Surging interest in consumer DNA testing has pushed far ahead of physicians&#8217; relevant training and knowledge of genetics, and this, in turn, limits their ability to engage with patients who have done genetic testing.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-27700 size-medium" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-300x169.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-768x432.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-880x495.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results.jpg 1365w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
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But a new study found that when physicians undergo direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests themselves, the process boosts their interest, confidence, and comfort with this type of genetic testing, offering new opportunities to engage with their patients.

<h6>Learning More about 23andMe</h6>
The <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6617198/">national study</a>, done by researchers at <a href="https://precisionmedicine.duke.edu/">Duke University&#8217;s Center for Applied Genomics</a> and Precision Medicine and at <a href="https://medical.23andme.com/">23andMe</a>, included the evaluation of attitudes and knowledge of primary care physicians before and after they themselves underwent DNA testing with 23andMe&#8217;s Health + Ancestry Service. 
Most of the 130 doctors who participated in the survey said they wanted to learn more about consumer genetic testing, gain a better understanding of the clinical utility and application of genetic testing, and use that information to better counsel their patients. 
<h6>Perceptions and Understanding </h6>
The study allowed researchers to gauge how testing might change their familiarity with genetic concepts, personal genetic testing, and the role that genetics plays in the risk for common diseases.
 
&#8220;We found that doctors&#8217; understanding and perceptions of DTC genetic testing changed significantly after testing,&#8221; said 23andMe&#8217;s lead on medical outreach Esther Kim, PharmD, who was also a co-author of the paper.
<h6>The Impact of Testing </h6>
Before testing, only about a quarter of the primary care physicians surveyed said they were comfortable discussing genetics or genetic risks. After using the service this changed significantly. Almost 60 percent felt more confident with such discussions after undergoing testing. A majority of physicians also said they thought testing could be used to motivate healthy behavior and prompt their patients to make healthy behavior changes.
 
In the survey of primary care physicians, the study found that along with motivating a healthy lifestyle, about 70 percent of physicians also thought testing would help with early detection of adult-onset inherited diseases, and incentivize patients to actively participate in their healthcare. Those numbers were the same both before and after testing.
<h6> Medical Education </h6>
The study appears to validate work that 23andMe&#8217;s <a href="https://medical.23andme.com/medical-education-at-23andme/">Medical Education</a> team has been doing for several years now, offering training and other <a href="https://medical.23andme.com/resources/">resources</a> to physicians incorporating direct-to-consumer testing into patient care. 
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“Much of our medical education efforts are geared towards creating resources and activities so healthcare professionals can effectively answer their patients’ questions about consumer genetics,” said 23andMe&#8217;s Anne Greb, MS, CGC, one of 23andMe&#8217;s genetic counselors and lead on 23andMe&#8217;s <a href="https://medical.23andme.com/medical-team/">Medical Education team</a>. “To build on the results of this Duke study, we are developing an online medical genetics course, to help physicians integrate this kind of information into patient care.” 
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About 30 percent of those who&#8217;ve tested share their information with their healthcare providers, according to some estimates, making this training a vital tool for primary care physicians.
 
&#8220;For many physicians opportunities to engage with and learn about genomic medicine is limited,&#8221; said Dr. Kim. &#8220;So finding effective strategies like this to experience consumer genetics firsthand can help them to stay current on the evolving genetic testing landscape and prepare for conversations with their patients.&#8221;
 
Find an abstract of the study in the journal <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/9/2/29">Genomic Medicine and Policy</a>.
 
 
  
 
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A photo of a doctor showing a patient information on a digital tablet.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

A Study on Physicians’ Knowledge of Consumer Genetic Testing

By Kathy Hibbs, 23andMe’s Chief Legal and Regulatory Officer<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/23andMe_Logo-1-e1521068586138-300x198.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25534" width="300" height="198" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/23andMe_Logo-1-e1521068586138-300x198.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/23andMe_Logo-1-e1521068586138-768x507.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/23andMe_Logo-1-e1521068586138.jpg 800w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
A Florida judge recently issued a warrant granting law enforcement access to search the database of GEDmatch, a small publicly accessible DNA and genealogy research site. Allowing law enforcement access to GEDmatch’s nearly one million users should trouble anyone who values people’s right to privacy.
It certainly troubles us here at 23andMe. 
Perhaps just as disturbing is GEDmatch’s apparent lack of scrutiny and challenge of the validity of the warrant issued. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/05/business/dna-database-search-warrant.html">According to reporting by the New York Times</a>, the company opened up its database to law enforcement within 24 hours of the judge&#8217;s decision. Given this timing, it does not appear that GEDmatch exhausted all legal avenues to challenge the warrant. In contrast, if we had received a warrant, we would use every legal remedy possible. And to be clear, because our database is and always has been private, we don’t believe that this decision impacts 23andMe. 
In our 13 year history, 23andMe has never turned over any customer data to law enforcement or any other government agency. Protecting the security and privacy of our customers’ information is at the core of what we do as a business. Unfortunately, not all businesses adhere to these same principles. That is in part why we warn our customers about uploading their genetic data to third-party, public websites like GEDmatch.
It is also why 23andMe was the first consumer genetics company to openly publish a <a href="https://www.23andme.com/transparency-report/">Transparency Report</a>, which details the number of government requests we’ve received for customer data. To date, we’ve received seven requests for data from 10 of our 10 million customers and we’ve successfully challenged each one. In addition, we aligned with the non-profit organization<a href="https://fpf.org/about/"> Future of Privacy Forum</a> and other leading personal genetic testing companies to create <a href="https://fpf.org/2018/07/31/privacy-best-practices-for-consumer-genetic-testing-services/">best practice industry guidelines</a> to support the industry as a whole in protecting consumer privacy.
All of us have a certain expectation of privacy. In the United States, the <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/fourth_amendment">Fourth Amendment</a> is meant to protect people&#8217;s right to privacy and freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. 
23andMe believes that people’s right to privacy is worth fighting for. Learn more about our privacy policies <a href="https://www.23andme.com/privacy/">here</a>.
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Our stance on protecting customers’ data 

By Lisa Altmann
23andMe changed my life in ways I never imagined.   It gave me the tools to find “my truth” and my unexpected yet amazing origin story.  
<div id="attachment_27663" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27663" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190724_113949-300x225.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-27663 size-medium" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190724_113949-300x225.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190724_113949-768x576.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190724_113949-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190724_113949-880x660.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190724_113949-1180x885.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Lisa on a trip to Italy.</div>
I’ve always been overly curious. As a child, I would drive my parents nuts asking about anything and everything, including questions about our ancestors. I wanted to know where we came from but my parents had very little information to share with me.
I knew that their families had escaped Jewish persecution in Poland and Russia. They’d survived hardships, and immigrated to America through Ellis Island. I took a lot of pride in those Jewish roots. I was very close with my small but close-knit family but I wanted to know more about our ancestors.   
Then last year, at the age of 48, I took a 23andMe DNA test to discover more about my Polish and Russian roots. At first, my results confused me. Then, as the reality of what those results meant settled in, the truth turned my world upside down.
<h6>Unexpected Results</h6>
It turns out I do not have Russian, or Polish, or Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. I’m Italian and Croatian.
Harder for me to handle is that I’m not biologically related to my parents or my two brothers, all of whom I love very much. That was a hard truth, but it was my truth. It is something that I am learning to accept with an open heart and gratitude.
I’m writing this because I hope it might help and comfort others in similar situations.  I wouldn&#8217;t change anything about using 23andMe, but anyone considering DNA testing should consider the possibility that they too might discover something unexpected and life-changing.  
Our DNA offers a way to discover more about what makes us unique, and those revelations can be exhilarating. But sometimes an unexpected result can have profound implications for both you and your family. 23andMe does a good job of letting you know about these possibilities both before you use the test and before you consent to participate in DNA Relatives, 23andMe’s featured to connect you with other customers with whom you share DNA. It’s essential to think of how a surprising result might impact your life as it did mine.

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				Lisa and her mom.
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				Lisa and her dad.
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<h6>Asking the Hard Questions</h6>
Talking to my parents about my results was the hardest conversation I’ve ever had in my entire life. I will never forget the conversation. It still rings in my ears as I could feel the fear in my dad’s voice as he was anticipating the big question. After nervously explaining my DNA results and research, I finally threw out the big question, “Was I adopted?” 
A storm of emotions engulfed my mom and dad when I asked that question. It hit them like a force of nature. I felt guilty for even asking. My parents are older now and more fragile, but I needed to know the truth, my truth. They both struggled to answer. As my mom cried in the background, my father said to me, “What does it matter? We love you, and you are our daughter.”
<h6>Nature and Nurture </h6>
He had a point. 
My parents had chosen me, raised me, and poured their love into me. They still love me deeply. They never made me feel anything but loved. I was their “first child” and the only girl in my family. I remember always feeling adored by my entire family. They’d encouraged my big personality to entertain them all with dance routines, singing, and comedy acts. I felt loved and cherished by my parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles. This never changed even when my two younger brothers came into the picture. I would always be their daughter. 
<div id="attachment_27662" style="width: 235px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27662" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_2607-3-e1572296660409-225x300.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-27662 size-medium" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_2607-3-e1572296660409-225x300.jpeg 225w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_2607-3-e1572296660409-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_2607-3-e1572296660409-660x880.jpeg 660w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_2607-3-e1572296660409-885x1180.jpeg 885w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_2607-3-e1572296660409-scaled.jpeg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />Lisa and her husband Jack.</div>
But the truth was that I had a biological mother who I later learned was still alive. I had a lineage that traced back to a small town in Southern Italy. I shared traits, <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">physical features</a>, and DNA with biological relatives I had yet to meet. All of that mattered too.
<h6>An Adoptees Search  </h6>
Learning that you are adopted, especially learning that truth in mid-life, can be disorienting. I’m not sure how I would have handled it if I learned this when I was younger. Learning this now meant I was emotionally mature enough to navigate through all the emotions that came with this discovery. 
I leaned on my core of special people like my amazing husband Jack, my wonderful brother Paul and his family, and my dear friend Claire, who helped me work through what it all meant. Many times when I share my story people ask if I am angry with my parents for not telling me I was adopted.  Anger is never an emotion that crossed my mind. I was shocked by my adoption. I was surprised. But more than anything, the emotions that welled up in me were of gratitude toward my loving parents. I feel thankful for the amazing life they have given me. I know without a doubt everything they’ve done has been with tremendous love, sacrifice and the best intentions for all of their children.
<h6>Finding My Roots</h6>
I am my parent’s daughter, but I learned that another woman had given birth to me.
I wanted to know more about my birth mother, and what part of her was in me. I’ve heard others talk about nature versus nurture. It isn’t one or the other. Yes, the parents that raised me made me who I am. But my genetics also play a role. Understanding that part of me is helping me understand more about who I am. 
<div id="attachment_27667" style="width: 235px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27667" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190730_092016-225x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-27667 size-medium" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190730_092016-225x300.jpg 225w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190730_092016-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190730_092016-660x880.jpg 660w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190730_092016-885x1180.jpg 885w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_20190730_092016-scaled.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />Looking at records of in the village of Castelpagano, where Lisa&#8217;s Great Grandfather Michael was born.</div>
After I learned I was adopted I wanted to know who my birth mom was. I wanted to know whether we look alike or have similar personalities. I eventually found her with the help of an amazing genealogist named Linda Doyle who specialized in working with adoptees and DNA results. I went through the emotional process of writing a “Dear Mom” letter. In it, I told her about my life. I said I didn’t hold any anger or resentment toward her.  
<h6>A Better Life </h6>
My birth Mom called me in tears after receiving the letter. We talked for five hours. I learned about her, and her family. I found out we share some personality traits. And I learned of my biological family’s connection to Italy. I felt like we’d known each other my entire life. It gave me a better understanding of myself. It gave me tremendous peace. And yet, I also know that her decision saved me from the chaos of the life that would have been mine if I’d hadn’t been adopted. She gave me a better life by giving me up.
My birth mom was young and single and didn’t have the means to raise a child on her own. Her father died when she was 9. Her mom had been ill her entire life. She was 23.
My parents, who were having trouble conceiving, were told about a young woman in New York City desperately wanting a good family and a better life for her baby.  My mom and dad took me home to Washington D.C. where I was raised. My parents were eventually able to get pregnant and had two more children, my brothers. 
<div id="attachment_27659" style="width: 235px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27659" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_0890-2-e1572297208331-225x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-27659 size-medium" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_0890-2-e1572297208331-225x300.jpg 225w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_0890-2-e1572297208331-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_0890-2-e1572297208331-660x880.jpg 660w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_0890-2-e1572297208331-885x1180.jpg 885w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/IMG_0890-2-e1572297208331-scaled.jpg 1920w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />A photo of the village of Castelpagano in southern Italy. &#8220;My heart is full whenever I look at them,&#8221; Lisa said of the photos from the village.</div>
<h6>Loving My Family and Those Who Came Before </h6>
No one ever knew I was adopted. Now they do, but it doesn’t change that this is my family.
Revealing this secret was hard and at times painful. Despite that, it’s given me incredible insight. My husband and I, along with my brother and his family have traveled to Italy. I was able to visit the town near Naples where my ancestors came from. I got to see my biological great grandfather’s childhood home. I went to his church where I was shown family baptismal records going back centuries. It brought me to tears. 
It felt like coming home. I’ve learned so much about myself on this journey, but also about the people who loved me and came before me. 
 23andMe gave me so much knowledge, understanding, and truth, right when I needed it most. Although the process has not been easy, it has brought joy, peace, gratitude and a lot of love into my life. 
I hope to help and support others in their adoption discovery process as I learned so much from mine. There is beauty in our ancestral truths even when those truths change how we see the world and ourselves.
 
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This is My Truth, A Customer’s Point of View

Last week at the annual conference of the<a href="https://www.ashg.org/2019meeting/"> American Society of Human Genetics</a>, 23andMe researchers presented one of the first and largest, broad-scale investigations using genetics to look at the human impact of the transatlantic slave trade.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-27636 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/iStock-495856669-300x224.jpg" alt="An early map showing West Africa and ports from which enslaved Africans were taken." width="300" height="224" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/iStock-495856669-300x224.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/iStock-495856669-768x575.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/iStock-495856669-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/iStock-495856669-880x659.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/iStock-495856669-1180x883.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/iStock-495856669.jpg 1184w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<a href="https://eventpilotadmin.com/web/page.php?page=IntHtml&amp;project=ASHG19&amp;id=1922001">The research</a> uses genetic connections to Africans found in people living today in the Americas to help bridge the gap in the historical record of the enslavement of Africans. Written records of that history are incomplete. While there are detailed shipping manifests that document the movement of slaves from Africa to various ports in the Americas going back to the early 1500s, there is very little in the way of written records of what happened once they arrived. Beyond that, there is almost no documentation of the illegal slave trade that thrived during much of that time.

<h6>Bridging Genetic Data and Historical Records</h6>
The research, presented by Steven Micheletti, Ph.D., a 23andMe population geneticist, offers more details regarding the genetic links between people from different regions of the Americas and people from across Atlantic Africa. The data illustrates how to this day we can see the differences in African ancestry among people of African descent living in different regions of the Americas and how the genetic data closely matches what is known from shipping manifests.
The team used data from more than 50,000 23andMe customers who consented to participate in research and had four grandparents with roots across the Americas and Africa, including participants in<a href="https://www.23andme.com/africa-project/"> 23andMe’s African Genetics Project</a>. The study reveals more clearly how the different eras of the slave trade are reflected in the DNA of populations within the Americas.
By using a method for dating the genetic connections between Africa and the Americas, the researchers were able to see that the most recent African ancestry in the Americas traces back to West Central Africa, while the oldest African ancestry traces back to the Windward Coast of Africa and Senegambia. This timing matches the<a href="https://www.slavevoyages.org/voyage/database"> historical record of the slave trade</a>.
<div id="attachment_27639" style="width: 890px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27639" class="wp-image-27639 size-larger" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/slave-trade-by-volume-880x562.jpg" alt="A map created by David Eltis and David Richardson showing the movements of enslaved people from various locations in Africa and where and in what numbers to locations in the Americas." width="880" height="562" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/slave-trade-by-volume-880x562.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/slave-trade-by-volume-300x192.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/slave-trade-by-volume-768x491.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/slave-trade-by-volume.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 880px) 100vw, 880px" />Source: David Eltis and David Richardson, Atlas of the Transatlantic Slave Trade (New Haven, 2010), reproduced with the permission of Yale University Press.</div>
<h6>Anniversary of the First Slaves to North America</h6>
23andMe’s research discoveries come on the 400 year anniversary since the first Africans were forcibly brought and enslaved in the United States.
The first 20 African slaves were brought to<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/1619-america-slavery.html"> Point Comfort in Virginia in 1619</a>, a year before the pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock. Ultimately the transatlantic slave trade became the largest forced migration of people in all of human history, taking more than 12.5 million people from Africa towards ports in South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and North America. It is estimated that more than two million died in the holds of slave ships during the harrowing Middle Passage. Of those who survived the Middle Passage, from 3-to-5 percent ended up in North America. The remainder were taken to ports primarily in Central America, the Caribbean or South America.
Some of that history can be seen in the genetic data. For instance, the genetic data shows differences among people of African descent within the Americas. Those differences closely align with historical records that show where people from different regions in Africa were brought.
<h6>Africans in the Americas</h6>
For example, people in Brazil and some other regions of South America tend to have higher proportions of Congolese ancestry, while in Central America people have more Senegambian ancestry. Some of these differences across American regions are reflected
<div id="attachment_27640" style="width: 301px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27640" class="wp-image-27640 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Mean-Shared-291x300.png" alt="Graphs showing the mean shared Identity by Descent. " width="291" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Mean-Shared-291x300.png 291w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Mean-Shared.png 496w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 291px) 100vw, 291px" />Mean Shared Identity by Descent (IBD). a) The proportion of mean shared IBD (cM) between Africa regions and America regions. This is the estimated proportions of people from different regions in Africa who were taken to different regions in the Americas. P-values indicate significant correlations between proportion of IBD shared and disembarkments. b) Proportion of mean shared IBD (cM) between Europe regions and America regions.</div>
in the historical record of the slave trade. Some of the genetic trends may be a reflection of ports from which enslaved people were taken, and the shipping routes and destinations that changed over time. During the earliest waves of the slave trade, enslaved Africans were taken primarily from Senegambia and West Central Africa, or what is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Angola. Many of those ships landed in Brazil and the Caribbean. More recent waves of enslaved Africans were taken from ports in the Bights of Benin, West Central Africa, and, possibly, the Windward Coast as well.
<h6>Other Evidence in the DNA</h6>
In addition, the researchers found an African female and European male sex bias. This pattern, which other researchers have<a href="https://psmag.com/news/how-slavery-changed-the-dna-of-african-americans"> reported on previously</a>, reflects the ugly history of sexual exploitation and rape of enslaved women by their slave owners. It also likely reflects the nature of the slave trade itself that among other things included greater isolation of male slaves once they arrived in the Americas.
The new study enhances both our understanding of the history of the transatlantic slave trade and its lasting cultural implications for the Americas.
You can see all of 23andMe’s talks and posters presented at ASHG<a href="https://research.23andme.com/ashg19/"> here</a>.

The Genetic Impact of the Transatlantic Slave Trade

By Yunru Huang, Stella Aslibekyan, and Robert Gentleman*
Parenthood has its rewards, but a good night&#8217;s sleep isn&#8217;t one of them. 
According to a National Sleep Foundation (NSF) poll, 38 percent of parents reported less than the recommended 7 hours of sleep per night. Some even lost <a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.sleepfoundation.org/professionals/sleep-america-polls/2004-children-and-sleep" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">almost 200 hours of sleep per year due to their children&#8217;s</a> nighttime awakenings. Scientists examining sleep data from 23andMe research participants tested the hypothesis that parents, particularly single ones, sacrifice both sleep quality and duration for their offspring.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-27595 size-large" title="Parenthood and sleep" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Sleep-Image-1024x503.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="503" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Sleep-Image-1024x503.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Sleep-Image-300x147.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Sleep-Image-768x377.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Sleep-Image-880x432.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Sleep-Image-1180x580.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Sleep-Image.jpg 1461w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />

<h2>Measuring Sleep Quality 
</h2>
At the end of 2017, 23andMe launched the validated <a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2748771" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)</a> survey to study people’s sleep habits. The PSQI global score (0-21, higher is worse) is created by summing values on 7 subscores (each ranging from 0 to 3) representing different sleep aspects over the past month. 
A PSQI score above 5 indicates <a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0165178189900474?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">poor/bad overall sleep quality</a>, and sleep duration of less than 7 hours per 24-hour period means <a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.cdc.gov/sleep/data_statistics.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">insufficient sleep</a>. 
<h2>Parenthood</h2>
To ascertain our participants’ parenthood status, we asked, “How many children under 6 live in your house?” and “How many biological children do you have?” Our parent sample was restricted to participants who reported having at least one child under 6 in the house and/or one biological child. We additionally restricted our sample to people between 20 and 50, a <a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/american-women-are-having-babies-later-and-are-still-conflicted-about-it-2017-05-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">generation of potential parents with young children</a>. A total of 239,562 research participants with available sleep data were included in this study. 
<div id="attachment_27580" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27580" class="wp-image-27580 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-1-bad-sleep-quality-300x246.png" alt="" width="300" height="246" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-1-bad-sleep-quality-300x246.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-1-bad-sleep-quality.png 370w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Figure 1. Proportions of sleep quality and duration in 23andMe participants who were 20 &#8211; 50 years old; PSQI score of 5 or less indicates good sleep quality; At least 7 hours per 24-hour period indicates sufficient sleep duration; N= 239,562; There are four groups in this plot: 1) good sleep quality &amp; insufficient sleep duration: 8.4 percent 2) good sleep quality &amp; sufficient sleep duration: 37.8 percent 3) bad sleep quality &amp; sufficient sleep duration 20.4 percent 4) bad sleep quality &amp; insufficient duration: 33.4 percent.</div>
Approximately 42.2 percent of our participants reported sleeping less than 7 hours per night, and 53.8 percent experienced poor overall sleep quality assessed by PSQI.
Sufficient sleep duration also did not guarantee good sleep quality. Despite sleeping at least 7 hours a night, 20.4 percent of participants reported poor sleep quality. Moreover, 8.4 percent still reported sleeping well, albeit insufficiently long (Figure 1).
<h2>Moms and Dads and Sleep</h2>
Females had slightly longer self-reported sleep duration (Figure 2, right panel) and much worse overall sleep quality (Figure 2, left panel). Self-reported sleep duration decreased with age (Figure 2, right panel), although overall sleep quality became stable (Figure 2, left panel).
About half of our participants were parents. Perhaps unsurprisingly, we found that parents reported worse sleep. 
For example, 47.2 percent of parents reported having insufficient sleep, compared to only 36.9 percent of non-parents. After adjusting for the effects of age and sex, parents were 45 percent more likely to report inadequate sleep (odds ratio (OR): 1.45, 95 percent confidence interval (CI): 1.42-1.48) and 3 percent more likely to report poor overall sleep quality (OR: 1.03, 95 percent CI: 1.01-1.05) compared to those without kids.
<div id="attachment_27598" style="width: 963px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27598" class="wp-image-27598 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-2-Sleep-quality-and-duration-by-sex.001-1.jpg" alt="" width="953" height="369" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-2-Sleep-quality-and-duration-by-sex.001-1.jpg 953w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-2-Sleep-quality-and-duration-by-sex.001-1-300x116.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-2-Sleep-quality-and-duration-by-sex.001-1-768x297.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-2-Sleep-quality-and-duration-by-sex.001-1-880x341.jpg 880w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 953px) 100vw, 953px" />Figure 2. Sleep quality and duration by age (among 20 &#8211; 50 year olds) and sex in 23andMe participants. Sleep quality is measured by PSQI global scores (0-21), with higher scores indicating worse sleep; Sleep duration (0-16 hours) was self-reported per night. Due to computational limitations, we randomly selected 45,000 females and 45,000 males for these two plots.</div>
<h2>Sleep and Marital Status</h2>
In addition to the PSQI sleep survey and questions about parenthood, we asked participants about their marital status. The possible responses were “now married,” “widowed,” “divorced,” “separated,” or “never married.” Almost 88.9 percent of our 239,562 study participants responded to this question. 
Of the respondents, 40.2 percent were parents and answered “now married,” and we defined them as “married parents.” We classified 10.3 percent of respondents as “single parents;” they self-identified as “widowed,” “divorced,” “separated,” or “never married.” The rest were married couples (15.6 percent) or single people (33.8 percent) without children. 
The prevalence of bad sleep was even higher among single parents. 53.7 percent of single parents and 45.1 percent of married parents reported insufficient sleep duration. (Figure 3, left panel). After adjusting for age and sex, single parents were 44 percent more likely to report inadequate sleep duration than their married counterparts (OR: 1.44, 95 percent CI: 1.40-1.48). 
<div id="attachment_27599" style="width: 974px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27599" class="wp-image-27599 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-3-Sleep-time.001-1.jpg" alt="" width="964" height="478" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-3-Sleep-time.001-1.jpg 964w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-3-Sleep-time.001-1-300x149.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-3-Sleep-time.001-1-768x381.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-3-Sleep-time.001-1-880x436.jpg 880w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 964px) 100vw, 964px" />Figure 3. Relationships between sleep duration and parenthood in 23andMe participants who were 20-50 years of age. Sleep duration (0-16 hours) were self-reported duration per night, and less than 7 hours of sleep duration per 24-hour period indicates insufficient sleep; N: total: 212,923; married non-parent: 33,174, married parent: 85,754, single non-parent: 21,992, single parent: 72,003; female: 128,467, male: 84,456.</div>
<h2>Sleep and the Single Parent 
</h2>
Similarly, 61.4 percent of single parents and 50.3 percent of married parents reported poor sleep quality (Figure 4, left panel). 
After adjusting for age and sex, single parents were 50 percent more likely to report sleeping poorly (OR: 1.50, 95 percent CI: 1.46-1.54). The reasons for this discrepancy might go beyond<a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/11/04/raising-kids-and-running-a-household-how-working-parents-share-the-load/#who-does-more"> sharing the workload of parenting</a>; single parents may also miss out on the emotional support available in committed relationships. In other studies, being happily married was associated with better physical, mental, and emotional health—factors that might also <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15332691.2017.1417938?scroll=top&amp;needAccess=true">improve sleep quality</a>.
<div id="attachment_27600" style="width: 928px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27600" class="wp-image-27600 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-4-sleep-quality-.001.jpg" alt="" width="918" height="418" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-4-sleep-quality-.001.jpg 918w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-4-sleep-quality-.001-300x137.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-4-sleep-quality-.001-768x350.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Figure-4-sleep-quality-.001-880x401.jpg 880w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 918px) 100vw, 918px" />Figure 4. Relationships between sleep quality and parenthood in 23andMe participants who were 20-50 years of age. PSQI score of 5 or less indicates good sleep quality; N: total: 212,923; married non-parent: 33,174, married parent: 85,754, single non-parent: 21,992, single parent: 72,003; single_parent: 72,003; female: 128,467, male: 84,456.</div>
We also observed that single moms had the worst sleep quality (Figure 4, right panel) across all groups. For the self-reported sleep duration, we found that single moms and dads were similar (OR: 0.95, 95 percent CI: 0.89-1.01), and had fewer sleep hours than other groups (Figure 3, right panel).
<h2>Other Factors Affecting Sleep</h2>
Sleep patterns are also affected by <a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3611098/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">other influential factors</a>. 
For example, after adjusting for age, sex, and marital status, participants with depression were 31 percent more likely to report insufficient sleep duration (OR: 1.31, 95 percent CI: 1.29-1.33), and 184 percent more likely to have poor overall sleep quality (OR: 2.84, 95 percent CI: 2.79-2.90). People suffering from chronic pain also were 4.14 times more likely to report insufficient sleep per night (OR: 4.14, 95 percent CI: 3.96-4.33) and were 69 percent more likely to report poor overall sleep quality (OR: 1.69, 95 percent CI: 1.63-1.74). 
Also, we observed that our PSQI sleep survey respondents** were more likely to be female (OR: 1.30, 95 percent CI: 1.29-1.31 ) and single (OR: 1.09, 95 percent CI: 1.08-1.10). We also invited our customers to answer another question to rate their sleep quality directly and found our PSQI sleep survey respondents were more likely to have good self-rated sleep quality (OR: 1.03, 95 percent CI: 1.02-1.03 ) compared to those who did not answer the survey.
In summary, we found that parenthood is associated with impairments in sleep quality and duration&#8211; particularly for single parents. To further advance our understanding of sleep, 23andMe is currently actively investigating associations between more than a thousand other lifestyle, clinical, and socioeconomic phenotypes and sleep quality. We would love for you to help us study sleep &#8212; if you are a research participant, you can find our latest sleep quality survey by searching for “Your Sleep Quality” while logged in. 
*Yunru Huang is a scientist in Biostatistics at 23andMe. Robert Gentleman, Ph.D., is 23andMe&#8217;s vice president of computational biology, and Stella Aslibekyan is a Genetic Epidemiologist on our research team.
** For all 23andMe customers who consented to research, a person was deemed to be a “PSQI sleep survey respondent” if he/she completed the <a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2748771" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)</a> survey and a “PSQI sleep survey non-respondent” if he/she did not.

Yunru Huang

23andMe Looks at Parenthood and Sleep Quality

A new survey of 23andMe’s <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-health-ancestry/">Health + Ancestry</a> customers conducted by M/A/R/C® Research found that more than three-quarters reported that after receiving their personalized genetic reports they made at least one positive change in their health behavior.
Changes included eating healthier, getting more sleep, and exercising more, among others.
“We’re encouraged by these preliminary findings, and they&#8217;ve spurred us to embark on more comprehensive research into behavior change as a result of our service,” said Joyce Tung, 23andMe’s Vice President for Research. “We have heard from many customers who have offered stories about how their 23andMe results have positively impacted their lives, but we want more quantitative data.”

<h6>Taking Steps to Improve Health<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-27606" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CI_Infographic_final-11-267x1024.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="1151" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CI_Infographic_final-11-267x1024.jpg 267w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CI_Infographic_final-11-78x300.jpg 78w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CI_Infographic_final-11-768x2947.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CI_Infographic_final-11-229x880.jpg 229w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CI_Infographic_final-11-scaled.jpg 667w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></h6>
Sleep, diet and exercise are key to good health, so understanding what might motivate people to make meaningful and positive changes is important. Two years ago, 23andMe researchers<a href="https://research.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/23andMe_ASHG_2017_Sarah.pdf"> presented data</a> at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics, showing that after viewing their 23andMe Saturated Fat and Weight report, customers reported making healthier dietary choices.
In this new survey, external researchers asked Health + Ancestry customers about the overall impact of their 23andMe experience, regardless of their results. Among those who responded to the survey 76 percent said they made one or more healthy changes to their lifestyles. Of those who responded to the survey:
<ul>
<li> 55 percent reported healthier eating habits including eating more vegetables, and cutting out sugar and fast food.</li>
<li> 45 percent said they were exercising more.</li>
<li> 42 percent said they were getting more sleep. </li>
</ul>
<h6>The Survey</h6>
The survey, designed by 23andMe and M/A/R/C Research, and conducted online by M/A/R/C over two weeks in August 2019, included responses from 1,046 23andMe Health + Ancestry customers who have joined within the past two years.
While the responses are not representative of the US general population as a whole, they do offer preliminary insights worth studying further to gauge the impact of  23andMe results as a motivator for healthy behavior change.
<h6>Impact of Genetic Testing</h6>
There have been several other studies that have looked at the impact of genetic testing. Among the most notable has been the on-going work of the Impact of Personal Genomics Study (PGen), a collaborative effort led by scientists from  the Broad Institute of MIT, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The group’s 2017 study, “<a href="https://bmcmedgenomics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12920-017-0258-1">Diet and exercise changes following direct-to-consumer personal genomic testing</a>,” looked at both 23andMe and Pathway Genomics customers and found “30 percent of participants reported making a change to their diet that was specifically motivated by their (personal genetic testing) results, and 26 percent reported changing their exercise based on their (personal genetic testing) results.”
Other studies have shown much more mixed results, including a study from 2011 by researchers at the Scripps Translational Science Institute &amp; Scripps Health, which found<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22199991"> minimal impact</a> either way changing behavior.
<h6>More Questions</h6>
An interesting difference between those previous studies is that they drew from customers who received an older version of 23andMe’s reports. This new survey is of customers who had access to FDA-authorized health reports. Part of the FDA’s evaluation of those reports focused on user comprehension. 23andMe was able to show that more than 90 percent of those who read the reports were able to understand the key concepts in the reports. This survey however doesn’t offer any insight into whether the difference between the old and new reports has an impact on customers’ behavior.
There are many questions raised by the survey that 23andMe researchers would like to explore further. The paramount question they would like to address is whether this survey is capturing the sentiment of a more engaged health customer, or whether the nature of 23andMe personalized genetic reports motivates positive change. But the survey results offer an intriguing first step in learning more about improving health behavior for 23andMe customers.
23andMe researchers hope to conduct follow-up studies to more rigorously measure factors related to behavior change, better establish attribution, and increase generalizability to the broader customer base. Eventually researchers hope to submit their findings for peer review and publication.

Health Change Survey

By Rafaela Bagur Quetglas, PhD
It turns out your age, gender and diet all affect how often you exercise, according to new data from 23andMe.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-27549 alignright" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Diet-Exercise-istock-300x132.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="132" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Diet-Exercise-istock-300x132.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Diet-Exercise-istock-768x337.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Diet-Exercise-istock-1024x449.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Diet-Exercise-istock-880x386.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Diet-Exercise-istock-1180x518.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Diet-Exercise-istock.jpg 1545w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
As part of our ongoing health research, 23andMe’s scientists looked at whether a person’s age, gender, or diet might be associated with exercise. Understanding the relationship between those factors may help in our understanding of contributors to maintaining a healthy weight. Our scientists analyzed the data of more than 850,000 people who consented to participate in research and who shared details about their own eating and exercise habits. 
<h2>Age Matters</h2>
Are people over 30 more sedentary than people under 30? Among 23andMe participants, the answer is yes! The percent of people who don&#8217;t exercise for 30 minutes or more at least once a week increases with age. (Figure 1, left panel) We also observed a decrease in the percent of people who exercise once or twice a week over age 45.
Interestingly, the percentage of people who reported exercising three or four times a week is constant, independent of the participants&#8217; age. This suggests that at least among some of the most active individuals, age doesn’t matter.
Another surprise is that the relationship between how often we exercise and our BMI is different depending on our age (Figure 1, right panel). In general, the more active you are, the lower your BMI. But the difference in BMI between sedentary and physically active people is bigger for adults over 30 than it is for adults under 30. In fact, this difference seems to increase with age until about 60.
This could reflect a cumulative effect rather than the effect of exercise at a particular age. Epidemiologic studies have shown that on average we gain 1-2 lbs per year from early adulthood through middle age [1]. However, one could hypothesize that the weight gain per year might depend on exercise frequency, thus resulting in a difference of weight between sedentary and physically active people dependent on age. This is not the only possible explanation since multiple lifestyle factors that influence weight are affected by aging such as our metabolism, physical activity baseline or even sleep duration. Although the main explanation behind this result isn&#8217;t perfectly clear, what is well-known are the health benefits of exercising at any age [2][3].
<div id="attachment_27543" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27543" class="wp-image-27543 size-full" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-1-Exercise-BMI.png" alt="" width="512" height="150" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-1-Exercise-BMI.png 512w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-1-Exercise-BMI-300x88.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />Figure 1. Left graph represents the percent of participants who exercise for at least 30 min, from zero times per week to daily, broken down by age. Right graph shows the difference in BMI between sedentary participants and those exercising from at least one time a week to multiple times a day, also broken down by age.</div>
<h2>Exercise and BMI Differences between Men and Women</h2>
Who exercises more, men or women?
On average we found that men in our study tend to be more active than women. Only 12% of men that participated in this research reported to be sedentary, while in women this number was up to 16%. However, the relationship between exercise frequency and gender gets more complex when we break the participants answers down by age. Women under 30 were more likely to report exercising less than twice per week, and they were less likely than men to report exercising five or more times per week (Figure 2). But, this difference in exercise frequency between men and women shrinks with age. In fact, the exercise pattern over age 45 is fairly similar between men and women.
Physical activity was not the only difference between genders.
We found that the difference in BMI between people who exercise and people who are sedentary is higher in women than in men. For instance women of average height (5 feet 4 inches) who exercises 5-7 times per week for at least 30 minutes weight on average 37.5 lbs less than sedentary women of the same age and height. In men this difference in weight is smaller than that observed in women. Men of average height (5 feet 9 inches) exercising 5-7 times per week tend to weigh on average 26.5 lbs less than sedentary men of the same age and height.
It’s important to highlight that BMI is a measure of weight adjusted for height, but it doesn’t take body composition into account. So, higher BMI doesn’t necessarily mean higher fat composition. Athletic people are more likely to have higher bone density and muscular mass, and therefore a higher BMI than sedentary people. Therefore, it might be plausible that the gender-specific difference in BMI between sedentary and athletic people is influenced by men’s testosterone levels, which increase their capacity to build more <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/wellness/muscle-composition">muscle mass</a> on average than women [4]. Building muscle mass is also influenced by the type of exercise (e.g., strengthening vs. aerobic), which wasn&#8217;t considered in this analysis.
<div id="attachment_27544" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27544" class="wp-image-27544 size-full" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-2-Expercise-Frequency.png" alt="" width="512" height="155" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-2-Expercise-Frequency.png 512w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-2-Expercise-Frequency-300x91.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />Figure 2. Barcharts represents the percent of participants divided by gender. These seoarated exercise for at least 30 min from zero times per week to daily at the age of under 30 (left) or between 45 and 60 (right). The line chart shows the difference in BMI between participants (divided by gender) exercising at least one time a week compared to sedentary.</div>
<h2>Diet and Exercise</h2>
It’s clear that your diet has an impact on your weight, but does what you eat indicate how active you are?
In turns out that it does, or at least we see an association between diet and exercise. It’s important to note that an association does not mean causation. At the same time it’s worth exploring how diet and exercise are related.
In a previous <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/23andme-explores-dietary-habit-and-health-outcomes/">blog post</a>, we identified four different diet groups (Figure 3) in the 23andMe community. We also identified the major traits associated with the groups. These diet groups were mainly characterized by two dietary behaviors: the nutrient content of the food eaten and meat intake.
Using these two behaviors as axes, we can plot the four main diet groups.
<ul>
<li>On one end, we find people who eat high nutrient-dense (HND) foods. These include vegetables,  leafy greens and fruits. These individuals also tend to avoid high caloric foods with low nutrient content. These foods include  foods with refined carbs, or processed foods, or foods with saturated fats or fast food. Depending on their meat intake, these people can either be classified as HND + Carnivores (high meat intake) or Herbivores (low meat intake).</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>On the other end, we find people with a diet low in vegetables, leafy greens and fruits. They tend to eat more high calorie foods with low nutrient content, low nutrient-dense foods (LND). People in this group also tend to eat more meat, particularly processed and red meat (LND + Carnivores).</li>
<li>Finally, the people in the middle we called Omnivores because they ate a little of everything.</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_27545" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27545" class="wp-image-27545 size-full" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-3-Diet-groups.png" alt="" width="512" height="155" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-3-Diet-groups.png 512w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-3-Diet-groups-300x91.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />Figure 3. Left graph represents the four defined diets projected in the two main behaviors axis (nutrient content of foods and meat intake). Right panel describes the nutritional differences between these diets. The dots represent the average response to the survey question: “How frequently do you eat this food?” Possible responses were: “not at all” (all dots empty), “1-2 times per week” (one filled dot), “3-6 times per week” (two filled dots), “once per day” (three filled dots) or “more than once a day” (all dots filled).</div>
We looked at the amount of exercise in a typical week. Then we broke that down by participants&#8217; diet groups. We observed that people in the Herbivore and HND + Carnivore groups exercise more often than people in the Omnivores and LND + Carnivore groups. (Figure 4) What’s more, people in the Herbivore group have on average a lower BMI than people of the same age in any other diet group. Although weight tends to increase through midlife, the relationship between what we eat and how much we exercise is fairly consistent, regardless of our age.
<div id="attachment_27546" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27546" class="wp-image-27546 size-full" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-4-Age.png" alt="" width="512" height="178" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-4-Age.png 512w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Figure-4-Age-300x104.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />Figure 4. Barchart representing the average amount of exercise per week that participants belonging to different diets and age groups present. Right plot shows the average BMI associated to participants that belong to different diets and age groups.</div>
<h2>The Takeaway</h2>
In this study, we observed differences in physical activity in the 23andMe research community broken down by age, sex, and diet behaviors. Our scientists showed that the relationship between exercise and BMI strongly depend on people’s age and gender. Moreover, people’s nutrition habits is highly associated with exercise frequency. So that people who eat high nutrient dense foods are also likely to exercise more.
We would like to thank the 23andMe customers who made this study possible by participating in research.
Rafaela Bagur Quetglas is a Data Scientist in Health Research and Development at 23andMe.
<hr />
<h6>Footnotes:</h6>
[1] Hutfless S. et al., (2013) Strategies to Prevent Weight Gain Among Adults. Rockville (MD): Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (US); Report No.: 13-EHC029-EF.
[2] Donald  M. Lyall et al., (2017) Association of Body Mass Index With Cardiometabolic Disease in the UK Biobank: A Mendelian Randomization Study. JAMA Cardiol. 10.1001/jamacardio.2016.5804
[3] Bhaskaran K. et al., (2014) Body-mass index and risk of 22 specific cancers: a population-based cohort study of 5·24 million UK adults. Lancet. 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60892-8
[4] Janssen I, et al., (2000) Skeletal muscle mass and distribution in 468 men and women aged 18–88 yr J Appl Physiol. 10.1152/jappl.2000.89.1.81

Rafaela Bagur Quetglas

Data Shows Your Gender, Diet and Age All Impact Exercise Frequency

Research drawn from 23andMe data has for the first time allowed scientists to estimate the frequency of a very rare genetic phenomenon known as “uniparental disomy,” or UPD.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/chromosome_pattern-300x300.png" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-25146 size-medium" title="Chromosome" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/chromosome_pattern-300x300.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/chromosome_pattern-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/chromosome_pattern-271x271.png 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/chromosome_pattern-372x372.png 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/chromosome_pattern-574x574.png 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/chromosome_pattern.png 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
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In UPD the two copies of a chromosome come from a single parent instead of one copy from the father and one from the mother. If a chromosome carries genes that are only active on the paternal or maternal copy, UPD leads to genetic imbalances that can cause miscarriage or developmental disabilities after birth. 

<h6>UPD Related Disorders</h6>
There are several genetic disorders such as <a href="https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/prader-willi-syndrome">Prader-Willi syndrome</a>, <a href="https://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/angelman-syndrome">Angelman syndrome</a> and Temple syndrome that result from UPD of specific chromosomes. However, up until now, no one knew the prevalence of UPD. This is especially the case for UPD on other chromosomes not linked to these named syndromes, or its health consequences. 
&nbsp;
For this research former 23andMe intern Priyanka (Priya) Nakka leveraged 23andMe’s large and unique research database to study the condition. Priya received her doctorate in computational biology last year from Brown University and now works as a postdoctoral fellow in the <a href="https://www.joelhirschhornlab.org/people-1">Hirschhorn lab</a> at Boston Children’s Hospital.  Using a machine learning approach, Priya’s research has broken new ground. She and her collaborators were able to offer the first estimates for UPD prevalence in the general population. They found that UPD occurs for all chromosomes and is much more prevalent than previously thought. 
&nbsp;
“This study is by far the largest and most definitive study of the prevalence of UPD,” said Fah Sathirapongsasuti, a senior scientist and computational biologist at 23andMe as well as a senior co-author on the paper. “The work also highlights the power of 23andMe’s research model in studying rare conditions like this.”
<h6>First Estimates in General Population</h6>
Priya first presented her findings last year in a plenary session talk at the <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/23andme-at-annual-meeting-of-the-american-society-of-human-genetics/">American Society of Human Genetics</a> annual meeting. This month her research paper is published in the latest issue of the <a href="https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(19)30356-8">American Journal of Human Genetics.</a>
&nbsp;
UPD was previously estimated to occur in one in about 3,500 live births. But to study the actual frequency requires a genetics database with millions of participants and several thousands of families. That is something 23andMe’s research database is uniquely positioned to address. Leveraging the database, Priya and co-authors were able to look at a very large set of data from more than 4 million customers who consented to participate in research. In addition, they looked at another batch of data from a little under half a million individuals in the UK Biobank. Using these data sets and a new machine learning method, Priya was able to identify cases of UPD. This also offered a way to estimate its frequency.
<h6> Some with UPD Have No Apparent Health Issues </h6>
She discovered that the condition is more than 1.75 times more prevalent than once thought. It is now estimated to affect perhaps one in 2,000 individuals. But working with the 23andMe research team Priya also found that there is an association between autism and UPD on chromosome 22. Beyond that Priya found that UPD for other chromosomes is not associated with defined health issues. 
 
“I never had any birth defects and never noticed any weird symptoms or health problems,” one 23andMe customer said on a <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/23andme/comments/7eyrjb/got_both_copies_of_chromosome_16_from_mom/">Reddit post</a> after discovering she had UPD. “And as someone who learned about UPD in college and medical school, it was extremely neat to learn that I secretly had one too&#8230; It made me appreciate being alive because most of the uniparental disomies start as trisomies that happen to be “rescued” and lose one of the extra chromosomes again in development to go back to 2 copies. Trisomy 16 is one of the most common genetic causes of miscarriage. &#8230; My very first cell was probably originally a trisomy 16. So it’s pretty amazing to be here today.”
&nbsp;
In the paper published this week, Priya makes this very point. 
 
“Our work challenges the typical view that errors in recombination are strongly deleterious, showing that even in extreme cases where individuals are homozygous
for an entire chromosome, those individuals can be, to the best of our knowledge, phenotypically normal and healthy,” she said.
 
You can find her paper <a href="https://www.cell.com/ajhg/fulltext/S0002-9297(19)30356-8">here</a>.
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First Estimates for Uniparental Disomy, a Rare Genetic Phenomenon

During Family History Month, it seemed right to revisit Jordan Carroll’s story.
Jordan always loved his family’s stories. From a young age, he’d soak up anecdotes from relatives. Growing up in California, he was removed from his roots back east, but he persisted in learning more about those who came before him.
 
“I always wanted to know more about my family history to have a better sense of myself,” Jordan said.
 

<h6>Where Records Fail</h6>
As he got older, he moved beyond just family lore and began digging through old documents. But like many African Americans hunting for family history, because of the scourge of slavery, records eventually failed him.
 
“For a lot of African Americans we do not have those records from before the mid-1800s,” he said.
<iframe loading="lazy" width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/akc6tbW8aOg" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
 
The paper trail just stops at a certain point, but that’s when Jordan realized something else.
 
“I’m carrying records inside me, in my DNA,” he said.
 
Check out his story <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akc6tbW8aOg">here</a>.

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