Over the last year or so, we’ve been working hard to update some of our most popular tools here at 23andMe, and sometimes in the
flurry of all that activity, we make a mistake.
This week one of our customers alerted us to outdated information provided within one of our paternal haplogroup summaries. Although the erroneous reference occurred in just one section of one report, the error has big implications for people with Ashkenazi ancestry.
The reference, which we missed in the editing process, was to a discredited theory about the origins of the Ashkenazi Jewish population. 23andMe corrected the error within 24 hours of being alerted about it. Our mentioning the so-called “Khazar theory” was an unfortunate mistake for which we apologize, and 23andMe does not endorse the theory. In fact, one of our scientists was co-author on one of the papers that discredits it.
We regularly field questions, concerns, and suggestions from customers. These communications help us make the 23andMe experience the best it can be. Don’t hesitate to contact our Customer Care if you have questions or concerns of your own.
