March 21, 2012
Like many people around the world, the health content team at 23andMe rang in 2012 with resolutions of staying healthy and it seemed fitting to delve into the genetics underlying response to diet and exercise, eating behavior and cholesterol levels. As we eased in to the new year, we segued into reproduction, [...]
February 2, 2012
LDL is the “bad” cholesterol that clogs arteries and is linked to coronary heart disease. Although people can do a lot to lower LDL levels and prevent heart disease — eating healthy, exercising, and taking certain medications — it’s also likely that genetics influences the relationship between LDL [...]
April 14, 2010
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most common cause of irreversible vision loss in the western world among people over 60. The two forms of the disease – wet and dry – both cause vision loss by destroying cells in the central portion of the retina. In the last few years, progress in [...]
July 27, 2009
Mutations are bad, right? Not always. Some DNA changes are completely neutral. That's how the human genome came to have so many variations. And some mutations are actually advantageous. A case in point is the PCSK9 gene. So-called "loss-of-function" mutations that prevent the protein encoded by this [...]
December 30, 2008
Our SNPwatch posts here at The Spittoon are one of our most exciting features. They give our customers the opportunity to connect their genetic data to the newest discoveries, often within just hours of a study’s publication. Looking ahead to 2009, we can only begin to imagine the exciting discoveries [...]
December 8, 2008
SNPwatch gives you the latest news about research linking various traits and conditions to individual genetic variations. These studies are exciting because they offer a glimpse into how genetics may affect our bodies and health; but in most cases, more work is needed before this research can provide [...]
October 21, 2008
Russ Altman. In a recent post on his "Building Confidence" blog, 23andMe scientific advisor Russ Altman recounts an experience that should be familiar to 23andMe customers who regularly read The Spittoon. After reading a recent New England Journal of Medicine paper about a genetic variant associated with [...]
