Earlier this month, we wrote about <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-customer-stories/jesss-story/">Jess</a>, who with the help of her 23andMe results discovered that 100 years ago her grandfather had been accidentally switched at birth with another baby boy and raised by<div id="attachment_22174" style="width: 236px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22174" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Phil-and-Sam-226x300.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-22174 size-medium" width="226" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Phil-and-Sam-226x300.jpeg 226w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Phil-and-Sam-662x880.jpeg 662w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Phil-and-Sam.jpeg 665w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px" />Jess&#8217;s grandfather Phil and her great grandfather Sam.</div>Jewish immigrant parents while the baby he was switched with by an Irish Catholic family.

The reason Jess was able to figure this out is because for three years, another woman, Alice Plebuch, was working to unravel her own family mystery. It was Alice who ultimately reached out to Jess asking in an email if she’d learned something unexpected about her ancestry. 


Now we get to hear Alice’s side of this amazing story that has been posted on <a href="http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/2015/02/switched-at-birth-unravelling-century_27.html">CeCe Moore’s blog</a>.
Alice was raised to believe that she was almost all Irish on both her mother and father’s side, but after testing with several different DNA testing services she learned that she was actually half Jewish. Her quest to figure out why took years of work, and required testing of several different family members as well as document searches and even creating a database to track all of her the relatives she discovered through testing. It’s instructive to see how careful Alice was with information, knowing that it could be difficult for some family members to digest and wanting to make sure she had all the facts first. Alice’s story
<div id="attachment_22272" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22272" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Alices-father-200x300.jpg" alt="Alice's father, who turned out to be Sam's biological son." class="size-medium wp-image-22272" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Alices-father-200x300.jpg 200w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Alices-father-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Alices-father-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Alices-father-587x880.jpg 587w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Alices-father-787x1180.jpg 787w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Alices-father.jpg 816w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />Alice&#8217;s father, who turned out to be Sam&#8217;s biological son.</div>
is also informative about how a smart and resourceful person can use genetic testing and other records to uncover hidden family history.
What is also stunning, at least for us here at 23andMe, is that none of this would have – or even could have – come to light without genetic testing.


If Alice and Jess hadn’t tested there really wouldn’t have been any other way to uncover this hidden history. Even for CeCe – a genetic genealogists with <a href="http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/p/about-me.html">years of experience</a> unraveling countless family stories – that Alice and Jess were able to figure this out was hard to believe.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

The Other Side of the Story

Like all good photographers Alan Babbitt sees what’s invisible to most of us.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-22262" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Alan-B-300x300.jpeg" alt="Alan B" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Alan-B-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Alan-B-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Alan-B-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Alan-B-271x271.jpeg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Alan-B-372x372.jpeg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Alan-B-574x574.jpeg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Alan-B.jpeg 800w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
With a steady hand and a willingness to go almost anywhere for a good shot, Alan spent decades turning his lens on people and places to create images he thought would draw the viewer in and tell a story.
“I’d call it street photography,” he said. “I wanted to document what’s around me.”
But when his steady hand began to fail him in 2003, he thought he’d lost what defined him as a photographer.
“First my thumb started twitching,” he said.
<h6>Parkinson&#8217;s Photographer</h6>
Then the tremors became more pronounced. After seeing a neurologist, he got a diagnosis that shook him to his core – Alan learned he had Parkinson’s disease.
“It was devastating,” he said.
He was a still photographer, he liked to say, but he couldn’t keep his camera from shaking. Alan drifted into depression, and for a time stopped taking photos all together.

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			</dt>
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				Copyright Alan Babbitt
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				<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/las-vegas-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" aria-describedby="gallery-1-22256" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/las-vegas-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/las-vegas-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/las-vegas-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/las-vegas-574x574.jpg 574w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
			</dt>
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				Copyright Alan Babbitt
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			<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>
				<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Vegas-example-III-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" aria-describedby="gallery-1-22258" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Vegas-example-III-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Vegas-example-III-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Vegas-example-III-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Vegas-example-III-574x574.jpg 574w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
			</dt>
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				Copyright Alan Babbitt
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			<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>
				<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Ferris-Wheel-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" aria-describedby="gallery-1-22259" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Ferris-Wheel-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Ferris-Wheel-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Ferris-Wheel-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Ferris-Wheel-574x574.jpg 574w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
			</dt>
				<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-22259'>
				Copyright Alan Babbitt
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		</div>

The difficult news was compounded by a side effect of the disease. Parkinson’s causes chemical changes in the brain that can lead to depression. Ironically when Alan began taking an anti-depressant, it compounded his problem, one of the drug’s side effects included tremors.
“It was hard,” he said.
It felt like the passion of his life – the thing Alan had been doing since he was a kid with his first camera, a Kodak Brownie Hawkeye – was slipping away.
<h6>Seeing Anew</h6>
And then Alan saw something that no one else could see.
“It was almost by accident,” he said.
In Las Vegas, he went out one evening with his camera. He was taking photos in the low light, frustrated by every image being out-of-focus.
“But you know the beauty of digital cameras is you can see things instantly,” Alan said.
As he looked at the photos on the camera, he was suddenly struck by the blurry images his shaky hands were taking. It was one of those a-ha moments.
<h6>Unstill Photography</h6>
He decided to push it one step further, clicking off the flash, slowing the shutter speed down, and turning his small point-and-shoot digital camera back at the neon lit streets of Las Vegas. Instead of trying to deny what was happening to him, Alan made his Parkinson’s part of how he made his images.
“After a couple years of fighting my tremor and trying to work around it, I had the notion to just let go and let it do its thing,” Alan said. “The camera quickly showed me I was onto something.”
Just as he’d always done as a good photographer, Alan captured what was invisible to most of us. And thus the creation of what he now calls his “Un-Still Photography.” Instead of trying to steady his hand, the tremors were part of his creative process, generating the swirls and whirls of light that offered unique and arresting images of the world around him.
<h6>New Possibilities</h6>
His epiphany in Las Vegas energized him and he folded that feeling into how the diagnosis itself had changed him. His priorities changed, so did his goals and his notion of what he wanted out of life.
“The world and everything in it became new and fresh and the possibilities were endless,” Alan said.
From that moment in <a href="http://www.abproductions.com/las_vegas/las_vegas.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Las Vegas</a>, Alan has begun to push his <a href="http://www.abproductions.com/moving_landscapes/moving_landscapes.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Un-Still Photography”</a> into other unexpected arenas including sports photography, particularly <a href="http://www.abproductions.com/ballpark/ballpark_ss.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">baseball</a>. The images he captures including the swirl of a batter’s swing, or the buzzing color of the crowds in the stadium, you can’t see in most sports images.
For Alan, who joined 23andMe’s Parkinson’s research community almost six years ago, his condition has become something that he is embracing.
“It’s turning a negative into a positive,” he said.
That’s what also motivated him to join 23andMe and contribute to research.
“If they can learn something from me about this disease that can help someone else then I’m all for it,” he said.
Check out some of Alan’s images on <a href="http://abproductions.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">his website</a>.

Steady On

Here’s to those who dare.
Viewers of Sunday night’s <a href="http://oscar.go.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oscars</a> got a chance to see a new ad campaign by Cadillac that honors those who “Dare Greatly” and our very own CEO was featured in the new campaign.

<iframe loading="lazy" width="640" height="360" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/120986641" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

Cadillac &#8211; Dare Greatly &#8211; How Dare&#8230; from David Freeman on Vimeo.

Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe’s co-founder and CEO, is one of the four visionaries honored by Cadillac. Others included daring fashion designer <a href="http://www.interviewmagazine.com/fashion/jason-wu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jason Wu</a>, African internet entrepreneur <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/mfonobongnsehe/2011/08/03/africas-most-successful-women-njeri-rionge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Njeri Reonge</a>, film director and Oscar nominee <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/06/30/moment-to-moment" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Richard Linklater</a>, and the eccentric Apple Computer co-founder <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/steve-wozniak-9537334" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Steve Wozniack</a>.

At 23andMe, we know Anne wakes up everyday ready to blaze a trail by helping to give people access to their DNA, but it was an honor to see her in such great company.

Cadillac’s <a href="http://www.freep.com/story/money/cars/general-motors/2015/02/18/cadillac-oscars-commercial/23571527/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Dare Greatly”</a> began earlier this month with another television commercial that quotes from a famous speech given by Teddy Roosevelt’s in Paris in 1910 that honored “doers of deeds.”

Daring DNA

By Anne Wojcicki
Today, 23andMe was granted authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market the Bloom syndrome carrier status report. This is an important first step in fulfilling our commitment to return genetic health reports to consumers in the US.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-6586" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-300x300.jpg" alt="23andMe_Logo_blog" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog.jpg 350w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
This is also the first-time the FDA has granted authorization to market a direct-to-consumer genetic test, and it gives 23andMe a regulatory framework for future submissions. While this authorization is for a single carrier status test only, we are committed to providing US customers with health information once more tests have been through this process and we have a more comprehensive product offering.
The FDA has been incredibly responsive throughout our review and the agency has demonstrated its support for direct to consumer genetic testing. We will continue to work with the FDA to ensure that all future health submissions meet the agency&#8217;s standards.
It’s been a challenging and exciting time for consumer genetics. Our customers support and the stories they shared along the way make my job worthwhile.  I will continue to provide our customers with updates on our blog and by email. We’ve also posted more information about the authorization <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/what-the-fda-decision-means-for-23andme-customers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.
I want to thank our customers for their ongoing support during this process.
&nbsp;

Anne Wojcicki

A Note to Our Customers Regarding the FDA

What does getting this marketing authorization mean for existing and <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-6586" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-300x300.jpg" alt="23andMe_Logo_blog" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog.jpg 350w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />future customers?

As the first direct to consumer genetic test to complete the regulatory pathway, 23andMe’s Bloom Syndrome Carrier Status test was given marketing authorization through the de novo pathway. This is the first direct-to-consumer genetic test granted marketing authority by the agency.
Because this process was successful, we may be able to submit some future submissions through the standard 510(k) pathway.
In addition to the authorization to market the Bloom Syndrome Carrier Status test report, the FDA is also classifying autosomal recessive carrier screening tests as class II with the intention to exempt such carrier tests from FDA premarket review.
According to the FDA’s press release, the “agency plans to issue a notice that announces the intent to exempt these tests and that provides a 30-day period for public comment. This action creates the least burdensome regulatory path for<a href="http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/handbook/illustrations/autorecessive"> autosomal recessive</a> carrier screening tests with similar uses to enter the market.”


This is the first step in our commitment to returning health information to our customers.   We will continue to keep our community informed of our progress, but will not return results on individually cleared reports until we complete the regulatory process on additional health reports and have a more comprehensive product offering.

<h6>
What is Bloom syndrome?</h6>

Bloom syndrome is a rare disorder that is more common in people of Central and Eastern European, or Ashkenazi, Jewish background. One in 107 people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent are carriers for <a href="https://www.nature.com/gim/journal/v10/n6/full/gim200872a.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bloom syndrome</a>. The disorder is characterized by among other things short stature, sun-sensitive skin changes and an increased risk of cancer. According to the National Institute of Health, this condition is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, which means both copies of the gene in each cell have mutations.

<h6>
Does this mean 23andMe will again provide health reports to new customers in the US?</h6>

This is the first step in our commitment to returning health information to our customers.   We will continue to keep our community informed of our progress, but will not return health results on individually cleared reports until we have a more comprehensive product offering.

<h6>
Can I have access to my report for Bloom syndrome?</h6>

23andMe will not be making any health reports, including the report for Bloom syndrome Carrier Status test available to customers until we have a more comprehensive health product offering.

<h6>
What does it mean to be granted a de novo authorization?</h6>

23andMe submitted a 510(k) application for its direct-to-consumer Bloom syndrome Carrier Status Test.  A 510(k) is a premarketing submission made to FDA to demonstrate that the device to be marketed is substantially equivalent to a legally marketed device. The submission was converted to a de novo request.
The Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997 (FDAMA) added the de novo classification option, which provides an alternate pathway to classify novel devices of low to moderate risk. The de novo process is used by the FDA to grant marketing authorization for a device when there is no substantially equivalent product with which to compare it.
De novo marketing authorization means that 23andMe met the FDA’s premarket requirements to demonstrate the following: accuracy, validity and user comprehension.
Devices that are classified through the de novo process may be marketed and used as predicates for future 510(k) submissions.

<h6>
What happened to the original 510(k) submission?</h6>

The original 510(k) submission was converted to a de novo request.  23andMe submitted a 510(k) application for its direct-to-consumer Bloom syndrome Carrier Status Test.  A 510(k) is a premarketing submission made to FDA to demonstrate that the device to be marketed is substantially equivalent to a legally marketed device. The Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997 (FDAMA) added the de novo classification option, which provides an alternate pathway to classify novel devices. The de novo process is used by the FDA to grant marketing authorization for a device when there is no substantially equivalent product with which to compare it.

<h6>
When will you be getting clearance for the other health reports?</h6>

This submission was for one health report, and is part of the FDA’s regulatory review of our health product.   Although the submission focuses on a single rare but serious inherited condition we report to customers, Bloom syndrome, it is an important step in our work with the FDA in the coming months.
We believe there is a regulatory path forward for direct-to-consumer genetic testing. Working in close collaboration with the FDA, we believe we have begun to establish the parameters for future submissions.
More importantly, for our customers, it marks a baseline on the accuracy and validity of the Bloom syndrome Carrier Test information we will report back to them. The submission includes robust validation data covering major components of our product such as the genotyping chip, software and saliva kit.

<h6>
What will the future submissions be based upon?</h6>

Future submissions will be based on the learnings we gained during the Bloom syndrome review process. Because this process was successful, we may be allowed to provide some reports without premarket review and to submit some future submissions through the standard 510(k) pathway.

<h6>
What is the timing for those submissions?</h6>

We don’t have any specific timing for additional report submissions.

What The FDA Decision Means For 23andMe Customers

Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University and 23andMe have found possible clues to why older mothers face a higher risk for having babies born with conditions such as Down syndrome that are characterized by abnormal <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-4102" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/chromosomes2.jpg" alt="chromosomes2" height="214" width="300" />chromosome numbers.


Published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150219/ncomms7260/full/ncomms7260.html">Nature Communications</a>, the study looked specifically at patterns of recombination among more than 4,200 families, who are 23andMe customers and have consented to research. The study showed that the normal process by which parental chromosomes are recombined before they are passed onto children appears to be less regulated in older mothers.


Recombination is a cellular process that is vital in maintaining genetic diversity.  During recombination, chromosomes from parents are shuffled to create a unique combination of genetic traits.  These shuffled chromosomes are then passed on to children during reproduction.  It is also during recombination that errors can occur.  For example, children may inherit chromosomes with rearrangements or an abnormal number of chromosomes.


In this study the researchers verified that the rate of recombination increases with the age of the mother. But they also found that recombination appears to be less regulated in older mothers, which may explain the higher risk for abnormalities in their children.


“It’s been known for many years that the rate of recombination varies across the genome, but less is known about how the rate of recombination changes with parental age,” said study leader Adam Auton, Ph.D., assistant professor of genetics and of epidemiology &amp; population health at Einstein.


Looking deeper into the recombination process in older parents, the researchers found for the first time that the spacing between recombination events occurring on the same chromosome becomes less constrained as women age. For older mothers, more recombination events occur in close proximity to one another, providing evidence that the tightly regulated process of recombination becomes less regulated with increasing maternal age. By contrast, no such age-related effects were observed in
<div id="attachment_20791" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-20791" class="size-medium wp-image-20791" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Nick-Furlotte-Photo-200x300.jpg" alt="23andMe Statistical Geneticists " height="300" width="200" />23andMe Statistical Geneticists</div>
fathers.
While the paper does not currently have any clinical application, it does add to our understanding of recombination as a basic biological process, said 23andMe Statistical Geneticists <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/a-conversation-with-23andme-researcher-nick-furlotte/">Nick Furlotte</a>, one of the paper’s co-authors.
“Recombination is one of the fundamental biological processes thats helps to drive human evolution,” said Nick. “This study is a great example showing how using 23andMe’s large cohorts and a data-driven approach can lead to a further understanding of our basic biology.”

Insight into why risk of genetic abnormalities increases with mother’s age

On Thursday and Friday, 23andMe will be participating in two online events hosted by the <a href="https://www.michaeljfox.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michael J. Fox Foundation</a> focused on Parkinson’s disease and some of the latest research into its genetic underpinning.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-12404" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/pd_fist_300px.png" alt="Parkinson's disease fight arm" width="289" height="300" />
On Thursday February 19th, at 12 pm EST, the Michael J. Fox Foundation will host a webinar titled <a href="https://www.michaeljfox.org/page.html?hot-topics-webinar-series" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">&#8220;How Much of Parkinson&#8217;s Disease Is Genetic?&#8221;</a>
Veteran Bay Area public television journalist <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/01/29/DI2009012902360.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Dave Iverson</a>, 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 <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-22220" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fox-pd-chat-636-300x160.jpg" alt="fox pd chat 636" width="300" height="160" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fox-pd-chat-636-300x160.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/fox-pd-chat-636.jpg 636w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
23andMe’s <a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parkinson’s Research Community</a> 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.

Let’s Talk About Parkinson’s

We’re feeling a little dizzy trying to keep track of all the coverage 23andMe’s new study on motion sickness received or it might just be this infographic.


The<a href="http://hmg.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2015/01/26/hmg.ddv028.abstract?keytype=ref&#038;ijkey=2ntxck5YUKc8QSA"> paper</a>, which came out in late January, was the first ever genome-wide association study of the very common condition.
We want to share with you some of the better stories, including coverage in<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3042008/feeling-woozy-23andme-releases-first-ever-genome-wide-study-of-motion-sickness"> Fast Company</a>, the<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/02/the-mysterious-science-of-motion-sickness/385469/"> Atlantic</a> and<a href="https://time.com/3695231/23andme-motion-sickness/"> Time</a>. We also wanted to share some of the findings in the study using this fun infographic.
In the study, 23andMe researchers found 35 genetic variants that were significantly associated with motion sickness. Some of those variants, which were identified for the first time, are in or near genes involved in the development of the eye and ear, while other variants appear to be involved in neurological processes and the regulation of glucose and insulin.
The work also confirmed previously known phenotypic associations between motion sickness and other conditions such as migraines, vertigo, and morning sickness as well as postoperative nausea and vomiting.


Note: this post has been altered from the original; the accompanying  graphic has been removed, along with select text.

Feeling Woozy, Motion Sickness Redux

It turns out that whether you like dark chocolate or milk chocolate may have a little bit to do with your genetics. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-22200" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay-300x300.jpg" alt="ValentinesDay" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay-880x880.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay-1180x1180.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay-980x980.jpg 980w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/ValentinesDay.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> 
We know that our bitter and sweet taste perceptions are highly associated with different genetic variants.
A lot of work has focused specifically on bitter taste perception associated with a variant in the <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/tasty-genetics" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">TAS2R38 gene</a>. Some people have it and some don’t.
About a quarter of 23andMe customers don’t have the bitter taste variant. This makes them more likely to have a taste for hoppy beer, broccoli or dark chocolate. A variant in theTAS2R38 gene enables some to perceive the bitterness of the chemical propylthiouracil, or PROP. Some so-called supertasters not only perceive bitterness but also can discern more saltiness, sweetness and spice. This suggests that there are other genes involved in our food preference.
So of course the TAS2R38 variant doesn’t explain everything. While surveys of in the United States show that more than half of Americans prefer milk chocolate to dark, among 23andMe customers dark chocolate wins out. Almost half of 23andMe customers prefer dark chocolate. About 39 percent say they like milk chocolate. That may have to do with genetics, but it is more likely related to a mix of other non-genetic factors.
And there are plenty of genetic factors that researchers are still exploring. For instance, a genome wide association study done last year <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn25672-unravelling-taste-genes-could-help-us-eat-healthily.html#.VN454cYiQih" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">found 17 genes</a> related to liking certain foods. Thos foods include among other things dark chocolate, blue cheese and liver. These genes belong to the groups of genes that apparently have nothing to do with taste or smell perception.
All this just goes to show that, like love, our food preferences are complicated.

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