Ancestral Origin Identification Using Genetic Match Pedigree Frequency

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Solution Overview

Problem

Individuals often rely on inaccurate or incomplete genealogical data to identify ancestral birth locations and surnames, as these records become distorted when passed down through generations, making it difficult to determine ancestral origins reliably.

Innovation Solution

A system that analyzes an individual's genetic data to identify genetic matches within a population, using identity-by-descent analysis to access and process genealogical data from matched users, determining the statistical significance of birth locations and surnames through frequency calculations and statistical tests to provide likely ancestral origins.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Loss of information

If genealogical data is passed down through generations, then family history information is preserved, but accuracy deteriorates due to distortion and missing information

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvegenealogical information accuracyVSAvoidancestral birth location identification

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent uses genetic data as an intermediary to bridge the gap between individuals and their ancestral origins. Instead of relying on distorted genealogical records, the system uses DNA analysis and genetic matching with database users who have documented pedigrees to indirectly infer ancestral birth locations and surnames, thereby resolving the contradiction between information preservation and accuracy

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent replaces the manual, error-prone mechanism of oral genealogical transmission with an automated genetic analysis system. The system uses computational algorithms to analyze genetic data, perform statistical tests, and identify ancestral patterns, substituting the unreliable human memory and record-keeping mechanism with a precise scientific approach

Inventive Principle:

Principle #28Mechanics substitution (Replace mechanical system)

2Measurement precision

If genetic data from multiple users is analyzed, then ancestral identification accuracy is improved, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveancestral birth location identification accuracyVSAvoiddata processing system complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the complex task of ancestral identification into distinct modular components: genetic data collection, quality control filtering, genetic matching algorithms, pedigree analysis, statistical significance testing, and result generation. Each module processes specific aspects of the data independently, improving accuracy while managing system complexity through functional decomposition

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates a universal genetic analysis platform that can identify multiple ancestral characteristics (birth locations, surnames, ethnic origins) using the same core genetic matching technology. The system processes various types of genealogical data and applies unified statistical methods, allowing one system to perform multiple ancestral identification functions

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Reliability

If statistical tests are performed on all genetic matches, then false positives are reduced, but processing time increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesurname identification reliabilityVSAvoidanalysis processing time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs preliminary quality control filtering and genetic matching before conducting comprehensive statistical tests. By pre-processing the data to identify high-confidence genetic matches and filtering out low-quality entries, the system reduces the dataset that requires intensive statistical analysis, thereby maintaining reliability while reducing overall processing time

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS10957422B2Genetic and genealogical analysis for identification of birth location and surname information

Publication Date: 2021.03.23 ANCESTRY COM DNA LLC

AI summary

A system identifies ancestral birth locations or surnames estimated to be associated with an individual's ancestors using an individual's genetic sample. The system identifies users who are genetic matches to the individual and determines whether and how often a birth location or surname appears in the pedigrees of those users. Birth locations or surnames that appear frequently throughout the pedigrees of genetically matching users may represent birth locations or surnames that are affiliated with the individual's ancestors. The system determines whether the frequency of appearance of a birth location or surname is statistically significant to eliminate biases for certain birth locations or surnames that appear more frequently than others. The birth location or surname may be provided to the individual based on an also-determined enrichment score.