Supported files
Which DNA files and lab reports MarkerView accepts
Short answer: MarkerView reads the raw data download from AncestryDNA or 23andMe, either the .txt or the .zip exactly as the vendor gave it to you, up to 30 MB across all your files. Comprehensive also reads one PDF of recent Quest or Labcorp lab work. Nothing else is supported today.
MarkerView is an educational report built from consumer DNA test data. It is not a diagnostic test, not a medical device, and not a substitute for advice from a clinician.
Don't have your file yet? Here's how to download it, or see how MarkerView works.
What we accept
The accepted files, in one table.
| What it is | The file you upload | Size | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|
| AncestryDNA raw DNA data | The .zip as Ancestry sends it (name starts dna-data-), or the .txt inside it. | Counts toward the 30 MB total | Basic and Comprehensive |
| 23andMe raw genotyping data | The .zip as 23andMe sends it (name starts genome), or the .txt inside it. | Counts toward the 30 MB total | Basic and Comprehensive |
| A second DNA file | One AncestryDNA file and one 23andMe file, merged into one report. | Inside the same 30 MB total | Comprehensive only |
| A lab report | One PDF of recent results from Quest or Labcorp. | Up to 25 MB and 20 pages | Comprehensive only |
We identify the vendor by reading the first kilobytes of the file itself, not the file name. Inside a .zip we only open entries ending .txt or .csv, so re-zipping with a renamed member can make a good export unreadable. Upload the .zip as the vendor gave it to you.
The form refuses a submission whose files total more than 30 MB. A vendor .zip is a small fraction of that; extracted .txt files are what push an order over that line.
What we don't accept
Not supported today.
We check the file format while it is still in front of you, before checkout — an unsupported file is turned away without a charge.
- Other DNA vendors. MyHeritage files are not supported — we recognise them and refuse the order rather than taking it. Today we read AncestryDNA and 23andMe raw data downloads; MyHeritage is on our list. FamilyTreeDNA, LivingDNA and other exports are not supported today either.
- Sequencing files: VCF, gVCF, FASTQ, FASTA, BAM, CRAM and SAM.
- Other formats: .gz, .tar, .7z, .rar, .csv, .xlsx and .json. PDF is only ever the lab slot.
- A vendor's own output: PDF reports, screenshots, ethnicity exports — and lab results from anywhere but Quest or Labcorp.
Lab work
The optional lab PDF, on Comprehensive.
Comprehensive can also read a PDF of recent lab work from Quest or Labcorp — those are the only two providers we support today. We read the test names, values and reference ranges off the PDF and include them alongside your genetic results. No clinician reviews your upload, and nothing here is a clinical interpretation of your labs.
- PDF only, up to 25 MB, and up to 20 pages by default.
- Longer than that and we ask for just the result pages, not the whole chart.
- If we cannot count the pages at all, we let the file through rather than refuse it.
- Optional, no extra charge, and not part of Basic.
Two vendors, one report
The rules for uploading two DNA files.
Comprehensive only, and specific: exactly one AncestryDNA file and one 23andMe file. Two files from the same vendor are refused, and so is the same file twice.
- Both files have to be the same person. If you upload two vendor files, we compare them before analysing anything. They have to overlap on at least 10,000 usable markers and agree on at least 97% of them; if they do not, we stop the run rather than combine two people's results into one report. This is a consistency check on the two files, not identity verification — we cannot confirm whose DNA a file is. It runs after payment, so a mismatch stops the report.
- What it does. Markers in only one file are kept, and a no-call on one side can be filled from the other.
- What it doesn't. Where the two files disagree at a marker, that marker is dropped rather than guessed, and the polygenic risk section reads your primary file only.
- Two ways it can fail. If the second file cannot be read at all, we build the report from the primary file alone and say so inside it. If it reads but fails the check above, we stop the run.
Troubleshooting
If the upload form turns your file away.
The messages the form shows, word for word.
| The message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| “File does not look like an AncestryDNA or 23andMe raw data download. Please upload the .txt or .zip exactly as downloaded from the vendor.” | The first kilobytes carry no header we recognise. | Download the file again and upload it untouched. |
| “This looks 23andMe-related but is not the raw data download. Log in at you.23andme.com, choose ‘Download Raw Data’, and upload that file.” | A 23andMe file, but not the genotype download. | Request the raw data download and upload that. |
| “MyHeritage and other comma-separated files are not supported yet — we currently accept AncestryDNA and 23andMe raw data downloads.” | The file is comma-separated, the MyHeritage shape. | Use an AncestryDNA or 23andMe download. |
| “Invalid ZIP archive” | The archive could not be opened. | Download it again. A partial download does this. |
| “ZIP does not contain an AncestryDNA or 23andMe raw data file.” | Nothing inside looked like a vendor export. | Upload the vendor's own .zip. |
| “Your files together exceed our 30 MB upload limit. Please upload the .zip files exactly as downloaded…” | You are sending the extracted .txt files, which are much larger. | Attach the .zip files instead. |
| “The second DNA file is identical to the first. Upload your OTHER vendor's raw file, or remove the second file.” | Both slots hold the same file. | Attach the other vendor's file, or leave the slot empty. |
| “Both DNA files look like the same provider's export. The two-file merge combines one AncestryDNA file with one 23andMe file…” | Two AncestryDNA files, or two 23andMe files. | Remove one if you tested with only one company. |
| “MarkerView Basic does not include laboratory results or a second DNA file. Choose Comprehensive to include them.” | Extra files were sent with a Basic order. | Switch to Comprehensive. Compare plans. |
| “That lab PDF is 34 pages. We read up to 20. Please upload just the pages with your lab results on them…” | Over the page ceiling; the number is your file's real count. | Upload just the result pages. |
| “Your DNA has already been analyzed. This account holds the maximum of 2 DNA orders…” | Signed-in accounts hold two DNA orders at a time; a Comprehensive order merging two files counts as one. | We offer an updated report from the DNA we hold, for $5, instead of a new upload. |
Honest limits
What a consumer DNA file can and cannot show.
Both vendors genotype a fixed set of positions on an array. That is not sequencing your genome, and it sets the ceiling on what any report built from the file can say.
- We read single-letter DNA changes. Markers your file reports as insertions or deletions — Ancestry writes these I and D — or that the reference database describes with more than one letter, are not analysed, and positions your file could not call are dropped.
- Each marker is looked up by its rs identifier in a GRCh38 reference table. One that does not resolve there is not analysed; there is no liftover step.
- 23andMe says of its own raw data that only a subset of markers have been individually validated for accuracy, and that it is suitable only for informational use, not medical or diagnostic use.
- Rare, alarming-looking calls on a consumer array are frequently false positives. MarkerView does not headline them; it frames them for a conversation with your doctor about confirmatory testing. Why.
Where the mappings come from and how findings are cited is on Science & sources. For the finished document, see the sample report.
Your file, afterwards
What happens once the file is uploaded.
How long a file is kept, who can reach it, and how to remove it are answered on how we handle your genetic data and Trust & Privacy. You can delete your account and data yourself at any time; the Privacy Policy has the policy text.
Ready when your file is.
$10 for the DNA report. $20 for Comprehensive, which adds the two-vendor merge, your medications and supplements, and the optional lab PDF. Both are one time.
Compare the two plans if you're not sure which you need.
References
- Ancestry Support, Downloading DNA Data — the download steps, the dna-data-(date).zip file name, and Ancestry's statement that it reports SNPs on the forward strand with respect to GRCh37.
- 23andMe Customer Care, Accessing Your Raw Genetic Data — the download steps, the file arriving as a zipped text file whose name begins with genome, and 23andMe's statement that only a subset of its markers have been individually validated.
- MedlinePlus Genetics, U.S. National Library of Medicine, What are the risks and limitations of direct-to-consumer genetic testing? — that such tests may cover only some of the variants involved and typically need confirming through a healthcare professional.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Direct-to-Consumer Tests — that results should not be the sole basis of medical decision making.
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, About dbSNP Reference (rs) number — what an rs identifier is, and that RefSNP records are annotated on current genome assemblies.
- All five read 4 September 2026.