Over the last couple of months we&#8217;ve featured a few short question and answer sessions with some of research team scientists. We&#8217;re taking a moment to revisit those posts one more time.
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<th><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-21028 aligncenter" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/@PITER-23andMe-JoyceTung-19.jpg" alt="@PITER-23andMe-JoyceTung-19" width="200" height="285" /><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/a-conversation-with-23andmes-director-of-research/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joyce Tung</a></th>
<th><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-21027 aligncenter" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/@PITER-23andMe-JoannaMountain-43.jpg" alt="@PITER-23andMe-JoannaMountain-43" width="200" height="285" /><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/a-conversation-with-23andmes-joanna-mountain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Joanna Mountain </a></th>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-21026 aligncenter" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/@PITER-23andMe-DavidHinds-31.jpg" alt="@PITER-23andMe-DavidHinds-31" width="200" height="285" /><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/a-conversation-with-23andme-principal-scientist-david-hinds/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">David Hinds</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-21023 aligncenter" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/@PITER-23andMe-ArnabChowdry-04-copy1.jpg" alt="@PITER-23andMe-ArnabChowdry-04 copy" width="200" height="285" /><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/a-conversation-with-23andmes-arnab-chowdry/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Arnab Chowdry</a></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-21029 aligncenter" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/23andMe-Eric-008-copy1.jpeg" alt="23andMe-Eric-008 copy" width="200" height="285" /><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/a-conversation-with-23andmes-eric-durand/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Eric Durand</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-21022 aligncenter" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Nick-Furlotte-Photo-e1401309962414.jpg" alt=" ©PITER-23andMe-NickFurlotte-23" data-wp-editing="1" width="200" height="285" /><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/a-conversation-with-23andme-researcher-nick-furlotte/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nick Furlotte</a></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-21024 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/@PITER-23andMe-ChaoTian-25.jpg" alt="@PITER-23andMe-ChaoTian-25" width="199" height="287" /><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/a-conversation-with-23andme-researcher-chao-tian/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chao Tian</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-21030 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Megan-2.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="285" /><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/23andme-researcher-meghan-mullins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Meghan Mullins</a></td>
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<td style="text-align: center;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-20896 aligncenter" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Matthew-McIntyre-Photo-copy-225x300.jpg" alt="Matthew McIntyre Photo copy" width="225" height="285" /><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/a-conversation-with-23andme-researcher-matthew-mcintyre/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Matthew McIntyre</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-21034 aligncenter" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/katie.jpg" alt="katie" width="200" height="286" /><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/23andme-researcher-katie-huber/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Katie Huber</a></td>
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23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

Research Redux

Stephanie Griffith-Jackson always believed her ancestry was diverse, but she never suspected her DNA would lead her to France.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21038" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Stephanie-Jackson.jpg" alt="Stephanie Jackson" width="260" height="196" />
Interested in her African American ancestry and her family health history, Stephanie tested with 23andMe to learn more. The results surprised her.
“I’ve always been a mutt, and proud of it but this takes it to a whole new level,” Stephanie said.
<h6>African and European Ancestry</h6>
She learned that along with her African ancestry she had a much larger percentage of European ancestry than she expected. With a little more research into her genealogy, Stephanie discovered that her great-grandfather was Welsh.   He married her great-grandmother, who was African American, in the early 1900’s.
“It’s tough to find information on that side of the family, because after the wedding, my great-grandfather’s family disowned him for marrying outside his race,” she said. “It makes me want to cry to think about that story.  He risked everything for love.”
<h6>Connecting to Other Cultures</h6>
The more Stephanie learned about the “various and wonderful cultures” she came from, the more she wanted to connect with them.
Using 23andMe&#8217;s DNA Relatives tool, Stephanie reached out to several distant cousins, including one living in France. This cousin turned out to be an ex-pat Californian named Terry. Terry and Stephanie connected through 23andMe, and then started communicating online.  They found that they have a remarkable amount of similarities.
<h6>Cousins</h6>
When the pair had a chance to get together in California, where Stephanie now lives. The two distant cousins got along like childhood best friends.
“When we first saw each other, we screamed, hugged and cried,” said Stephanie. “We stayed up until four in the morning.  We were connecting, so we didn’t want to stop talking.  It was like we had known each other forever.  It was strange. I felt like I’d already met her like I already knew her.”
The pair also found that they shared a strong interest in genealogy.   Stephanie has been exploring her African roots and recently took a trip to Africa.  She even started a website for people who wanted to explore their genealogies.
&#8220;I will never be the same after getting my DNA tested,” Stephanie says.  “I’ll never think of myself in the same way. We are all connected. We are all family.”
Stephanie continues to research her genealogy, including her Native American and Portuguese roots on her mother’s side.  She and Terry talk every day.
“I&#8217;m so happy to have found 23andMe,” said Stephanie.  “I have discovered that color doesn’t separate us.  I truly believe that if everyone had the opportunity to have their DNA tested, it would do a lot to lessen prejudice in the world and bring people closer together.”
23andMe provides genetic testing services for informational purposes; your results may or may not help you to search for or identify relatives or family members.
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Connecting Cousins

We got a great response from our Google Hangout earlier this month, which focused on some of 23andMe’s basic ancestry tools. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-21014" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-300x75.jpg" alt="05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy" width="300" height="75" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-300x75.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-768x192.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-1024x256.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-880x220.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-1180x295.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />


During the presentation <a href="http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com">CeCe Moore</a>, a genetic genealogist and 23andMe Ancestry Ambassador, started with a quick overview of the science behind using DNA for ancestry before diving into the features.
Also joining CeCe were Laurie Kahn, an ancestry Product Manager here at 23andMe and Christine Moschella, our Community Manager.
After the basics the team dove right into some of 23andMe’s features including Ancestry Composition, Ancestral Origins and DNA Relatives.
CeCe covered ways customers can use different settings to get finer detail about their ancestry and how to make the most of your matches. She also covered some of the basics on how to invite DNA Relatives to share information that can help in genealogical searches and how to use information even when those matches don’t choose to share with you.
This is our first Google Hangout to go over 23andMe tools with customers and we hope to do more. It’s a great overview and if you are just starting to explore your ancestry with DNA this is a wonderful way to get oriented with some of ways you can explore using 23andMe. So check it out.
<iframe loading="lazy" width="650" height="366" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kCJr7t2Sbpg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

23andMe Ancestry Basics

This interview is part of an occasional series of profiles introducing you to the people behind 23andMe’s compelling research. Eric <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-21006" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/23andMe-Eric-008-copy.jpeg" alt="23andMe-Eric-008 copy" width="172" height="244" />Durand has been instrumental in developing several <a href="https://www.23andme.com/ancestry/">ancestry features at 23andMe</a> including tools that allow customers to see their Neanderthal percentage and to use to see what percent of their DNA comes from populations around the world with the Ancestry Composition feature. Prior to his work at 23andMe, Eric developed statistical methods to look at the connections between archaic – Neanderthals and Denisovans – and modern humans. His primary interests are in the inference of ancestry and the discovery of hidden familial relationships through DNA. 
“We’re still learning more about modern humans and it’s much more complicated than we anticipated.”
<h6>What were you researching before you came to 23andMe? </h6>
Prior to 23andMe, I was involved in the analysis of the first draft of the Neanderthal genome, which was published in 2010. I also worked on similar analysis of the Denisovan genome. We developed the <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/more-on-23andmes-neanderthal-lab/">Neanderthal percentage calculator </a>as a novel way to look at the Neanderthal DNA in almost all modern humans.
When we first published our Neanderthal research, it went against popular consensus and we met a lot of resistance. Even today, scientists don’t necessarily agree that there was indeed admixture between Neanderthals and modern humans.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 200px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">Eric Durand, PhD, Computational Biologist
Originally from: Paris, France.
MA: Applied Math and Modeling Biological Systems, Grenoble Institute of Technology, France.
PhD: Population Genetics, Grenoble Institute of Technology, France.
Post-doc: University of California, Berkeley
Fun Fact: I’m 3.0 percent Neanderthal, and have a higher percentage of British than French DNA
</div>
<h6>Why are you excited about genetics?</h6>
I got into genetics late in my applied statistics PhD, because my advisor was working on population genetics. Initially I got excited about answering evolutionary questions through data. I’m also interested in conservation genetics, which look at endangered species and make inferences on whether the gene pool is still diverse enough for the species to recover. So far we’ve found that there’s no common threshold for how many animals you need to create a population – it’s very species-dependent.
<h6>Tell us about one of your interesting findings. </h6>
Working on 23andMe’s Ancestry Composition feature has been a great learning experience. Before our current version, we provided something called Ancestry Painting, which divided populations into three groups: Asian, European and African. Obviously our customers wanted more specificity, and scientifically, we wanted to include more diverse reference populations to improve the accuracy of the tool.
In the future, we’ll improve the accuracy of our estimates by adding more reference populations from our growing database and external sources.
Even if you’re not interested in genealogy, Ancestry Composition is important because diseases have different prevalence dependent on population. For example, some populations have a higher rate of diabetes or breast cancer than others.
<h6>What&#8217;s one thing the average person should know about genetics?</h6>
Everyone should have a basic understanding of inheritance, or how you get chromosomes from your mother and father. Although we each get 50 percent of our DNA from our mother and 50 percent from our father, chromosomes are shuffled at each generation. So with each successive generation, what you inherit from each ancestor becomes harder to identify.
<h6>Tell us about a recent breakthrough in genetics research that you think will have a big impact. </h6>
In the field of population genetics, we’re still learning more about human evolution and it’s much more complicated than we anticipated. It’s really interesting, for example, to look at why we’re the only human species that remains today. New research will be published in 2014 showing that we’re becoming really good at sequencing old, dead stuff. In fact, <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/more-neanderthal/">technology is pushing the limits</a> of how old, damaged and contaminated material can be. Today you can extract and amplify very poor quality DNA.
<h6>What interesting thing have you learned about yourself from being tested?</h6>
I discovered I’m unlikely to taste bitter flavors. We recently did a chemical experiment in a classroom of children to simulate bitter tasting. While most of the kids spit out the chemically treated paper, me and about 20 percent of the class couldn’t taste it at all.

A Conversation With 23andMe’s Eric Durand

Although his family had always told him they were of Mexican and Puerto Rican ancestry, David Aguilar never thought that truly captured who he was.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20991" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/David-Aguilar-260x300.jpg" alt="David Aguilar" width="260" height="300" />
“I always felt that I didn’t really fit into that particular category,” said David, a former ballet dancer who now works as an acrobat.
As a 7 year-old David asked his aunt about his heritage and she bluntly told him:
“&#8217;You’re Mexican.’”
His response was equally direct:
“No I’m not,” he told her. “I will tell you one day what I am.”
<h6>Exploring His Ancestry</h6>
Decades later, David used 23andMe to help him piece together his ancestry and find himself in the process. David knew his ancestry was complicated. His mother, who was raised in Hawaii, had Puerto Rican ancestry. His father, raised in Texas, had Mexican ancestry. But neither of them paid much attention to their heritage beyond that and for David, he wanted to know more about where his ancestors came.
He knew very little about his family’s origins, the links to Mexico and Puerto Rico. He’d learned that his family might have had some Dutch and Irish ancestry in that mix, but he didn’t know much more than that.
“They never really kept track of that in those days,” Aguilar said.
<h6>A Surprise</h6>
His family’s idea of their ancestry didn’t really match what he felt inside.
“It’s almost like someone telling you you’re a girl when you’re actually a boy,” he said.
When he heard about 23andMe, David jumped at the chance to get more detail about his ancestry.
When the results came in, it felt like opening a present, he said.
“I was blown away by it.“
The results vindicated his early misgivings about how his family characterized their ancestry. He learned his heritage was a mix of European, African, Middle Eastern and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.
He couldn’t wait to share – he began posting what he learned on his Facebook page right away.
David said this more detailed description of his ancestry, helped put into context so much of what he felt. He’d always been drawn to Europe and Russia in particular, during his time traveling as a dancer. He even lived in Russia for a time, where he was able to quickly master the language.
“I was even told by Russians that I don’t have an accent when I speak Russian,” he said.
<h6>Newfound Heritage</h6>
He lived in Russia for three years. David attributes his affinity for the culture and language to his Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. He also points to something else, the Star of David tattoos he’d gotten long before his 23andMe test informed him of his Jewish ancestry. Without even knowing, he believes he was drawn to the image because of his ancestry.
David approached his family about his newfound heritage. He remembers the response of one of his aunts:
“‘Oh, congratulations. I’m so glad you found out for yourself.”
But David now has an answer when people asking about his ethnic background.
“I tell them I am 70 percent European, I’m 3 percent black, I’m 3.3 percent Middle Eastern, I am Ashkenazi Jewish….” he said. “When I give them the breakdown they say, ‘Wow, you really know your history,’ and I say, ‘yeah, I do.’”
23andMe provides genetic testing services for informational purposes; your results may or may not help you to search for or identify relatives or family members.

Who I Am

This interview is part of an occasional series of profiles introducing you to the people behind 23andMe’s compelling research. In his <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-21002" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/@PITER-23andMe-ArnabChowdry-04-copy-200x300.jpg" alt="Arnab Chowdr" width="200" height="300" />previous scientific life, Arnab Chowdry received a   SmileTrain grant for his work with Dr. Simeon Boyadjiev at the Johns Hopkins Children&#8217;s Hospital to determine the disease-causing loci for rare genetic diseases such as oculodentodigital dysplasia, which causes abnormalities to many parts of the body particularly the eyes, teeth or fingers. 
At 23andMe, Arnab is responsible for designing and establishing the analytical validity of our genotyping chip.


“We don’t just want to learn about genetics. We want to make genetics useful.”

<h6>
How did you become excited about genetics?</h6>

I’ve been interested in genetics since high school. At that time, the human genome sequence was yet to be completed and I wondered why it was such a complicated problem. Being young, I had some very naive ideas about how we could improve the science.


During college, I was involved in research at Johns Hopkins which looked at rare variants. That introduced me to the common frustrations in the field of genetics at that time. There was a lot of noise around the publication of the first human genome, but practically it didn’t help my research. The genome was a draft and the region I was investigating was still largely unknown. To really advance medicine, we needed a faster way to assay mutations than what was available at the time.


After grad school, I came across 23andMe and thought, “if there’s any company that can realize these ideas, this is the one.” I had been in academics for years and had grown used to the hymn of “this new finding could be medically useful, in ten years.” Researchers get grants based around the potential to improve our lives but publications rarely connect their findings to a medical use case.
23andMe is different; we are working to make genetics useful today.

<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 200px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">Arnab Chowdry, Sr. Manager of Research Engineering

Originally from: Rochester, NY

BS/A: Johns Hopkins University

PhD: Biophysics from the University of California, Berkeley

Fun Fact: I like building things and breaking things.

 
</div>
<h6>
Tell us about a recent breakthrough in genetics research that you think will have a big impact.</h6>

Next-generation sequencing is the breakthrough I’ve been waiting for. Currently, the genetic testing industry is very segmented. We have individual tests for the conditions we understand, but they’re slow, expensive, and their accuracy is poorly determined.
FDA-approved next-generation sequencing won’t replace all genetic tests, but it will commoditize a chunk of the industry, pushing consumers and physicians to evolve.
Reduced cost, improved accuracy and the establishment of new technologies is moving the needle both for clinical testing and research. (23andMe currently does genotyping, which tells customers your genotype at a certain subset of locations in your DNA. Full-genome sequencing tells you your genotype at every position.)

<h6>
What interesting thing have you learned about yourself from being tested?</h6>

Even though I work for 23andMe as a scientist and engineer and I analyze genetic data for a living, up until 2012, my work had always been abstract. I never expected life-altering information to come out of my personal genetics. Then  <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/researcher-investigates-his-own-genetic-mutation/">I found out that I carry a mutation in the MYBPC3 gene</a> that is associated with familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). South Asians that carry this mutation are at greatly increased risk for HCM.
Since then, I’ve talked to my family, visited doctors and specialists and changed my exercise routine.
I’ve also worked with other researchers to uncover the biological ramifications of the genetic mutation and presented the findings at a national meeting of geneticists. You can read more about my experience <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-customer-stories/my-heart-my-family-and-mybpc3/">here.</a>

<h6>
What&#8217;s one thing the average person should know about genetics?</h6>

People believe genetics to be more deterministic than it is. In fact, there is no “genes vs. environment” debate. Researchers understand that most complex diseases and traits are determined by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, neither of which should be ignored. If we &#8212; and our physicians &#8212; can take that view, it will help us to better understand ourselves and improve our lives.

A Conversation With 23andMe’s Arnab Chowdry

This post comes to us from our friends at the <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20765" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/pd-graphic-300x300.jpg" alt="pd-graphic" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/pd-graphic-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/pd-graphic-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/pd-graphic-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/pd-graphic-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/pd-graphic.jpg 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />customers and research participants the opportunity to access their information if they want it. This post from the Michael J. Fox Foundation attempts to cover the different approaches to informing participants about their results. 
Researchers need to know if study participants have certain genetic mutations to understand how those lead to disease. But do the participants have to know if they have a mutation?
Parkinson’s disease (PD) researchers <a href="https://www.nature.com/gim/journal/v16/n8/full/gim201455a.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">published last month</a> in Genetics of Medicine the different answers to that question among sites investigating <a href="https://www.michaeljfox.org/understanding-parkinsons/living-with-pd/topic.php?lrrk2">mutations in the LRRK2 gene</a>, the greatest known genetic contributor to PD.
Investigators from The Michael J. Fox Foundation-sponsored <a href="https://www.michaeljfox.org/page.html?lrrk2-cohort-consortium">LRRK2 Cohort Consortium</a> authored the letter to the editor. The consortium unites research groups from nine countries on four continents to learn more about LRRK2 and speed collective efforts closer to practical therapies for patients.
In general, mutations in the LRRK2 gene account for less than five percent of PD cases, but that number jumps in certain ethnic populations; LRRK2 mutations are associated with 18 to 40 percent of PD cases among those of Ashkenazi Jewish or North African Berber descent. Adding to the complexity is the unknown “penetrance” or association between a mutation and disease onset; estimates range from 24 to 80 percent.
Currently there are no proven preventive or disease-modifying strategies for Parkinson’s, so information of one’s PD genetic profile may not influence any direct action.
“The study design raised an ethical question,&#8221; according to the authors. &#8220;Should the genetic testing results be reported to participants?”   People with Parkinson’s and their family members without PD were screened for a LRRK2 mutation, and researchers conducted a more thorough investigation on mutation carriers and a subset of those without mutations.
Sites in the United States did not offer genetic results to participants with PD, but Israeli sites concluded it would be unethical not to provide such information. They informed all PD participants who requested their results.
Most study sites did not offer results to non-PD participants unless they first received genetic counseling. The Toronto team stopped offering these results after they felt participants had trouble grasping the information.
The letter’s authors outline the arguments for each side: Knowing one’s genetic risk may be distressing. However, many feel that this data is the property of the participants and they should be allowed to receive or refuse it as they prefer.
“It is true that presently there is no definitive action one can take to offset genetic risk for Parkinson’s disease,” said Brian Fiske, PhD, vice president of research programs at The Michael J. Fox Foundation. “However, individuals who do choose to learn their genetic status can play an important role in teaching researchers about the disease and possible treatments.”
The MJFF-led <a href="https://www.michaeljfox.org/page.html?parkinsons-progression-markers-initiative-get-involved">Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative</a> is enrolling people with a LRRK2 mutation. The observational, biomarker study is recruiting people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent – because of greater prevalence – with Parkinson’s or with a first-degree relative with PD. <a href="https://www.michaeljfox.org/page.html?parkinsons-progression-markers-initiative-get-involved">Learn more</a> about PPMI.
You can also join the 23andMe’s <a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/">Parkinson’s Disease Research Initiative</a> by contributing demographic and medical history information and a <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">DNA kit</a>. <a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/">Learn more</a>.

Debate Around Informing Research Participants

Kathy Fisher’s life journey has taken her far from home, but she’s never been far from family, even if she didn’t know it.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20977" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/KathyMom-251x300.jpeg" alt="KathyMom" width="251" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/KathyMom-251x300.jpeg 251w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/KathyMom.jpeg 725w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 251px) 100vw, 251px" />
In an uncanny coincidence, 23andMe connected Kathy with an unknown cousin whose path had crossed hers multiple times in her life — from South Africa, to Botswana, to California.
Kathy, 54, is originally from South Africa, but for the past 30 years, she’s lived in California.  Kathy works at Stanford University, where a colleague who specializes in personalized medicine first introduced her to 23andMe.
Intrigued by the chance to learn more about their DNA, Kathy and her husband both sent in test kits.  When Kathy reviewed her results, she noticed a familiar last name in the DNA Relative tool.
“This last name was most unusual in the United States,” said Kathy, “it was not even common in South Africa.”
Kathy looked into the person’s background and found out they did indeed share some DNA. She sent an email explaining the connection and asked some questions about where this newfound relative lived.  He answered her email immediately, and together they realized just how small this world can be.
<div id="attachment_20979" style="width: 237px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-20979" class="wp-image-20979 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Kathy-Cousin-2-227x300.jpg" alt="Kathy &#038; Cousin 2" width="227" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Kathy-Cousin-2-227x300.jpg 227w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Kathy-Cousin-2.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 227px) 100vw, 227px" />Kathy and her cousin Neville.</div>
Kathy and her third cousin, Neville, met in person soon after connecting through 23andMe. Amazingly, Neville lived just 20 minutes away from her in California.  What’s more, as they shared their life stories, they realized their paths had intersected a number of times since childhood in a series of fantastic coincidences.
It all began when Kathy was 13 in 1971, and her family moved north from South Africa to a remote diamond mine, Orapa, Botswana.  She lived there off and on for the next 10 years.  After she left, her sister, brother-in-law and their two children lived there for about another 15 years.  Kathy moved to Namibia and then to the U.S in 1983.
Unbeknownst to her, from 1992 to 2000, Neville worked for IBM in Gaborone and went to Orapa to service computers a few times a year.  Kathy’s sister, Joan was the general manager’s assistant at the time and would very likely have met Neville.
But that was only the beginning, Kathy lived in the San Francisco Bay Area from 1983.  Neville married and had a child and moved to the U.S. in 2002, spent two years on the east coast and then moved to Northern California.  From 2007 to 2009, Neville was working at Stanford University.  At the time, Kathy was working at a private school just 10 minutes from Stanford.
Before Neville left Stanford to work at a start-up near the university, Kathy herself began working at Stanford, so they remained mere minutes from each other every day.  Neville’s start-up was eventually bought by eBay, where he works now.
Kathy and Neville both live near each other in the San Francisco Bay Area now.  They’ve most recently come together for a barbeque at Neville’s house, where Kathy met his family.
Kathy has two grown children who are 28 and 36, and she is organizing another get together at her home so her entire family can meet Neville’s.
“I am amazed by how many times our paths have crossed, but we’ve never met until now,” said Kathy. “It is so wonderful to be able to connect with Neville and to bring our families together after so many near-misses over the years.  It’s the beginning of a relationship that’s been a long time in the making.”
23andMe provides genetic testing services for informational purposes; your results may or may not help you to search for or identify relatives or family members.
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Parallel Lives

This interview is part of an occasional series of profiles introducing you to the people behind 23andMe’s compelling research. David Hinds spent nine years at Perlegen Sciences, where he was <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20964" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/David-Hinds-Photo-200x300.jpg" alt="David Hinds Photo" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/David-Hinds-Photo-200x300.jpg 200w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/David-Hinds-Photo-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/David-Hinds-Photo-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/David-Hinds-Photo-587x880.jpg 587w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/David-Hinds-Photo-787x1180.jpg 787w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/David-Hinds-Photo-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />the lead analyst for Perlegen&#8217;s genome-wide polymorphism discovery projects. He brings more than 15 years of experience in human genetics to his daily work exploring the complex traits of 23andMe customers.
“Genetics provides a context for understanding your risks.”
<h6>What made you excited about genetics? 
</h6>
I started out studying computational biology, and genetics is another way to apply those skills. Today, genetics is interesting to me because it offers a combination of being able to solve unique problems using computational methods and doing interesting science using big data sets.
<h6>Tell us about one of your interesting research findings.</h6>
I’m very proud of our work with the myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) community. (MPNs are a group of rare blood cancers for which there currently is no cure.) Going into that research, we didn’t have high expectations for making discoveries around this rare set of diseases, but the community has been very successful. We’ve found <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/novel-genetic-findings-for-myeloproliferative-neoplasms/">several new genetic </a>variants associated with MPNs, and there are new follow up studies coming from the community this year.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 250px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">David Hinds, PhD Principal Scientist, Statistical Genetics 
Education:BS Biological Chemistry, University of Chicago 
MA, Biochemistry, Cambridge University 
PhD, Structural Biology, Stanford 
Post-doc: Howard Hughes Medical Institute 
Fun Fact:Through 23andMe, I found out my wife is related to another 23andMe scientist.</div>
The MPN work is particularly interesting because we <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/new-discoveries-about-rare-blood-disorders-from-23andme/">found something we didn’t expect</a> to find and we’re now able to identify something early that was previously only used to diagnose the condition once symptoms were shown.
We also have several new collaborations underway this year, specifically around allergic disease research. We just published a paper on <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/new-findings-for-asthma-and-hay-fever/">allergies and hay fever</a>, which is exciting because the 23andMe community is now recognized as the largest allergic disease genotype and phenotype data collection available.
<h6>Tell us about a recent breakthrough in genetics research that you think will have a big impact. 
</h6>
Everyone in genetics is watching the falling price of sequencing. While it’s very early to show scientific applications for sequencing applied to understanding complex disease, as more people are sequenced, that research will become even more significant.
<h6>What&#8217;s one thing the average consumer should know about genetics? 
</h6>
Genetics provides a context for understanding your risk of disease. Your risk also depends heavily on your lifestyle and your life history. In this sense, genetics simply provides a baseline that’s modified by all the other things going on in your life.

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