DNA Land is a place where you can learn more about your genome while enabling scientists to make new genetic discoveries for the benefit of humanity. Our goal is to help members to interpret their data and to enable their contribution to research.

To help understand the genetic basis of different traits, we will ask you to fill out surveys relating to your (or your family’s) ancestry and health.

We will not share with third parties or make public without your explicit permission: the personal identifiers in your profile, your contact information, your individual-level survey results, or your individual level genomic data. We will only share with other researchers or publish aggregated data as detailed in the consent.

After registration, we will ask you to download your genome data directly from the DNA testing website. Currently, we only support 23andMe, FamilyTree DNA, or Ancestry.com. If you don't know how to download your data, don't worry! We will provide you with step-by-step instructions. Then, you can just follow the registration and upload process. Importantly, your data won't be collected until you complete the consent as part of the registration process.

You must have access to your genome data in order to participate in DNA.Land.

No. We are geneticists from Columbia University and the New York Genome Center who work independently of these companies. We do not advise them or have any financial or business connection with them.

Before you can join DNA Land, it is important that you understand what research is being done and that your participation is entirely voluntary. For your reference, you can view or download a copy of the consent document.

By being part of DNA Land, you will be able to connect with the scientific community and learn more about your genome for free, including information about ancestry and relatedness to other individuals on the site.

When you register for DNA.Land, you will have the option find relatives based on genetic matches. You can learn more here.

Your contribution badge represents your total contribution to scientific studies. DNA.Land awards points for every question you answer and the badge shows your total accumulation. The badge also highlights how your contribution compares to all participants on the website using a percentile score.