August 1, 2012
Positive, helpful, and upbeat. These aren’t words you would expect to describe someone about to start another round of chemo treatment. However, in the case of Suzan Mickey, they are very apt. Mickey is a participant in the 23andMe and Genentech InVite study on bevacizumab (also known as Avastin®) and [...]
June 29, 2012
23andMe now includes Beta Thalassemia as one of our more than 40 reports on inherited genetic conditions. Beta thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder where the body doesn’t produce enough hemoglobin, the molecule that transports oxygen throughout the body and gives red blood cells their color. Lack of [...]
June 12, 2012
Prostate cancer affects more men than any other type of cancer -- approximately one in six men will be diagnosed with it. Although two-thirds of prostate cancers grow slowly and are largely asymptomatic, the remaining third of prostate cancers are aggressive and deadly, killing more men than any other [...]
June 11, 2012
You claim that Junior is giving you gray hairs, but is he really? In actuality your kids may be adding years to your life -- one recent study suggests that fatherhood may actually reduce a man’s risk of dying from a heart attack. The study, which was conducted last year and led by Michael Eisenberg at [...]
June 11, 2012
There is no one quite like Dad. Dad is the story-book-reader, the scraped-knee-healer, and the piggy-back-ride hero of childhood. And even though no one is exactly like Dad, there is someone who is at least partially like him: you. In addition to the piggy-back rides, your father also gave you half of his [...]
June 5, 2012
(Editor's note: This post originally ran in June, but we thought it was worth a second look on the eve of the election.) As Americans approach the elections this November, discussions of what influences economic and political preferences will surely flood our television sets and news feeds. Pundits use [...]
May 17, 2012
Many autoimmune diseases affect women more frequently than men. The ratio of affected women to affected men are given above for several autoimmune diseases on which 23andMe reports. (Source: American Autoimmune Related Disease Association, Inc.) There are many wonderful things about being a woman, but our [...]
May 16, 2012
Last week we quizzed our readers on heritability, a genetics concept that is often misinterpreted. Congratulations to Monica P., the winner of the quiz! She got all the answers correct and will receive an Amazon gift card. Read on for the answers and to learn more about what we can say about nature vs. [...]
May 10, 2012
If you have a big head, you may be subjected to a fair bit of teasing, but science may offer you some consolation. For instance, individuals with a smaller intracranial volume (the area within the skull) are at slightly higher risk for late-life dementia. In addition, a smaller hippocampus (a section of the [...]
April 20, 2012
23andMe celebrates genetic diversity but today we’d like to celebrate our genetic similarities -- to other organisms. You are no rabbit or chicken (or, if you are, you are a truly impressive rabbit or chicken to be reading this blog). Rather, your DNA contains all the instructions for making you human. [...]
