On Thursday and Friday, 23andMe will be participating in two online events hosted by the Michael J. Fox Foundation focused on Parkinson’s disease and some of the latest research into its genetic underpinning.
On Thursday February 19th, at 12 pm EST, the Michael J. Fox Foundation will host a webinar titled “How Much of Parkinson’s Disease Is Genetic?”
Veteran Bay Area public television journalist Dave Iverson, who is also a Parkinson’s patient, will moderate the discussion. You can log in and listen live as well as submit your own questions. If you can’t watch the live event, which will include discussion on the latest science from leading researchers, the foundation plans to record it so it can be viewed at a later time.
On Friday February 20th, the foundation will host a Twitter chat – beginning at 12 pm EST – that is also focused on the genetics behind Parkinson’s disease. Among the topics discussed, the chat will explore the different genes identified to contribute to Parkinson’s disease, how different genetic variants influence the development of the condition and highlight some of the new research on the disease.
You can follow the Twitter chat or comment by using 
23andMe’s Parkinson’s Research Community is now the largest cohort of genotyped Parkinson’s patients in the world. For several years now, 23andMe has had a close working relationship with the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and 23andMe co-founder Anne Wojcicki has been a longtime supporter of the foundation. Since it formed more than a decade ago, the Michael J. Fox Foundation has funded more than $450 million to speed a cure for Parkinson’s disease.