23andMe Holding‘s patent describes a method for determining identity-by-descent (IBD) relatedness between individuals using personal information. The process involves analyzing focal and reference strings, identifying IBD segments, and calculating the degree of relatedness, which is then accessible through a user interface. GlobalData’s report on 23andMe Holding gives a 360-degree view of the company including its patenting strategy. Buy the report here.
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According to GlobalData’s company profile on 23andMe Holding, was a key innovation area identified from patents. 23andMe Holding's grant share as of June 2024 was 45%. Grant share is based on the ratio of number of grants to total number of patents.
Method for determining genetic relatedness using identity-by-descent
The granted patent US12046327B1 outlines a method and system for determining genetic relatedness between individuals using a services platform. The process begins with the platform determining a "focal string" based on personal information of a focal individual and retrieving a "reference string" from a reference database. The platform then identifies identity-by-descent (IBD) segments by applying multiple mask patterns in a sliding window format to both strings. This involves masking and unmasking locations to find matches at unmasked locations, which are then merged to create a comprehensive set of IBD segments. The degree of relatedness between the focal and reference individuals is subsequently calculated and made accessible through a user interface.
The claims further specify that the sliding windows used for masking must be at least four consecutive locations in size and that the focal individual is typically a human user of the platform. The method can involve additional mask patterns beyond the first two, enhancing the robustness of the IBD segment identification. The computational process may utilize a positional Burrows-Wheeler transform (PBWT) to analyze the unmasked locations, ensuring that the merging of matches considers individual locations effectively. The patent also allows for the first mask pattern to be determined either deterministically or through a probabilistic function, providing flexibility in the approach to identifying genetic relationships.
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