnic group. The Basques, French and Spanish, are outliers in Europe. Of course there will overlap with both the French and Spanish Europeans.
It is interesting to me that so far, of all my friends at deCODEme, not one fits within any European ethnic group clusters. I have no one near any outliers: Basques, Sardinians, Adygei or Russians. Most friends are located outside the large French cluster, I am Southern European and located near the Tuscan Italian and Bergamo Italian cluster.
All I can say is more European ethnic groups are needed as clusters, this means research is needed and less reliance on the regular bunch of ethnic groups used in every genetic report, most of which are outliers and atypical of the bulk of Europeans.
Ponto
15 Feb 10 at 6:41 am