Pedigree chart maker: free in-browser NSGC-compliant chart maker
A pedigree chart maker is software whose primary job is to render a family pedigree using a defined symbol set. Evagene is a free, in-browser pedigree chart maker that uses the 2022 NSGC notation by default, draws by gesture, exports to GEDCOM / CanRisk / PED / Phenopackets / PDF / PNG / SVG, and runs twenty published risk-model algorithms directly on the chart. Free during alpha for clinicians, researchers, educators, and students.
Short version. A pedigree chart maker draws standardised pedigree diagrams from family-history data. Evagene is in-browser, free during alpha, NSGC-compliant by default, and extends pedigree drawing with twenty published risk-model implementations and standards-grade exports. For research, education, and family-history documentation; not a medical device.
What a pedigree chart maker does
The category exists because generic diagram software (SmartDraw, Visio, draw.io, Lucidchart, Creately) draws shapes but does not enforce the structural meaning of a pedigree. A pedigree chart maker enforces the symbol set: squares, circles, diamonds for sex assigned at birth; filled / quadrant fills for affected status; diagonal line for deceased; arrow for proband; horizontal line for partner connection; double horizontal line for consanguinity; vertical descent line for parent-to-offspring; sibship connector with siblings in birth order. The chart maker also handles automatic layout as the family grows and exports the result both as a printable artefact (PDF, PNG, SVG) and as structured data (GEDCOM, PED, Phenopackets, CanRisk).
How Evagene's pedigree chart maker is positioned
Evagene runs entirely in the browser. There is no installer, no plugin, no enterprise procurement cycle. The chart maker uses NSGC 2022 notation by default and includes a 1,900-entry catalogue of conditions, traits, allergies, clinical tests, markers / genes, and treatments mapped to ICD-10, OMIM, HPO, HGNC, LOINC, NCBI Gene, ClinVar, RxNorm, BNF, and DrugBank. Affected-status annotation resolves against the catalogue rather than free text.
The chart maker extends to twenty published risk-model algorithm implementations running directly on the pedigree (BayesMendel BRCAPRO / MMRpro / PancPRO; Mendelian inheritance; Tyrer-Cuzick IBIS-style approximation; Manchester scoring; Amsterdam II; revised Bethesda; Claus 1994; Couch 1997; Frank 2002; Evans 2004; Vasen 1999; Umar 2004; Gail 1989; NICE CG164 / NG101 illustrative thresholds), plus a CanRisk export bridge to canrisk.org for canonical BOADICEA computation. Outputs are illustrative and intended for research, teaching, and family-history documentation; the boundary between in-tool implementation and clinical-grade computation is explicit.
Free chart maker, free chart making
Evagene is free during alpha. Other free pedigree chart makers (DrawPed, QuickPed, PediDraw, FamGenix Individual, CeGaT Chart Designer) are reviewed honestly in the free pedigree makers roundup and free online pedigree maker page. The pedigree chart maker space splits into research-leaning tools (QuickPed and the underlying R package pedsuite, DrawPed for simple drawing), clinical-leaning tools (Evagene, Progeny, PhenoTips, TrakGene), and patient-facing tools (FamGenix). Picking the right one depends on use case rather than budget alone.