<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-13970" title="Screen Shot 2012-06-19 at 2.08.37 PM" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Screen-Shot-2012-06-19-at-2.08.37-PM-300x163.png" alt="" width="300" height="163" />
The dance is sort of a gnome-like jig – all knees and elbows and no hint of cool – but where Matt Harding gets you is in his pure unabashed release of happiness.

As you watch, a smile creeps across your face. You can’t help yourself.

For almost a decade, Matt has cobbled together the most unlikely of careers – making a video series in which, as he says, he “travels around the world dancing badly.”

The series, called<a href="http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> “Where the Hell is Matt?”</a>, started innocently enough when he was backpacking through Vietnam in 2003 after quitting his job as a video game programmer. On a lark, his buddy suggested that Matt, “do that stupid dance you do.” His friend videotaped him doing his silly shuffle next to a busy traffic circle with people walking by. There was no intent to share it with anyone but the video wound up on YouTube and went viral.

Fast-forward nine years, and Matt’s quirky videos have attracted almost 78 million views. More than 40 million people saw his last one, and over the last two years, he’s traveled to dozens and dozens of countries shooting his next video that he released <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&#038;v=Pwe-pA6TaZk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this week</a>. 
<iframe loading="lazy" width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zlfKdbWwruY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

As he was putting together the final touches on this latest video, Matt partnered up with 23andMe for another short little film. (Editor&#8217;s note: This video is no longer available online.)
In this one he’s meeting and dancing with strangers like in his other videos, but this time each person he’s dancing with – in Tucson, Colorado Springs, Minneapolis and San Francisco – has something in common with Matt. They each share some DNA.

Using 23andMe’s Relative Finder, Matt connected with distant cousins around the country. A few wanted to meet him in person so he crisscrossed the country in a very few days, and was introduced to relatives he never knew he had. Then, he danced with them.

“Having these people who I’ve just gotten to go around and meet, whom I’m related to, is really amazing,” said Matt. “Somewhere back on our family tree we have a common ancestor… I would’ve never known that without the DNA.”

For Matt this is where he sees the overlap with what he’s been doing over the years.

“It’s all about connectedness,” he said. “It’s all about seeing what we have in common. With 23andMe you realize that we all share the same roots, the same origin if you go back far enough. And yet we are all unique.”

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

Dancing with 23andMe

Editor&#8217;s note: This post has been edited to reflect changes in our product.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-2744" title="sun" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/sun-300x222.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="222">
Today is summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. This means that there’s a lot of light around and as a consequence, people with the “ACHOO syndrome” might be sneezing a lot.
Gesundheit! 
Two years ago 23andMe announced a <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.1000993">new genetic discovery</a> that at least partially explains why some people sneeze when they go from darkness to light. A certain genetic variant increases the likelihood of having this <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/photic-sneeze-reflex/">photic sneeze reflex</a>, also called the ACHOO syndrome (short for Autosomal-dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst syndrome). Each copy of the C version of is associated with 1.3 times increased odds of having the trait in people with European ancestry.
The reflex is harmless but understanding this common trait could help scientists better understand other light-triggered reactions, such as some types of epileptic seizures. This <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/factoids/">discovery</a> was fueled by 23andMe customers who took the survey &#8220;Ten Things About You&#8221;.
We hope you aren’t sneezing today, but if you are then perhaps you can blame it on your DNA. Either way 23andMe wishes all of you a happy summer solstice!

Sneezing on Summer Solstice?

June 19th is <a href="http://worldsicklecellday.webs.com/">World Sickle Cell Awareness Day</a> and commemorates the date in 2008 when the United Nations began recognizing this group of genetic blood disorders as a public health concern.
Sickle cell disease affects millions around the globe and nearly 100,000 people in the United States. It’s relatively common in Latin America, the Caribbean, Saudi Arabia, India, Mediterranean countries, and especially prevalent in those with ancestry tracing to sub-Saharan Africa. In the US roughly <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/data.html">one in 500</a> black or African-American babies is born with the disease. 

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<h6>Geno Atkins and Sickle Cell Trait</h6>
<img decoding="async" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-13872" title="Geno_Atkins" alt="" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Geno_Atkins-150x150.jpg" width="140px;" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Geno_Atkins-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Geno_Atkins-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Geno_Atkins-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Geno_Atkins-574x574.jpg 574w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
In his two seasons in the NFL playing with the Cincinnati Bengals, defensive tackle Gene Renard “Geno” Atkins Jr. has shown few weaknesses, notching up 48 tackles and eight sacks.
But throughout his time on the field – not just professionally, but when he was a standout player in college and high school– Geno has played with what is called the “<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/traits.html">sickle cell trait</a>.”
While it isn’t full-blown <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/carrier/sickle-cell-anemia">sickle cell anemia</a>, the sickle cell trait can pose health risks for those who don&#8217;t know they have it. For instance, people with the trait may be more vulnerable to heatstroke and muscle breakdown as a result of strenuous exercise.  Geno hopes to bring attention to the issue and recently wrote about his own experience in a piece on the CDC website. Because testing isn&#8217;t currently in place for high school athletes, many play without knowing they are at risk.
“I was blessed to not suffer any side effects or have any health-related issues due to the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/sicklecell/traits.html">sickle cell trait</a>,” Geno <a href="http://www.genostacks.blogspot.com/2010/09/sickle-cell-trait-and-athlete.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote in his blog two years ago</a>. “I would urge parents, friends, and extended families of all Athletes participating in any sports or working out at a high level to have their Athlete tested.&#8221;
After he learned of his risk in college, both Geno and his coaches paid particular attention to whether he was healthy during practice and games.
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<h6>Sickle Cell Trait</h6>
Prevalence of sickle cell disease in African populations is high due to the fact that many people with African ancestry carry a genetic mutation in the HBB gene that causes the condition. You need two copies of this mutation (one from each parent) to have the disease, but if you have just one, you have what’s known as “<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/2012/02/14/did-you-know-one-in-twelve-african-americans-has-sickle-cell-trait/">sickle cell trait</a>”.
This trait protects you from malaria which is why the mutation has become relatively common in sub-Saharan Africa, where malaria is endemic. Unfortunately, it also increases the risk that your child may be born with sickle cell disease if your partner also has one copy of the mutation.
<h6>One in 13</h6>
Roughly one in 13 African Americans carries a copy of the HBB mutation and the World Health Organization estimates that sickle cell disease contributes to 5 percent of deaths in children under 5 years of age in some African countries. World Sickle Cell Awareness Day aims to highlight and combat this public health burden.
Although improved access to care is needed to counteract some of the public health burdens, appropriate genetic screening could lower the rates of disease and/or equip families with knowledge about their chances of passing the disease to future generations.
<h6>Raising Awareness</h6>
To raise awareness about sickle cell disease, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is piloting a data collection system called the <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hemoglobinopathies/index.html">Registry and Surveillance System for Hemoglobinopathies</a> (or RuSH) to find out exactly how many US individuals suffer from sickle cell disease and related red blood cell disorders like <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/carrier/beta-thalassemia">beta-thalassemia</a>. They are also addressing unmet needs in research, surveillance, and education.
So we ask you today – do you suffer from sickle cell disease or know anyone living with it? What about sickle cell trait – have you been screened for a mutation that you could pass on to your child? We welcome your comments on this important health topic and encourage you to also raise awareness about this disease.
Find out more about 23andMe&#8217;s Sickle Cell report <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/carrier/sickle-cell-anemia">here</a>.

Raising Awareness For Sickle Cell Disease

Editors note: A previous version of this post incorrectly stated the name of Mrs. Obama&#8217;s maternal great-great grandfather. The correct name is Henry Wells Shields. 
A story in Sunday’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/17/us/dna-gives-new-insights-into-michelle-obamas-roots.html?pagewanted=all">New York Times</a> about first lady Michelle Obama’s distant white relatives echoes some of what we’ve seen more and more of at 23andMe – Americans, both black and white, using DNA to uncover unknown histories through their ancestry.
Much like what Prof. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. did in his most recent PBS series, <a href="../inside-23andme/behind-the-scenes-with-pbss-finding-your-roots/">Finding Your Roots</a>, the Times was able to use DNA samples, paper records and family stories to piece together Mrs. Obama’s complicated family tree. The report found that Mrs. Obama&#8217;s maternal great-great-grandfather was the slave owner Henry Wells Shields.
While most African Americans know that they have some European ancestry because slave owners often forced themselves onto their slaves and fathered children by them, finding connections to living distant white relatives who are the descendants of those slave masters can be complicated. The Times notes that the widespread use of DNA testing has made some of these discoveries that much more common.
We’ve had several posts that touch on these issues. Take a look if you haven’t already seen them.
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<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-12163" style="float: left; margin-right: 15px;" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/JRBgdIBXKIeVIdETJrxYIw_ttam_logo.jpg" alt="" width="24" height="40"> Customers can look at the breakdown of their ancestry with 23andMe&#8217;s Ancestry Painting tool here.
Not yet a customer? Visit our <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store/cart/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">store</a> or <a href="https://www.23andme.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">learn more</a>.
</div>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/a-black-family-history">Missing Pieces in An African-American Family History</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/thomas-jefferson-black-descendants">DNA Tests Uncover African Ancestry and a Surprising Connection to Thomas Jefferson</a></li>
<li><a href="../uncategorized/did-you-know-ancestry-is-not-so-black-and-white/">Did You Know Ancestry is Not So Black and White?</a></li>
<li><a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/hidden-african-ancestry">Our Hidden African Ancestry</a></li>
</ul>

First Lady Michelle Obama’s Distant Cousins

A new paper in <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pgen.1002746">PLoS Genetics</a> describes discoveries related to the genetics of male pattern baldness, with substantial contributions from the 23andMe community.
<h2>Early Onset Baldness</h2>
Led by Dr. Brent Richards of McGill University, the study combined genome-wide association data from seven cohorts, comparing men with &#8220;early onset&#8221; male pattern baldness with older men who had experienced little or no hair loss. The combined analysis allowed us to identify six new genetic factors associated with <a href="http://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/early-hair-loss/">early onset baldness</a>, in addition to replicating two previously known loci.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-7918 size-medium" title="baldness" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/baldness-300x214.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="214" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/baldness-300x214.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/baldness.jpg 435w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
23andMe participants represented more than half of all the cases in the study &#8212; not that we have an unusual number of bald customers, it&#8217;s just that we&#8217;ve got lots of data! We also used additional data provided by 23andMe participants to show that a risk score based on genotypes at the eight associated loci strongly predicted whether someone would report early-onset male pattern baldness.
<h2> New Genetic Associations</h2>
Two new loci are in or near histone deacetylase genes HDAC4 and HDAC9. Histone deacetylases regulate the expression of other genes by modifying histones, which are proteins responsible for packaging our long strands of DNA into the tiny spaces within the middle of cells.
One mechanism cells use to regulate gene expression is to tightly bundle up and pack away the DNA of genes that should not be active and to unpack and expose the DNA of genes that should be turned on. Both of these HDAC genes are thought to have roles in the regulation of androgen hormone pathways, which are thought to play an essential role in prostate cancer and male pattern baldness. Several previous studies have linked baldness and prostate cancer risk, and our new findings may help explain these observations.
<h2>Surprising Associations with Certain Diseases</h2>
Unexpectedly, we found that one of the newly associated loci is also associated with Parkinson&#8217;s disease. 23andMe was uniquely positioned to investigate this relationship further. This is in part because of our existing <a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd">Parkinson&#8217;s disease community. </a> Many of those in our Parkinson&#8217;s research community have also taken our hair loss survey. This particular genomic region is unique because it is spanned by a large, common inversion polymorphism. That is a long stretch of DNA flipped end-to-end in many people.
A consequence of this rearrangement is that genes in this region tend to be inherited together. It is difficult to say whether the shared association is due to variation in a single gene that affects both conditions or to variation in two unrelated genes inherited together due to the inversion. We found that even after accounting for this shared association, men were still more likely to report both male pattern baldness and Parkinson&#8217;s disease than would be expected by chance. This suggests that additional shared genetic or environmental risk factors may predispose towards both conditions.
This study gives an excellent example of a relatively easy question to ask using the 23andMe customer community. However, it would be complicated in a traditional genetic research setting. These are all complex conditions with many genetic and environmental factors at play. Just because you have one condition doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean you will develop the other conditions. However, shared genetic factors between Parkinson’s disease and male pattern baldness may offer exciting avenues for research. Similarly, the link between prostate cancer and male pattern baldness provide hints at possible mechanisms.

Male Pattern Baldness and Unexpected Associations with Disease

By Lauren Anderson
For many, the decision to participate in genetic research is not a trivial one. But for Gary Schmitz, he didn’t think twice. “For me,” he says, “the question was why wouldn’t you want to contribute?”
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-13795" title="Gary-Schmitz-249x300" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Gary-Schmitz-249x300.jpg" alt="" width="249" height="300" />
Not long after The Michael J. Fox Foundation and 23andMe, <a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">announced</a> a new research community for Parkinson’s patients, Gary signed on. In January 2010, he became part of what would become the world’s largest Parkinson&#8217;s community. He shared his spit, using 23andMe’s DNA kit.
“It was easy to do and didn’t require much from me,” Gary says. He found the results from his test interesting–and comprehensive. Diagnosed with Young-onset Parkinson’s at 38, Gary, now 50, learned he was only at a slightly higher than normal risk for developing PD. He was most surprised by the amount of information he received–about his maternal and paternal bloodlines, food preferences, muscle performance. Happily, he learned he was not likely to go bald, which he hopes is right. “I even found out if my <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/earwax-type/">earwax</a> was moist or not,” he says.
Learning more about his genetic profile was actually something of a relief to Gary. Since he had little genetic predisposition to Parkinson’s, such as carrying the LRRK2 mutation, he now worries less about his two children developing Parkinson’s. But even if his results had been different, having that knowledge makes a difference, he says. “If you’re at risk for something, then you can do something about it. You may know you need to see a certain type of doctor twice a year versus once.”
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 180px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">For Father&#8217;s Day 
If your Dad has Parkinson&#8217;s, show him you care by making a long-term investment in his health and the future of Parkinson&#8217;s disease research. At no cost, give him access to his genetic data and the growing Parkinson&#8217;s Research Community (~7,500 strong!) at 23andMe. Visit <a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.23andme.com/pd</a> to sign him up.</div>
Participating in genetic research was only the beginning for Gary. Since then, he completed a profile on <a href="https://foxtrialfinder.michaeljfox.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Fox Trial Finder</a>, The Michael J. Fox Foundation’s clinical trial matching site. Through this tool, he found–and completed–a study on cognition and Parkinson’s at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, which is near his home in the Dallas area. He also connected with Ceregene’s CERE-120 trial, for a potentially neuro-protective gene therapy. However, as he was being screened for this trial, Gary learned he had suffered a small stroke at some point. While this made his participation in the trial no longer possible, it was information he didn’t have before. And it hasn’t dampened his determination to participate in future clinical trials–he’s still looking to contribute wherever he can.
Like his attitude toward genetic research, Gary wonders why you wouldn’t participate in clinical research. “I want everyone to get involved through Fox Trial Finder,” he says. And he’s encouraging friends and family members to sign up.
Gary has also taken action through Team Fox–“to do something positive,” he says. In Texas, he has hosted several Team Fox events, including a pancakes breakfast and a shopping event on his town’s Main Street. His sister in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has gotten involved, too. She hosted a comedy night and an event at a Milwaukee Brewers’ game.
Through Team Fox and clinical trial participation, Gary is happy to do his part to help speed a cure and support MJFF’s efforts. “The Michael J. Fox Foundation is a sign of hope for me,” he says. “I know they’re working in one direction–toward improved treatments and a cure. That’s just what I need.”

Lauren Anderson

Why Not Participate? One Patient’s Perspective

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-13513" title="Teenage boy and girl stick out tongues to each other" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/siblings-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/siblings-300x199.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/siblings.jpg 425w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Theories abound about the effects of birth order on personality, success, and other life outcomes. Last week we <a title="Oldest vs. Youngest – Let the Sibling Rivalries Begin!" href="https://blog.23andme.com/traits-2/oldest-vs-youngest-let-the-sibling-rivalries-begin/">quizzed our readers</a> on traits that differed between 23andMe customers who were oldest children (firstborns) versus youngest children (lastborns). Congratulations to Kay, the winner of the quiz! Kay got all three answers correct and will receive a $25 Amazon gift card. So what were the correct answers? Read on&#8230; 

Some researchers have theorized that firstborns are more successful than younger children (lastborns). Though they don’t have a leg up on all potential measures of success, 23andMe’s firstborns are more educated than lastborns. Even controlling for age, sex, and correcting for multiple tests (as we did for all the findings reported here), firstborns reported greater educational attainment than lastborns. We can’t say that this fully confirms the idea that firstborns are more successful, as they did not report higher incomes or higher subjective socioeconomic status.
Personality theorists have also postulated that firstborns are more conscientious, more socially dominant, less agreeable, and less open to new ideas than lastborns. In actuality, we found that firstborns are more full of ideas, but less altruistic than lastborns. These results are consistent with some but not all of the existing, but controversial, research on firstborn children’s personalities. While altruism is a component of agreeableness, and therefore might seem to support the theory, firstborns did not differ significantly in overall agreeableness, just altruism. Why might this be? We’re just not sure. Perhaps lastborns have to learn to share from an earlier age than do firstborns. Have a theory? Leave it in the comments below.
Finally, firstborns are more likely to have had chicken pox or mumps. This was really interesting and completely unexpected. It’s possible that having an older sibling might reduce your chance of contracting certain childhood diseases.
As an aside, one of the red herrings for this last question was that firstborns are more likely to smoke. In fact, the opposite was true. Lastborns were significantly more likely to have smoked than firstborns. About a third of lastborns had smoked regularly at some point in their life, compared to roughly a quarter of firstborns.
Have your own theories about birth order effects? Leave a comment below!

Quiz Answers: Oldest vs. Youngest — Success, Personality, and Health

With assorted schwag in hand, our team of elite 23andMers headed to Burbank last weekend to pass out a few free kits, some t-shirts and mingle with some of the most committed genealogists on the planet.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-13778" title="MikeatJamboree" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-300x172.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="172" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-300x172.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-1180x678.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-768x442.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-1024x589.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/MikeatJamboree-880x506.jpg 880w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Mike Macpherson ready to answer a few ancestry questions.
This year’s Southern California Genealogy Jamboree drew more than 1,700 people over three days. There are just a handful of other events around the country that attract such a large number of people who are so knowledgeable and focused on learning about their ancestry. It’s not the first time we’ve been there, but it was the first time we brought a posse.
While there, we were lucky to learn a little about what these ancestry experts wanted out of 23andMe’s tools. In turn, we gave them a sneak peek of a host of new ancestry features we’ll be launching in a test format in the coming weeks. 
 
Mike Macpherson, one of our scientists, was on hand to answer questions. Mike helped develop this turbo charged package of new ancestry features we’ll soon be launching in a beta test. He was also there to participate on a panel discussion during the event put on by the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG). With him on the panel were 23andMe Ancestry Ambassador CeCe Moore, whose<a href="http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/"> blog</a> is a go-to source for interesting stories and information about the use of genetics in genealogy, as well as Bennett Greenspan from Family Tree DNA, and Katherine Borges, the co-founder and director of ISOGG.
During the three days in Burbank, our team found that even among these experts at hunting down family histories – people who’ve focused for decades on assembling the lost stories of their ancestry – there were some folks who were new to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/ancestry-testing-goes-for-pinpoint-accuracy-1.10785" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">power of genetic genealogy.</a>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-13779" title="23andMe Winner Phyllis" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/23andMe-Winner-Phyllis-300x225.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/23andMe-Winner-Phyllis-300x225.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/23andMe-Winner-Phyllis.jpg 612w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Phyllis Kinzle, one of the lucky winners of a free kit at the Jamboree, said, &#8220;It&#8217;s a good time to start this new adventure!&#8221;
With Mike to help answer some of those folks’ questions were creative manager Melissa del Sol, public relations manager Catherine Afarian, and our social media guru Rebecca Wolpinsky. During the conference the team, along with CeCe, hung out and filled in the attendees about what DNA could do to help them fill in the gaps in their ancestry hunts.
They let folks know that now with more than 150,000 genotyped customers; we have the world’s largest database for ancestry. With a full range of ancestry tools that take advantage of autosomal DNA as well as yDNA and mitochondrial DNA, 23andMe can give results not just from maternal and paternal lines but from all of your ancestors. And we do all of that, along with providing health results, for <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store/cart/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">one price.</a>

23andMe at the Genealogy Jamboree

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-13764 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/doctorMan1-300x202.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="202" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/doctorMan1-300x202.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/doctorMan1.jpg 422w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Prostate cancer affects more men than any other type of cancer &#8212; approximately one in six men will be diagnosed with it.
Although two-thirds of prostate cancers grow slowly and are largely asymptomatic, the remaining third of prostate cancers are aggressive and deadly, killing more men than any other cancer besides lung cancer. Prostate cancer is caused by the unchecked proliferation of cells in the prostate &#8212; the male gland that makes some of the fluids found in semen. The underlying cause of this cellular proliferation, however, is still not well understood.
Age and ethnicity are two of the most significant <a href="http://www.webmd.com/prostate-cancer/guide/prostate-cancer-risk-factors">factors</a> influencing a man’s risk of prostate cancer. Risk increases with age, and two-thirds of cases occur in men over the age of 65. &nbsp;In fact, 80% of men aged 80 or older have cancerous prostate cells. Ethnicity is another risk factor; the cancer is most common in men of African ancestry and least common in men of Asian ancestry, with individuals of European ancestry at intermediate risk. The high rate of prostate cancer in African Americans may not be totally attributable to ethnicity, however; African Americans have higher prostate cancer rates than Africans living in Africa, suggesting that diet or other non-genetic factors may also contribute.

In addition, genetics significantly contribute to prostate cancer risk. &nbsp;Twin studies suggest that <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/quiz-answers-heritability-demystified">heritability</a> of prostate cancer is around 40%, making it one of the most heritable of cancers. &nbsp;The genetic aspect of prostate cancer is further underscored by the increased incidence observed in those with a family history; having a brother or father with prostate cancer doubles a man’s risk. &nbsp;Many studies have attempted to uncover the genes responsible for this genetic and familial risk, and when all the known associations are taken together, they explain approximately a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21743467">quarter</a> of the familial risk.
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Screening for and managing prostate cancer is yet another big question mark. The widely-used PSA test, which measures levels of prostate-specific antigen, has recently come under fire as a screening and diagnostic tool for prostate cancer. Generally speaking, cancerous prostate cells produce more prostate-specific antigen than healthy prostate cells, but there is considerable variation between healthy individuals and many non-cancerous conditions can lead to increased prostate-specific antigens levels. A report by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force argues that overdiagnosis resulting from PSA screening is actually doing more harm than good due to unnecessary surgeries and treatments that can have complications ranging from erectile dysfunction and incontinence to life-threatening blood clots and heart attacks. Because of this, the task force no longer recommends regular PSA screening, although not all physicians agree.
Given our current, limited understanding, prostate cancer is a paradox: it is arguably both one of the most deadly and one of the most benign cancers. Prostate cancer kills more men over the age of 75 than any other cancer, but the vast majority of cases are non-aggressive, slow-growing, and asymptomatic, to the point where doctors debate whether to screen for it. More research may help uncover more genetic and non-genetic factors that predict or distinguish different forms of prostate cancer or lead to better ways to screen effectively for this common disease.

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