In honor of both Easter and Passover, we want to share Debra&#8217;s 23andMe story.
A Christian, Debra didn’t just read the Bible, she began to immerse herself in the Torah, the first five books of Hebrew Scriptures that are also part of the Old Testament. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20783" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Debra-Moore-Photo-200x300.jpg" alt="Debra Moore Photo" width="200" height="300" />In looking into her own family history she didn’t have her parents around anymore to ask about her ancestry so went to the DNA and tested with 23andMe.
What she didn’t know was that those two paths would cross in a most unexpected way.
A teacher by profession, Debra has always had an innate desire for knowledge. After going through a very difficult divorce she sought solace in the scripture.
“As a Christian, I wanted to understand and appreciate the Jewish roots of Christianity. So I began researching the Torah,” she said.
A three-year spiritual journey ensued. Debra delighted in the learning, immersing herself in the customs and celebrating the holidays.
“I remembered a preacher once saying, ‘If you want to be blessed, bless Israel.’” She said. “And here was this treasure of traditions that were unknown to me.”
Friends and colleagues would invite Debra for Passover and to break the fast on Yom Kippur. She celebrated Purim and Sukkot, joining in on the readings and embracing the customs.
“When my kids come home they know if it’s Friday we are going to have Sabbath prayers and they look forward to it,” she said.
As she continued on this spiritual journey, Debra took a personal journey as well when a few months ago her daughter suggested they both join 23andMe. Ever eager for discovery, Debra agreed. Waiting for the results was the hardest part.
“My daughter and I submitted our samples without acknowledging any family connection,” she said. “23andme recognized that we were close relatives and labeled her as my daughter. Wow!”
But the biggest revelation came when they both reviewed their ancestry results. They had tried other genealogy services in the past and were left with more questions than answers. This was not the case with 23andMe.
&#8220;I&#8217;ve known all my life I was African American – all I had to do was look in the mirror but this – this was so exciting. My most unexpected, but highly prized revelation was that we have Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry,” she said.
Debra was surprised and elated. After three years of immersing herself in the Jewish faith she now could say that was REALLY part of her. She immediately shared the news with the rest of her family, friends and colleagues.
“One of the secretaries who works with me is Jewish and we were always talking about the holidays and such. When I got my 23andMe results I ran down the stairs and I said “Look! We’re cousins!”
&#8220;It was such an honor to be in the room,&#8221; she said. &#8220;For four years, I had observed Passover at home alone, but this year, I stepped out and made contacts within the Jewish community. I am so thankful and grateful for 23andme.&#8221;
Through all of this Debra only has one regret, that her mother has passed and she was not able to share this news.
“Years ago, my mother worked with a man who was Jewish. She spoke highly of this man who worked along side her in a factory in St. Louis, MO and was not bothered that she was Black. She remembered that this man and his family were so kind to her.”
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.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

We’re Cousins!

If you weren&#8217;t in Austin for the SXSW conference, here&#8217;s video of 23andMe&#8217;s CEO and Cofounder <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/tag/anne-wojcicki">Anne Wojcicki&#8217;</a>s keynote speech on the future of genetics.
Anne talks about how 23andMe created a way for consumers to partner in important genetic research.
<iframe loading="lazy" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Nr2CHwNyvNI" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

A photo portrait of Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe's CEO and co-founder

23andMe’s Anne Wojcicki On The Future of Genetics

Writing clearly about something complicated like genetics isn’t easy, and doing it with a little humor is harder still. But that’s just what the author and illustrator Katie McKissick, does consistently in her neat little book called “What’s in Your Genes?”<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20777" alt="whatsinyourgenes" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/whatsinyourgenes-195x300.jpg" width="195" height="300" />
Known by her nom de plume, Beatrice the Biologist, Katie’s blog <a href="http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/symbiartic/">Symbiartic</a> is also a consistent go-to resource for what’s interesting in science.
<h6>A Primer on Genetics</h6>
Her book hits a sweet spot for us here at 23andMe, where we’re constantly trying to figure out the best way to <a href="https://www.23andme.com/gen101/">communicate complicated science</a>. Katie breaks down the As,Cs,Ts and Gs of DNA and puts them into a readable and informative primer on genetics. She’s also pretty enamored in making fun visuals, which are sprinkled generously throughout the book. (Here’s her list of favorite science comics.) Put together this all makes for both easy to understand and fun reading. In the book, Katie covers a lot, from traits and disease to sequencing. And she does it with flair.
People generally understand how critical their own genetic information is in managing their health, but polls show that in general people are about fuzzy about the details of the sciences, so knowing the basics is important.
<h6>Genetic Literacy</h6>
A lot still could be done to improve the level of genetic literacy. This book goes a long way at explaining the basics but also some pretty important topics like the ethical issues around genetic testing, legal questions around patenting of genes and the future of genetic research.
Katie also embraces the fun and wonder of genetic science. She explains how  to count the taste buds on a small section of your tongue to figure out if you’re a “supertaster.” And she&#8217;s clear in explaining how the “symphony” of genetic variants influence your height, intelligence, and personality.
“Let’s put it this way,” Katie writes in a section on the genetics of intelligence and personality.  “DNA may predict what you can do, but not what you will do.”
And to bring it home she quotes Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series, when he tells Harry:
“It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.”

A Primer on What’s In Your Genes?

This interview is part of an occasional series of profiles introducing you to the people behind 23andMe’s compelling research. Meghan Mullins, a research assistant, previously did work on obesity and diabetes among the Pima Indians in Arizona. Here at 23andMe, Meghan works with our cancer and Parkinson’s research initiatives. She also ensures that the research we do adheres to ethical guidelines. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20735" alt="Meghan Mullins photo" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Meghan-Mullins-photo-200x300.jpg" width="200" height="300" /> 
“People are excited about the research we’re doing because we’re making it so accessible.”
<h6>What were you researching before you came to 23andMe?</h6>

Before I started working at 23andMe, I spent two years with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a division of the National Institutes of Health. I worked in the genetics lab studying obesity and diabetes in Pima Indians.
<h6>What’s your job at 23andMe?</h6>

I’m a Research Assistant at 23andMe, so I work on our research initiatives for Parkinson’s and cancer where we study the associations between genetics and disease. I also create protocols for our studies and work with our Institutional Review Board to protect the rights of research participants. And I helped spearhead the recruiting efforts for our <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/23andmes-african-ancestry-project/">African Ancestry project</a>.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 200px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">Meghan Mullins, Research Assistant 
Originally from: Norman, OK 
Education: 
BA: Human Biology from Stanford</div>
<h6>Why are you excited about genetics?</h6>

I accidentally ended up in genetics, but I really enjoy it. Because it’s a relatively new field in biology, the pace of research is very fast.
For example, the most comprehensive genetic research to date has been on people of European descent. We don’t really know how that applies to people with other ethnic backgrounds because the research hasn’t been repeated to include them. That’s why I’m excited about what 23andMe did with our <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/announcements/roots-into-the-future/">Roots Into the Future project</a>, a research initiative addressing the African American community. We’re closing the gap to include more people with African descent in genetic research, and we’re generating knowledge that will help people with more diverse backgrounds in the future.
<h6>Tell us about a recent breakthrough in genetics research that you think will have a big impact on the industry. 
</h6>
I’m interested in a recent <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2813%2961939-X/fulltext">European study</a> about gene therapy for Parkinson’s Disease. They’re testing a new gene therapy and while very preliminary, results have shown that patients were able to come off of dopamine replacement medications without the temporal flux of other Parkinson’s drugs.
<h6>What&#8217;s one thing the average consumer should know about genetics?<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20711" alt="SocialPosts_Spotlight" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-300x300.jpg" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-880x880.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> 
</h6>
It’s something that most people know, but have a hard time applying: who you are is a function of your genetics and your environment. When people see the results of genetic tests, they often forget about the environmental factors like where and how you live. It’s really all these elements coming together that make you who you are.
<h6>What interesting thing have you learned about yourself from being genotyped? 
</h6>
I have a tiny percentage of sub-Saharan African DNA, which could be from my Cherokee background. I also learned that I carry the “redhead gene” &#8211; and while I currently live my life with red hair, it’s naturally brown.
In general, my 23andMe results inspired me to commit to more regular exercise given how much risk that contributes to any given condition. In fact, I have been running regularly and was able to lower my cholesterol by about 30 percent.

23andMe Researcher Meghan Mullins

Anyone with a brother or sister doesn’t need a national holiday to remind them how special bonds between siblings can be, but in recognition of<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siblings_Day"> National Sibling Day</a> we bring you another in a long list of stories of siblings who found each other through 23andMe.


Tricia had a few details, but never enough to find her father.
John and Charlene, her brother and sister, never knew Tricia even existed. Apparently neither did their dad. It wasn’t until Tricia tested with 23andMe that they found each other and learned that they were all related.
<div id="attachment_20717" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-20717" class="size-medium wp-image-20717" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Siblings-on-dads-bench-selfie-300x232.jpg" alt="Trish, center, and her brother John and sister Charlene." height="232" width="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Siblings-on-dads-bench-selfie-300x232.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Siblings-on-dads-bench-selfie.jpg 574w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Trish, center, and her brother John and sister Charlene.</div>
Tricia first started searching for information about her biological parents more than a decade ago. With the help of her adopted brother, Tricia had tracked down the name of her biological mother, who’d passed away.
She was also able to find the town where her mother had lived, even the old school she attended. When she visited the old school building she saw for the first time a photo of her biological mother hanging on the wall. It was a striking moment for her to see some of herself reflected in the face of a person she’d never met.
“That was a kick in the pants,” Tricia said. “To see her face and that ‘Oh yeah, I got all things from her.’”
Later she tracked down her biological mother’s sister, who helped her cobble together a few more details around her birth. Her aunt told her that her parents were college students, when she was conceived. Her mom at Oregon State University, and her dad was a basketball star at a nearby college.
“In my head I thought maybe it was one of those spring break flings,” Tricia said.
According to her aunt, once the family learned of the pregnancy they took her mom out of school. The family moved to another town, and Tricia was put up for adoption and given to a new family on Christmas Day in 1957 a few days after her birth.
Those were all details Tricia had never had before. She learned a little about her mother, saw some more photos and learned that she had Irish and Norwegian ancestry.

<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 300px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
More Stories About Siblings
&#8211; <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-20609 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Mike-Leslie-smiling-300x219.jpg" alt="Mike &#038; Leslie smiling" height="219" width="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Mike-Leslie-smiling-300x219.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Mike-Leslie-smiling.jpg 697w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
&#8211; <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-18559 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/RN4_9696-300x199.jpg" alt="Stacy Arena and Greta Creech" height="199" width="300" />
&#8211; <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-20438 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Cy-Kathleen-300x206.jpg" alt="Cy &#038; Kathleen" height="206" width="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Cy-Kathleen-300x206.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Cy-Kathleen.jpg 648w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tile01-neil_Jolie-square.jpg"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-20723 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tile01-neil_Jolie-square-300x300.jpg" alt="tile01-neil_Jolie-square" height="300" width="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tile01-neil_Jolie-square-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tile01-neil_Jolie-square-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tile01-neil_Jolie-square-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tile01-neil_Jolie-square-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tile01-neil_Jolie-square.jpg 460w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />&#8211; </a><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-customer-stories/stories-from-23andme-neil-schwartzman/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> 
Hey Bro&#8217;
&nbsp;
</a><a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/tile01-neil_Jolie-square.jpg"></a>
</div>

But in all those details there was nothing about her father. And she left it at that, until she tested with 23andMe in late 2013.
Tricia said she signed up for 23andMe to find out a little bit more about where in Europe her ancestors came from.


“I was tickled to find out how much Cro-magnon (Neanderthal) I was,” she said.


But a match with a first cousin named Randy was a total surprise, she said.
“I did not expect that,” Tricia said.


She and Randy began exchanging messages and Tricia’s surprises kept coming. He wanted to figure out how they were related and began asking her about her background. Tricia told him what little she knew. A few of those details stuck out, basketball, a small college town in Oregon and the date of her birth. Randy connected the dots.


“I think my Uncle Ralph was your dad,” he said.


Tricia was stunned. Randy explained that his uncle had died a few years ago, but he added a happy surprise.
Ralph had two children, a son and a daughter. Tricia had a brother and a sister.
She didn’t know what to say.
In Texas, a woman Tricia had never met soon got a surprise of her own. When Charlene’s cousin Randy called, he started the conversation by asking if she was sitting down.
“My first thought naturally was, “Who died?” Charlene said.


Randy quickly explained that he’d tested with 23andMe, gave her a short description of DNA testing for ancestry and said he told Charlene that when he tested he’d connected not just to third and fourth cousins but to a single first cousin, who he didn’t know. He tried to explain how overlapping genetic segments are used to calculate “relatedness.” That the closer a relation the longer the overlapping segments. Charlene wasn’t following all of what he was saying until he got to the punch line.
You’ve got an older sister Charlene, he told her.
She said she was thankful that she was sitting down.
Charlene then talked to her brother. Randy helped connect them to Tricia and after exchanging messages, photos and family details, it was clear that they were indeed siblings.
“I’d always wanted a sister,” Charlene said.


Around Christmas time 2013 Tricia flew to San Diego where her half brother lived and her biological father was buried. She met him and Charlene. They spent the holidays together. They visited their father’s grave. They bonded. They learned of some uncanny shared family traits – an interest in painting, the sea and oddly dragonflies.
For Tricia the connection to family couldn’t have happened at a better time. Over the last few years she’d endured some difficult health problems and a divorce.
Now she feels blessed and finds herself, &#8220;smiling like a Cheshire cat all day long.&#8221;
She recently spent a week in Texas with Charlene and her family.


“Life is good thanks to 23andMe,” she said.
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.

A Siblings Story From 23andMe

23andMe mapped geographic patterns for more than 1,500 traits using aggregated and anonymous customer data to produce regional traits that constitutes an American tapestries of everything from personality to food preferences.


The data, compiled by researcher Emma Pierson, show that there are statistically significant regional differences that go beyond<a href="https://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/the_reckoning/2012/10/ElectoralOct23.gif.CROP.original-original.gif"> red states and blue states</a> or whether you call a soft drink a<a href="http://www.popvssoda.com/"> “soda” or a “pop.”</a>
Eating habits show statistically significant discrepancies by region, for example:
&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<div id="attachment_20760" style="width: 650px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-20760" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/How-Often-Do-You-Consume2-640x460.jpg" alt="All visualizations in this post can be viewed here. Note the maps appear all black, but if you roll over the image, the states and percentages will appear." class="size-large wp-image-20760" width="640" height="460" />All visualizations in this post can be viewed <a href="http://cs.stanford.edu/people/emmap1/visualizations/melting_pot.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>. Note the maps appear all black, but if you roll over the image, the states and percentages will appear.</div>

And, somewhat unsurprisingly, the states where people eat the most fast food are also the states where they exercise the least. Dog owners and cat owners also favor different states. That’s probably a good thing.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-20694" alt="Fast Food:Pets" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Fast-FoodPets-700x496.jpg" width="700" height="496" />
Illnesses also show regional differences. People catch more colds in the northern states, particularly the northeast, while people appear to get frizzy hair in humidity more often in the East.  <a href="http://cs.stanford.edu/people/emmap1/visualizations/map_subset/iqb.poison_oak_map_2.html">Rashes from poison oak, ivy, and sumac</a> are most common where the plants are common. <a href="http://cs.stanford.edu/people/emmap1/visualizations/map_subset/iqb.kidney_infection_map_2.html">Kidney infections</a> are more common in the South. People who report that they <a href="http://cs.stanford.edu/people/emmap1/visualizations/map_subset/modtosevere_altitude_sickness_map_2.html">suffered from altitude sickness</a> tend to favor the flatter Great Plains states, and coastal states like California and Hawaii.

Emma also found regional differences in the prevalence of certain genetic variants. This is likely tied to the concentration of people with similar ancestry in certain states.
For example, genetic variants in the GBA gene that cause Parkinson’s and Gaucher disease are most often found in people of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. Concentrations of people with these variants are found in the Northeast where some of the highest concentrations of people with Ashkenazi ancestry live. Other genetic traits common in people with Ashkenazi ancestry, like lactose intolerance, also peak in the Northeast.
G6PD mutations, which can cause anemia and are more common in people of African ancestry, peak in states with large African populations.

While these maps highlight regional differences, they also speak to what unifies us. In some traits, especially personality traits, it’s very hard to pick out a regional pattern.
Emma, who also has a blog about statistics called <a href="http://obsessionwithregression.blogspot.com/">Obsession with Regression</a>, then looked at how traits correlated with how people moved from place to place.


For instance, she found that – as essayist Joan Didion said 50 years ago about New York City being “for the very young” – young people tend to flock to Gotham.
Inspired by <a href="http://hint.fm/wind/">this wind map</a>, she produced maps that track rivers of movement of people. These lines follow the path of older Americans migrating from New York to Florida, and in general out of the northeast and to the south and to California. The line means that customers who move from New York to Florida are older than those who move from Florida to New York.  The redder the line, the bigger the difference and the thicker the line, the more people moving.


The maps also track Latinos moving out of California and Florida and into other parts of the country, as well as showing people with <a href="http://cs.stanford.edu/people/emmap1/visualizations/flow_arrow_maps/maps/flow_arrows_ashkenazi.html">Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry</a> moving out from the Northeast.
The maps also track the many different types of people moving either to the Northeast or California, regions that attract <a href="http://cs.stanford.edu/people/emmap1/visualizations/flow_arrow_maps/maps/flow_arrows_completed_college.html">college graduates</a>, <a href="http://cs.stanford.edu/people/emmap1/visualizations/flow_arrow_maps/maps/flow_arrows_income.html">people with higher incomes</a>, <a href="http://cs.stanford.edu/people/emmap1/visualizations/flow_arrow_maps/maps/flow_arrows_klein_sexual_attraction_qt.html">people attracted to those of the same sex</a>, and the <a href="http://cs.stanford.edu/people/emmap1/visualizations/flow_arrow_maps/maps/flow_arrows_iqb.self_rated_attractiveness.html">physically attractive</a>. E
mma was even able to see <a href="http://cs.stanford.edu/people/emmap1/visualizations/flow_arrow_maps/maps/flow_arrows_iqb.political_views.html">political conservatives</a> migrating out of the Northeast to places like Texas, Arizona and Florida.
While these are fun bits of seemingly random bits of data, they also have the potential to shed some light into other parts of 23andMe’s research.
We ask our customer any number of things from the odd &#8212; like whether they can do a cartwheel or curl their tongue &#8212; to more serious questions about reactions to medication and whether they have had cancer. Taken together this data will help our researchers gain insight into both the genetic and non-genetic influences on various diseases and conditions.

23andMe Looks At Regional Traits

This interview is part of an occasional series of profiles introducing you to the people behind 23andMe’s compelling research. Early in her career, Joanna Mountain, 23andMe’s Senior Director of Research studied the language and genetic diversity in Kenya. At 23andMe, Joanna still studies the genetic diversity of Africa, most recently as part of our African Ancestry projects, but she also spends time investigating how people react to their genetic results.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-20615 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/joanna-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/joanna-200x300.jpg 200w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/joanna.jpg 341w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" /> 
“Each tiny segment of the genome has a history.”
What are you working on at 23andMe?
One of my current areas of interest is learning more about how having access to genetic test results impacts people’s lives. We wanted to know how customers reacted to their genetic risk for breast cancer, for example, and what we found is that the test results prompted people to take positive steps, including talking to their doctors and discussing the results with family members.
We’re currently looking at similar research in people with genetic risk of venous thromboembolism.
Our team is also researching genetic factors that influence how people respond to medications. Preliminary findings show that people report a very short list of side effects to a variety of drugs, with the most common being hives and stomach pain. My colleague, David Hinds presented on the topic of opioid-induced vomiting at last year’s American Society of Human Genetics meeting in Boston and we expect to publish further research this year.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 200px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">Joanna Mountain, Senior Director of Research 
Originally from: 
 Fanborough, Hampshire, England 
Education: 
BS in Mathematical Sciences, Stanford 
PhD in Genetics, Stanford 
Post Doc, University of California, Berkeley 
Fun fact: 
Joanna played on Stanford’s women’s soccer team when it was a club level sport. Now she plays on 23andMe’s soccer team, Unzipped Genes.</div>
How does your research in Africa apply to your work at 23andMe?
I am very interested in the great depth of genetic diversity in African populations. Because our species has lived in Africa for so long, it impacts our ability to tell African Americans where their ancestors are from. Many African Americans hit a brick wall when they start researching their genealogy, but where there aren’t paper records, we hope genetics will be able to fill in the gaps.
Why are you excited about genetics?
I was first studying applied math, and there’s a lot of math in population genetics. Being able to predict what will happen over the course of generations is a cool application of math, and I was initially drawn to that.
Tell us about a recent breakthrough in genetics research that you think will have a big impact.
Today, huge numbers of people are participating in genetic research. By providing researchers with information about your health and ancestry, we can do so much. We’re getting closer to understanding human prehistory and the genetic factors and history of disease, for example. 23andMe’s customers contribute to that, and future generations will benefit in the long run.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20711" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-300x300.jpg" alt="SocialPosts_Spotlight" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-880x880.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
What&#8217;s one thing the average person should know about genetics?
Each tiny segment of the genome has a history. And every section that we compare can be traced back to your ancestors. When 23andMe calculates your Ancestry Composition, that’s a valuable concept. What we’re really trying to do is pick out the history of each segment to show to which regions you’re most closely connected.
 
What interesting thing have you learned about yourself from being tested?
I really enjoyed comparing my children to their grandparents using 23andMe. My mother and mother-in-law have both been tested and therefore we can trace from all four grandparents to our sons’ DNA to see exactly where their blue eyes come from. More importantly, it connects my sons to people who are important to their lives, but they never had the opportunity to meet.

A Conversation With 23andMe’s Joanna Mountain

The 23andMe<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-17706" alt="pd-graphic" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/pd-graphic-300x300.jpg" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/pd-graphic-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/pd-graphic-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/pd-graphic-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/pd-graphic-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/pd-graphic.jpg 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />more severe non-motor symptoms.
These studies, which will be published later this year, were made possible by the participation of the now more than 10,000 people in 23andMe’s Parkinson’s Research Community, the world’s largest cohort of genotyped Parkinson’s patients. Our work has also received vital assistance from 23andMe’s partnerships with organizations like The Michael J. Fox Foundation, The Parkinson’s Institute, and the Cleveland Clinic.
<h6>Differences in Symptom Severity</h6>
In our recent study, 23andMe’s researchers studied the symptoms of thousands of Parkinson’s patients of European descent. We found differences in symptom severity between different groups:
&#8211; Patients with a mutation in the LRRK2 gene had less severe motor symptoms. 
&#8211; Patients with a higher body mass index (BMI) experienced more severe symptoms. 
&#8211; Women had less severe motor symptoms but more severe non-motor symptoms.
We also found factors that were associated with earlier age of Parkinson’s onset, which may be of potential relevance to clinicians deciding when to screen for the disease. Patients who carried a GBA gene mutation, patients not of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and patients with higher BMIs tended to have earlier ages of onset.
Our researchers also confirmed previous studies that showed that both smoking and caffeine consumption was associated with a lower risk for Parkinson’s. (We do not suggest anyone take up smoking.)
<h6>Much to Learn</h6>
Such information on the onset and symptomology of different populations could benefit both patients and their doctors. It could give both an idea of what to expect, and what&#8217;s needed in building a treatment plan.
We still have much to learn about this disease. For instance, the relationship between genes and environment in causing Parkinson’s. We also want to know how the disease develops differently in different people. And we want to know the role genetics plays in influencing how patients respond differently to different treatments. Participants in the 23andMe Parkinson’s Research Community continue to help researchers make strides toward a greater understanding of Parkinson&#8217;s. We hope it will also lead to new treatments for Parkinson’s disease.
<a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/?utm_source=23andMeBlog&#038;utm_medium=2014Aprilblog&#038;utm_campaign=PDUpdate">Learn more</a> about how you can become part of the genetics revolution underway in Parkinson’s.

Parkinson’s Symptoms Different For Men and Women

This is the first in an occasional series of profiles introducing you to the people behind 23andMe’s compelling research. Katie Huber is a scientist who spent years studying infectious diseases, like typhoid and anthrax. Here at 23andMe, she has the much less scary task of ensuring that our customers who participate in research are properly informed and that the research itself abides by ethical guidelines.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-20678" alt="katie" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/katie.jpg" width="300" height="400" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/katie.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/katie-225x300.jpg 225w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
“If it kills people and is exotic, I’ve worked with it.”
<h6>
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<h6>What were you researching before you came to 23andMe?</h6>
Before I came to 23andMe I worked as a contractor for the US Navy studying anthrax. I also helped design typhoid vaccines in the Centers for Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology at Arizona State University with Roy Curtiss III.
My claim to fame is that our typhoid vaccine flew on the Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2011. Because earlier studies had shown that spaceflight triggers a wide range of virulence behaviors in Salmonella, we wanted to look at how the vaccine bacteria behaved under the same circumstances.   Would they be able to act as aggressively or would they have trouble turning on certain genes?   It was really a way to get at what happens in the low fluid shear environment of the intestine &#8211; there are a surprising number of similarities between the environment inside your intestinal tract and the weightless environment of space.   The group at ASU is still analyzing the data from this experiment.
<h6> 
Why are you excited about human genetics?</h6>
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 200px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">Katie Huber, Scientist 
Originally from: Stroudsburg, PA 
Education: 
BS: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Penn State 
PhD: Microbiology from Ohio State 
Post Doc: Arizona State University</div>
Genetics is just one component of human health and disease; a topic I’ve always found fascinating. During my time with the Navy, we were studying soldiers that had been repeatedly vaccinated against anthrax. Typhoid was a real puzzle since the disease only infects humans.   We had to be really creative with our experiments to figure out how the vaccines would behave in humans without actually vaccinating anybody!   We ended up collecting a lot of blood samples and watching what white blood cells did when they met the bacteria.   In my experience, the people who participated in the research always wanted to know what happened with their experiment &#8212; did it work? What did we learn? Did their cells fight off the disease, or did they get sick? Most of the time, we weren’t allowed to share those results with the participants.
Working at 23andMe is a big switch.   We’re all about letting research participants (you) see what happened.   New research discoveries show up in the blog or on the website so you can see what we’ve found.   You can see first-hand the results of your experiment and how you fit in the big picture.   We’re making progress and you can watch it take place.
<h6>What’s your job at 23andMe?<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20711" alt="SocialPosts_Spotlight" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-300x300.jpg" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-880x880.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/SocialPosts_Spotlight.jpg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></h6>
I’m the human rights person who works with the Institutional Review Board (IRB).   What that really means is that I’m the one who makes sure that our research obeys all the rules and regulations and who watches out for the rights of the people in our research studies.   It is really exciting to see the amount of goodwill the 23andMe studies generate. People really want to participate in our research because they feel like they are an important part of the project.   And that’s absolutely true.   We are using the results of everyone’s experiences and genetics to find new risk factors for diseases and discover what makes some treatments work only for a subset of individuals with a disease.
<h6>Tell us about a recent breakthrough in genetics research that you think will have a big impact. </h6>
The breakthrough I’m thinking of is not technically in human genetics. It’s in the field of bacterial genomics &#8211; specifically microbiomics. There’s research happening now looking to see how the community of bacteria that live in your intestine interact with each other and with you and what the health consequences of these interactions are.   I’m really excited to see how personal genomics intersects with this kind of research.   Is it possible that your DNA biases you towards certain microbial companions?   Is it really just a chance that some people end up with bacteria that cause diseases like ulcerative colitis and others get bacteria that protect them from getting food poisoning no matter what they eat?   I think in the future, the combination of these two sciences will be able to explain so much about how your body works.
<h6>What&#8217;s one thing the average person should know about genetics?</h6>
Genetics is complicated.   Only a very small percentage of diseases are 100 percent genetically predetermined &#8212; that’s a tiny group. Everything else is some shade of grey, influenced by your genes, your family history of disease and environmental factors. What this means for the average person is that your genes are not your destiny.   They are only one piece of the puzzle.
<h6>What interesting thing have you learned about yourself from being genotyped?</h6>
Two interesting things came from my 23andMe test:
First, I learned that I’m lactose intolerant. This was a shocking result because my very favorite food is and always has been cheese &#8212; it’s something I eat every day. I’m a big fan of other dairy products as well and had never noticed any symptoms of lactose intolerance.   It was only as I was discussing my results with my mom that I learned that I’d had all kinds of problems with dairy as a child. My curiosity was sparked by this result and got me started researching lactose intolerance and how your diet and intestinal microbes can compensate for this genetic defect.
Second, I had a surprise in my Ancestry.   Both sides of my family are very interested in genealogy and have spent a fair amount of time tracking down where various ancestors lived and came from, so I was pretty sure I knew which countries were going to show up in my countries of origin.   What no one expected was the small percentage of Ashkenazi Jewish heritage on my dad’s side of the family.   We still have no idea where that came from, but it has piqued my interest in our family’s history.   I think the genealogy torch has just been passed to my generation.
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