Software for Y-haplogroup predictions: a word of caution

MUZZIO M; RAMALLO V; MOTTI JMB; SANTOS MR; LÓPEZ-CAMELO JS; BAILLIET G

Intenational Journal Legal Medicine

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin. Heidelberg; Año: 2010 vol. 10 p. 404 - 409

1437-1596

The development of online software designed for genetic studies has been exponentially growing, providing numerous benefits to the scientific community. However, they should be used with care, since some require adjustments. The efficiency of two programs for haplogroup prediction was tested with 119 samples of known haplotypes and haplogroups from Argentine populations. Quantitative estimates of the predictive quality of both software systems were computed with the uncertainty coefficient; and sensitivity, specificity, positive, and negative likelihood ratios were also calculated to assert the reliability of both programs, showing high probabilities of assigning an incorrect haplogroup. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00414-009-0404-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.