DNA My Dog received human genetic sample and identified it as a malamute, shar-pei and labrador, according to news station

cross-posted from: https://kbin.social/m/news@lemmy.world/t/895673

DNA My Dog received human genetic sample and identified it as a malamute, shar-pei and labrador, according to news station

  • @JoBo@feddit.uk
    1•9 months ago

    I’m not sure what an article about whole genome sequencing has to do with anything? These companies are looking at a handful of SNPS.

    Can you explain how it is possible to look at an SNP without knowing which chromosome it is located on?

    And how the other companies were confident there was no dog DNA in the sample and this company said it found dog DNA in only one of the two samples sent?

    • Sibbo
      2•9 months ago

      The article is about sequencing technology. This is what is needed to get from physical DNA to its textual representation. The assignment to chromosomes is lost in the process. It can either be reconstructed after sequencing, by e.g. whole genome assembly or k-mer based methods.

      But there are other methods of identifying races than looking at correctly identified SNPs. Often, k-mer content is enough. And it is likely more efficient, because it does not require any computationally heavy assembly.