Inference of kinship coefficients from Korean SNP genotyping data

The determination of relatedness between individuals in a family is crucial in analysis of common complex diseases. We present a method to infer close inter-familial relationships based on SNP genotyping data and provide the relationship coefficient of kinship in Korean families. We obtained blood samples from 43 Korean individuals in two families. SNP data was obtained using the Affymetrix Genome-wide Human SNP array 6.0 and the Illumina Human 1M-Duo chip. To measure the kinship coefficient with the SNP genotyping data, we considered all possible pairs of individuals in each family. The genetic distance between two individuals in a pair was determined using the allele sharing distance method. The results show that genetic distance is proportional to the kinship coefficient and that a close degree of kinship can be confirmed with SNP genotyping data. This study represents the first attempt to identify the genetic distance between very closely related individuals.