SOMOS is different

Photograph by Heidi von Son

Somos was born to give voice to the underrepresented. During the last years we have learned through different collaborations with researchers, institutes, private companies, etc. ; how things HAVE TO be DONE when it comes to science, data, technology & sovereignity in LATINOS. We have also learned what stops Latinos from growing and scaling through collaborations in the fields of health, technology and science; good news are that we have changed the mindset.
Somos truly thinks that together we can help with Bio-digital DECOLONIZATION of Latinos and many other populations around the globe. To achieve that, the first step is to stick to a vision where you CAN´T own what isn’t YOURS; and data belongs to each different participant, that means, that no one can claim any authority on top of it.
The first step is to include/invite, native/originary groups from Latin America to participate in their integration and representation through data sharing. We have a strong commitment with the communities, their people and leaders and we take care on visiting them, understanding more about their needs, problems and also traditions and culture!
Aggregating data from these groups, allows us not only to connect Latinos back to their roots but also to advance on research through a collaborative science approach and fair incentive strategies.
It works like this:
Somos contacts community leaders - we engage and commit to understand more about them - we visit the community to build confidence and a strong relationship - whenever the group feels like ready to participate and the whole concept and scope of the project has been explained, we schedule a visit to take samples - sampling takes place through decentralized strategy - we analyze the data - we report back to the community & create bioinformatic models - knowledge is created.

This type of interventions allows us to train algorithms that can calculate your genetic ancestry with the highest resolution for LATINOS. In the future we can integrate more reports once more & more Latinos participate by using the SOMOS DNA Kit.
This unique data helps us create reference panels (which includes groups of people that share common ancestors and origins).
By comparing your genotypes with those in the reference panel, we can assign an ancestry to each of your SNPs and calculate a percentage for your entire genome.
These populations are:

● North Africa: Morocco 
● East Africa: Bantu, Kenya 
● West Africa: Mende, Sierra Leone & Yoruba, Nigeria 
● Southwest Europe: Spain, France, Italy 
● Western Europe: England, Scotland, CEU 
● Eastern Europe: Hungary, Romania 
● Northwest Europe: Lithuania, Russia 
● Northern Europe: Finland 
● Jews: Ashkenazi Jews & Sephardic Jews 
● Middle East: Lebanon, Syria, Turkey 
● South Asia: Gujarati, India & Telugu, India 
● East Asia: Han, China & Japan 
● Southeast Asia: Kinh, Vietnam & Cambodia 
● Oceania: Papua New Guinea & Melanesia

Our ancestry test differs from other commercial tests, because we have included Latin American populations and provide you with how much of your genome resembles these populations: 

●North America: 
○ Pima, Mexico 
○ Rarámuri (Tarahumara), Mexico 
○ Wixárika (Huichol), Mexico 
○ Zapoteco, Mexico 
○ Mixteco, Mexico 
○ Triqui, Mexico 
○ Nahua Central - Otomí, Mexico 
○ Maya, Mexico 
● Amazonas: Karitiana, Brazil & Surui, Brazil 
● Andes: Quechua, Peru & Aymara, Peru. 

It is important to note that, although the methods we use are robust and have a minimal margin of error, the estimates we present are approximations and are dependent on the reference panel in this analysis. Likewise, these percentages should not be interpreted as directly belonging to the populations used as reference, since they only represent how much of your genome resembles the populations used in the analysis and does not imply that you have phenotypes or cultural characteristics of them. 
Finally, in the GSA microarray there are specific SNPs that are found in mitochondrial DNA and on the Y chromosome. We use the positions of your mitochondrial genome, which are different from the reference genome, and a database to determine your maternal lineage/haplogroup. 
In the specific case of males, with Y chromosome SNPs, we examine which sites are informative in defining your paternal haplogroup.

Let´s change the world together!