May 8, 2013
The story of H is really the story of people in modern Europe. H refers to a maternal lineage — also known as a maternal haplogroup — that originated long ago in the Near East but expanded into Europe with the recession of the last Ice Age. H —with its dozens of subgroups — is the most prevalent [...]
April 17, 2013
Last week the sale of some high-profile memorabilia attracted our attention, and no, we’re not talking about the $2.1M price tag for a Honus Wagner baseball card. It was the sale of two sets of items once owned by Francis Crick, who with James Watson discovered the structure of DNA back in [...]
February 4, 2013
A study published recently in Science by Susanne Horn and colleagues is a noteworthy example of hypothesis-driven science done right. It exemplifies how seemingly obscure findings can lead to new hypotheses and provide insight into human health and disease. Horn and her colleagues studied a family prone to [...]
October 29, 2012
(Editor's note: We've heard from some of you about issues with the new app. We're addressing many of those now. For updates and more information go here. Thanks.) Because we know your genes are made for walking, we’ve added a new 23andMe mobile app. Available as a download on Apple’s iTunes App [...]
September 17, 2012
Okay students, pencils down! A week ago Friday we posted the second in a three-part series of educational courses for back-to-school season. The entries are now in. You can see how you did by comparing with the correct answers below. Also, a special congratulations goes out to Damien Marsic for being [...]
September 11, 2012
For back-to-school month we’re running a series of posts on genetic factors that may impact learning. Here we describe a variant that may influence a person’s ability to learn from their mistakes. In a prior post we discuss a variant linked to non-verbal IQ performance. Attribution: [...]
September 10, 2012
Attention all students! We're extending the Genetics 101 quiz through Sunday, September 16th to give everyone plenty of time to brush up on their genetics and earn a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card! If you already filled out the quiz and weren’t prompted to enter your name and email address (or you [...]
September 7, 2012
Our Hero Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk and biologist, worked out the pattern of inheritance of various traits. He showed that a “dominant” trait is one that always shows up in offspring while a “recessive” trait is one that is masked by a dominant gene. Update: If you took this quiz before 10 a.m. [...]
August 12, 2012
Maybe you always knew you had music in your heart, but 23andMe shows it’s in your genes too. Our new lab, developed by 23andMe’s Mark Ackerley, gives customers the opportunity to create a unique melody from their DNA. Mark, a composer trained at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, developed [...]
August 6, 2012
Changes in DNA Underlie Cancer Cancer develops when normal cells in the body grow and reproduce uncontrollably because of “mistakes” in the DNA code. DNA (a copy of which is contained in each cell) contains finely tuned instructions for cell growth and production, but as cells copy and pass on this DNA [...]
