You see, this is where the enthusiastic hype crosses the line.
Enthusiasm is fine, personal expectations are fine. but misleading 'facts' are over the top.
DNAPrint Genomics has an advantage over competitors (such as 23andMe, the competitor linked to Google,) in that they own the Ancestry Informative Markers intellectual property.
This is a false statement for a number of reasons. All of them have been explained here at one time or another.
Here briefly are the pertinent points;
AIMs (Ancestry Informative Markers) are nothing more than a marketing gimmick, they don't really have any significance. All genetic variations, by definition, are a marker for a specific ancestral variation. And therefore are, by definition, informative markers for ancestry.
Papers have been written that explain how, using public domain statistical analysis (Hidden-Markov Model) any high density SNP panel can be analyzed to provide the exact same information as "AIMs" do.
Finally, current patent office decisions have invalidated the ability to 'patent' AIMs or any other sub-set of the genome except for highly specific cause and effect relationships. A simple review of DNAGs AIM patents will confirm that the tatters of the patent application that survived the process contain no intellectual property advantage conferred by those extremely limited patents. Certainly not anything that gives them an advantage over 23andMe.
Please try to limit the enthusiasm and hype to areas that do not mislead potential investors. Thank you.
regards,
frog
