The 23andMe Personal Genome Service offers information about customers’ maternal and paternal ancestry by examining their mitochondrial DNA (which we all inherit from our mothers) and the Y chromosome (passed by fathers to their sons).
Over our species’ history, new genetic variations have arisen spontaneously in those pieces of DNA and passed down through the generations. So researchers know that every person alive today with a particular variation – say a T instead of a G at a specific spot on the mtDNA – is descended from a single common ancestor. By sampling people from around the world, scientists have assembled “family trees” that trace back to the dawn of the human species in eastern Africa more than 100,000 years ago. Those trees are the basis of the haplogroup assignments we give our customers. Each haplogroup represents a particular branch – and, therefore, a unique sequence of SNPs.
Now, using a feature we’ve developed called the Haplogroup Tree Mutation Mapper, you can see exactly which SNPs we use to generate the 23andMe mitochondrial and Y chromosome haplogroup trees. This isn’t the kind of information everyone would necessarily want, but several customers who are especially interested in genetic genealogy have requested it. It can be used to compare our haplogroup assignments to those obtained elsewhere, for example.
The Haplogroup Tree Mutation Mapper is the first arrival in 23andMe Labs, our new technology sandbox, where we will showcase experimental features not currently available in our Personal Genome Service. These features may still be in development, require specialized knowledge, or be of interest only to a subset of our customers. Each lab will have its own community so customers can compare notes, ask questions, and share ideas.
Some labs will be requested by customers—in fact, we welcome your suggestions—and others will be dreamed up by our scientists.
Finally, labs will be somewhat less refined and fluid than those available within the Personal Genome Service. A feature could be discontinued at any time or elevated to full integration with our Personal Genome Service.
We’re really excited about this new outlet for our ingenuity, and we hope it will also engage some of you!