Software Built to Make Connections
Double Helix Software LLC develops powerful, approachable software for genealogy, genetic genealogy, and family history research.
Founded by longtime software developers Larry Jones and James Francis, Double Helix Software combines decades of technology experience with hands-on genealogical research and DNA analysis.
Our flagship product, Stemma™, brings family tree management, DNA research, visualization, analysis, and advanced genealogy tools together in one integrated platform.
Our Story
The story of Double Helix Software began long before the company itself.
Larry Jones and James Francis both studied Computer Science at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma. After college, their careers took them in different directions as they spent decades working in software development and technology.
Years later, genealogy brought those paths back together.
Larry’s interest in genealogy began with a very personal search: finding his biological father.
DNA testing provided new possibilities, but understanding DNA matches—and determining how those matches connected to a family tree—could be extraordinarily difficult. Larry began developing tools to make that process easier.
One of those tools became cmSolver™, designed to help researchers use shared DNA matches to identify unknown or missing family connections.
At the same time, Larry began sharing what he had learned with the genealogy community through his DNA Family Trees YouTube channel. The channel grew to approximately 13,000 subscribers, providing tutorials and explanations about genetic genealogy, DNA research techniques, and the tools available to researchers.
But there was a larger problem.
Many genealogy tools solved individual pieces of the puzzle. Family trees lived in one place. DNA analysis happened somewhere else. Research tools were scattered across websites and applications. Moving between them often meant repeatedly entering, exporting, importing, or interpreting the same information.
Larry envisioned something more integrated: a comprehensive research environment built around the family tree itself.
He reached out to his former university classmate James Francis.
James had spent his career developing software and leading software development organizations and was semi-retired at the time. The idea was ambitious enough to change that.
Together, they began building what would become Stemma™.
Double Helix Software LLC was formed to develop and support that vision, bringing together Larry’s experience in genetic genealogy and genealogy education with James’s experience in software architecture, development, data management, and application design.
Stemma™ launched in June 2026.
Why We Built Stemma™
Genealogy has changed dramatically.
Researchers today may work with family trees containing tens or hundreds of thousands of people, millions of relationships, historical records from around the world, and DNA matches connecting relatives across many generations.
Yet much of the software available to genealogists still treats these pieces of information separately.
We wanted to build something different.
Stemma™ was designed around the idea that the family tree should be the center of the research environment.
DNA analysis, family relationships, historical information, research issues, visualization, and specialized genealogy tools become much more powerful when they can work with the same underlying family tree.
Instead of creating another collection of disconnected utilities, we set out to create an integrated genealogy toolkit.
Our Approach
Solve Real Problems
Many of the best software ideas begin with someone saying, “There has to be a better way to do this.”
That philosophy has guided Double Helix Software from the beginning. We focus on problems researchers actually encounter and build tools specifically to address them.
Powerful Without Being Difficult
Genealogy and DNA analysis can become extraordinarily complex.
The software doesn’t need to make them more complicated.
We believe advanced capabilities should remain accessible to ordinary researchers while still providing the depth required by experienced genealogists.
Let the Data Work Together
A person in a family tree isn’t simply a name.
That person may be connected to parents, children, spouses, locations, historical events, records, sources, DNA inheritance paths, research questions, and thousands of other people.
Our software is designed to recognize and make use of those connections.
Keep Building
Stemma™ is not intended to be a static piece of software.
Genealogy changes. DNA research changes. New methodologies emerge, new data becomes available, and researchers discover new ways they want to work.
Our goal is to continue developing tools alongside the community that uses them.
Experience From Both Sides of the Problem
Double Helix Software brings together two complementary perspectives.
Larry Jones brings years of hands-on genealogy and genetic genealogy research, development of tools such as cmSolver™, and experience teaching thousands of researchers through DNA Family Trees.
James Francis brings decades of professional software development, architecture, database, and technology leadership experience.
Together, those perspectives shape how we build software: understand the research problem first, then design the technology needed to solve it.
Stemma
A Family Tree Is Only the Beginning
Stemma is the flagship genealogy platform from Double Helix Software.
It combines family tree management with specialized tools for exploring relationships, DNA inheritance, research questions, family connections, and large genealogical datasets.
Whether you’re documenting your family history, working through a difficult DNA mystery, or conducting extensive genealogical research, Stemma is designed to help you see more of the connections hidden within your family tree.
Every Family Has a Story.
Sometimes finding it requires better tools.
That’s why we created Double Helix Software.