|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
PED is a fast interactive pedigree drawing software for Windows 98 (R) and above. PED was introduced at the ESHG Conference in 1997 and now has a continuously growing user community with researchers and clinicians in over 30 countries worldwide. PED complies with the "Recommendations for standardized human pedigree nomenclature" proposed by the PSTF (Bennet RL et al, Am J Hum Genet 56:745-752,1995). Apart from fully sizable printed output, pedigrees can be exported as Windows metafiles (WMF) to virtually any Windows Office or drawing program.
Among other enhancements, PED 5 now can fetch family information from a data file with LINKAGE or CSV (comma separated values) format, where each line describes an individual by the pedigree ID, the individual's ID, the IDs of his/her father and mother, the gender, the phenotype or affectation status, and any other data related to the individual (like haplotypes, or clinical characteristics). Imported pedigrees can virtually be of any size; also descendants with a second, third, or even tenth partner or any descendants of the probands' ancestors will be correctly displayed. Currently, marriage loops are not handled; they must be edited in the edit window. Pedigree charts can also be exported to these standard file formats. With each open/edit/save cycle, all IDs will be preserved. So pedigree data can easily be imported into a spreadsheet, a database, or further be used in linkage calculations or risk assessment. A demonstration program is available at www.medgen.de/ped.
Now available View poster Visit the new PED 5 pages
A pedigree containing all the relevant clinical, laboratory, and molecular data is fundamental to the evaluation of genetic risks. Pedigrees have to be drawn for reports, papers, textbooks, and slides or overheads for lectures. As the drawing of complex pedigrees is a time consuming process we developed PED 4 as a tool for fast and standardized drawing of pedigrees.
PED 4 provides a familiar Windows(R) user interface. Basic user input is quite simple: the user selects an already existing pedigree member, and clicks on the appropriate button to draw a new relative. The new member will be properly positioned and connected. Positions of existing pedigree members as well as their connecting lines will be adjusted automatically. No special order of input is necessary. Thus, within a few minutes a pedigree with dozens of members can be drawn.
Switching from input mode to edit mode, numerous user defined symbols can be generated. Symbols can be labelled, marked, and provided with haplotypes, or annotations. Legends and additional text annotations can be placed anywhere on the drawing. PED 4 complies with the "Recommendations for standardized human pedigree nomenclature" proposed by the PSTF (Bennet RL et al, Am J Hum Genet 56:745-752,1995). Both input and edit mode provide auto numbering, auto resizing of symbols and fonts, and zooming. Apart from fully sizeable printed output, pedigrees can be exported as metafiles to virtually any Windows word processor or drawing program.
