March 4, 2013
Researchers have long believed that genetics put some people at higher risk for mental illness than others, but exactly which genes are involved has remained a mystery. Even very large studies have come up with relatively few insights into the genetics of mental illness. But a study published last week in [...]
February 27, 2013
Last week we put up a quiz in the spirit of Jeopardy! after host Alex Trebek made use of 23andMe in one of his game clues. The time was up last night to make your entry. So here are the answers to our Homage to Jeopardy! Quiz. Remember you didn’t have to get everything correct to be entered into the [...]
December 24, 2012
If you could just get your Christmas tree to spit into a tube and extract some DNA, you might learn a lot about your holiday decoration. For starters, you might be able to tell where it originated. Plant genetics, like animal genetics, is influenced by geography. A team of Douglas fir tree researchers, [...]
November 6, 2012
(Editor's note: Here's a link to a post with the links to all the poster presentations given by 23andMe scientists at 23andMe.) Here we come. Starting today a contingent of 23andMe’s scientists and researchers will be at the American Society of Human Genetics Annual Meeting in San Francisco. [...]
October 12, 2012
Dave Hinds is a Principal Scientist in Statistical Genetics. 23andMe is passionate about research on a group of rare blood disorders called myeloproliferative neoplasms, or MPNs. Physicians who study these disorders consider them to be blood cancers, though individual prognoses can vary widely — some [...]
October 5, 2012
Ever since my kids were wee tykes in diapers, I’ve gone through the same bedtime routine of reading them a story. We went from picture books to the simple joys of Seuss, to following the wizardly adventures of Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Our nightly page-turners don’t usually delve into the world of [...]
October 3, 2012
We would like to give a little shout-out to Holly Dunsworth, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Rhode Island and a blogger, for her thoughtful post “Be Afraid of Fear, Not Personal Genomics.” While there are legitimate topics for debate about genetic testing, some coverage [...]
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: [...]
August 30, 2012
If you want to stir up trouble, start talking about the role genetics plays in intelligence. First there’s the whole question of what you’re talking about: Is intelligence measured through mathematical skills, problem solving, perceiving emotions, or a raw score from an I.Q. test? Not to be glib but [...]
August 29, 2012
Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) include everything from the relatively mild Asperger syndrome (characterized by more mild social and language impairments) to full-fledged autism (characterized by severe social and communicative handicaps, limited interests, and repetitive behaviors). ASD is relatively [...]
