The Clavis Genetica app
Your DNA. Your story. On your Mac.
Clavis Genetica opens the files you download from the testing companies, says in full sentences what they contain, and compares them with one another. It is free, needs no account and no registration, and it does not send the files anywhere.
For the Mac with macOS 14 or later. Checked by Apple (notarized).
Set up in three steps
- Download and open. Double-click the downloaded file ending in .dmg and drag the app into the Applications folder.
- Create a data folder. Create a subfolder for each tested person and put the downloaded files into it, for example
DNA/erik/atDNA,DNA/erik/Y-DNA,DNA/erik/mtDNA. Chapter 5 of the book describes this order in detail. - Choose the folder. Click “Choose data folder” in the app. An introduction shows the most important paths at first launch. If you have no files of your own yet, you can have a sample family created there.
What it can do
Understand files
Recognizes provider, test, kit and reference genome, explains every file in plain language and checks that it is intact.
Compare two people
Finds shared segments, calculates centimorgans, draws them on the chromosomes and estimates the relationship.
Read a match list
Reads the FamilyTreeDNA match list, sorts and filters it, joins it with the segments, compares it with the list of a tested relative and keeps notes, groups and contacts. Matches from providers without an export can be entered by hand.
Overlapping segments
Finds the places in a segment list where several matches come together, and marks pile-ups.
Several people
Compares up to twelve files at once, forms groups of people related to each other and names candidates for triangulation.
Separate parental sides
With a parent's file, assigns every match to the paternal or the maternal side.
Chromosome map
Assigns segments to the ancestors they come from, with a zoom on every chromosome.
Paternal and maternal line
Determines the Y and mtDNA haplogroup with the path through the tree, compares STR values and cautiously estimates the time to the common ancestor from them.
Check and explain a Big Y
Checks every variant against your own files and explains the result in full sentences, including the differences to a match.
Check the family tree
Reads GEDCOM and Gramps and puts the relationship according to the tree next to the measured values. Links matches to people in the tree and shows gaps, pedigree collapse and the path of the X chromosome.
Research log
Keeps hypotheses with pros and cons, weighs candidates against each other using the measured values and keeps check sheets for single segments.
Reports
Writes a family report for relatives without prior knowledge, and check reports as PDF.
Privacy
Checks the storage location, creates an encrypted vault and shows what the app itself has stored.
Back up your own work
Writes notes, groups, links, log and tree into one file, for backups and for moving to another Mac.
Sample family
Creates the files of an invented family, for trying things out without your own data.
The app speaks German, English, French and Dutch. The glossary of the book is built in as a searchable window. A detailed description is in the book's appendix “Das Programm Clavis Genetica”.
Which files it reads
| Kind | Files |
|---|---|
| Autosomal raw data | MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA (Family Finder), AncestryDNA, 23andMe, Living DNA; VCF files from genome sequencing |
| Y-DNA | Big Y (named and private variants, matches, VCF, BED, BAM); SNP results and STR values from FamilyTreeDNA |
| mtDNA | full sequence as FASTA |
| Match lists | Family Finder match list from FamilyTreeDNA |
| Segment lists | chromosome browser exports from FamilyTreeDNA, MyHeritage, GEDmatch and 23andMe |
| Family trees | GEDCOM and Gramps |
What it is not
Clavis Genetica has no database of other people and therefore finds no unknown relatives; that needs the testing companies and their match lists. It analyses what you own yourself or what relatives have given you. It does not replace family tree software, and it makes no medical diagnoses.
Frequently asked questions
Does my DNA data leave my computer?
No. The app only downloads public reference files, such as haplogroup trees and genetic maps, and looks for updates. Nothing about your files is transmitted.
Is the app available for Windows or Linux?
So far only for the Mac with macOS 14 or later. A Linux version is planned.
What does it cost?
Nothing. There is no paid version and no subscription.
How does it stay up to date?
The app looks for a new version at launch and offers it. Before installing, it checks that the update comes unchanged from the developer.
macOS says the app was downloaded from the internet. Is that all right?
Yes. This message appears the first time any downloaded app is opened. Clavis Genetica is signed by the developer and checked by Apple.
I have found a bug or have a wish.
Gladly: Contact. Please do not send any DNA files.