Andrew Rubin and Ricardo Villarreal’s film Ride With Larry is about more than a guy with Parkinson’s pedaling across South Dakota.
It&#8217;s about the singular idea that whatever life throws at you the best choice is to live to the fullest.
“I’ll never give up,” Larry Smith says at one point during the film. “I know that this will some day take me, but I’m not going to walk away from life.”<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SNblbb3tyGI" width="560" height="315" frameborder="0"></iframe>
We first heard about Larry when Andrew and Ricardo came through town to interview our CEO Anne Wojcicki and Emily Drabant, who heads up our <a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/">Parkinson’s Research Community</a>.
Larry is a retired police captain who opened a small town bakery. His example has already inspired his family and the people in his small town of Vermillion. Andrew and Ricardo hope to inspire others with Larry’s story. For Andrew the film is also personal as his own father and a cousin are living with Parkinson’s. He hopes to rally people behind efforts to research the disease, including 23andMe’s own <a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/">Parkinson’s Research Community</a>.
A few days ago we got wind that “Ride with Larry” was in post-production, along with the note, “Would we like to see a short preview?”
It’s an awesome peek at what the filmmakers have been up to and we&#8217;re grateful that they’ve shared it with us.
Andrew and Ricardo, who are still busy editing, also were gracious enough to answer a few questions.
How is Larry doing since you guys finished up?
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-12535 size-full" title="AndrewRicardo" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/AndrewRicardo.jpg" alt="" width="525" height="276" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/AndrewRicardo.jpg 525w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/AndrewRicardo-300x158.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 525px) 100vw, 525px" />
Andrew and Ricardo: Larry is doing great; he is obviously very excited about the film and can&#8217;t wait for it to be finished. Larry has become a small celebrity in his state of South Dakota and continues to inspire his community in many ways, including his determination to get up everyday and bake his famous bread.  Since we finished shooting last summer, Larry also has a new granddaughter.
In terms of his battle with Parkinson&#8217;s, Larry continues to fight.  He  exercises  regularly and this June the people of Vermillion, SD are planning a one day ride in honor of Larry to continue raising awareness for Parkinson&#8217;s.
What have you learned or are most excited about from the experience of shooting this film?
Ricardo: What I learned from shooting this incredible story is that life is so precious and there is no excuse not to enjoy it and live it the best way you can.
Although there&#8217;s no cure for Parkinson&#8217;s yet, we have the power and the choice to live life to the fullest. This experience also taught me that real heroes can be found within ordinary people. You don&#8217;t have to be someone famous, rich, or powerful to be a role model and to make a positive impact in your community.
The excitement about shooting the film is that we have this great opportunity to share this inspiring story with the world and spread Larry&#8217;s message of hope.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12536" title="Ride with Larry" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Ride-with-Larry-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Ride-with-Larry-200x300.jpg 200w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Ride-with-Larry-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Ride-with-Larry-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Ride-with-Larry-587x880.jpg 587w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Ride-with-Larry-787x1180.jpg 787w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Ride-with-Larry-scaled.jpg 1707w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
At the same time,  we are also excited to work together with great organizations that are working hard to find a cure for Parkinson&#8217;s and we want to be part of this movement. Nothing would be more rewarding than to know our film has inspired many people to live better. Additionally, we believe our film can help bring more people to contribute to Parkinson&#8217;s research. Everyone can make a difference, and the more people get involved, the closer we will be to finding a cure.
Andrew: In the process of making this film I learned to embody the very lessons I&#8217;ve witnessed behind the lens of a camera.  Making Ride with Larry has given me perspective.  Every day I watch the struggles of both my father and Larry as they battle Parkinson&#8217;s and Larry&#8217;s wife Betty and my own mother as they confront the difficulties of life as a caretaker.
In the act of telling Larry&#8217;s story, I have come to recognize that in sharing his message, I must also learn it and live it.  The struggles of Parkinson&#8217;s are of the whole body and mind.  They are second-to-second, nerve ending to muscle.  And they choose not to succumb.  If I can face my challenges, no matter how small or large, with the gift of perspective, then I know I can rise to meet them.
It has been amazing not just to be a witness to Larry&#8217;s victory, but to be a part of his ride.  The next exciting part of this journey will be in sharing this story with the world and working to get as many people as possible involved in the Parkinson&#8217;s community and the search for a cure.
What&#8217;s next?
Ricardo: With &#8220;Ride with Larry&#8221;, the next thing is just around the corner: to show this film to audiences everywhere and to grow this movement.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

Ride With Larry

In an effort to extend the state’s privacy protections to people’s genetic material, California State Senator <a href="http://dist20.casen.govoffice.com/">Alex Padilla</a> D-Pacoima recently introduced the California Genetic Information Privacy Act.
Last year, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law <a href="../2011/09/07/california-governor-signs-law-to-protect-against-genetic-discrimination/">another bill authored</a> by Padilla that extended the state’s anti-discrimination laws to bar discrimination based on genetic information.
The bill introduced earlier this year, <a href="http://dist20.casen.govoffice.com/index.asp?Type=B_PR&amp;SEC=%7B5EACFA15-EA6B-41D8-9711-C030F9FAD5EE%7D&amp;DE=%7B84E67402-17EA-4BF9-8952-2F3FED2DEEC0%7D">Senate Bill 1267</a>, would prevent the secret collection and testing of a person’s genetic material. Specifically the law would bar collection of genetic material without a person’s written consent. The law would impose criminal and civil penalties for violations.
“SB 1267 would extend California privacy protections to a person’s genetic material and information,” said Senator Padilla. “We have laws to protect the privacy of our financial information, our medical records, and even the books we check out from the local library. We need genetic privacy protections because nothing is more personal than our DNA.”

Proposal to Extend Genetic Privacy Protections in California

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-12514 size-medium" title="MJF, Todd and Anne" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MJF-Todd-and-Anne-300x189.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="189" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MJF-Todd-and-Anne-300x189.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MJF-Todd-and-Anne-768x483.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/MJF-Todd-and-Anne.jpg 864w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Todd Sherer, CEO of the Michael J. Fox Foundation, with Michael J. Fox and Anne Wojcicki
Michael J. Fox is a great actor, but his smiles and good humor during a visit to 23andMe headquarters in Mountain View this week were fully sincere.
<h2>Living with Parkinson&#8217;s</h2>
“I really mean what I say when I express optimism, positivity, and gratitude,” Michael said. “I don’t have those dark moments, but at the same time, having said that, I know people with Parkinson’s suffer depression. I know I live a rarified life and have had good fortune. I don’t mean to compare my attitude to others.”
His stop at 23andMe was part of a sort of mini-West Coast tour with stops in Los Angeles, Seattle and Portland. Joining him were other officials from the <a href="http://www.michaeljfox.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Michael J. Fox Foundation</a>, which included CEO Todd Sherer and Debi Brooks, the foundation’s co-founder and Executive Vice Chairman.
<h2>A Force for Research</h2>
Since it was formed just over a decade ago, the Michael J. Fox Foundation has raised more than $285 million for Parkinson’s research, and the actor has brought worldwide attention to the illness.
The foundation has also been an intimate partner with 23andMe’s work on Parkinson’s. (The Foundation posted a blog on the visit <a href="http://blog.michaeljfox.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.) While the partnership has already borne fruit, initially, it required the foundation to take a risk on us, said our CEO Anne Wojcicki.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12527" title="Anne&amp;MJF" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/AnneMJF-300x266.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="266" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/AnneMJF-300x266.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/AnneMJF-768x682.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/AnneMJF-880x781.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/AnneMJF.jpg 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
“None of this could have happened if we didn’t partner with the Michael J. Fox Foundation,” Anne said during the visit. “I come from the research world, and a lot of scientists don’t like to take risks or try something new.”
<h2>A New Kind of Research</h2>
But the gamble has paid off. In a short time, 23andMe’s <a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Parkinson’s Research Community</a> has grown to more than 7,500, the world’s largest Parkinson’s community for genetic research. In that time, we’ve been able to replicate known genetic associations for Parkinson’s; we’ve discovered two new genetic associations with the disease; and late last year, we found a genetic variant that is possibly protective against the disease.
This is all heady stuff, said Michael.
“What excites me is what the Fox Foundation is doing with 23andMe,” he said. “Especially after today…it’s crucial work you’re doing.”
Still boyishly handsome at 50, Fox has become known not just for his acting and good humor but also for his philanthropy and the work he has done on Parkinson’s. First diagnosed in 1991, he has continued to act while raising his four children and working with the foundation.
During his visit, he asked questions of employees at 23andMe.
<h2>Big-Time Heroes</h2>
He said he had inspired so many people, and he was asked who had inspired him.
“My big-time heroes are Gandhi, (Martin Luther King), and Nelson Mandela,” he said. “People who respond to negativity with positivity, optimism, and non-violence. Those are my mega heroes. But the Parkinson’s patient community inspires me. The scientific community inspires me, and anyone seeking knowledge inspires me. So, you all inspire me. And my kids.”
Fox said he’d spoken with an English researcher looking into optimism and was told his genetics fit the profile of someone with a predisposition toward optimism.
“I like to say it’s in my genes,” he said.
And, of course, he got a few movie star questions: 
“Did you really ride on a hoverboard for Back to the Future II?
“I had a pink piece of plastic stapled to my feet, and I was strapped hanging from a cherry picker,” he said.
“If we collectively find a cure, would you agree to star in another Back to the Future movie?
“Sure, but I’ll play Doc this time.”

Michael J. Fox, Our Big-Time Hero

<img decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-219" title="feetscale" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/feetscale.jpg" alt="" width="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/feetscale.jpg 425w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/feetscale-300x199.jpg 300w" sizes="(max-width: 425px) 100vw, 425px" />
Besides height and weight, can you guess what feature is most strongly correlated with body mass index (BMI)? Over the next few months, we’ll be testing your knowledge of some of the most interesting associations we’re seeing in the 23andMe database. Guess right, and you could win cool prizes, including gift cards and 23andMe schwag! Then come back the next week to learn the answers and see who won.
This quiz is now closed. Read on to learn more about how we find these associations! 
 
What can we discover?
23andMe helps its customers connect with the latest research on correlations between genetic variations and health conditions and traits. These genetic variations could be pieces of the puzzle explaining why some people develop, say, type 2 diabetes, or why some people have curly hair.
With the help of our customers we’ve also made new discoveries of genetic associations for things like smelling the asparagus when you pee, Parkinson’s disease, and hypothyroidism. But you can explore correlations between practically anything, and 23andMe’s database, which so far has more than 150,000 genotyped customers contributing more than 40 million answers on hundreds of different topics, is a uniquely powerful platform for discovery.
What’s in a correlation?
<div style="border: 1px solid #ccc; width: 315px; padding: 10px; margin-left: 15px; background-color: #eee; font-size: 11px; float: right;">
Does correlation imply causation?
No. Correlation sometimes points to causes &#8212; cigarette smoke contributing directly to lung cancer is a common example &#8212; but it can often be due to some other underlying factor. For example, owning a house may be correlated with lower risk of type 2 diabetes*, but this doesn’t mean that home ownership protects you from having the disease. Instead, it could be that some other factor, such as higher socioeconomic status, makes it more likely that someone is able to buy a house as well as eat a healthier diet, which helps lower one’s risk for type 2 diabetes.
To avoid these sorts of “phantom” associations, researchers often add include demographic or other factors in their analyses to see if those factors explain away the findings. This is usually referred to as “controlling for” various factors.
* fictitious example
</div>
When we search for correlations, we’re looking to see whether there’s a relationship between two different variables, such as smoking and lung cancer. Sometimes we might investigate the relationship between two specific things, but often researchers will look at many different variables to see if any of them are correlated with the outcome of interest. In genetic associations, most studies routinely look at thousands or millions of genetic variants to find correlations with a trait or disease.
When we do this, we are essentially testing many different hypotheses at once. Each variable that you investigate gives you another chance to find a correlation, but if you find one, is it because it’s a real correlation, or simply because you looked at so many variables that one of them just happened to work? We can calculate statistics to measure how likely it is for a finding to be due to chance (also called “statistical significance”), and adjust these statistics based on how many different things we’re testing. After all that’s said and done, the less likely it is that a finding is due to chance, the more likely it is to represent a real association.
More than genetics
Because 23andMe looks at numerous traits as well as genetics, we can explore not just whether genetic factors are correlated with traits, but whether different traits are correlated with each other. For example, we’ve tested BMI against approximately 1000 different traits, habits, and conditions reported by our customers. What we found might surprise you&#8230;
<a title="Quiz Answers: Traits Associated With BMI" href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/bmi-quiz-answers/">Check out this post to see what we discovered!</a>

What Do Diet and Personality Have to Do With BMI?

If you were facing a daunting diagnosis you would want the news to come from someone like Dr. J. William Langston.
Engaged and intelligent, he has the kind of optimism you don’t expect from a physician who has spent decades working to unravel the complexities of Parkinson’s disease.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-12362 size-medium" title="Langston" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Langston-253x300.jpg" alt="" width="253" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Langston-253x300.jpg 253w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Langston-741x880.jpg 741w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Langston.jpg 750w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 253px) 100vw, 253px" />
“Things have changed dramatically in that time,” Dr. Langston says, his eyes squinting as he smiles. “There is a lot to be optimistic about.”
Some of those changes are because of the work he’s done. As the Scientific Director, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the<a href="http://www.thepi.org/"> Parkinson’s Institute</a>, Dr. Langston was recently singled out for his work and awarded the 2012 Robert A. Pritzker Prize for Leadership in Parkinson&#8217;s Research.
After picking up the award in New York, Langston, who also serves on 23andMe’s Parkinson’s Research Community<a href="https://www.23andme.com/pd/#section4"> Scientific Advisory Board</a>, stopped by our office to talk about the state of the science of Parkinson’s and share a little about his career in the process.
In a way, Langston is already the doctor for anyone with Parkinson’s – his contributions to research, treatment and diagnosis of the disease are that important. And those contributions started almost 30 years ago with the famous case of the “Frozen Addicts.”  This fascinating medical mystery, solved by Dr. Langston, involved a handful young people who in a matter of days became debilitated with advanced Parkinson’s symptoms that would normally have taken a patient decades to develop. Langston found that they were all linked to the same batch of synthetic heroin, contaminated with<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MPTP"> MPTP</a>, a neurotoxin that “lasers like a Nike missile on the same nerve cells in the brain that die in Parkinson’s,<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substantia_nigra"> (in the) substantia nigra</a>,” Dr. Langston said.
“That really revolutionized research because it gave us a model and a way to study neurological cell death in Parkinson’s,” he said.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-11373" title="researchrevolution-fist" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/researchrevolution-fist-173x300.jpg" alt="" width="173" height="300" />
That work led Langston to found the Parkinson’s Institute, a place where basic research, clinical research and patient care could be done side-by-side. He believes it gives context and perspective for his researchers.
“Anyone working on this disease will feel a sense of urgency, because they see it,” Dr. Langston said.
And in the last 30 years the work has helped produce some of the insights that have significantly changed outcomes for people with Parkinson’s.
Doctors have changed how they use drugs to treat the disease. For a time the problem wasn’t so much that the drugs didn’t work but that side effects would build up to the point where doses would have to be lowered right at the time when they were needed most. Now, doctors are getting much better at calibrating the use of medicine and managing the symptoms of Parkinson’s.
While there have been great leaps in understanding of the disease, insight into its progression and avenues for research into a cure, Dr. Langston pointed out that simply diagnosing Parkinson’s early enough – when symptoms are largely benign – and then using medication to halt or drastically slow its progression, would be a great success. Here he felt researchers are very close.
“Already we are on the cusp of bringing out new drugs that work against these side effects and if you put that together with an early diagnosis, you are looking at really managing the disease and giving people a good life,” said Dr. Langston. “Because those early symptoms are so mild, if you get in there and halt it at that point that’s almost as good as a cure.”
This, in part, is why finding the early indicators of the disease is so important. 
When he first started his association with 23andMe, he would get questions from those who wondered why you would want to know if you had a genetic risk for Parkinson’s.
“I hear that less and less I think because 23andMe is helping to change that,” he said. “People see value in it. Knowledge is power. The more you know and understand the more you can do.”
Beyond looking at genetics there are other early indicators. His team is looking at things like autonomic innervation of the heart and REM sleep patterns, or loss of the sense of smell as early indicators for the disease.
“It’s a major focus of the research to find the markers before you have any disability,” he said. “We’re hoping that 23andMe will be part of this effort to find the tools where we can pick this up.”
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12363" title="Pritzker-photo" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pritzker-photo-254x300.jpg" alt="" width="254" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pritzker-photo-254x300.jpg 254w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pritzker-photo-768x906.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pritzker-photo-868x1024.jpg 868w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pritzker-photo-746x880.jpg 746w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pritzker-photo-1000x1180.jpg 1000w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Pritzker-photo.jpg 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 254px) 100vw, 254px" />
But of course, Dr. Langston isn’t satisfied with merely managing the symptoms of the disease; he’d like to cure it. Here, too, he is very optimistic saying what we are so much closer in understanding the underlying causes and pathways for the disease. We are seeing more and more the interrelationship between genetic and environmental factors in the disease, “this notion that your genetics loads the gun and the environment pulls the trigger,” said Dr. Langston.
But even in cases where genetics isn’t involved, genetics research provides great benefit, he said.
“It’s not at all unusual that a rare genetic form turns out to be hugely informative for the common sporadic form of the diseases – we’ve seen this with Alzheimer’s,” said Dr. Langston. “ Each of these new genetic variants, some of which are incredibly rare, have led us to a new protein and that protein leads us to a pathway and that pathway is obviously leading to cell death and Parkinson’s.”
Langston said many of these pathways intersect with mitochondria, the energy packet of cells, and offer giant clues for research into sporadic forms of Parkinson’s.
He sees great promise for what is being done in 23andMe’s Parkinson’s Research Community.
“That is the future, it really is,” he said. “You’ve got the questionnaires and the genetics. I mean most people with PD can tell you if they or someone in their family smoke, but they can’t tell you their genetics. Nobody can unless they’re signed up with 23andMe. Maybe someday everybody will know that, but we’re not there yet. That would be very transformative.”

A Leader in Parkinson’s Research

Today’s post explains what “Sharing Genomes” means at 23andMe, describes several points to consider when sharing, and introduces some exciting new developments in sharing at 23andMe.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-7846 size-medium" title="snp-people" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/snp-people-300x226.png" alt="" width="300" height="226" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/snp-people-300x226.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/snp-people.png 608w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
23andMe has revolutionized how people think about DNA. What used to be hidden inside heavy textbooks can now be the subject of cocktail conversation. It’s not just because our unique <a href="https://www.23andme.com">Personal Genome Service</a> ® gives people a chance to explore their own DNA — it’s also because 23andMe represents the first genetics-based social network.
<h6>By “sharing” your genome with other 23andMe customers, you can trace shared ancestry, get a glimpse of the diversity in different people’s genetics, or simply brag about how you’re more Neanderthal than your friends. Through 23andMe you can share a little bit or a lot, or not at all &#8212; it’s up to you. 
 
What can I share at 23andMe?</h6>
<div style="width: 280px; background-color: #eee; border: 1px solid #ccc; margin-left: 15px; padding: 10px; float: right;">Currently, the option without Health reports is called “Basic” sharing on the site, and the option with Health reports is called “Extended” sharing. Within the next two weeks, we plan to relabel these options as follows:
<ul>
<li>&#8220;Basic Sharing&#8221; will be &#8220;Sharing, without health reports&#8221;</li>
<li>&#8220;Extended Sharing&#8221; will be &#8220;Sharing, with health reports&#8221;</li>
</ul>
We want everyone to understand how sharing works at 23andMe and these new labels more clearly describe the distinction between the two options.
</div>
At 23andMe, all customers have the option to share genetic results with others by “<a href="https://www.23andme.com/user/profile/sharing/">Sharing Genomes</a>.”
Sharing genomes always allows you to see each other’s results for ancestry features including Maternal and Paternal Lines, Ancestry Painting, and Global Similarity. You can also use the Compare Genes feature to see how genetically similar you are, and the Family Inheritance feature to see which segments of DNA you might share.
Optionally, you may also choose to see each other’s results for most Health reports.
Currently there is no way to directly view or download each other’s raw genetic data or results for Health reports that require an opt-in. These include BRCA Cancer Mutations (Selected), Parkinson’s Disease, and Alzheimer’s Disease.
<h6>What should I consider before sharing at 23andMe? 
</h6>
The vast majority of things we learn by sharing with others at 23andMe are interesting and positive experiences. For many customers, the ability to compare DNA with friends, close family, and distant cousins is one of the most useful and rewarding aspects of this service. 
However, there are some aspects of sharing that you should be aware of. Within two weeks, we plan to expand our descriptions of sharing throughout the site to address these aspects more fully.
First, some of the information that you directly share can be sensitive, including ancestral origins, family relationships, and health risks. Some people are very comfortable sharing this kind of information, some are not &#8212; it’s a personal choice, and the system allows you to be flexible.
Second, some features, like Compare Genes and Family Inheritance: Advanced, allow you to compare DNA between two people you’re sharing with. Similarly, your shares may compare your DNA with that of people they’re sharing with. This aspect of sharing allows customers to compare people to each other and opens up new genealogical vistas by allowing customers to find evidence of family relationships. These new-found family relationships can be unexpected and sometimes upsetting, but more often they are exciting pieces of a genealogical puzzle.
Third, there is some chance that someone you’re sharing with could learn something about you that you didn’t directly share. For example, if you and someone you’re sharing with have a matching segment of DNA that overlaps a health-associated gene, you might infer something about their genotype on the basis of your own, or vice versa. The one way to be absolutely sure that health information about you is not learned in this way is to abstain from sharing entirely. However, it takes substantial effort to learn things like this.
If you’re unsure, we recommend sharing with people you’re comfortable with. Sharing allows you to use more of the features on the website and adds a new dimension to what you can learn about yourself and your family. Many customers share openly with each other and have only benefited from the experience. As you learn more about genetics and develop a finer sense of the issues involved, you might begin to share more openly yourself.
<h6>New developments in sharing at 23andMe 
</h6>
Today we&#8217;d like to announce a few exciting sharing-related changes coming to some popular 23andMe Labs. Previously in <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/labs/multi_ibd/">Family Inheritance: Advanced</a>, you could only run comparisons between your shares and close family members. Now, you’ll be able to compare any two of your shares. In Ancestry Finder, you&#8217;ll now be able to view the results for any of your shares.
These changes are expected to go into effect within the next two weeks. We are adding this time period to allow customers to absorb and adjust preferences in advance of the changes. If you’re not comfortable with these capabilities, sharing might not be for you. For others, we hope that these changes enhance your experience at 23andMe and speed genealogical research. Sharing and comparing makes your genetics that much more interesting, and we encourage everyone to share at whatever level they wish.
If you have questions or concerns you’d prefer not to post, please send them to sharing-feedback@23andme.com.

Understanding Sharing at 23andMe

As the series <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.</a> begins its 10-week run on PBS, The Blog will feature posts from 23andMe’s Ancestry Ambassadors featuring their own stories about using DNA to dig into ancestry.
By Andrea Badger
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12315" title="Andrea's Tree" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Tree-226x300.jpg" alt="" width="226" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Tree-226x300.jpg 226w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Tree.jpg 442w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px" />
There has been a legend in my family, passed down from generation to generation, about my third great-grandfather Nathaniel Lewis. According to family folklore, his name wasn’t originally Nathaniel Lewis, but rather, Nathaniel Levi. As the story goes, our Lewis ancestors were Jewish people who converted to Christianity and changed their name from Levi to Lewis.
I had always wondered if this family story was really true. Everyone in our family has been told this legend but no one really had any conclusive evidence — just small clues. My grandmother and her siblings remember their mother singing Jewish songs to them as children. We also have an old newspaper article about our ancestor that states in passing ‘Nathaniel Lewis has lived in Scotland for many years but has no Scot’s blood’. Many of my relatives have speculated that this statement reveals that although Nathaniel was of Scottish nationality, he had a different ancestral background — Ashkenazi Jewish. However, conclusive evidence about this hypothesis was lacking until I joined 23andMe.

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12316" title="Andrea's Community Response" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Community-Response-300x249.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="249" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Community-Response-300x249.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-Community-Response.jpg 368w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
When I first joined 23andMe in 2009, Relative Finder was just being introduced and the Ancestry Finder feature did not yet exist. As I corresponded with my Relative Finder matches, I noticed that many of my potential relatives said that they were of Ashkenazi Jewish descent. I wondered if this high number of Jewish Relative Finder matches was typical for someone with Northern European ancestry, so I turned to the 23andMe community for help and posted my questions on the community forums. I communicated with fellow 23andMe users and quickly realized that my genetic profile wasn’t typical for someone without any Jewish background. Instead, my DNA confirmed the old family story and indicated that it was highly likely that I do have Jewish ancestry.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-12318" title="Andrea's GAunt and Uncle Ancestry Finder" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-300x164.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="164" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-300x164.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-271x149.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder-372x204.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Andreas-GAunt-and-Uncle-Ancestry-Finder.jpg 469w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Here is my Ancestry Finder, with the settings focusing on the Ashkenazi Jewish segments. The blue spots are regions where a 23andMe customer shares a segment of DNA with me AND has stated that he or she has Jewish ancestors.
I decided to get my great-aunt &amp; great-uncle from that side of the family tested to see if they also had <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/ashkenazi-ancestry-and-health">evidence of Ashkenazi Jewish</a> admixture. Around this time, Ancestry Finder, which has a specific section dedicated to Jewish ancestry, was introduced. This feature was also beneficial in my quest.
As I expected, my great-aunt &amp; great-uncle also showed significant Jewish ancestry — more than I have, because they are two generations closer to our Jewish ancestor than I am.
Thanks to DNA testing, we have clear evidence of a Jewish ancestor in our past for the first time. Without 23andMe, I might never have known if there was any truth to this family legend. Why did the Lewis family feel the need to convert from Judaism to Christianity and change their name? I am actively searching to uncover this information, but much of Nathaniel Lewis’s life story has likely been lost to history. However, his DNA lives on in his descendants and provides clues about his background. Often, when traditional genealogy methods fail, you can turn to DNA to uncover more about your ancestral heritage. You never know what sort of surprises can be uncovered!
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-12325" title="andrea 23andMe pic" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/andrea-23andMe-pic-372x372.jpg 372w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
When she is not performing genetic comparisons on Family Inheritance Advanced or answering questions on the 23andMe community forums, Andrea Badger attends college at the University of Washington and will be receiving two bachelor’s degrees in June of this year. She writes the genetic genealogy blog at www.andreasancestors.com.

Finding a Family’s Jewish Ancestry

23andMe celebrates genetic diversity but today we’d like to <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/?p=12218">celebrate</a> our genetic similarities &#8212; to other organisms.  You are no rabbit or chicken (or, if you are, you are a truly impressive rabbit or chicken to be reading this blog). Rather, your DNA contains all the instructions for making you human. All humans have essentially the same set of genes, but you actually share many of these genes with other animals and even plants.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-12225 size-full" title="FractionThatYouShareFinal" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/FractionThatYouShareFinal.jpg" alt="" width="1422" height="1044" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/FractionThatYouShareFinal.jpg 1422w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/FractionThatYouShareFinal-300x220.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/FractionThatYouShareFinal-768x564.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/FractionThatYouShareFinal-1024x752.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/FractionThatYouShareFinal-880x646.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/FractionThatYouShareFinal-1180x866.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1422px) 100vw, 1422px" />
 
Chimpanzees, our closest living animal cousins share 98% of our human genes, meaning that for 98% of our genes, there is a similar gene in the chimpanzee genome. Even mammals that look quite different from us share a large percentage of our genes; small and furry mice share 92% our genes.
<div style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 5px; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 15px; width: 200px; float: right; margin-left: 15px;">
<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" />See how genetically similar you are to other people using the Compare Genes feature or see how much DNA you share with <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/labs/neanderthal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Neanderthals</a> in your 23andMe account.
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>.
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Non-mammals share a smaller, but still appreciable, percentage of our genes.  Fruit flies, for instance, have their own version of approximately 44% our human genes. Many of these genes influence growth and structure in both mammals and insects. More distantly related is yeast, the one-celled organism much loved by bakers and brewers alike. Yeast share about a quarter of our genes, many of which are necessary for basic cell functions.  Plants, too, share many genes with humans; one type of weed was estimated to share 18% of our genes.
DNA is what makes us unique as individuals and as the human species, and yet DNA also illustrates how connected we are to all other living organisms. Now that’s something to celebrate!
The concept for today’s post was suggested by a 23andMe customer.  The percentages presented above can be found at the Marian Koshland Science Museum of the National Academy of Science website.

Genetic Similarities of Mice and Men

We at 23andMe have a special place in our hearts for today, <a href="https://www.genome.gov/10506367" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National DNA Day</a>.
There are many ways to celebrate this special science holiday, ranging from making DNA-themed bracelets to constructing helical origami, but we think one of the best ways is to learn something new about DNA and, in the process, yourself.  
We already help people understand more about human genetics through our “<a href="https://www.23andme.com/gen101/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Genetics 101</a>” resources, but there is always more to learn.  That’s why <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/press/khan_academy">we’re teaming up with the Khan Academy</a> to bring genetics education to a bigger audience.
In addition, 23andMe partners with high schools, colleges, and universities to improve understanding of genetic information and to foster a dialogue about personalized medicine. We offer several resources for academic classes with a focus on genetics, medicine, human biology, anthropology, or bioethics, including significantly reduced rates on our Personal Genome Service ®.
You can learn more about 23andMe’s academic program at www.23andme.com/academic/.
DNA day is not just about learning more science &#8212; it is about learning more about yourself. Your genetic code is as complex and fascinating as you are.  
Go ahead and <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">take a look</a> — it is time to celebrate DNA and time to celebrate <a href="https://www.23andme.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">you</a>!
<div style="background-color: #ffc; padding: 10px; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 15px; border: 1px solid #ccc;">They say a picture is worth a thousand words &#8212; Check back later today for an  <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/2012/04/20/genetic-similarities-of-mice-and-men/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">image</a> that illustrates our genetic similarities to other organisms.  Learn more about DNA today!</div>
<div style="background-color: #eee; padding: 10px; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 15px; border: 1px solid #ccc;">23andMe is not offering any promotional pricing for DNA Day this year. We are celebrating DNA Day this year instead by focusing on educational opportunities.</div>

Latest Posts — Page 155