Build 36 vs 37. What's the difference?

[Robertjm]

I went to download my raw DNA tonight. But, I'm confronted with a ton of choices. There seems to be two sets, one labeled Build 36 and one labeled Build 37.

Unfortunately, there is ZERO explanation about what differentiates the two. What is it?

[Jim Barrett]

I know this doesn't answer your question, but what are you planning to do with the raw data once you download it?

You might read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_genome

[Robertjm]

You're right Jim, it doesn't specifically answer my question. But, the link, coupled with FtDNA's answer over on their Fbk page, gives me a clearer idea.

It doesn't explain why they'd still keep Build 36 available though, if the newer build is more finite in details.

For those interested, here's the answer they gave me over there:

"Hi Robert. A build is a way to describe kind a fully-sequenced genome. Build 37 is more specific in relation to the location of SNPs than build 36."

As for what I plan to do with it? First and foremost, in light of the debacle that happened earlier this year where uploads were locked down, I wanted to have a copy of it on my own computer. I'm probably going to upload it to another company to cast my net further.

I know this doesn't answer your question, but what are you planning to do with the raw data once you download it?

You might read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reference_genome

[Ann Turner]

I went to download my raw DNA tonight. But, I'm confronted with a ton of choices. There seems to be two sets, one labeled Build 36 and one labeled Build 37.

Unfortunately, there is ZERO explanation about what differentiates the two. What is it?

Each build of the human genome adjusts or fills in some missing information - it's still not "complete". For example, the position of a particular SNP might be reported as 111,111,111 in Build 36 and 111,222,222 in Build 37.

The segment matching goes by SNPs, not position, until it comes time to display the segment boundaries. The Chromosome Browser uses Build 36 numbers, as does GEDmatch. 23andMe and AncestryDNA use Build 37.

[Robertjm]

Thanks for the info Ann! Hopefully, FTDNA will make some kind of a clarification on their download page to make things clearer for anyone going there.