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Databases
Genotype
likelihoods
The software FamLink
provides functions for likelihood calculation for family
relationships/pedigrees using linked DNA marker data. FamLink
is a freely available software. The software provides
an easy-to-use graphical user interface which allows for linkage calculation
based on efficient implementation of and IBD algorithm.
FamLink is developed
by Daniel Kling at National Board
of Forensic Medicine, Sweden, together with Thore Egeland at Norwegian Institute of Life Sciences,
Norway, and Andreas Tillmar at National Board of Forensic Medicine, Sweden.
See further contact details here.
The software
provides an easy-to-use graphical user interface, which allows for linkage
calculation based on the Lander-Green algorithm. Previous versions of FamLink relied solely on the Merlin engine (Abecasis et al., Nat. Genet., 2002) for numerical
calculations. Merlin is based on the Lander-Green algorithm. This algorithm is
computationally linear in the number of markers, but not in the complexity of
the pedigree. However, we have found that fairly complex pedigrees can be
handled and we have not encountered practical cases where computation time has
been a serious problem. In fact, FamLink improves on
software we are familiar with (such as Familias) when it comes to computation time and dealing
with inbreeding and marriage loops.
Recent
extension, version 2.2 and above, implements a completely new algorithm/model
for likelihood computations. The model is based on similar concepts as the
Lander-Green algorithm with inheritance vectors and IBD codes. In addition our
algorithm models genotype uncertainty through a model for genotype likelihoods,
detailed in Mostad et al. In addition, the model
accounts for subpopulation structure through the fixation parameter (Fst/theta). We expect to include more information and
examples on our new algorithm soon.
Download the software and use the getting started guide and the tutorial to start using FamLink.
If you need help in any way, please contact us.
Kling, D., Egeland,
T., & Tillmar, A. O. (2012). FamLink–a user friendly software for linkage calculations in family
genetics. Forensic Science International: Genetics, 6(5), 616-620.
Kling, D., Tillmar, A., Egeland, T., & Mostad, P. (2015). A general model
for likelihood computations
of genetic marker data accounting
for linkage, linkage disequilibrium, and mutations. International journal of legal
medicine, 129, 943-954.
Mostad, P., Tillmar, A., & Kling, D. (2023). Improved
computations for relationship inference using low-coverage sequencing data. BMC bioinformatics, 24(1), 90.
Last updated August, 2023
You may send comments to daniel.kling@rmv.se