<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-12404" title="Parkinson's disease fight arm" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/pd_fist_300px-150x150.png" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/pd_fist_300px-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/pd_fist_300px-271x271.png 271w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
As we near our goal of enrolling 10,000 patients in 23andMe’s <a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parkinson’s research community</a>, we are ever more eager to share what we are doing.
Last month our CEO, Anne Wojcicki, along with our Parkinson’s research manager Emily Drabant, went to Washington D.C with two friends of 23andMe – Maryum Ali, a Parkinson’s activist and daughter of Muhammad Ali, and Rich Clifford, a former NASA astronaut who has become another powerful voice on behalf of patients.
The main motivation for going to Washington was to explain 23andMe’s Parkinson’s research initiative. Although we’ve been around for awhile, many people, particularly in Washington, just don’t know about our research model or understand what is so different about it. Anne explained research model and our broader mission, while Rich and Maryum gave the patient&#8217;s perspective. 

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Over the course of their time in D.C., Anne, Emily, Rich and Maryum were able to meet with the Congressional Parkinson’s Caucus, as well as individual senators and representatives to discuss the need for more research into the disease.
They also hosted a briefing on crowd-sourcing cures and the future of Parkinson’s disease research. During the briefing, held at the House of Representatives’ Visitors Center in September, Anne gave a quick primer on 23andMe’s unique research platform and in particular our <a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parkinson’s research initiative</a>, now the largest Parkinson&#8217;s community for genetic research in the world.
Working with the Muhammad Ali family, the Michael J. Fox Foundation and others 23andMe has created an engaged community that has quickly helped to make breakthroughs, including finding<a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/press/pd_discoveries_plos_62311/"> two new genes</a> associated with Parkinson&#8217;s.
During her presentation, Anne quoted Haydeh Payami, a New York State Department of Health neurodegenerative disease researcher, who said our research model could significantly accelerate disease research.
“What 23andMe did in a matter of years would have taken several decades and tens of millions of dollars” if done conventionally, she said.
The visit to D.C. offered a chance to explain how our research model engages individuals and allows them to come together, share information and participate in research. The model has accelerated the pace of research and engaged people in the process.
“People want to help each other,” and participate in research, Anne said. And they want access to their own genetic data to learn about their health, traits and ancestry.
Maryum Ali, whose father Muhammad Ali has battled Parkinson’s since 1984 and who recently joined forces with 23andMe to help encourage more patients to join the research initiative, said the research model offers incredible promise.
“So many discoveries that can be made through this kind of research,” she said.
For <a href="http://theastronautssecret.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rich Clifford</a>, a former NASA Astronaut who flew on the Space Shuttle Atlantis two years after getting his own diagnosis for Parkinson’s, said that 23andMe offers people an opportunity learn of their genetic risk for the disease giving them a chance to take steps to do something about it.
“I’m all about early detection,” he said.
The earlier someone learns of their risk the more they can do, Rich said. 
Because of new treatments much can be done to mitigate the effects of the disease if it’s detected early.
The visit accomplished what we hoped by introducing some of the policy makers in Washington to 23andMe and the possibilities of our research into Parkinson’s.
Check out some of our other recent posts on Parkinson’s: 
&#8211;<a href="../23andme-research/23andme-research/why-not-participate-one-patients-perspective/"> Why Not Participate? One Patient’s Perspective</a> 
&#8211;<a href="../23andme-research/23andme-research/23andmes-latest-publication-shines-light-on-male-pattern-baldness-and-unexpected-associations-with-disease/"> 23andMe’s Latest Publication Shines Light on Male Pattern Baldness and Unexpected Associations with Disease</a> 
&#8211;<a href="../23andme-research/23andme-and-you/23andme-and-parkinsons-past-present-and-future/"> 23andMe and Parkinson’s: Past, Present, and Future</a> 
&#8211;<a href="../23andme-research/news/the-state-of-the-science-of-parkinsons-research/"> The State of the Science of Parkinson’s Research</a>
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23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

23andMe Goes to Washington

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-15571 size-full" title="23andMe Portraits" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/23andMe-Tom-026-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="1792" height="2560" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/23andMe-Tom-026-scaled.jpg 1792w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/23andMe-Tom-026-210x300.jpg 210w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/23andMe-Tom-026-768x1097.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/23andMe-Tom-026-717x1024.jpg 717w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/23andMe-Tom-026-616x880.jpg 616w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/23andMe-Tom-026-826x1180.jpg 826w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1792px) 100vw, 1792px" />
For decades, a patient’s family health history has been a keystone to any wellness plan.
A simple record of medical conditions your siblings, your parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents struggled with can help you and your doctor know what to watch for to keep you healthy. Like family health histories, genetic testing also offers people insights they otherwise might not have about their own health.
Unfortunately there has often been a false division between family health histories and genetic testing where the approaches are portrayed as opposing alternatives. It’s an odd argument. No one would juxtapose the utility of a stethoscope against a thermometer. They are both useful in their own way.
A <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.1002973?__utma=261502610.914248644.1349999882.1349999882.1349999882.1&amp;__utmb=261502610.12.10.1349999882&amp;__utmc=261502610&amp;__utmx=-&amp;__utmz=261502610.1349999882.1.1.utmcsr=google|utmccn=%28organic%29|utmcmd=organic|utmctr=%28not%20provided%29&amp;__utmv=-&amp;__utmk=28925503" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new paper in</a> PLoS Genetics by 23andMe shows that neither family health histories nor genetic testing is perfect in predicting health risks, but they each have their strengths.
More importantly using them together improves upon the risk prediction by capitalizing on the situations where each method is at its strongest. Along with making comparisons between family health history and genetic testing to make risk prediction, the paper describes a model to combine the two methods together to assess risk.
Lead author and 23andMe scientist Chuong “Tom” Do, Ph.D, worked with our senior medical director Uta Francke, MD, and scientists David Hinds, Ph.D., and Nicholas Eriksson Ph.D. to make a comprehensive comparison of family health histories and genetic testing to assess risk for 23 different conditions.
“We show that family history is most useful for highly common, heritable conditions,” Tom said.
So for relatively common diseases that may have many genetic and environmental factors – coronary artery disease, for instance – knowing that your father had the disease is helpful at predicting whether or not you might be at risk for the same condition.
But for less common diseases with many genetic factors influencing them, knowing your family history seldom helps in making a risk prediction, said Tom.
In part, that’s because these diseases are uncommon enough that they would rarely show up in the health history of your immediate family. When family histories are uninformative, genetic testing may still reveal the genetic variants that would put you at a higher or lower risk for the condition. So for example Crohn’s disease might not show up in a family history, but the risk prediction from a genetic test is relatively strong. As an aside there is also the issue of people who simply don’t know their family health history. And we’ve written about how genetic testing <a href="../news/inside-23andme/tales-of-23andme/my-heart-my-family-and-mybpc3/">can alert them to risks they wouldn’t have otherwise suspected.</a>
To be fair, even though new genetic discoveries are being made every day, only a fraction of the genetic contributions to whether or not a person develops a disease is currently known in many cases. But even after accounting for this, existing genetic testing – that use single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)-based methods to determine risk for some rare complex diseases – are already as good at predicting risk as family histories for common heritable conditions.
“These results indicate that for a broad range of diseases, already identified SNP associations may be better predictors of risk than their family history-based counterparts, despite the large fraction of missing heritability that remains to be explained,” Tom writes in the paper.
Finally, it’s important to remember that having a family history for a disease is generally not the same as a diagnosis. Just because your mom had diabetes doesn’t mean that you will get it too.  But knowing that you’re at increased risk based on family history can be a motivating factor in helping you to make appropriate lifestyle changes.  In much the same way, knowing your genetic risks can also be useful in helping you live healthier.

Using Genetics and Family History for Health

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-16207 size-full" title="23andMe-David-047" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/23andMe-David-047.jpeg" alt="" width="508" height="726" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/23andMe-David-047.jpeg 508w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/23andMe-David-047-210x300.jpeg 210w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 508px) 100vw, 508px" />Dave Hinds is a Principal Scientist in Statistical Genetics.  
Editor&#8217;s note: This post has been edited from its original to reflect changes in 23andMe&#8217;s product.
23andMe is passionate about research on a group of rare blood disorders called myeloproliferative neoplasms, or MPNs.
Physicians who study these disorders consider them to be blood cancers, though individual prognoses can vary widely – some people have shortened life expectancy while others live for decades.
<h2>MPN Research Initiative</h2>
We recently reached our goal of enrolling 1,000 individuals into our MPN Research Initiative and are excited about the discoveries that are possible with such an amazing program.
Some of the first discoveries stemming from this initiative will be presented at the upcoming American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) conference, this year hosted in San Francisco.
23andMe scientist David Hinds* will present results from a web-based study aimed at discovering new genetic variants associated with MPNs. In the first nine months after launching our study, 800 individuals with an MPN diagnosis supplied DNA by simply spitting into a tube. Although larger groups of patients are usually needed to produce meaningful results, we were still able to replicate known associations between inherited variants in the JAK2 gene and forms of MPN known as “JAK2 V617F-positive MPN”. 

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<h2>Participate in Research</h2>
 
The results presented in this post demonstrate that web-based participation can contribute to genetic research for rare diseases, which are usually difficult to study because so few individuals have them. 23andMe offers a variety of ways for people with and without rare diseases to contribute to research – all it takes is a little bit of spit and the willingness to answer web-based questionnaires. What you get back is the knowledge that you’ve personally helped move science forward.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-12163 size-full alignleft" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/JRBgdIBXKIeVIdETJrxYIw_ttam_logo.jpg" alt="" width="24" height="40" /> Find out how you can <a href="https://www.23andme.com/research/">contribute to research</a>. 
Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store/cart/">Visit our store!</a>
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<h2>MPNs and the TERT Gene</h2>
The DNA from these same 800 individuals also allowed us to make new discoveries.
Dr. Hinds will report a novel association between MPNs and a variant in the TERT gene, which codes for a protein called telomerase reverse transcriptase. Other variants in the TERT gene, which are highly correlated with the variant that we discovered, have been previously associated with a variety of cancers. This is an interesting finding because it suggests common biological pathways are involved in both MPNs and other cancers.
These findings are just the first of many to come from our MPN research initiative. We now have the largest broadly genotyped MPN cohort in the world and are excited to continue delving into the data. We’ll be sure to keep you posted along the way!
<h2>23andMe MPN Advisory Board</h2>
*This study is possible because of our collaborators and unpaid advisors to 23andMe’s MPN Scientific Advisory Board: 
 &#8211; Dr. Jason R. Gotlib, Associate Professor at Stanford 
 &#8211; Dr. Ruben A. Mesa, Director of the Acute and Chronic Leukemia Program and Chair of the Division of Hematology &amp; Medical Oncology at the Mayo Clinic 
 &#8211; Dr. James L. Zehnder, Associate Professor of Pathology and Medicine (Hematology) at Stanford
Additional members of the 23andMe Research Team also contributed to this work.

Novel Genetic Findings for Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-15111 size-medium" title="Got Neanderthal?" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Got-Neanderthal-300x206.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="206" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Got-Neanderthal-300x206.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Got-Neanderthal.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Not everyone would embrace their inner caveman, but in <a href="https://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_evolution/2012/10/neanderthal_and_denisovan_genetics_human_ancestors_interbred_with_extinct.single.html#pagebreak_anchor_2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">today’s Slate</a> Ann Gibbons sure did.
<a href="http://www.anngibbons.com/">Gibbons</a>, who also writes for Science, is the author of the book The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors. Over almost two decades, she’s delved into the discoveries around human evolution.
In her Slate piece she writes about getting tested by 23andMe. While she was interested in her European ancestry, what really drew her in was the portion of her results that showed she has 2.9 percent Neanderthal DNA.
For someone who has spent years writing about the march of mankind from our earliest ancestors to the emergence of modern humans, finding a tangible link to the past is powerful stuff. The PBS show NOVA scienceNOW recently aired a piece that nicely crafts a story about <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/what-makes-us-human-pro.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">what it means to humans</a> to share Neanderthal DNA.
For a lot of us here, although Neanderthals disappeared long ago, it&#8217;s most intriguing that their DNA continues to live on in all non-African people. It may be that the DNA of other prehistoric human groups also are intermixed in our own DNA. Much like with Neanderthals, scientists extracted ancient DNA from the skeletal remains of another ancient cousin known as the Denisovans. The remains – a finger bone – was found in a cave in Siberia, showed that Denisovans were cousins of Neanderthals, who lived in Asia and disappeared about 40,000 years ago. Their DNA is found today in Melanasians.
As for Neanderthals, 23andMe launched our popular Neanderthal Lab about a year ago. It allows customers to determine what percentage of their DNA is Neanderthal. A typical range is between 1 percent and 4 percent with the average being about 2.5 percent, but there are outliers, who have much more.
Check out these posts about Neanderthals and Humans: 
&#8211; <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/did-humans-and-neanderthals-have-sex/">Did Humans and Neanderthals Have Sex?</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/find-your-inner-neanderthal"> Find Your Inner Neanderthal</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/new-evidence-suggests-interbreeding-between-humans-and-neanderthals"> New Evidence Suggests Humans and Neanderthal Interbreeding</a>
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<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-14049" title="neanderthal icon" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/neanderthal-icon-96x150.jpg" alt="" width="50" height="77" />
Got Neanderthal DNA?
23andMe customers can find their inner Neanderthal or at least how much Neanderthal DNA they have at <a href=" https://www.23andme.com/you/labs/neanderthal/">23andMe Ancestry Labs</a>. Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store">Visit our store</a>!
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More On 23andMe’s Neanderthal Lab

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-16243" title="Amy_Kiefer V4" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Amy_Kiefer-V4-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Amy_Kiefer-V4-225x300.jpg 225w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Amy_Kiefer-V4.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />Amy Kiefer is a Survey Research Manager at 23andMe. She joined the company in 2008. 
What do nearsightedness, stretch marks, and motion sickness have to do with each other? They don’t appear to be genetically related – at least not according to our in-house statistical geneticists – but all of them are relatively common and annoying. These three conditions are also making 23andMe scientists happy since all of them are hot on the research wagon!
Scientists at 23andMe are gearing up for the annual <a href="http://www.ashg.org/">American Society of Human Genetics</a> 
(ASHG) meeting and will be presenting on all of these topics. Here are some highlights:
<h6>Are My Genes Making me Myopic?</h6>
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is thought to be highly heritable – if your mother wore glasses to see the chalkboard chances are you might need them – but until now scientists have only known a little about the underlying genetics.
23andMe scientist Amy Kiefer* will present results from a genetic study carried out with data from 23,000 nearsighted customers and 16,000 controls, all with European ancestry. The analysis identified associations between 17 genetic factors and myopia and replicated the only two <a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v42/n10/full/ng.663.html">previously identified</a> <a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v42/n10/full/ng.664.html">associations</a> in Europeans. Many of the new factors are located in genes that play important roles in eye development and function. This analysis is the largest ever gene association study on this topic.
<h6>Making a Stretch for My Genes</h6>
Some of us are all too familiar with stretch marks – red or white lines that appear on the skin, often after pregnancy. The appearance of these marks has encouraged many to open their wallets (to the tune of $5-10 billion annually) and fill their cupboards with cosmetics that claim to prevent or treat stretch marks.
But despite the range of products promising to “make those lines vanish”, very little is understood about what causes them in the first place. And up until 23andMe took a stab, no genetic factors had been associated with stretch marks in the general population.
Meghan Mullins* from 23andMe will present results from a genetic study with 30,000 customers who responded to the following question on the 23andMe website: “Do you have stretch marks on your hips, thighs, or backs of your arms? Yes/No/I’m not sure”. The analysis identified an association between stretch marks and a variant near a gene called elastin. Defects in the elastin gene are known to affect the integrity of the skin as well as cause heart defects. This study also identified an association between stretch marks and a variant in a protein called SRPX, but more work is needed to understand how this protein could play a role in this condition.
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<h6>Your Participation Makes Research Possible</h6>
 
The results presented in this post were made possible because of 23andMe customers. 23andMe offers a variety of ways for customers to contribute to research – all it takes is a little bit of spit and the willingness to answer web-based questionnaires. What you get back is the knowledge that you’ve personally helped move science forward. 

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-12163" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/JRBgdIBXKIeVIdETJrxYIw_ttam_logo.jpg" alt="" width="24" height="40" />Check out our latest survey on empathy. 
Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store/cart/">Visit our store!</a>
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A Motion for the Genetics of Motion Sickness
Roughly one in three individuals is highly susceptible to motion sickness; the remaining two-thirds of the population may experience motion sickness if the conditions are extreme. We understand what provokes motion sickness – traveling in cars, boats, planes, and also more unusual modes of transportation like skiing or riding a camel. Partaking in simulator experiments, for instance those carried out by the US Air Force and NASA, and escaping into virtual reality environments (aka playing video games) can also provoke motion sickness.
It’s estimated that up to 70% of a person’s risk for motion sickness is due to genetics, but the genetics of motion sickness has been very poorly understood &#8230; until now.
23andMe scientist Bethann Hromatka* will present results from a genetic study of nearly 37,000 customers who were surveyed about motion sickness. The analysis identified 14 genetic associations with motion sickness that fall into a few different biological categories. Three genetic variants are involved in development, including development of the eye and ear. Other variants are involved neurological processes and glucose/insulin regulation.
*Numerous 23andMe employees contributed to these studies. Statistical geneticist Nicholas Eriksson carried out the genetic analyses and others on the 23andMe Research Team contributed to survey design, data analysis, and scientific review.
<h6>Related posts:</h6>
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/cilantro-love-hate-genetic-trait/" rel="bookmark"> Cilantro Love and Hate: Is it a Genetic Trait?</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/highlighting-23andme-research/" rel="bookmark"> Highlighting 23andMe Research</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/announcements/23andme-scientists-head-to-montreal-for-ichgashg-eh/" rel="bookmark"> 23andMe Scientists Head to Montreal for ICHG/ASHG, Eh</a>

The Genetics of Nearsightedness, Stretch Marks, and Motion Sickness

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-16184" title="broccoli like chocolate" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/broccoli-like-chocolate-200x300.jpeg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/broccoli-like-chocolate-200x300.jpeg 200w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/broccoli-like-chocolate.jpeg 250w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Ever since my kids were wee tykes in diapers, I’ve gone through the same bedtime routine of reading them a story. We went from picture books to the simple joys of Seuss, to following the wizardly adventures of <a href="http://www.jkrowling.com/en_US/#/timeline/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows/i" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harry, Hermione, and Ron.</a>
Our nightly page-turners don’t usually delve into the world of science or genetics but that all changed recently thanks to the book, <a href="http://genetics.thetech.org/book-titles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“When Will Broccoli Taste Like Chocolate?”</a>
<h6>Ask a Geneticist</h6>
Sent along by some scientists at San Jose’s Tech Museum, the book is a great compilation of questions submitted by people to the website “Ask a Geneticist” and answered by Stanford University scientists. The website is part of a hands-on exhibit at the <a href="http://genetics.thetech.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tech Museum</a>. The questions – from both kids and adults – are sometimes cheeky, sometimes straight, and always interesting. The title comes from one of those questions, from an adult who likes all the good stuff that comes with eating broccoli, just not the taste.
I brought the book home to look at how someone smarter than me talks to people about the complicated world of genetics. So the book was meant for me, but then my son picked it up.
It suddenly became our reading material for the night when my son randomly turned the page to “What would it take to develop a superpower?”
<h6>Super Strength</h6>
This is a critical question for young boys everywhere and it has been the topic of several conversations with my son. He favors super strength, understanding flight just isn’t possible. For my daughter, who is two years older and a little more sophisticated, it was the the section on eye color that drew her in. The Tech has also created a<a href="http://genetics.thetech.org/online-exhibits/what-color-eyes-will-your-children-have" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> great tool</a> to calculate the probability of blue, or green, or brown eyes.
The answers in the book offer a chance to draw in not just kids, but anybody interested in the science. In the case of superpowers, the book explores the genetics behind strength and intelligence, as well as the peculiar ability to be oblivious to pain. They illustrate the answers with examples such as a family in Pakistan that can&#8217;t feel pain. This family has a genetic mutation that interrupts the the process by which nerves to sense pain. Turns out <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=1386322#.UG8-cPl26PI">it’s not such a super superpower</a>, as my son learned.
<h6>Learning</h6>
23andMe does a pretty good job of making the journey into your DNA both fun and fascinating, but there are always more questions to be answered. &#8220;When Will Broccoli Taste Like Chocolate?&#8221; gives a broad sampling of those queries – some big, some small, some silly and some serious – we all have around this topic. The book, as well as the “Ask a Geneticist” website, offers a very approachable way for people to explore genetics.
And what about making broccoli taste like chocolate?
My kids learned it’s not as easy as putting cocoa and broccoli plants alone in a room together. Genetics is complicated, and genetically modifying foods can still be controversial and expensive. At least for my kids they’ll continue to hold their noses when eating their broccoli, while the book is making the rounds on both their nightstands for their own exploration into science.

Chocolate Broccoli

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-6586 size-medium" title="23andMe_Logo_blog" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-300x300.jpg" alt="An image of 23andMe's logo" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/23andMe_Logo_blog.jpg 350w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
We would like to give a little shout-out to Holly Dunsworth, an assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Rhode Island and a blogger, for her thoughtful post<a href="http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2012/10/be-afraid-of-fear-not-personal-genomics.html"> “Be Afraid of Fear, Not Personal Genomics.”</a>
<h6>Fear</h6>
While there are legitimate topics for debate about genetic testing, some coverage veers far from those real issues, and seemingly serves only to scare people.
Dunsworth cites a few paragraphs from a recent<a href="http://m.npr.org/news/Health/160958948"> NPR piece</a> that includes a quote from Mark Rothstein, a bioethicist at the University of Louisville.
“We&#8217;re basically not ready for a society in which very exquisite, detailed genomic information about every individual, potentially, is out there,” Rothstein said.
Why that might be is not explained by Rothstein, and this is Dunsworth’s point. It just hangs out there playing on people’s fear.
<h6>Access</h6>
It’s a disservice to play up those fears. In this case, the statement by Rothstein supposes that because a person knows his or her own genomic information, somehow anyone else can learn about it. But that’s not true. There are strong privacy protections for that data. At the same time, if a person is comfortable sharing their information with others, they have the right to do that. This goes back to some of the bedrock  principles of ethics that include the autonomy and respect for individuals. Those  principles should make clear that a person both has a right to access to their own DNA data, and the right to use it as they see fit.

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-16032 size-medium" title="mermaid's tale blog" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/mermaids-tale-blog-300x45.jpg" alt="An image of the Mermaid's Tale website logo" width="300" height="45" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/mermaids-tale-blog-300x45.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/mermaids-tale-blog.jpg 654w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<h6>Understanding</h6>
In a comment to her own post, Dunsworth points out that in the NPR piece in early September there is more space dedicated to the 1997 fictional dystopian movie Gattaca than to real topics for discussion. For Dunsworth, this feeds into people’s own fears and ignorance about the science rather than informing them.
“Even if you don&#8217;t get an ounce of joy from the experience, when you&#8217;re informed you don&#8217;t fall uncritically for claims that (genetic testing is) … dangerous or venomous,” she writes.
One of the missions of 23andMe is to <a href="https://www.23andme.com/gen101/genes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">introduce people to their DNA</a> and help them navigate what all the As, Gs, Ts and Cs mean. Our hope is that the more you know about yourself the more you will take charge of your own health. It is also fascinating and fun to explore your genetics and learn about how it may impact your health, or how it makes you unique, or what it says about your ancestry. In the process, we learn that science is dynamic and our knowledge constantly evolving as we find out more about ourselves and what our DNA means.
The journey you take can be both awe-inspiring and fascinating. And as Dunsworth says:
“There&#8217;s not a whole lot on the planet that&#8217;s cooler than that.”

Fear Not The Genome

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-1400" title="bloodclot" alt="" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/bloodclot-300x222.jpg" width="300" height="222" />
A <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2960986-6/abstract" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> in the journal Lancet regarding a new blood thinning drug brings to mind the difficulty doctors and patients have in using anticoagulants to prevent clots that could otherwise lead to heart attacks or strokes.
The mostly commonly used blood thinner, warfarin (Coumadin ®) has proven to be a godsend for millions of people at risk, but this study suggests that as many as half of those who use the drug do not benefit from it because of challenges related to finding the proper dose.
Calibrating the right prescription of warfarin is notoriously difficult because the right amount depends not just on such things as a person’s size, their diet and age, but also, importantly,their genes.
The new study isn’t about genetics. It’s by<a href="http://www.dukehealth.org/health_library/news/apixaban-superior-to-warfarin-across-wide-range-of-patient-risk-scores"> researchers at Duke Medical Center</a>, who suggest that the new blood thinner apixaban is safer than warfarin and more effective at preventing strokes in people who have atrial fibrillation, a common heart rhythm disorder.
Apixaban hasn’t<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/larryhusten/2012/09/27/fda-sets-new-decision-date-for-eliquis-aprixaban/"> yet received FDA approval</a>. That may soon change, but the study reminds us of all the challenges with current drugs and the tremendous amount of resources invested into finding drugs that are safe and effective for more people. Another complementary way to achieve that goal is by learning more about how individual patients may respond to specific drugs. Your genetics are a big part of that equation.
In the case of warfarin, aperson’s genetic<a href="https://www.23andme.com/health/Warfarin-Coumadin-Sensitivity/">s</a> directly impacts how sensitive they are to the drug. Although there are a number of factors that influence a person’s optimal dose of warfarin, genetic variations in the CYP2C9 and the VKORC1 genes play an important role in how the body responds to the drug. More than two years ago the FDA updated the labeling on warfarin to make note of this genetic influence but genetic testing is not required before prescribing warfarin.

Related posts: 
 &#8211;<a href="../2009/02/19/new-study-shows-that-genetic-information-can-improve-administration-of-commonly-used-blood-thinner/"> New Study Shows That Genetic Information Can Improve Administration Of Commonly Used Blood Thinner</a> 
&#8211;<a href="../big-questions/a-prescription-for-personalizing-medicine/"> A Prescription for Personalizing Medicine</a> 
&#8211; <a href="../news/announcements/23andme-launches-first-national-institutes-of-health-funded-study/">23andMe Launches Its First NIH Funded Study</a>

Blood Thinners and the Genetics Behind Drug Response

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-16009" title="23andMe-AshleyG-040" alt="" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/23andMe-AshleyG-040-210x300.jpeg" width="210" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/23andMe-AshleyG-040-210x300.jpeg 210w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/23andMe-AshleyG-040.jpeg 448w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px" /> Ashley Gould, 23andMe&#8217;s Vice President Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer 

We recently topped our goal of enrolling 1,000 people with a group of rare blood disorders known as myeloproliferative neoplasms, or MPNs. As a testament to the passion of the people who’ve enrolled in our<a href="https://www.23andme.com/mpn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> MPN Research Initiative</a> and the power of our research model, this was all done in just a year. That momentum has already helped lead to some promising findings giving us more insight into the disease and offering hope for so much more. We’re excited by the possibilities for research, but more importantly we’re heartened by what it could offer for those who are battling this disease. For some of us, this is a very personal fight. Ashley Gould, 23andMe’s Vice President of Corporate Development and Our Chief Legal Officer, shares her and her father’s story of battling an MPN.
&nbsp;
by Ashley Gould, 
Vice President Corporate Development &amp; Chief Legal Officer, 23andMe
It all started with a phone call. My father had collapsed in his office and was in the hospital.  At first the doctors thought he had experienced a mini-stroke.  What followed was a blur of tests and months of waiting.  Finally, came the diagnosis. My father had myelofibrosis, one of the rare blood disorders known as myeloproliferative neoplasms, or MPNs.  It may sound strange, but in some ways it was a relief to know at last what he was facing.
My father’s diagnosis and the prognosis that he had just three-to-five years to live put an entirely new haze around my senses. As a newly minted lawyer working long hours to earn my stripes, I was in a continual state of exhaustion. With the news weighing on me, I seemed to move in slow motion, particularly when surrounded by people going about their lives.  In high school one of my favorite poems was WH Auden’s “<a href="http://english.emory.edu/classes/paintings&#038;poems/auden.html">Musee des Beaux Arts.”</a>  After dad’s diagnosis, every time I would see people sitting over coffee, talking and laughing or simply enjoying their life, a few lines of that poem would come back to me:
“About suffering they were never wrong, 
The old Masters: how well they understood 
Its human position: how it takes place 
While someone else is eating or opening a window or just walking dully along;”
How could people be laughing when my father had just been given a death sentence?  It was, for a period of time, unthinkable to me and incredibly incongruous. 

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-9197" title="research_springboard" alt="" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/research_springboard.png" width="135" height="109" />
Once I collected myself, the first thing I did was sign up for Team in Training to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  I was already a runner and I enlisted an amazing woman and friend to run the Anchorage marathon with me.  I raised as much money as I could. We ran the race, and then it was over and I was at a loss again about what else I could do to help him.
When I could I went with my dad to his doctors’ appointments. We talked often, but I felt like I wasn’t doing enough for my father – a terrible feeling when someone you love is fighting for his life.  I left my job and went to work at a biopharmaceutical company. I thought if I couldn’t do something directly to cure my father, at least I would try to lend my skills in the pursuit of making a difference for others.  After that company was sold, I was introduced to the co-founders of 23andMe. That first meeting convinced me that the company embodied not only a vision I believed in, but one that offered a way to study rare diseases, like my father’s.  I was quickly committed.
And now, just over a year after launching<a href="https://www.23andme.com/mpn/"> 23andMe’s MPN Research Initiative</a>, I am pleased to announce that we have hit our goal of enrolling 1,000 patients.  This isn’t just a number. Creating a research community of this size for such a rare disease offers great opportunities to make new discoveries. In the short time since we launched the MPN Research Initiative, we’ve already made some promising findings. Our primary aim has always been to learn if there are genetic predispositions for the development of these kinds of illnesses and through this work we’re learning more and more about MPNs.
As one Scientific Advisory Board member, Dr. Ruben Mesa, a professor of medicine and Chair of the division of Hematology &amp; Oncology and deputy director of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in Arizona, said:
“This is an important milestone for MPN research. We are hopeful that the opportunities to analyze genetic and molecular data, MPN disease characteristics, and symptomatic burden, all in concert will yield great benefits for the MPN patient community.”
For Scientific Advisor Board member, Dr. Jason Gotlib, an associate professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and Stanford Cancer Center, it boils down to time.
“Reaching this goal this quickly will help accelerate the search for answers,” Dr. Gotlib said.
Our MPN Research Initiative has hit its enrollment objective faster than any other 23andMe community, which is an amazing feat for such a rare group of diseases.  Those who have joined the MPN Research Initiative are outspoken and vibrant, adjectives that also describe 23andMe.  Thanks to the participation of people who are part of our MPN Research Initiative we have reported on research findings related to our replication of an MPN association.
We are learning new things about MPNs and are excited to share more of what we have learned in the coming months.  We are grateful to the MPN Community and our advisors for their support and expertise – we would not have made the amazing progress we have without them.  I am additionally grateful to the team of people at 23andMe who have dedicated themselves to this project.  We still have a lot more to do and learn about MPNs, but I’ll gladly take this encouraging beginning over doing nothing.

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