Attribute Method and System

• US 20080228767A1
• Filed: 03/12/2008
• Published: 09/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/16/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: 23andme Incorporated (23andMe Holding Co.)
• Original Assignee: Expanse Networks, Inc.
• Inventors: Eldering, Charles Anthony, Kenedy, Andrew Alexander
• Application Number:
  US12/047,193
• Publication Number:
  US 20080228767A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/6
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2282 Tablespace storage structures; Management thereof
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24575 using context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 3/08 Learning methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/04 Inference or reasoning models
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 7/01 Probabilistic graphical models, e.g. probabilistic networks
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 19/00 Teaching not covered by other main groups of this subclass teaching or practice apparatus for gun-aiming or gun-laying F41G3/26
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 20/00 ICT specially adapted for functional genomics or proteomics, e.g. genotype-phenotype associations
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 20/20 Allele or variant detection, e.g. single nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] detection
• CPC Class Codes: G16B 20/40 Population genetics; Linkage disequilibrium
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/30 relating to physical therapies or activities, e.g. physiotherapy, acupressure or exercising
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/63 for local operation
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/30 : for calculating health indices; for individual health risk assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/70 : for mining of medical data, e.g. analysing previous cases of other patients
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 70/20 : relating to practices or guidelines
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/306 : User profiles

Abstract

A method, software, database and system for attribute partner identification and social network based attribute analysis are presented in which attribute profiles associated with individuals can be compared, attribute partners can be identified, groups of individuals can be formed, associations between individuals can be determined, and attribute based information can be analyzed and referenced. Attributes, both genetic and non-genetic, can be analyzed and utilized not only for the basis of comparisons between individuals, but also to form groups based on overlapping genetic and non-genetic attributes.

Claims

1. A method for identifying individuals having significantly similar attributes, comprising:

a) receiving an identifier associated with a first individual;

b) accessing an attribute profile associated with the first individual, wherein the attribute profile contains both pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes;

c) accessing an attribute database containing both pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes of a plurality of individuals; and

d) locating a second individual in the attribute database having a set of pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes overlapping with the first individual.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

e) defining a set of overlapping attributes associated with the first individual and the second individual.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the set of overlapping attributes contains a query attribute.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

e) associating the two individuals in a network.

5. A system for the comparison of attributes of individuals, comprising:

a) a receiver for receiving an identifier associated with a first individual;

b) a database containing pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes for a plurality of individuals; and

c) a processor for using the identifier associated with the first individual to access the pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes associated with the first individual and to locate, within the database, at least one second individual having pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes overlapping with the first individual.

6. The system of claim 5, further comprising:

d) a query interface for forming a query defining a set of overlapping attributes.

7. The system of claim 5, further comprising:

e) a comparator for determining the extent to which the attributes of the first individual are overlapping with the second individual.

8. A method for comparing attributes between individuals, comprising:

a) receiving a request from a first individual to share attribute data with a second individual;

b) transmitting the attribute data associated with the first individual to the second individual;

c) comparing the attribute data associated with the first individual to the attribute data associated with the second individual; and

d) displaying a graphical representation of the overlap between the attribute data of the first individual and the attribute data of the second individual.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein step (d) further comprises:

i) calculating one or more regions of significant overlap of pangenetic attributes;

ii) calculating one or more regions of significant overlap of non-pangenetic attributes; and

iii) indicating the significant overlap of pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes in the graphical representation.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

e) creating a link between the first individual and the second individual when there is a significant overlap of pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes.

11. A system for the comparison of pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes between individuals, comprising:

a) a receiver for receiving a request from a first individual to share attribute data with a second individual;

b) a transmitter for transmitting the attribute data associated with the first individual to the second individual;

c) a comparator for comparing the attribute data associated with the first individual to the attribute data associated with the second individual; and

d) a display subsystem for displaying a graphical representation of the overlap between the attribute data of the first individual and the attribute data of the second individual.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a processor for:

i) calculating one or more regions of significant overlap of pangenetic attributes;

ii) calculating one or more regions of significant overlap of non-pangenetic attributes; and

iii) indicating the significant overlap of pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes in the graphical representation.

13. The system of claim 12, further comprising:

e) a networking subsystem for creating a link between the first individual and the second individual when there is a significant overlap of pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes.

14. A method for forming groups of individuals having a significant amount of attributes in common, comprising:

a) receiving a query attribute;

b) accessing a database containing attribute profiles of a population of individuals; and

c) forming, from the population of individuals, a group of individuals having both the query attribute and a high degree of overlap of pangenetic attributes in common.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the high degree of overlap of pangenetic attributes is determined based on a predetermined threshold.

16. A system for the formation of groups of individuals having a significant amount of attributes in common, comprising:

a) a receiver for receiving a query attribute;

b) a database containing attribute profiles of a population of individuals; and

c) a processor for forming, from the population of individuals, a group of individuals having both the query group and a high degree of overlap of pangenetic attributes in common.

17. A method of providing attribute referenced information comprising:

a) receiving a query, wherein the query is referenced to an individual;

b) retrieving an attribute profile associated with the individual, wherein the attribute profile contains both pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes; and

c) retrieving information related to the query, wherein the retrieving is done in part based on the attribute profile of the individual.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the query contains a medical parameter.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the medical parameter is an illness.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the medical parameter is a treatment.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein the query contains a lifestyle attribute.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein the retrieving of information related to the query includes filtering the information to include only information relevant to the attribute profile of the individual.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein the retrieving of information related to the query includes collaborative filtering based on the attribute profile of the individual.

24. A system for providing attribute referenced information comprising:

a) a receiver for receiving a query, wherein the query is referenced to an individual;

b) a database containing attribute profiles of a plurality of individuals;

c) a search engine for retrieving information; and

d) a processor for retrieving an attribute profile of the individual, wherein the attribute profile contains both pangenetic and non-pangenetic attributes, and for performing a search for information, wherein the search is based, in part, on the attribute profile of the individual.

25. The system of claim 24, further comprising:

e) a display subsystem for presenting the search results.

26. The system of claim 24, further comprising:

e) a collaborative filter for filtering information based on the attribute profile of the individual.