This is a special page / project we have finally decided to develop and document. This because the error rate with consumer WGS testing appears to be higher than with the more established, higher volume microarray testing firms1. And definitely higher than the documented medical lab procedures2. These consumer testing firms are not CLIA / CAP certified medical testing labs. Their quality control, when it comes to tracking test samples, seems to be less stringent. Making matters worse, probably half the WGS testers are doing so for health / medical reasons. And do not understand genetic genealogy processes. Nor have necessarily tested at two different companies. So to get the wrong results and not even know it can be very traumatic and misleading.
There are two aspects to this project. The first is to define clearly and unequivocally how to verify you have the correct results. The second is to list orphaned DNA test results that were delivered to the wrong tester and the owner has of the actual results has still not been found. That is, you have verified they are not your results but want to see if the real owner of the results can be found. In some cases, it is quick and easy to find who they belong too. Others, not so. The hope is to eventually find who they belong to, deliver them, and then remove them from the improper delivery circulation.
Orphaned DNA tests are defined as results returned to a tester that are verified as to not belonging to that tester. And the means described here could not determine easily who the owner of the results may be. So we post the information here in the hopes that someday someone can figure out who the orphaned kit results belong too. Maybe through diligent work of an in-training forensic genetics genealogist or similar. Once discovered and verified, we will deliver the result files to the proper owner and then remove them from our chart. The goal is for the chart to become empty instead of continuing to grow.
Often the consumer DNA test company, when they are finally convinced they have delivered the wrong results, will not try and figure out who got the testers actual results. They will simply retest the person. Which is concerning if you wish to remain more private with your test results. So if you came here because you are listed here and not aware your results were incorrectly delivered, then we can work to help you make sure the incorrect delivery results are wiped from others systems.
The techniques can be similar whether a WGS, WES, or microarray test result. The preference is to have two test kits from the same tester but different companies. But close relatives that have guaranteed-measurable, determinable relationships are fine also. Generally 1st Cousins or closer. See our Consanguinity page for more information. These techniques are known in the genetic genealogy community but are likely foreign to those not familiar with that work.
One clear indicator, surprisingly often overlooked initially, is the sex of the tester versus the results returned. Even with microarray tests, you can often determine the sex of the tester. So verifying both results are the same sex is an initial, quick first step. With WGS / WES results, you are looking at the number of read segments mapped to both the X and Y in the BAM; as compared to each other and as compared to the autosomes. The mapping depth in X is about 1/2 what it is in the autosomes for biological male samples. In females, it is about the same as the autosomes with Y almost non-existent. For microarray results, you are looking at similar — most results report all the chromosomes and mitochondria results. For FTDNA who strip the Y and mito out before reporting, you want to look at the X values and see that they mostly report homozygous. Females, who have two X's, will report more the standard mix of heterozygous.
For next checks, we divide this into three tasks just as happens in genetic genealogy. Autosome segment match analysis (we can ignore X for now), Y haplogroup analysis and mitochondrial haplogroup analysis.
This is the best test as it can be done with any two people who meet the criteria of closeness (same tester being the closest). For WGS tests, you need to generate or extract microarray test values from the BAM using a tool like WGSExtract. Then upload those extracted results to a comparison site like GEDMatch, MyHeritage or FTDNA. Use the same microarray file formats if you can to maximize the number of shared SNPs to compare with.
If both testers to compare are male (or should be male) and should be on the same patriline, then measure the haplogroup from the yDNA SNP values tested. This is easily done by loading both test results to Cladefinder.yseq.net. But note that different microarray test companies and even NGS (i.e. sequencing) test companies test different numbers of yDNA SNPs.
Our total of reported and cleared Orphaned DNA Test kits is xx as of 20 Dec 2022.
We have not bothered with a biological sex check recording because it is determinable from whether a Y Haplogruop has been reported or not.
There are two aspects to this project. The first is to define clearly and unequivocally how to verify you have the correct results. The second is to list orphaned DNA test results that were delivered to the wrong tester and the owner has of the actual results has still not been found. That is, you have verified they are not your results but want to see if the real owner of the results can be found. In some cases, it is quick and easy to find who they belong too. Others, not so. The hope is to eventually find who they belong to, deliver them, and then remove them from the improper delivery circulation.
Orphaned DNA tests are defined as results returned to a tester that are verified as to not belonging to that tester. And the means described here could not determine easily who the owner of the results may be. So we post the information here in the hopes that someday someone can figure out who the orphaned kit results belong too. Maybe through diligent work of an in-training forensic genetics genealogist or similar. Once discovered and verified, we will deliver the result files to the proper owner and then remove them from our chart. The goal is for the chart to become empty instead of continuing to grow.
Often the consumer DNA test company, when they are finally convinced they have delivered the wrong results, will not try and figure out who got the testers actual results. They will simply retest the person. Which is concerning if you wish to remain more private with your test results. So if you came here because you are listed here and not aware your results were incorrectly delivered, then we can work to help you make sure the incorrect delivery results are wiped from others systems.
How to verify you have the correct results
The techniques can be similar whether a WGS, WES, or microarray test result. The preference is to have two test kits from the same tester but different companies. But close relatives that have guaranteed-measurable, determinable relationships are fine also. Generally 1st Cousins or closer. See our Consanguinity page for more information. These techniques are known in the genetic genealogy community but are likely foreign to those not familiar with that work.
One clear indicator, surprisingly often overlooked initially, is the sex of the tester versus the results returned. Even with microarray tests, you can often determine the sex of the tester. So verifying both results are the same sex is an initial, quick first step. With WGS / WES results, you are looking at the number of read segments mapped to both the X and Y in the BAM; as compared to each other and as compared to the autosomes. The mapping depth in X is about 1/2 what it is in the autosomes for biological male samples. In females, it is about the same as the autosomes with Y almost non-existent. For microarray results, you are looking at similar — most results report all the chromosomes and mitochondria results. For FTDNA who strip the Y and mito out before reporting, you want to look at the X values and see that they mostly report homozygous. Females, who have two X's, will report more the standard mix of heterozygous.
For next checks, we divide this into three tasks just as happens in genetic genealogy. Autosome segment match analysis (we can ignore X for now), Y haplogroup analysis and mitochondrial haplogroup analysis.
Autosomal segment match analysis
This is the best test as it can be done with any two people who meet the criteria of closeness (same tester being the closest). For WGS tests, you need to generate or extract microarray test values from the BAM using a tool like WGSExtract. Then upload those extracted results to a comparison site like GEDMatch, MyHeritage or FTDNA. Use the same microarray file formats if you can to maximize the number of shared SNPs to compare with.
Y Haplogroup analysis (biological male testers only)
If both testers to compare are male (or should be male) and should be on the same patriline, then measure the haplogroup from the yDNA SNP values tested. This is easily done by loading both test results to Cladefinder.yseq.net. But note that different microarray test companies and even NGS (i.e. sequencing) test companies test different numbers of yDNA SNPs.
Orphaned DNA Table
Just to point out. The frequency of one company over another in this table is no indication of the quality of that lab. Maybe testers at one service are more likely to have tested at multiple labs and used the procedures here to check for accurate results. Maybe testers at one company over the others are more easily found because they are in a population where close relatives have tested. There can be many reasons. So please do not read more into it the table than may appear. Once an owner is found, we will remove the entry from the table.| Results Return Date | GEDMatch ID | Y Haplogroup | mtDNA Haplogroup | Test / Company | Storage location |
| xx xxx 2019 | Dante 30x WGS | Pam | |||
| xx xxx 2022 | Nebula 30x WGS | Dragan |
Our total of reported and cleared Orphaned DNA Test kits is xx as of 20 Dec 2022.
We have not bothered with a biological sex check recording because it is determinable from whether a Y Haplogruop has been reported or not.