One of the most significant developments in consumer DNA testing in recent years is the arrival of whole genome sequencing (WGS) at consumer prices. For most of the history of genetic genealogy, testing companies have used microarray chips that sample a few hundred thousand carefully selected locations across your genome — a powerful approach, but one that leaves the vast majority of your DNA unread. Whole genome sequencing changes that equation fundamentally, reading virtually every base pair in your genome rather than a selective sample. Understanding what WGS is, how it differs from chip-based testing, and what it can and cannot do for genealogists is increasingly important knowledge for serious researchers.
A Brief History: From $3 Billion to $89
The story of whole genome sequencing begins with the Human Genome Project (HGP), one of the most ambitious scientific endeavors in history. Launched in October 1990[1] as an international collaboration led by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the HGP set out to determine the complete sequence of the approximately 3 billion base pairs that make up the human genome. The project was completed in April 2003, ahead of schedule and under its projected budget, at a total cost of approximately $2.7 billion[2]. That first complete human genome sequence is the foundation on which all subsequent genomic research — including consumer DNA testing — rests.
The cost of sequencing has fallen at a rate that outpaces even Moore’s Law (the historical observation that computing power doubles roughly every two years). By 2007, sequencing a human genome cost approximately $10 million. By 2015, that figure had dropped to around $1,000. By 2020, consumer companies were offering whole genome sequencing for $299. By 2025, the first major genealogy platform — MyHeritage — began offering WGS as its standard ancestry test at its regular price of $89, sometimes on sale for significantly less.
This price trajectory is not merely a curiosity — it has direct implications for genealogists, because it means that WGS has crossed the threshold from an expensive specialized tool into a genuinely accessible consumer product.
What Whole Genome Sequencing Actually Does
To understand WGS, it helps to compare it directly to the chip-based genotyping used by most genealogy companies.
Chip-based genotyping — the technology behind AncestryDNA, 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA (FTDNA), and Living DNA — uses a microarray chip that reads your DNA at between 600,000 and 750,000 specific, pre-selected locations called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These locations are chosen because they are known to vary meaningfully between individuals. The total represents approximately 0.02% of your 6.4 billion base pair genome — a carefully selected sample, but a tiny fraction of the whole.
Whole genome sequencing reads virtually the entire genome — all 6.4 billion base pairs — rather than selected positions. Rather than asking “what value do you have at these specific pre-chosen addresses,” WGS reads the entire sequence from start to finish, producing a comprehensive picture of your complete genetic code.
The depth at which the genome is read is described as coverage, typically expressed as a multiple (e.g., 30x). At 30x coverage, every base pair in the genome is read an average of 30 separate times, with the readings compared to produce an accurate consensus — minimizing errors. Higher coverage means greater accuracy; lower coverage means faster and cheaper processing but with more uncertainty at individual positions.
MyHeritage’s consumer WGS test uses low-pass sequencing — a lower coverage depth (roughly 1–4x) than the medical or research standard of 30x. Low-pass WGS still reads the entire genome, but with fewer reads per position. The gaps are filled using a statistical technique called imputation — comparing your sequence against large population reference panels to estimate the most likely values at positions where coverage is thin. For genealogical matching purposes, low-pass WGS with imputation has been shown to perform comparably to or better than chip-based genotyping, while also capturing genetic variants that chips would never detect.
🔬 What WGS Can Provide That Chip Testing Cannot
For genealogical researchers, the most immediately meaningful difference between WGS and chip-based testing is coverage. Because every major testing company uses a different chip design covering partially different genomic positions, a match found at AncestryDNA may not appear at 23andMe, and vice versa — not because the relationship doesn’t exist, but because the companies are reading different positions in the genome. WGS eliminates this fragmentation. A WGS-based test reads positions that no genealogy chip currently covers, potentially revealing shared segments — and therefore shared ancestors — that chip-based tests would miss entirely.
Beyond matching, WGS captures a broader class of genetic variation. Chip tests are designed around common SNPs — variants that appear frequently across the population. Rare variants, structural variants (larger rearrangements of the genome), and insertion/deletion variants are largely invisible to chips but fully captured by WGS. While most of these additional variants are not currently used in genealogical matching algorithms, they represent a reservoir of information that will become increasingly valuable as analysis tools develop. A WGS file today contains data that no current algorithm fully exploits — future tools will be able to extract more from it as the science advances.
WGS also has implications for haplogroup assignment. Because WGS reads the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA alongside the autosomal chromosomes, it provides substantially more complete haplogroup information than chip-based tests — potentially approaching the resolution of dedicated Y-DNA and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) tests, though without the dedicated matching databases those tests provide at FamilyTreeDNA.
The Current Landscape: Who Offers WGS?
MyHeritage — As of January 2026, all new MyHeritage DNA kits are processed using low-pass whole genome sequencing[3], making MyHeritage the first major consumer genealogy company to adopt WGS at scale. The test is offered at MyHeritage’s standard price of $89, frequently on sale. The WGS processing is performed using technology from Ultima Genomics at the Gene by Gene laboratory in Houston, Texas — the same lab that processes FamilyTreeDNA tests. MyHeritage plans to offer downloadable CRAM (Compressed Reference-oriented Alignment Map) files of WGS data to customers in 2026, allowing raw genome data to be used with third-party analysis tools. Existing MyHeritage customers who tested on the older chip technology will not have their results automatically upgraded; a new test purchase is required.
Sequencing.com — The most prominent dedicated WGS company currently operating for consumers, following the closure of Nebula Genomics in February 2025. Sequencing.com offers 30x whole genome sequencing starting at approximately $389, with specialty health screening packages at higher price points. The platform provides a marketplace of third-party DNA analysis apps alongside raw genome data, making it a strong choice for researchers interested in both health insights and deep genomic analysis. Ancestry-focused analysis tools are available within the platform’s app ecosystem.
Nebula Genomics — Closed its consumer service on February 5, 2025[4]. Nebula had been a pioneer in consumer WGS, offering 30x coverage at $299 when it launched the service in 2020 — a significant price breakthrough at the time. Former Nebula customers should ensure they have downloaded their raw genome files if they haven’t already. Sequencing.com is the most frequently recommended alternative for researchers who used Nebula.
Gene by Gene / Full Genomes Corporation — Gene by Gene (the parent company of FamilyTreeDNA) offers whole genome sequencing for research purposes, but this requires a blood sample rather than a cheek swab and provides raw data without consumer-oriented analysis tools. Full Genomes Corporation offers deep Y-chromosome sequencing (not full autosomal WGS) for researchers working on advanced Y-DNA analysis beyond what the Big Y-700 provides.
YSEQ — Offers a whole genome sequencing panel at high coverage (400x mean depth for the Y chromosome, with autosomal WGS available) aimed at technically sophisticated researchers. Raw data is provided in standard formats for self-analysis.
AncestryDNA, 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA, Living DNA — As of May 2026, none of these companies have announced plans to transition their consumer genealogy tests to whole genome sequencing. All continue to use chip-based genotyping. FamilyTreeDNA has indicated it is working to accept MyHeritage WGS file uploads, but this capability had not been confirmed as fully operational as of this writing.
Reasons to Consider WGS Testing
Future-proofing your data. A WGS file contains far more information than a chip-based genotype file — information that current analysis tools don’t yet fully exploit. As genealogical analysis algorithms develop over the coming years, a WGS file will yield more insights than a chip file from the same person. Testing with WGS now means your data improves in value over time as the tools catch up.
Better genealogical matching (in a WGS database). MyHeritage’s research has demonstrated that WGS-based matching[5] identifies more shared segments and more matches than chip-based testing, particularly for more distant relationships where shared segments are small. As more people test with WGS, the matching advantage will compound.
No chip-boundary problem. Because WGS covers the entire genome, there is no equivalent of the chip overlap problem described in our Autosomal DNA deeper dive article. Two WGS files from different sources can be compared at every position in the genome — not just the subset that two different chip designs happen to share.
Health and rare variant information. For researchers interested in health genetics, a WGS file provides access to a far wider range of health-relevant variants than a chip test — including rare variants that chips cannot detect. At the 30x coverage offered by Sequencing.com, the data is clinically meaningful (though still not a substitute for medically ordered testing). At MyHeritage’s low-pass coverage, health analysis is more limited but still provides more information than chip-based tests.
Complete haplogroup resolution. Because WGS reads the full Y chromosome and mitochondrial genome alongside autosomal DNA, it provides haplogroup information potentially as detailed as dedicated FTDNA tests — though without FTDNA’s matching databases for those lineages.
Reasons to Pause Before Testing
Current matching databases are still chip-based. The genealogical value of a DNA test is not just about the data it generates — it’s about the matches it reveals. AncestryDNA’s 27 million-person database, built on chip-based tests, remains by far the largest in the industry. Even MyHeritage’s WGS results are matched against a database that still contains millions of chip-based profiles. Until a critical mass of researchers have transitioned to WGS, the chip-based databases will remain the primary source of genealogical matches for most researchers.
Low-pass WGS relies on imputation. MyHeritage’s consumer WGS is low-pass, meaning imputation fills gaps in coverage. While imputation is statistically sophisticated and has been validated for genealogical matching, it is not the same as directly reading every position. The 30x coverage offered by Sequencing.com is more comprehensive but also significantly more expensive.
Third-party upload limitations. WGS files are large — typically gigabytes of data rather than megabytes — and the file formats (BAM/CRAM) are not the same as the text-format raw DNA files produced by chip tests. Most third-party tools, including GEDmatch, are designed around chip-based raw data files. Upload and analysis of WGS data at third-party platforms is a developing area, and compatibility is not guaranteed. MyHeritage is working toward offering CRAM downloads to customers, but the ecosystem of tools that can use those files for genealogical analysis is still maturing.
Cost versus current value. For researchers who have not yet tested at all, MyHeritage’s WGS at $89 is an attractive starting point. But for researchers who already have chip-based results at multiple companies and are weighing whether to purchase a WGS test in addition, the current genealogical return may not yet justify the investment beyond chip testing — particularly given that AncestryDNA’s database (still chip-based) remains the most productive for most researchers.
What This Means for Dillman Researchers
For members of the Dillman Family Association (DFA) engaged in genetic genealogy, the practical guidance is this: WGS is the direction the field is heading, and MyHeritage’s low-pass WGS at consumer prices is an accessible entry point. If you have not yet tested at MyHeritage, the current test is worth considering — especially since the WGS data will become more useful as analysis tools develop.
For researchers who have already tested at Ancestry, FTDNA, and 23andMe and are considering where to invest next, MyHeritage WGS offers something those chip tests cannot: genomic coverage of positions no current genealogy chip examines, in a database that is actively growing as new testers adopt WGS. The combination of that broader coverage and the Theory of Family Relativity matching tool makes it a meaningful complement to existing chip-based results.
The DFA’s Dillman DNA Project coordinates testing strategy across the broader Dillman research community. As WGS becomes more prevalent, coordinating which family members test with which technology — and ensuring WGS raw data files are preserved — will become increasingly important.
Looking Ahead
The transition from chip-based genotyping to whole genome sequencing in consumer genealogy is underway but will take years to complete. MyHeritage’s move to WGS is the opening act, not the conclusion. As the price continues to fall and as more researchers upload and test with WGS, the matching databases will gradually shift, the analysis tools will mature, and the genealogical advantages of whole genome data will become more fully realized.
The researchers who understand this transition now — and who take steps to preserve their WGS data files for future analysis — will be well positioned as the field evolves. The advice that has always applied to genetic genealogy holds doubly here: test early, test broadly, keep your raw data, and upload everywhere that accepts it. The files you generate today will be worth more in five years than they are right now.
Whole genome sequencing for consumer genealogy is currently available from MyHeritage (low-pass WGS, $89, standard genealogy test) and Sequencing.com (30x WGS, from $389). Nebula Genomics closed in February 2025. AncestryDNA, 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA, and Living DNA continue to use chip-based genotyping as of May 2026. MyHeritage plans to offer CRAM file downloads of WGS data to customers in 2026.
Sources
- National Human Genome Research Institute, “Human Genome Project,” genome.gov/human-genome-project (accessed May 2026).
- National Human Genome Research Institute, “Human Genome Project FAQ,” genome.gov (accessed May 2026).
- MyHeritage, “MyHeritage DNA — Whole Genome Sequencing,” myheritage.com/dna (accessed May 2026).
- Nebula Genomics, closure notice, February 2025, referenced at sequencing.com (accessed May 2026).
- MyHeritage, “WGS Matching Research,” myheritage.com/dna (accessed May 2026).
AI Disclosure: This article was researched and written with the assistance of Claude, an AI assistant developed by Anthropic. All facts have been reviewed for accuracy, but readers are encouraged to verify information independently, particularly for time-sensitive details such as pricing and software versions.
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