<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-18019 size-full" title="Helix" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Helix-.jpg" alt="" width="1372" height="1014" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Helix-.jpg 1372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Helix--300x222.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Helix--768x568.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Helix--1024x757.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Helix--880x650.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Helix--1180x872.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1372px) 100vw, 1372px" />
Last week the sale of some high-profile memorabilia attracted our attention, and no, we’re not talking about the $2.1M price tag for a Honus Wagner baseball card.
It was the sale of two sets of items once owned by Francis Crick, who with James Watson discovered the structure of DNA back in 1953.
Auctioneers sold off Crick’s Nobel prize – along with a few other items like his lab coat and a sailing journal – last Thursday for about $2 million. But also <a href="http://www.christies.com/salelanding/index.aspx?intSaleID=24391" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">auctioned off last week</a> was a handwritten letter Crick sent to his then 12 year-old son describing his and Watson’s discovery and the DNA model of the double helix structure they created.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-18020 size-full" title="crick&amp;watson" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/crickwatson.jpg" alt="" width="708" height="433" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/crickwatson.jpg 708w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/crickwatson-300x183.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 708px) 100vw, 708px" />Crick and Watson
It’s the letter – grabbed by an <a href="http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/11/francis-cricks-letter-to-son-describing-dna-auctioned/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">anonymous bidder for $6 million</a> – that attracted the attention of many of us here.
In March of 1953 just before Crick and Watson had their findings published in Nature, Crick sent off this simple note to his son.
By now the double helix is so iconic that we forget how brilliant it is in its simplicity. As Crick said in the letter to his son, the “structure is very beautiful.”
<a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Crick-letter-to-Michael1.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">His letter</a>  accomplishes the difficult task of explaining this scientific breakthrough in terms that even a 12 year-old could understand. In describing the quality of DNA that allows our cells to divide and make copies of themselves, he wrote:
“It is like a code. If you are given one set of letters you can write down the others.&#8221;
He went on, “Now we believe that the DNA is a code. That is, the order of the bases (the letters) makes a gene different from another gene (just as one page of print is different from another.) You can now see how Nature makes copies of the genes. Because if the two chains unwind into two separate chains, and if each chain then makes another chain come together on it, then because A always goes with T, and G with C, we shall get two copies where we had one before.”

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

A Letter About the Letters of Life

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18005" title="bipolarimage" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/bipolarimage.jpg" alt="" width="766" height="459" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/bipolarimage.jpg 766w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/bipolarimage-300x180.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 766px) 100vw, 766px" />For the live-updated, fully-labelled, interactive version of this infographic, <a href="http://curetogether.com/bipolar-disorder/ig/treatment-effectiveness-vs-popularity">click here</a>.
By Alexandra Carmichael, Co-Founder of CureTogether
Some of the most effective treatments for bipolar disorder reported by patients are not drugs, according to a new study by CureTogether, a free resource owned by 23andMe that allows people to share information about their health and treatments.
People in the study said they found that lifestyle changes like exercising, reducing alcohol intake, and having a defined sleep schedule were the most effective. The exception, according to those surveyed, was the drug Lamictal. Conversely some popular treatments such as Prozac, Wellbutrin, and anti-depressants in general, were among the least effective, according to the study. These are all treatments suggested and reported by patients, so some redundancy in the terms used is to be expected. In addition, the term “treatment” in this study refers to anything patients describe using to help them feel better whether it is an offically prescribed medical treatment or not.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 200px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
Most Effective Rated Treatments for People with Bipolar Disorder
1. Regimented sleep 
2. Reduce alcohol 
3. Exercise 
4. Lamictal 
5. Sunlight 
6. Yoga 
7. Psychotherapy 
8. Mindfulness meditation 
9. Small, frequent snacks 
10. Self-tracking
</div>
More than five million Americans are affected by bipolar disorder every year, and two-thirds of people with this disorder have at least one close relative with the illness or with major depression – evidence that the disease has a heritable component. Finding treatments that work well can be a challenge, so CureTogether asked people suffering from Bipolar Disorder to rate the effectiveness of different treatments.
CureTogether’s study compiled responses from 301 people with Bipolar Disorder, who rated the effectiveness of 45 different treatments. Among the most helpful treatments were yoga, mindfulness meditation, sunlight, and the drug Lamictal. Also highly effective for those in the study were journaling and self-tracking. The people in the study also said that Celexa, Abilify, and Risperdal – all prescription drugs –  were not as effective, and were reported to actually make the condition worse.
Where did this data come from? This is the result of a four-year CureTogether study on <a href="http://curetogether.com/bipolar-disorder/symptoms/">Bipolar Disorder</a>, in which people living with the condition shared information about their symptoms and what treatments worked best for them. We’d like to thank those who participated. And just as they shared their experience with treatments, we’re freely and openly sharing the results of the Bipolar study.
This is part of a regular series of CureTogether <a href="http://curetogether.com/blog/category/research-findings/">research findings</a>. CureTogether’s research findings are different than <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/factoids/">those made by 23andMe</a>, which look at genetic associations with illness, traits and drug response. But as we continue our work with the CureTogether community, 23andMe hopes to incorporate more of this kind of self-reported information into our own research. CureTogether present its findings just as they are – patient-reported data – to stimulate discussion and generate new insights for further research.
Please tweet, blog, or pass this along to anyone who can benefit or is interested in Bipolar Disorder. Thank you!

Alexandra Carmichael

What Patients Say Works for Bipolar Disorder

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17920" title="Football" alt="" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Football-300x200.jpg" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Football-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Football.jpg 424w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Mounting <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1007051">evidence</a> points to brain trauma as a risk factor for mental decline. Football players who’ve had multiple concussions <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10485682">perform worse</a> on tests of brain function and are more likely to have memory <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16239884">problems</a> later on. Repeated blows to the head can also cause certain types of dementia &#8212; medically referred to as “chronic traumatic encephalopathy” and historically called “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dementia_pugilistica">punch-drunk syndrome</a>” in boxers. These <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3400421/">athletes</a> usually suffer repeated onslaughts, but <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1007051">research suggests</a> that even an isolated severe brain injury might be enough to increase risk for conditions like Alzheimer’s disease.
(A severe traumatic brain injury is one that leads to a concussion and unconsciousness for 30 minutes or more.)
Research also suggests that DNA may play a role in how susceptible we are to mental decline after head trauma. Numerous genes have been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1474442212702260">implicated</a> but the most plausible connection is with a gene named APOE. A version of this gene called e4 is firmly linked to higher risk for Alzheimer’s and researchers are studying people with the e4 variant to see if they are more likely to show signs of mental decline after brain injury compared to people without this genetic variant.
But how might the APOE e4 variant affect our ability to recover from a traumatic brain injury? Research on Alzheimer’s offers some clues.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justify; width: 250px; background-color: #e6e6e6; padding: 10px; margin-left: 15px; margin-bottom: 15px; font-size: 12px;">Sizing up head trauma 
More than <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18162698">10 million</a> people around the world suffer a traumatic brain injury every year and a staggering <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/traumaticbraininjury/statistics.html">1.7 million</a> of these injuries occur in the USA. This makes traumatic brain injury the leading cause of death and disability in Americans under the age of 35. Most <a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/traumatic-brain-injury/DS00552/DSECTION=causes">cases of brain injury</a> result from falls and car accidents, but contact sports and modern warfare are also contributors. </div>
It’s not clear exactly why people with the e4 variant are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s, but it is known that the brains of people with this variant <a href="http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/gene/APOE">have more protein clumps</a>, called amyloid plaques, than the brains of people without the variant. It’s possible that these plaques cause neurons in the brain to die.
Up to <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8163989">30% of people</a> who suffer a severe traumatic brain injury also have plaques. These plaques seem to develop very quickly &#8212; sometimes <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0014488604002420">within two hours</a> &#8212; after injury. It’s possible that people with the e4 variant are simply more likely to develop plaques in their brains &#8212; perhaps even more so with trauma &#8212; and this predisposes them for developing cognitive problems.
Scientists have long thought that our genes interact with our environment to impact our health. In the case of mental decline and dementia, preliminary research suggests a connection between the APOE e4 variant and severe brain injury, but findings are inconsistent and more research is needed to know for sure.
Not everyone who suffers a brain injury or has the e4 variant will develop dementia or other cognitive problems. But being aware of the risk can help you be proactive in avoiding head injuries in the first place. You can keep your brain active, through social engage ­ment or “<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/health/2012/01/23/brain-games-may-help-thwart-alzheimers-study/">brain games</a>” like Sudoku, in order to lower your risk of mental decline.
Recommended reading:

<a href="http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/alzheimers-disease/AN01710">What types of brain injury carry a risk for mental decline?</a> 
<a href="http://www.alz.org/dementia/traumatic-brain-injury-head-trauma-symptoms.asp">Traumatic brain injury and Alzheimer’s disease</a> 
Prevention strategies for Alzheimer’s disease 
<a href="https://dopasolution.com/dementia/">Online Resources That Meet W3C Guidelines for Accessibility</a>

Brain Injury, Mental Decline, and the APOE Gene

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17861" title="Layout 1" alt="" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Still-Point-cover-photo-202x300.jpg" width="202" height="300" />
by Amick Boone
In the memoir <a href="http://emilyrapp.com/books/the-still-point-of-the-turning-world/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“The Still Point of the Turning World,”</a> author Emily Rapp recounts the nine agonizing months following her son Ronan’s diagnosis of Tay-Sachs, a rare genetic disease characterized by progressive nerve cell degeneration in the brain.
<a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/carrier/tay-sachs-disease">Tay-Sachs disease</a> – there are two forms infantile and late-onset – is triggered by mutations in the HEXA gene that cause a loss of enzyme activity that leads to the accumulation of a nerve cell-destroying fatty substance in the brain. In its most severe form, this process slowly robs children of movement, vision, taste, touch and hearing, “resulting in a gradual disconnect,” writes Rapp, “from the faculties that make life livable.” There is no cure for Tay-Sachs, and the devastating severe form of the disease eventually leads to the death of the child between the ages of two and four.
Despite having testing negative for the most common HEXA mutation before giving birth, Rapp’s DNA contained a rare mutation for which the standard prenatal test didn’t screen. After Ronan’s diagnosis, Rapp saw a genetic counselor at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles who told her the odds were astronomical, but that due to an unknown thread of Moroccan ancestry, she was indeed a carrier.  Combined with her husband’s more common HEXA mutation, Ronan had the misfortune of ending up with two mutated copies of HEXA.
A writer whose own genetic disability resulted in the amputation of her foot, Rapp is familiar with the rage and helplessness that come from trying to reason with chance.  Rapp tirelessly searched to find an answer to the question, “Why me?” She repeatedly got no acceptable answer. Tay-Sachs came into her family’s life without warning, and it slowly took away her son.
When Ronan was first diagnosed with Tay-Sachs at nine months old, Rapp and her husband began the wrenching process of deciding which measures to use to maintain his life.  With doctors and hospice workers, they asked questions such as, “What will this lead to?” and, “What kind of a life is he living?”
Making these decisions for her child was beyond unbearable, and the only comfort Rapp found was from a Tay-Sachs support group she calls the “Dragon Moms.” With the Dragon Moms, Rapp discussed the latest Tay-Sachs research and navigated her child’s care plan with people who, unlike some of Rapp’s friends and doctors, didn’t struggle to sympathize, because they don’t have to.
“These mighty indefatigable Dragon Moms gave me all the grim details, compassionately but matter-of-factly, and without hesitation or pity,” writes Rapp.  This kind of support ended up being exactly what Rapp needed, and she repeatedly called on the Dragon Moms throughout Ronan’s illness.  They were a critical lifeline to her sanity and survival, that, and the writing.
Rapp tirelessly read books on grief, researched religion, meditated, learned Reiki, did yoga and visited holy sites to find solace. But it was the writing that became her “still point of the turning world.” She wrote to get away from the chaos of impermanence, loss and fear. “Writing about the experience from the inside creates something new, namely, a safe or safe-ish place to rest,” Rapp notes. “Writing would not save Ronan. But, I thought, it might save me.”
For Rapp, rendering her loss was a way of honoring Ronan’s life.  Showing how valuable and full of love Ronan’s short existence could be helped her be present and cherish every experience with her son, so she could care for him in the right way in the short time they had together before he slipped away.
Rapp’s memoir, in addition to honoring Ronan, sheds light on Tay-Sachs, informing readers about the importance of awareness and screening for the disease.  To learn more about family services, research, education and how you can help in the fight against Tay-Sachs, visit the<a href="http://www.ntsad.org/"> National Tay-Sachs and Allied Diseases website</a>.
In bringing attention to her experience with Tay-Sachs, Rapp also gives voice to the plight of families dealing with other rare diseases. Although individually the chances of contracting such diseases are slim, collectively one in ten, about 30 million Americans, are dealing with some kind of rare disease.

Amick Boone

Memoir Sheds Light on Tay-Sachs

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-17847" title="Insomnia Graphic" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Insomnia-Graphic.jpg" alt="" width="715" height="462" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Insomnia-Graphic.jpg 715w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Insomnia-Graphic-300x194.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 715px) 100vw, 715px" /> 
For the live-updated, fully-labelled, interactive version of this infographic, <a href="http://curetogether.com/insomnia/ig/treatment-effectiveness-vs-popularity" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">click here</a>.
Some of the most popular treatments for Insomnia are not necessarily the most effective, according to a new study by CureTogether, a free resource owned by 23andMe that allows people to share information about their health and treatments.
&nbsp;
People in the study said they found that some sleep drugs and some treatments without drugs – including a dark room and exercise – were the most effective. Conversely some popular treatments such as watching TV and listening to music, were among the least effective, according to the study. Insomnia affects millions of Americans. Finding treatments that work well can be a challenge, so CureTogether asked people suffering from insomnia to rate the effectiveness of different treatments.
&nbsp;
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 200px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">Rated Most Effective by People with Insomnia 
1. Xanax 
2. No light/dark room 
3. Ativan 
4. Imovane 
5. Valium 
6. Ambien 
7. Sexual activity 
8. Exercise 
9. Restoril 
10. Klonopin</div>
CureTogether’s study compiled responses from 7,422 people with Insomnia, who rated the effectiveness of 93 different treatments. Among the most helpful treatments were Xanax, Ativan, and Valium. Also highly effective for those in the study were sexual activity and eliminating caffeine. Those people in the study also said St. John’s wort and valerian – both derived from plants – &nbsp;were not as effective.
&nbsp;
Where did this data come from? This is the result of a four-year CureTogether study on <a href="http://curetogether.com/insomnia" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Insomnia</a>, in which people suffering from the condition shared information about their symptoms and what treatments worked best for them. We’d like to thank those who participated. And just as they shared their experience with Insomnia treatments, we’re freely and openly sharing the results of the Insomnia study.
&nbsp;
This is part of a regular series of CureTogether <a href="http://curetogether.com/blog/category/research-findings/">research findings</a>. CureTogether’s research findings are different than <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/factoids/">those made by 23andMe</a>, which look at genetic associations with illness, traits and drug response. But as we continue our work with the CureTogether community, 23andMe hopes to incorporate more of this kind of self-reported information into our own research. CureTogether present its findings just as they are — patient-reported data — to stimulate discussion and generate new insights for further research.
Please tweet, blog, or pass this along to anyone who can benefit or is interested in Insomnia. Thank you!

What Works for Insomnia

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17819" title="mediterranean diet" alt="" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/mediterranean-diet-200x300.jpg" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/mediterranean-diet-200x300.jpg 200w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/mediterranean-diet.jpg 283w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Your diet has a huge impact on your health, particularly influencing your risk for things like heart disease, the leading cause of death worldwide.
Your genetics equally contributes to your risk for heart disease the same as your diet, your environment and overall lifestyle does.
Understanding your risks can help you take the right actions to stay as healthy as you can. With heart disease, the simplest ways to reduce your risk is with diet and exercise. A recent<a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1200303?query=featured_home?=article"> Spanish study</a> published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that changing what you eat may go a long way at protecting you from heart disease. The study suggests a Mediterranean diet – which is rich in vegetables, fruit, legumes, fish, olive oil and nuts – can significantly reduce the risk of death from heart attack or stroke in people at highest risk.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 200px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
How Your Body Responds 

A Mediterranean diet could ward off heart disease, but how does it effect whether you gain or lose weight?
Your genetics can influence how your body metabolizes and uses food. This   explains a bit about why some people have a much easier time losing weight than others.
</div>
The study gives hope. The researchers looked at more than 7,000 Spaniards who were overweight, smoked or had other conditions that put them at them at higher risk for heart disease. The participants ranged in age from 55 to about 80. Researchers at the University of Barcelona separated the participants into three groups, one on a Mediterranean diet, another group that were on a Mediterranean diet that included additional extra virgin olive oil, nuts, fish, vegetables, fruit and wine. And a third group that was simply advised to stay on a low-fat diet.
About five years into the work, the benefits of the Mediterranean diet were so strong – groups on the Mediterranean diets were 30 percent less likely to have a heart attack or stroke – that the researchers stopped the study early.
While there are some caveats to the study, it strongly suggests a simple change in what you eat – independent of whether you lose weight or exercise – could significantly reduce your risk for heart disease. This is particularly good news for people who want to lower their risk but are having a hard time losing weight.
While the benefits for this high-risk, elderly population of Spaniards seems pretty clear, what is less clear is whether changing to a Mediterranean diet would offer the same benefits for everyone. Because the study specifically looked at people who were at high risk for heart disease, it’s unclear if diet alone can reduce heart disease risk in the general population, too. Unfortunately the study also didn’t look at how people with different genetics might respond to the diet changes. We know genetics has a strong influence on your risk for heart disease, but we don’t know if people with different genetics would respond differently to this diet.
Whether the benefits could apply to people who are at low risk is not yet known, but it probably couldn’t hurt to reduce the amount of sweets, saturated fats and processed foods in favor of a diet rich in olive oil, nuts, beans, fish, fruits and vegetables. The fact that the diet also includes a drink of wine with each meal is a nice bonus as well.

Heart Disease, Genetics and the Mediterranean Diet

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-17799 size-full" title="CureTogether PTSD Graphic" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/CureTogether-PTSD-Graphic.jpg" alt="" width="739" height="463" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/CureTogether-PTSD-Graphic.jpg 739w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/CureTogether-PTSD-Graphic-300x188.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 739px) 100vw, 739px" />For the interactive version <a href="http://curetogether.com/ptsd/ig/treatment-effectiveness-vs-popularity" target="_blank" rel="noopener">click here</a>.
By Alexandra Carmichael, Co-Founder of CureTogether
Some of the most popular treatments for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder are not necessarily the most effective, according to a new study by <a href="http://curetogether.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CureTogether</a>, a free resource owned by 23andMe that allows people to share information about their health and treatments.
People in the study said they found some treatments without drugs – including art therapy and exercise – were the most effective. Conversely some popular treatments such as the use of antidepressants, were among the least effective, according to the study.
PTSD is an anxiety disorder that is often associated with combat veterans, but the disorder can occur in anyone who has experienced or seen a traumatic event. Finding the right treatment can be particularly difficult, so CureTogether asked people suffering from PTSD to rate the effectiveness of different treatments.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 200px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;"> Rated Most Effective by People with PTSD 
1. Cognitive Behavior Therapy 
2. Avoid certain places 
3. Avoid certain noises 
4. Art therapy 
5. Exercise 
6. Use clear shower curtain 
7. Psychotherapy 
8. Medical marijuana 
9. Anti-anxiety medication 
10. Daily routine</div>
CureTogether’s study compiled responses from 531 people with PTSD, who rated the effectiveness of 31 different treatments.
Among the most helpful treatments were Cognitive Behavior Therapy, avoiding places and noises that trigger symptoms, art therapy, and exercise. Also highly effective for those in the study were having a daily routine and participating in support groups. Also on the list was the use of a clear shower curtain, which addresses the fear some have of hidden threats. In contrast people in the study said anti-depressants and Exposure Therapy were not as effective.
Where did this data come from? This is the result of a four-year CureTogether study on <a href="http://curetogether.com/ptsd/symptoms/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder</a>. We’d like to thank those who participated. And just as they shared their experience with PTSD treatments, we’re freely and openly sharing the results of the PTSD study.
This is part of a regular series of CureTogether <a href="http://curetogether.com/blog/category/research-findings/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">research findings</a>. CureTogether’s research findings are different than <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/factoids/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">those made by 23andMe</a>, which look at genetic associations with illness, traits and drug response. But as we continue our work with the CureTogether community, 23andMe hopes to incorporate more of this kind of self-reported information into our own research. CureTogether present its findings just as they are — patient-reported data — to stimulate discussion and generate new insights for further research.
Please tweet, blog, or pass this along to anyone who can benefit or is interested in PTSD. Thank you!
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 200px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;"></div>

What Works for PTSD

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-9055 size-full" title="sarcoma image" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/sarcoma-image1.jpg" alt="" width="315" height="257" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/sarcoma-image1.jpg 315w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/sarcoma-image1-300x245.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 315px) 100vw, 315px" />
Late last year researchers with support from the<a href="http://www.chordomafoundation.org/latest-updates/breaking-news-genetic-risk-factor-for-chordoma-identified/"> Chordoma Foundation</a> identified a genetic marker associated with that rare form of bone cancer.
The Chordoma Foundation has also partnered with 23andMe to raise awareness about our <a href="https://www.23andme.com/sarcoma/">Sarcoma Research Initiative</a> aimed at better understanding genetic associations with this disease.
The<a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v44/n11/full/ng.2419.html"> original study</a> led by scientists at University College London showed that a marker called rs2305089 is linked to higher risk for chordoma. Researchers at 23andMe were able to quickly replicate the finding.
The original study included 40 individuals with chordoma and another 358 people without the disease. In its replication study, 23andMe was able to quickly gather data from 22 people with chordoma and 220 without it. The data from the two studies together suggest that the T version of rs2305089 is associated with between two and six times higher odds of chordoma.
More than 50 percent of people with European ancestry have at least one T at rs2305089. At the same time, fewer than one in 1,000,000 people develop chordoma in the general population. This means that although this genetic variant increases a person’s odds of chordoma, very few with the variant will actually develop it.
The discovery offers important insight for scientists studying this rare cancer, which affects mostly people of European ancestry. It is also another example of how 23andMe’s unique research platform can contribute to research on rare disease.
Ed: (April 16, 2013) This post was updated to include information about the incidence of chordoma.

Genetics and a rare bone cancer

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