Pedigree drawing online: browser-based pedigree drawing with NSGC notation
Pedigree drawing online removes the friction of installing desktop software. The trade-off used to be that browser-based pedigree tools were limited compared with their desktop equivalents. That trade-off has reversed: in-browser pedigree drawing now matches or exceeds desktop tools on notation enforcement, layout fidelity, risk-model integration, and exchange formats. This page covers what to look for in an online pedigree drawing tool, and how Evagene is positioned in the in-browser pedigree space.
Short version. Pedigree drawing online means no install, no plugin, no client software. Evagene is in-browser, NSGC-compliant by default, gesture-drawn, with twenty published risk-model algorithm implementations and standards-grade exports. Free during alpha for clinicians, researchers, educators, and students.
Why pedigree drawing online matters
Browser-based deployment removes the institutional procurement and installation friction that has historically blocked adoption of desktop pedigree platforms in undergraduate teaching, postgraduate training, visiting research, and small clinical services. A trainee on rotation, a student in a genetics module, a visiting researcher, or a clinician at a service that has not procured a desktop pedigree platform can all use the same tool without administrative overhead. Browser deployment also lets the tool process pedigree data client-side, which is the simplest answer to consent and data-residency questions for multi-person family-history records.
What an online pedigree drawing tool needs to do
The same things a desktop pedigree drawing tool needs to do: enforce NSGC 2022 notation by default; capture three or more generations efficiently; handle consanguinity, twins, and pregnancy outcomes natively; annotate against a structured catalogue (ICD-10, OMIM, HPO, HGNC); export GEDCOM 5.5.1 / PED / Phenopackets v2 / CanRisk 2.0 / PDF / PNG / SVG; and (where applicable) run published family-history risk-model algorithms directly on the pedigree.
What an online pedigree drawing tool additionally needs is a sensible answer to where pedigree data is processed and stored. Tools that process client-side keep the family-history record on the user's device unless explicitly exported. Cloud-stored alternatives need due diligence on data-protection terms; the multi-person nature of pedigree data adds complexity to those terms because most individuals in the pedigree have not personally consented to its recording.
How Evagene draws online
Evagene runs entirely in the browser (Chromium-based: Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc; plus Firefox and Safari). The drawing interface is gesture-based: partners, parents, siblings, children, deceased relatives, and pregnancy outcomes are added by small consistent gestures rather than by dragging shapes from a palette. NSGC 2022 notation is enforced by default; there is no option to render non-standard symbols. Layout is automatic: as the family grows, generations stay aligned, sibships stay ordered by birth, and consanguinity loops route correctly.
The pedigree exports as PDF / PNG / SVG for the printable artefact and as GEDCOM 5.5.1 / PED / Phenopackets v2 / HL7 FHIR FamilyMemberHistory / CanRisk 2.0 for structured downstream consumption. Twenty published risk-model algorithm implementations run directly on the pedigree, with the boundary between in-tool implementation and canonical clinical-grade computation drawn explicitly: BOADICEA is computed off-platform at canrisk.org via the CanRisk export, and the official IBIS Breast Cancer Risk Evaluator binary is the authoritative Tyrer-Cuzick implementation.
Comparison with other online pedigree drawing options
The online pedigree drawing space is well covered in our free online pedigree maker page (free options) and the 2026 pedigree software roundup (full set including paid). The most relevant alternatives:
- QuickPed — research-focused, with the underlying R package pedsuite for kinship analytics.
- DrawPed — free CC BY-SA 4.0 web tool, simple, PED-format output.
- FamGenix Individual — patient-facing free tier of FamGenix.
- PediDraw — simple drawing tool.
- CeGaT Chart Designer — web-based pedigree chart designer.
- Progeny Cloud, TrakGene — paid, enterprise-leaning, browser-based.
- CanRisk — not a competitor in the drawing sense; Evagene's CanRisk export bridges to it.