September 26, 2012
The 23rd Chromosome This month we’ve run a series of quizzes for the back-to-school season. Here’s are the answers to our third and final quiz. Congratulations to Toni K., who was selected randomly from the large group of test takers who got all the answers right. You can see how you did by comparing [...]
September 19, 2012
We know you’ve been studying hard at 23andMe U., but you’ve still got one more quiz to complete. This one hinges on some of the genetic differences between men and women. So before you matriculate, here’s the last quiz. Now don’t sweat it, you’ll do fine and we’ll even give you some hints [...]
May 12, 2012
Mothers are special on so many levels. We cherish them for loving us and imparting important life lessons... and for giving us mitochondria (or "mito" for short)! Mitochondria are small, roundish structures inside of cells that produce cellular energy. They have "zigzag insides" and their own DNA, which can [...]
September 16, 2010
Genetic testing is not a concept that most people encounter outside of popular TV shows and so when you hear about services such as 23andMe’s, you might be wondering what exactly it is you’re getting. Even after you’ve signed up and have your data back, you might not know where to start exploring or how [...]
September 2, 2009
There are many examples around the world of two distinct ethnic groups living side by side. Sometimes these groups co-exist peacefully. Other times they do not. Often two groups' differences - along with circumstantial factors - lead to tension between them and sometimes violence. The Hutus and Tutsis [...]
June 9, 2009
Just over 20 years ago, the first study using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) to trace prehistoric human migrations was published. In this seminal study, scientists managed to determine that all humans alive today can trace their maternal ancestry back to one woman who lived about 200,000 years ago in Africa. The [...]
January 8, 2009
It seems like new discoveries about the peopling of the Americas are a dime a dozen these days. Without a doubt, the journey those first Americans took from the frozen wastelands of Asia down the Pacific coast into the Americas has been an active research subject for many decades. Archaeologists, [...]
November 18, 2008
This guest post is by Brenna Henn, a doctoral student in Stanford University's Department of Anthropology and a 23andMe consultant. Brenna studies human evolution using genetic information. Her interests include the origin of modern humans, migration patterns among African groups, and genetic models of [...]
October 8, 2008
One of the most infamous emperors of Chinese antiquity was the very first: Qin Shi Huang. Also known as Ying Zheng, he ruled the Chinese state of Qin from 247-210 BC. When he came to power, various Chinese kingdoms were engaged in a struggle against each other for superiority; by the time he died in 210 [...]
August 7, 2008
(Ed: Newer research suggests that Homo sapiens and Neanderthals did in fact interbreed. On average, two to four percent of DNA in present-day humans who trace their ancestry from Europe or Asia comes from our Neanderthal cousins. 23andMe customers can check out their own Neanderthal ancestry here! -- [...]
