Researchers have found genetic associations for morning sickness, offering important insight into what — in the most severe cases — is the second leading cause of hospitalization among women during pregnancy.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-26094" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/morning-sickness-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/morning-sickness-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/morning-sickness-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/morning-sickness-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/morning-sickness-880x586.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/morning-sickness-1180x786.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/morning-sickness.jpg 1255w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<h2>Potentially Serious</h2>
Although morning sickness is very common — up to 90 percent of women have some form of nausea or vomiting during pregnancy — its causes remain elusive. Up to 2 percent of pregnant women endure the most severe form of morning sickness, called hyperemesis gravidarum or HG.
HG can be so severe and intractable that women begin losing weight, become dehydrated, and ultimately must be hospitalized. In those cases, the condition can also be problematic for the baby.
Before the advent of intravenous hydration in the 1950s, HG was the leading cause of death during pregnancy — for example, it led to the death of author Charlotte Bronte. More recently Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge, was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2017/09/04/kate-middleton-is-pregnant-and-suffering-hyperemesis-gravidarum-again/#3c00e632b50c">hospitalized</a> after suffering from HG during both of her pregnancies. Even now, it is the second leading cause of hospitalization for pregnant women, behind preterm labor. And yet, despite years of study, researchers haven’t pinpointed a cause or even a safe and effective treatment for this severe form of morning sickness.
<h2>New Study</h2>
However, a new study published in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-03258-0">Nature Communications</a> offers promising clues on the causes of morning sickness. Researchers from UCLA, USC, and 23andMe found the strongest genetic associations in the genes GDF15 and IGFBP7. GDF15 plays a role in the development of the placenta, and low expression of GDF15 is associated with miscarriages. The gene IGFBP7 controls appetite.  The study also looked at less severe cases of morning sickness and found that these same genes are also associated with nausea and vomiting in pregnant women.

Researchers said that the variants in GDF15 associated with the condition were over 1000-fold more significant than the variants in the gene with the next closest association.
<h2>Some Surprises</h2>
The findings are surprising, in part, because up until now, much of the focus of research around HG has been on hormonal fluctuations in the body. This study found no evidence for that link and instead suggests that the expression of the gene involved in placenta formation may play more of a role.
“It has long been assumed that the pregnancy hormones, human chorionic gonadotropin or estrogen, were the likely culprits of extreme nausea and vomiting, but our study found no evidence to support this,” <a href="http://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/two-genes-likely-play-key-role-in-extreme-nausea-and-vomiting-during-pregnancy">said Marlena Fejzo</a>, the lead author of the study and an associate researcher at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.  Fejzo herself had hyperemesis gravidarum and lost a pregnancy to the condition in 1999.
The two genes identified in the study are also linked to cachexia, a weight loss and muscle wasting condition that leads to death in about 20 percent of cancer patients and has similar symptoms to hyperemesis gravidarum.
<h2>Theories</h2>
As for why the expression of GDF15 is implicated in morning sickness, the authors theorize that perhaps the protein triggers vomiting during the early stages of pregnancy so women aren’t tempted to eat anything that might hurt the developing fetus.
For this study researchers conducted their work in two stages. The first used about 1,300 women with the most severe form of morning sickness and another 15,700 who did not have the condition. All the women were 23andMe customers who consented to participate in research. The second stage looked at data from more than 50,000 women — also 23andMe customers who consented to participate in research — across a range of symptoms from no nausea to slight to very severe. Again, the researchers found the strongest signal in the genes GDF15 and IGFBP7.
The study also provides the first evidence that HG, the most severe form of morning sickness, is not a separate disease, but more of an end of the spectrum for nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, as they are all influenced by the same genes.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

Researchers find genetic associations for morning sickness

Overturning long-held beliefs about the past, new insights from ancient DNA have revealed exciting surprises about who we are as people and how we got here.
In just the last few years, the ability for scientists to extract and sequence DNA from bones that are tens of thousands of years old has changed our understanding of the human story. Perhaps there are few better to tell that tale than the population geneticist David Reich.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/jackethighres-199x300.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-26087" width="199" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/jackethighres-199x300.jpg 199w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/jackethighres-768x1160.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/jackethighres-678x1024.jpg 678w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/jackethighres-583x880.jpg 583w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/jackethighres-781x1180.jpg 781w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/jackethighres.jpg 1500w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" />
In his new book, Who We Are and How We Got Here, Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past, Reich explains the significance this new technical innovation has had in the study of human history and prehistory. He has packed into this book, not just an explanation of the difficulty in initially finding and sequencing DNA from these samples, but also what it means and how it has changed what we know about out our history.
“Basically, it’s a gold rush right now;” Reich said in a February 2016 interview with <a href="http://edge.org/conversation/david_reich-the-genomic-ancient-dna-revolution">The Edge</a>. “It’s a new technology, and that technology is being applied to everything we can apply it to, and there are &#8230; many gold nuggets strewn on the ground that are being picked up very rapidly. That’s what’s happening now.”
In his book, Reich describes ancient DNA researchers like himself as barbarians overturning the old and long standing approaches to studying human history.
<div id="attachment_26088" style="width: 968px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26088" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Reic_9781101870327_jkt_ap1_r1-e1521242394539.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-26088 size-full" width="958" height="1146" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Reic_9781101870327_jkt_ap1_r1-e1521242394539.jpg 958w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Reic_9781101870327_jkt_ap1_r1-e1521242394539-251x300.jpg 251w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Reic_9781101870327_jkt_ap1_r1-e1521242394539-768x919.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Reic_9781101870327_jkt_ap1_r1-e1521242394539-856x1024.jpg 856w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Reic_9781101870327_jkt_ap1_r1-e1521242394539-736x880.jpg 736w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 958px) 100vw, 958px" />David Reich &nbsp;&nbsp; Photo: Bizu Tesfaye (Howard Hughes Medical Institute)</div>
“Ancient DNA has allowed us to peer deep into time and force us to question our understanding of the past,” he writes.
A professor of Genetics at Harvard University and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Reich opened his own ancient DNA lab at Harvard in 2013, with the help of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/feb/15/svante-paabo-dna-neanderthal-genetics">Svante Paabo</a>, who was the first to use DNA extracted from ancient bones to sequence the Neanderthal genome. That has revealed the more than being just ancient cousins, early modern human and Neanderthal interbreed, and DNA fragments of those encounters live on today in all humans outside of Africa. Similar findings have been made around Denisovans, another ancient human cousin, and other “ghost populations” that have died out. And with each revelation comes a revision of human prehistory and mankind’s migration out of Africa and across the globe.
In his book, Reich also reveals in a chapter called “The Great Mixing” a refrain in of human history, that no matter how divergent the population, humans intermixed and that all populations today are mixed.
“The mixtures of highly divergent groups have happened time and time again,” he writes.
He uses examples <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08365">of populations in India</a>, that intermixed 2,000 to 4,000 years ago, as well as more recent mixing among <a href="http://www.cell.com/ajhg/pdfExtended/S0002-9297(14)00476-5">African Americans, Latinos and European Americans</a>. Some of that mixing also reflects the “deep history of inequality” among the different populations and sexes.
Toward the end of his book, Reich talks about his optimism that this work to highlight human connections, not their differences.
“[If] you actually take any serious look at this data, it just confounds every stereotype. It’s revealing that the differences among populations we see today are actually only a few thousand years old at most and that everybody is mixed,” he said in <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/03/ancient-dna-history/554798/">a recent interview</a>.

Ancient DNA offers new insight into the human story

Note: As the manager of 23andMe’s Education and Academia Program, I absolutely love my job! Not only do I get to work with inspiring scientists and researchers at 23andMe, I also get to work with talented young people across the country, who are fascinated by the science of genetics. Over the last few months, I’ve spoken at many outreach events at university campuses across the country to support students to form <a href="https://education.23andme.org/genetics-club/?_ga=2.254976072.1309779101.1520270476-1940026374.1477938134">Genetics Clubs</a> on their campus. Along my journey, I met many inspiring college students, who have strong leadership skills and deep passions for science communication. So I invited a team of students to collaborate together and co-create a quarterly magazine called the DNA Decoder &#8212; a magazine written by students, for students. The magazine is designed to help students across the nation connect with each other and share interesting ideas around genetics. We in turn want to share a few of those stories with you on 23andMe’s blog. This is the first in a series of stories from our student contributors — Thao Do, Ph.D.
By Hannah Ericson
On the fourth Tuesday of each month, members of the DNA Interest Group gather at the Iowa Public Library to discuss personalized genetics testing. 
Started by Dr. Bryant McAllister, a professor of genetics and evolution at the University of Iowa, the DNA Interest Group meets to help educate members of the Iowa City community about personalized DNA testing.
<div id="attachment_26076" style="width: 522px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26076" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Iowa-City-DNA-Interest-Group.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-26076 size-full" width="512" height="288" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Iowa-City-DNA-Interest-Group.jpg 512w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Iowa-City-DNA-Interest-Group-300x169.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px" />Dr. Bryant McAllister, above, explains genetic concepts to Iowa City community members during a DNA Interest Group meeting, at a local public library. Photo courtesy of Hannah Ericson.</div>
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Members of the interest group come from a wide range of ages and backgrounds, intermixing university students, and people from the general community.
The group’s mission is to “provide a forum to explore heredity and humanity through personal genomics.”

Since its creation early last year, the DNA Interest Group works to connect people interested in learning more about direct-to-consumer DNA tests, such as those offered by 23andMe, ancestry.com, and other companies.

During the meetings, a wide range of topics are discussed. Conversations have dealt with debunking the common myths about genetics, ways to use personalized DNA testing as a teaching tool in the classroom, as well as security concerns arising from using genetic testing services.
7
The group also sponsors a “Festival of Genetics” on National DNA Day. National DNA Day, held on April 25th every year, celebrates the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 along with Watson, Crick, Wilkins, and Franklin’s discovery of the DNA double helix in 1953. 

During the festival, members of the University of Iowa’s Personal Genome Learning Center set up different stations to teach community members about genetics, and they also offer support to anyone with questions about their DNA test results. 
<h5>Professor&#8217;s Perspective</h5>
During an interview for an episode of the Talk of Iowa radio program, Dr. McAllister got his first stroke of inspiration to start the DNA Interest Group. 
<div id="attachment_26075" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26075" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Dr.-McAllistar-300x243.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-26075 size-medium" width="300" height="243" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Dr.-McAllistar-300x243.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Dr.-McAllistar.jpg 317w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Professor Bryant McAllister..</div>
While on the air, a community member called into the program to ask for help on how to understand his DNA test results. 

This experience opened Dr. McAllister’s eyes to the need for resources for community members to help them interpret their genetic test results, and deepen their understanding of genetics. 

In the future, Dr. McAllister says, “I would like to expand outside of Iowa City. 

One of the things I would like to do is to motivate people in other biology departments in other colleges and universities to do a similar thing in their communities, building the infrastructure and the interest outside of Iowa City so that other biology departments can support similar things in their own communities.”

For students thinking of starting a DNA Interest Group of their own, Dr. McAllister has some advice. 

He recommends, “I would try to get some kind of faculty buy-in. A faculty member would be essentially a sponsor that helps with some of the organization and making contacts,”as many students may not have the support network needed to start a project of this size. 

After that, he said it’s mostly about trying to connect to other community members or resources, in an effort to reach more people and to grow the group. 
<h5>Student&#8217;s Perspective</h5>
Abagail McKernan is a sophomore studying genetics and biotechnology at the University of Iowa and is a member of the DNA Interest Group. She first joined the DNA Interest Group through her involvement with another group at the University of Iowa, the Personal Genome Learning Center.<div id="attachment_26074" style="width: 250px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26074" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Abagail-McKernan-240x300.png" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-26074" width="240" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Abagail-McKernan-240x300.png 240w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Abagail-McKernan.png 361w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px" />Abagail McKernan</div>
Abagail especially enjoys being able to interact with members of the community, with whom she normally would not have a chance to communicate with. 

“You wouldn’t think people, especially people from older generation, would be as interested in it [personalized genomics] as you are seeing at these meetings,” she says.

Abagail likes that everyone who comes to the meetings shares common interests, and she enjoys educating community members on genetics topics that they may not be completely familiar with. 

For example, on DNA day, Abagail held demonstrations on the processes of mitosis and meiosis (different ways that cells undergo division) using gummy worms—which participants were able to eat afterwards.

Abagail plans on continuing her involvement with the group in the future as she thinks that communicating with the public about science topics is important.

For students thinking about starting a similar group, Abagail recommends advertising the group in as many places throughout the community as possible. 

This would include putting up posters throughout the community. As a result, this group would help educate many community members, which helps foster a greater understanding of scientific topics in the community and beyond.
<div id="attachment_26073" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26073" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Hannah-Ericson-200x300.jpg" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-26073" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Hannah-Ericson-200x300.jpg 200w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Hannah-Ericson.jpg 341w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />Hannah Ericson</div>
Hannah Ericson is a sophomore at the University of Iowa, studying genetics and biotechnology. Outside of class, she is active in the Iowa Comic Book Club and the fencing club, as well as the Personal Genome Learning Center, where she works to help educate other students as well as the general public about the world of personalized genomics. After graduating, Hannah would like to find a research position in a genetics lab. As part of the Genetics Education Student Leadership Team, she hopes to foster a love of genetics in others, who may not have had a prior opportunity to be exposed to the topic.

Hannah Ericson

The DNA Interest Group at the University of Iowa

Researchers at the University of Cambridge have found that it isn’t just your environment and experiences that influence your empathy for others, your genes also play a small but important role and this connection also sheds new light on the biology of autism.
“This is an important step towards understanding the small but important role that genetics plays in empathy,” said <a href="http://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/profile.php?vw260">Varun Warrier</a>, a Ph.D. student at the University Cambridge who led the study.
<div id="attachment_25991" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25991" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/sm_vw260_phpHPqcmu.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-25991 size-full" width="200" height="257" />Varun Warrier</div>
Warrier said that while the genetic influences are important they still only play a small role in empathy. Other, non genetic factors, like upbringing, environment and other non-biological factors explain 90 percent of the individual differences in empathy between people, he said.
The study, published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-017-0082-6">Translational Psychiatry,</a> also confirms previous research that shows that women on average are more empathetic than men. However, this difference is not due to our DNA, which in turn implies that the sex difference in empathy is the result of other non-genetic biological factors such as prenatal hormonal influences, or non-biological factors, such as socialisation, both of which also differ between the sexes.
Finally, the new study found genetic variants associated with lower empathy are also associated with higher risk for autism. In fact the paper is part of a series of papers looking at the genetics of autism by this same group of researchers at Cambridge.
For this study — led by Warrier and Professor <a href="http://www.neuroscience.cam.ac.uk/directory/profile.php?sb205">Simon Baron-Cohen</a>, the director of the <a href="https://www.autismresearchcentre.com/">Autism Research Centre</a> at Cambridge, and with contributions from researchers at 23andMe, the University Paris Diderot, and Institut Pasteur — scientists used data from more than 46,000 23andMe customers who consented to participate in research and completed the online survey that measures their Empathy Quotient, or EQ. It was scientists at Cambridge who first developed the tool to measure empathy 15 years ago.
“This new study demonstrates a role for genes in empathy, but we are have not yet identified the specific genes that are involved in empathy,” said Professor Thomas Bourgeron of the University of Paris. “Our next step is to gather larger samples to replicate these findings and to pinpoint the precise genes associated with individual differences in empathy.”
<div id="attachment_25992" style="width: 210px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25992" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/sm_sb205_phpdnwk32.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-25992 size-full" width="200" height="271" />Simon Baron-Cohen, PhD</div>
23andMe is uniquely equipped for a study like this, said David Hinds, Ph.D., the company’s principal scientist and a statistical geneticist who worked on this study.
“We’re encouraged by these findings, which are the latest in <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/the-genetics-of-empathy/">a series of studies</a> we’ve collaborated on with researchers at Cambridge,” Hinds said. “Together they are are helping to reveal new insights into the genetics that influences autism.”
Empathy has two parts: “cognitive empathy,” the ability to recognize another person’s thoughts and feelings, and “affective empathy,” the ability to respond appropriately. EQ measures both parts.
Earlier studies have shown that some of us are more empathetic than others, and that women, on average, are slightly more empathetic than men. Studies have also shown that autistic people, on average, score lower on the EQ, and that this was because they struggle with cognitive empathy, even though their affective empathy may be intact.
“Finding that even a fraction of why we differ in empathy is due to genetic factors helps us understand those (like autistic people) who struggle to imagine another person’s thoughts and feelings,” said Professor Baron-Cohen.

New Research on the Genetics of Empathy, and How it Relates to Autism

We wear pink ribbons. We walk or run for the cause. We have a month for awareness, and yet many women who have a higher risk variant in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes remain unaware of their heightened genetic risk for breast and ovarian cancer until a doctor diagnoses them with cancer.<a id="a1" href="#f1">[1]</a> 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Anne_Color_-Seated-250x300.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-22084" width="250" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Anne_Color_-Seated-250x300.jpg 250w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Anne_Color_-Seated-768x923.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Anne_Color_-Seated-852x1024.jpg 852w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Anne_Color_-Seated-732x880.jpg 732w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Anne_Color_-Seated-982x1180.jpg 982w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" />
That’s a failure. 
This is not a radical indictment of the American healthcare system; it’s just a fact. We are very good at treating illnesses, but not at preventing them. 

<h6>BRCA</h6>
Under the current system, there are specific guidelines for BRCA screening that limit who has access to BRCA testing. Family history of cancer and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry are the most common criteria for screening guidelines. However we have seen at 23andMe that many people do not know their family medical history or their ancestry. So, many people fall through the cracks in the current screening system leaving them unaware of their risk. <a id="a2" href="#f2">[2]</a>
It doesn’t have to be that way.
<h6>23andMe&#8217;s BRCA1/BRCA2 Report</h6>
Today, 23andMe received the first-ever FDA authorization for a direct-to-consumer genetic test for cancer risk for its BRCA1/BRCA2 (Selected Variants) report. The report covers three variants in the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes associated with increased risk for breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer. These variants are most common in people of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
Worrying about the many current 23andMe customers who have one of or more of these variants has caused me sleepless nights. We believe they have the right to know about this risk, if they choose. And it&#8217;s more than just women — men with one of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 variants we test for are at higher risk for male breast cancer, and may have a higher risk of certain other cancers as well. Men who find out they have one of the tested BRCA variants can also alert female relatives who might benefit from knowing about their potential genetic risk.
<h6>Opportunities for Prevention</h6>
Importantly, studies have found women falling through gaps in breast cancer screening. In her 2015 recommendation for broader screening, <a href="http://www.ascopost.com/issues/february-10-2015/dr-mary-claire-king-proposes-population-screening-in-all-young-women-for-brca-mutations/">geneticist Mary-Claire King, Ph.D., said</a>, “Every breast cancer patient we identify after she develops cancer clearly represents a missed opportunity for prevention.”
A <a href="http://www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.1415979111">2014 study</a> led by Dr. King found that 50 percent of families that had a BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations had no history of breast or ovarian cancer that would have triggered clinical attention. Similarly our own data shows that a significant number of 23andMe customers who have one of the selected BRCA mutations for which we test, would likely not meet traditional guidelines for screening because they reported being unaware of their ancestry or a family history of cancer. 
Those customers — carriers of the selected BRCA1/BRCA2 variants who reported no family history of cancer and no Jewish ancestry — would likely never know about their risk because they’d never be offered screening under traditional guidelines. It’s a small but significant number of people, and for those individuals, this information could have a profound impact in their lives.<a id="a3" href="#f3">[3]</a>
<h6><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BRCA-Launch_1080x1080-300x300.png" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-26062" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BRCA-Launch_1080x1080-300x300.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BRCA-Launch_1080x1080-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BRCA-Launch_1080x1080-768x768.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BRCA-Launch_1080x1080-1024x1024.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BRCA-Launch_1080x1080-880x880.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BRCA-Launch_1080x1080-271x271.png 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BRCA-Launch_1080x1080-372x372.png 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BRCA-Launch_1080x1080-574x574.png 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BRCA-Launch_1080x1080-980x980.png 980w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/BRCA-Launch_1080x1080.png 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Unexpected Findings</h6>
A few years ago, 23andMe studied how people react to<a href="https://peerj.com/articles/8/"> unexpected BRCA findings</a>.<a id="a4" href="#f4">[4]</a> Researchers found that the results didn’t induce anxiety, which was the concern of many. Instead, they sparked crucial conversations among families. These conversations, in turn, created what researchers call a “cascade effect.” These are benefits that extend beyond the person who tested. They extend to members of that person&#8217;s family. It gives each a warning of a potential risk not just for breast, but also ovarian as well as prostate cancer in men.
This was a small study, but since the paper was published a lot has happened. 23andMe had to suspend offering genetic health risk reports — including the BRCA1/BRCA2 report — to customers as we went through an FDA review of our ability accurately detect these variants. We also had to show to the FDA that we could report genetic health risk information to customers in a way that could be easily understood. We did that.
Let’s be clear. 23andMe’s new report, once it’s available, does not diagnose cancer and cannot rule out your chances of getting cancer. It doesn&#8217;t cover most of the thousands of BRCA1 and BRCA2 variants associated with increased cancer risk. There are also variants in other genes associated with hereditary cancer, or non-genetic factors such as environment and lifestyle. The report should not be used on its own to make medical decisions. Results should be confirmed with a healthcare provider in a clinical setting before taking any medical action. 
23andMe’s BRCA1/BRCA2 report is not going to be helpful for everyone, but it’s a step in the right direction. We already know of customers who benefited from this information.
<h6>Taking Action</h6>
I know some of these women. They are among the 23andMe customers who tested more than four years ago when we previously offered this report.
&nbsp;
Women like Hilary Hood, a photographer, and mother of three grown daughters, who was surprised to learn about her breast cancer risk after testing with 23andMe. 
“It didn’t occur to me that I was at risk because I didn’t have a mother or sister or aunt with it,” she said. “I didn’t understand the genetic component.”
&nbsp;
It was a shock for Ann Mellinger too. 
&nbsp;
Ann, a CEO, and mother in New York didn’t have information about her biological father’s family health history. 

&nbsp;
“Most people who test positive for the BRCA1 mutation have a family history of breast and ovarian cancer, but I was aware of no cases in our family,” she said. “Knowledge is power, and in my case, the information I gained could quite possibly have saved my life.”
&nbsp;
Now, more than four years later, with our third FDA authorization we can again offer a BRCA report to customers covering the selected BRCA1/BRCA2 variants. It’s the first time the Agency has authorized a direct-to-consumer genetic test for cancer risk without a prescription. 
&nbsp;
This is a major milestone for 23andMe. But more importantly, a significant step forward for consumers who want direct and affordable access to their health information. Over the last four years, it has kept me up at night knowing that we have customers with one of these risk variants but have been unable to tell them. I can sleep better knowing that soon, if our customers choose to, they can view this information. We know from our own data that this information can be incredibly meaningful for customers and, in some cases, could even save lives. 
<footer class="footnotes">References:</footer>
<footer class="footnotes">
<a id="f1" href="#a1">[1]</a><a href="https://jamanetwork.com/searchresults?author=Mary-Claire+King&amp;q=Mary-Claire+King" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">King, M</a> et al. (2014). &#8220;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1902783">Population-Based Screening for BRCA1 and BRCA2</a>&#8221; JAMA. 2014;312(11):1091-1092. doi:10.1001/jama.2014.12483 <a href=" https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1902783"></a></footer>
<footer class="footnotes">
<a id="f2" href="#a2">[2]</a>Ibid.</footer>
<footer class="footnotes">
<a id="f3" href="#a3">[3]</a>Statistics come from internal data of 23andMe customers. 23andMe’s research team is working on a manuscript focusing on this data.</footer>
<footer class="footnotes">
<a id="f4" href="#a4">[4]</a><a href="https://peerj.com/articles/8/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Francke, U</a> et al. (2013). &#8220;<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1902783">Dealing with the unexpected: consumer responses to direct-access BRCA mutation testing</a>&#8221; PeerJ 2013. </footer>

A Major Milestone in Consumer Health Empowerment

Editor&#8217;s note: We&#8217;ve included a full list of regions and countries that have been added to the Ancestry Composition report at the end of this post. 
DNA is both a blueprint for life and a record of it, allowing us to learn more about what is written in each of us as our understanding of genetics progresses.
23andMe is improving its interactive <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry">Ancestry Composition report</a>, vastly increasing a person’s power to peer deeper into their genetic origins, connect them to different populations around the world, and to learn more about themselves.
<h6>Geographic Origins of Your DNA</h6>
This new update &nbsp;— which customers will begin seeing in the coming months — will compare you to more than 150 populations and regions across the globe to create a visualization of the geographic origins of your DNA.*
We all have a DNA story, and that story is part of the broader human story. It’s a history of people migrating out of Africa and venturing out to populate the globe and build new cultures. The footsteps of those ancestors can be seen in your DNA. Over millennia, as different groups of people separated from each other to move into new frontiers, small genetic changes occurred leaving us tiny clues about our history.
&nbsp;
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Sample-Report-894x1024.png" alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-26042 size-large" title="Ancestry Composition" width="894" height="1024" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Sample-Report-894x1024.png 894w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Sample-Report-262x300.png 262w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Sample-Report-768x879.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Sample-Report-769x880.png 769w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Sample-Report-1031x1180.png 1031w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Sample-Report.png 1464w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 894px) 100vw, 894px" />
We can find these clues by looking at segments of DNA in your genome, comparing those segments to reference populations from Europe, Asia, the Americas, Oceania, the Middle East and Africa.
Traditionally, our Ancestry Composition report compared customers’ data to 31 different populations, allowing 23andMe to report the percentage of DNA that came from those regions. This helped connect individuals to their ancestry back 500 years before the advent of modern migration.
With this new update, we still make those estimates but add another layer of insights with clues to the location of much more recent ancestors. We can do this by looking for exact DNA matches between a customer and over 130,000 individuals of known ancestry from 120 regions across the globe. 
<h6>Recent Ancestors</h6>
If a person exactly matches with five or more individuals from one of those specific regions, that region is assigned as a &#8220;recent ancestor location.&#8221; We also report the “strength&#8221; of the match. This is determined by how much DNA a customer shares with people from that region, adjusted by how many people are in the reference population.

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We’re excited to roll out this update to an already incredibly powerful interactive tool for <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">exploring your ancestry</a>. Beyond dramatically increasing the number of regions, the update also includes improvements to the map. In addition it improve the experience of panning and zooming into the geographic regions you are linked to through your DNA. We’ve also relabeled some of the populations for accuracy and better understanding. For example Yakut has been relabeled as Siberian. Taken together, these changes to 23andMe’s Ancestry Composition report provide a better way to visualize your ancestry. As with all the features and reports we offer customers, this one includes details on the science behind the tool so they know how these estimates are made. 
 

<h6>The Human Story</h6>
Beyond what Ancestry Composition offers, we also have additional ancestry-related tools that are unique to the 23andMe experience. And those tools connect you to the broader human story and its deep history. 
These include the first-ever Neanderthal Ancestry report and 23andMe’s maternal and paternal haplogroup reports. The Neanderthal Ancestry report offers you another way to bring your own connection to the human story. It shows you how your own DNA includes tiny fragments of DNA from Neanderthals, our ancient human cousins. 
23andMe’s haplogroup reports connect you to your haplogroups, different lineages that descended from a common ancient ancestor. As our ancestors ventured out of Africa, they branched off in diverse groups that crossed and recrossed the globe over tens of thousands of years. Your connections to those ancient migrations can be traced by looking at your haplogroups. 23andMe’s haplogroup reports give you insight into these ancient ancestors. Together these two reports connect you to your deep ancestry, showing you how you connect with groups of people who migrated across the globe over millenia.
 

The update to our Ancestry Composition feature is another example of how much more you can learn by exploring your own DNA. New customers who purchased our Ancestry Service kit as of February 28th will see this new update when they get their results. We’ve been gradually rolling out the update to existing customers. All customers will begin seeing this 23andMe Ancestry Composition update in the coming months.
 

<a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">Check it out</a>.
 
*<a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/#toc-ancestry-composition">23andMe&#8217;s Ancestry Composition</a> update with 120 additional regions will be coming soon to all 23andMe customers.
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

<h5 style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 640; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">List of Regions and Countries Included in this Ancestry Composition Update</h5>
European
British &amp; Irish
<ul>
<li>Ireland</li>
<li>United Kingdom</li>
</ul>
French &amp; German
<ul>
<li>Austria</li>
<li>Belgium</li>
<li>France</li>
<li>Germany</li>
<li>Luxembourg</li>
<li>Netherlands</li>
<li>Switzerland</li>
</ul>
Scandinavian
<ul>
<li>Denmark</li>
<li>Iceland</li>
<li>Norway</li>
<li>Sweden</li>
</ul>
Ashkenazi Jewish
Sardinian
Italian
<ul>
<li>Italy</li>
<li>Malta</li>
</ul>
Iberian
<ul>
<li>Portugal</li>
<li>Spain</li>
</ul>
Balkan
<ul>
<li>Albania</li>
<li>Bosnia and Herzegovina</li>
<li>Bulgaria</li>
<li>Croatia</li>
<li>Greece</li>
<li>Macedonia</li>
<li>Moldova</li>
<li>Montenegro</li>
<li>Romania</li>
<li>Serbia</li>
</ul>
Finnish
Eastern European
<ul>
<li>Belarus</li>
<li>Czech Republic</li>
<li>Estonia</li>
<li>Hungary</li>
<li>Latvia</li>
<li>Lithuania</li>
<li>Poland</li>
<li>Russia</li>
<li>Slovakia</li>
<li>Slovenia</li>
<li>Ukraine</li>
</ul>
Broadly Northwestern European
Broadly Southern European
Broadly European
<h5 style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 640; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;"></h5>
East Asian &amp; Native American
Japanese
Korean
<ul>
<li>North Korea</li>
<li>South Korea</li>
</ul>
Siberian
Manchurian &amp; Mongolian
<ul>
<li>Mongolia</li>
<li>Kazakhstan</li>
<li>Kyrgyzstan</li>
</ul>
Chinese
<ul>
<li>Hong Kong</li>
<li>Mainland China</li>
<li>Taiwan</li>
</ul>
Southeast Asian
<ul>
<li>Cambodia</li>
<li>Guam</li>
<li>Indonesia</li>
<li>Laos</li>
<li>Malaysia</li>
<li>Myanmar</li>
<li>Philippines</li>
<li>Singapore</li>
<li>Thailand</li>
<li>Vietnam</li>
</ul>
Native American
<ul>
<li>Argentina</li>
<li>Aruba</li>
<li>Belize</li>
<li>Bolivia</li>
<li>Brazil</li>
<li>Chile</li>
<li>Colombia</li>
<li>Costa Rica</li>
<li>Cuba</li>
<li>Dominican Republic</li>
<li>Ecuador</li>
<li>El Salvador</li>
<li>Guatemala</li>
<li>Honduras</li>
<li>Mexico</li>
<li>Nicaragua</li>
<li>Panama</li>
<li>Paraguay</li>
<li>Peru</li>
<li>Puerto Rico</li>
<li>Uruguay</li>
<li>Venezuela</li>
</ul>
Broadly East Asian
Broadly East Asian &amp; Native American
<h5 style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 640; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;"></h5>
Western Asian &amp; North African
North African &amp; Arabian
<ul>
<li>Algeria</li>
<li>Bahrain</li>
<li>Egypt</li>
<li>Jordan</li>
<li>Kuwait</li>
<li>Libya</li>
<li>Morocco</li>
<li>Saudi Arabia</li>
<li>Tunisia</li>
<li>United Arab Emirates</li>
<li>Yemen</li>
</ul>
Western Asian
<ul>
<li>Armenia</li>
<li>Azerbaijan</li>
<li>Cyprus</li>
<li>Georgia</li>
<li>Iran</li>
<li>Iraq</li>
<li>Lebanon</li>
<li>Syria</li>
<li>Turkey</li>
<li>Uzbekistan</li>
</ul>
Broadly Western Asian &amp; North African
<h5 style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 640; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;"></h5>
Sub-Saharan African
West African
<ul>
<li>Cabo Verde</li>
<li>Cameroon</li>
<li>Ghana</li>
<li>Liberia</li>
<li>Nigeria</li>
</ul>
East African
<ul>
<li>Eritrea</li>
<li>Ethiopia</li>
<li>Kenya</li>
<li>Somalia</li>
<li>Sudan</li>
</ul>
African Hunter-Gatherer
Broadly Sub-Saharan African
<h5 style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 640; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;"></h5>
South Asian
Broadly South Asian
<ul>
<li>Afghanistan</li>
<li>Bangladesh</li>
<li>India</li>
<li>Mauritius</li>
<li>Nepal</li>
<li>Pakistan</li>
<li>Sri Lanka</li>
</ul>
<h5 style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 640; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;"></h5>
Melanesian
Broadly Melanesian
<ul>
<li>American Samoa</li>
<li>Fiji</li>
<li>Samoa</li>
<li>Tonga</li>
</ul>
<h5 style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 640; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;"></h5>

23andMe Expands Ancestry Composition

By Becca Krock, Product Scientist 
You might have noticed that 23andMe’s <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">Trait reports</a> have a new look. If you haven&#8217;t yet, go check them out. Genetics can&#8217;t tell your fortune, but they can be used to make pretty cool statistical predictions about the color of your eyes, <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/cheek-dimples">whether you have dimples</a>, and your taste preferences. We redesigned the Trait reports after hearing from our customers that they wanted to learn more about the genetics behind their traits and why their genetic predictions might not always match their real-life traits. The new designs bring these ideas to the forefront with the help of vivid visuals and other features.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/eye-1024x683.png" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-26050" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/eye-1024x683.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/eye-300x200.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/eye-768x512.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/eye-880x587.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/eye-1180x787.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/eye.png 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />

<h5>What&#8217;s new?</h5>
The new Trait reports have:
<ul>
<li>a fresh face with colorful designs,</li>
<li>a new visual showing your results,</li>
<li>an interactive element that compares your predicted result with your actual trait,</li>
<li>a visual showing your DNA variants,</li>
<li>and expanded content explaining more about the &#8216;how&#8217; and &#8216;why&#8217; of each trait. </li>
</ul>

You can learn a lot by taking a closer look at these info-packed features. 

<h5>For every 100 people like you&#8230;</h5>
The first change you&#8217;ll notice is the look and feel of your results. For the most part your results themselves haven&#8217;t changed, but how we illustrate them has. We hope the new result graphics give you more insight into what your result really means, and how we created it.

Take the Bitter Taste report, for example: it turns out that some people are able to taste certain bitter chemicals, like molecules called PTC and PROP, that are similar to chemicals that occur naturally in food like raw broccoli and brussels sprouts, while other people can&#8217;t taste them. Those people are missing the taste sensors that their taste buds would need to detect this bitterness. So broccoli can taste different to two different people.

Let&#8217;s take a look through all the new features, starting with my own genetic results for the Bitter Taste report. Based on my genetics, I&#8217;m unlikely to be able to detect these bitter chemicals. Below my result is an image comparing me to 100 people with the same genetic profile for this trait. It shows that for every 100 23andMe research participants with the same genetic result as me, 65 have told us raw broccoli or brussels sprouts don&#8217;t taste bitter to them, and 35 say they do taste bitter. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Becca-Results-1024x856.png" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-26052" width="1024" height="856" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Becca-Results-1024x856.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Becca-Results-300x251.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Becca-Results-768x642.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Becca-Results-880x736.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Becca-Results-1180x987.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Becca-Results.png 1232w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />You can learn from this image that people with genetics like mine have a 65 percent chance of being unable to taste the bitterness in broccoli and brussels sprouts. Since this likelihood is greater than 50 percent, that&#8217;s the outcome predicted for me: &#8220;unlikely to detect certain bitter tastes.&#8221; As it turns out, that is true for me. I tested my sensitivity to these chemicals using at-home PTC taste test strips. One of my PTC-perceiving colleagues tried one and immediately grimaced at the bitterness, while I didn&#8217;t taste anything at all.
&nbsp;
At the same time, this data also shows that I still have a 35 percent chance of having the opposite result. So what would it mean if I actually were able to detect these bitter tastes? I would fall in that smaller group, the 35 percent of people with my genetics who buck the trend. 
&nbsp;
<h5>When your most likely result doesn&#8217;t match your actual trait</h5>
If you&#8217;re one of the people with the less common result for your genetics, the next new feature is tailor-made for you. This interactive element unpacks some reasons why you might be the way you are. Below the result image is a link that reads &#8220;Do broccoli or brussels sprouts taste bitter to you? Click here.&#8221; Clicking on this link opens a dialogue box.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Do-Raw-Broccoli-1024x701.png" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-26053" width="1024" height="701" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Do-Raw-Broccoli-1024x701.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Do-Raw-Broccoli-300x205.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Do-Raw-Broccoli-768x526.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Do-Raw-Broccoli-880x602.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Do-Raw-Broccoli-1180x808.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Do-Raw-Broccoli.png 1198w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />For the Bitter Taste report, if I answered that I actually do perceive the bitterness in broccoli and brussels sprouts, it would tell me that I have the more unusual outcome. I could also learn about factors other than genetics — like age, sex, or culture and life experiences — that could have the opposite effect from your genetics. 
&nbsp;
<h5>Behind the scenes with your genetics</h5>
The next new item in the report gives you a glimpse into how we calculate your result. Different Trait reports are powered by different DNA differences, or genetic variants. Some traits are strongly influenced by just one or a few genetic variants, while other traits are influenced by dozens or more genetic variants. Bitter Taste is an example of a trait that&#8217;s strongly affected by just one variant: 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/How-We-Calculate-2-1024x455.png" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-26054" width="1024" height="455" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/How-We-Calculate-2-1024x455.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/How-We-Calculate-2-300x133.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/How-We-Calculate-2-768x341.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/How-We-Calculate-2-880x391.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/How-We-Calculate-2-1180x524.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/How-We-Calculate-2.png 1274w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />The image shows a diagram of Becca&#8217;s two copies of chromosome number 7, the chromosome that this genetic variant marker happens to be on. It also shows the approximate location of this genetic marker, and the DNA variants she has there, called her genotype. 
&nbsp;
<h5>When traits get complex</h5>
Many traits are genetically complex, meaning they&#8217;re influenced by not just one, but many genetic variants. The taste preference that’s detailed in 23andMe’s <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/sweet-salty/">Sweet vs. Salty report</a> is one example of a complex trait. 
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For reports like this, there are two parts of the &#8220;How did we calculate your result?&#8221; section. The first part summarizes all the genetic variants that went into your result, along with any other factors we also took into account. These other factors can include your age, sex, and a number called the &#8220;intercept&#8221; that goes into the math calculating your result. (The intercept value is the same for everyone, but differs for each trait.) 
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Let&#8217;s take a look at the image that summarizes all those factors. This one is taken from the Sweet vs. Salty report of our scientist Chelsea, who is predicted to prefer salty snacks over sweet ones. (We were half right — Chelsea says she loves all snacks equally!)
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/How-We-Calculate.jpg" alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-26055" width="659" height="445" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/How-We-Calculate.jpg 659w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/How-We-Calculate-300x203.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 659px) 100vw, 659px" />The green bar is longer than the blue bar, showing that the factors that make Chelsea likely to prefer salty snacks outweigh the factors that make her likely to prefer sweet ones. The different contributions of genetics versus other factors are distinguished with bold versus pale colors. The bold blue and green show the contribution of her genetics to her likelihoods of each possible outcome, and the pale blue and green show the contribution of the other factors. 
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The second part of this section breaks down the genetic factors and maps them on to the 23 chromosomes: 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Breakdown-1024x513.png" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-26056" width="1024" height="513" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Breakdown-1024x513.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Breakdown-300x150.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Breakdown-768x385.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Breakdown-880x441.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Breakdown-1180x591.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Breakdown.png 1522w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Reports like Sweet vs. Salty show the locations of all the genetic variants included in that report. The effect of your genetic variants at each markers is shown as one dot on the chromosomes. Genetic variants that tip Chelsea&#8217;s result toward preferring sweet tastes are shown in blue, and genetic variants that tip her result back toward preferring salty tastes are shown in green. 
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But wait… there&#8217;s more. The size of the dots is scaled to show how strong of an effect that genetic variant has. Bigger dots have a bigger effect on the trait prediction. For Chelsea, there&#8217;s one large green dot on chromosome 19 that&#8217;s having a big impact on her result. 
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Whew! That was a lot. Spending a little time on these images can reward you with so much knowledge about yourself (and genetics and probabilities)! And now that we&#8217;ve walked through a couple examples, you&#8217;ve got the gist of them all. 
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<h5>The power of 23andMe research</h5>
One of the coolest things about our Trait reports, if we do say so ourselves, is that they were all created using the survey responses of 23andMe research participants. We sent survey questions asking our research participants about their taste preferences, hair color, <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/finger-length-ratio">finger length</a>, and more. They answered. And then we used that information to discover brand-new genetic associations that power the algorithms behind your predictions. 
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Our customers&#8217; enthusiasm for participating in research is what made many of these Trait reports possible. These new versions give even more of this research back to you.
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Sr. Product Scientist I

Becca Berns

Your Traits Never Looked Better

The earliest art on the European continent, the distinct red pigment paintings of animals, hand prints, and geometric shapes that decorate the walls of Spanish caves, were not made by modern humans but by our ancient human cousins, the Neanderthals.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/csm_Fig_5_La_Pasiega_panel_78_Breuil_9a886c903f.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-full wp-image-26059" width="308" height="562" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/csm_Fig_5_La_Pasiega_panel_78_Breuil_9a886c903f.jpg 308w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/csm_Fig_5_La_Pasiega_panel_78_Breuil_9a886c903f-164x300.jpg 164w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 308px) 100vw, 308px" />A team of researchers using carbon dating of tiny fragments taken from the images at three different sites discovered that these paintings were made long before modern humans even arrived on the continent.
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“Our dating results show that the cave art at these three sites in Spain is much older than previously thought,” said Alistair Pike, a research team member from the University of Southampton in the UK.
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The cave art predates the arrival of modern humans migration to Europe by more than 20,000 years, and adds another chapter into the human story.
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Neanderthals thrived in Eurasia for hundreds of thousands of years before early modern humans migrated out of Africa. At some point, humans and Neanderthals crossed paths, and as shown in recent DNA studies, they intermixed. Neanderthals disappeared about 40,000 years ago, but their DNA lives on in all humans outside of <a href="https://www.23andme.com/ancestry/#neanderthals">Africa</a>.
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It is just another in a series of discoveries about Neanderthals — from their <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/the-neanderthal-cookbook/">culinary tastes</a> to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/neanderthals-wore-eagle-talons-as-jewellery-1.17095">adornment</a> they wore to the kinds of <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/neanderthals-built-cave-structures-and-no-one-knows-why-1.19975">structures they built</a> — that are forcing scientists to reevaluate our understanding of their cognitive and communication abilities. This, in turn, is pushing researchers to conclude that Neanderthals were perhaps not so much different than modern humans.
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Or as Dirk Hoffman, of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Biology said, the cave art shows that <a href="https://www.mpg.de/11948095/neandertals-cave-art">Neanderthals thought like we do</a>.
23andMe customers can explore your Neanderthal Report <a href="https://you.23andme.com/reports/neanderthal/">here</a>. And if you’re not yet a customer, you can find out more <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/#toc-neanderthal">here</a>.

A Neanderthal Renaissance

Scientists have found a new method that could help illuminate the many genetic variants that contribute to personality traits and psychological disorders.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Data-Viz-1024x576.jpg" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-25916" width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Data-Viz-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Data-Viz-300x169.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Data-Viz-768x432.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Data-Viz-880x495.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Data-Viz-1180x663.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Data-Viz.jpg 1366w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />

Both genetics and environmental factors influence personality. Estimates suggest that as much as 50 percent of the variance in personality among individuals is influenced by genetics, and in recent years ever-larger genome-wide association studies have been able to identify some of those genetic associations.

But consistently finding these clues is difficult in part because there are a large number of genetic variants that individually have a small effect but together exert an influence on personality and psychological disorders.

So researchers at the <a href="http://profiles.ucsd.edu/chi-hua.chen">University of California at San Diego</a> created this <a href="https://academic.oup.com/hmg/article-abstract/26/22/4530/4097760">new method</a> for improving the statistical power for gene discovery looking specifically at neuroticism, one of the so-called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits">“Big Five”</a> traits for measuring personality. People with high neuroticism scores tend to respond worse to stress and be moodier than average. Neuroticism is associated with various mental and physical health issues including depression, anxiety, and substance abuse, and high levels of neuroticism are associated with schizophrenia.

Using data from about 60,000 23andMe customers who consented to participate in research, as well as data from the <a href="http://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/about-biobank-uk/">UK Biobank</a> and the international <a href="http://www.tweelingenregister.org/GPC/">Genetic Personality Consortium</a>, the researchers combined two statistical tools — relative enrichment scores and false discovery rates — as a way to extract more information regarding the genetic variants associated with the trait.

This method helped the researchers improve the statistical power of what would be a traditional large-scale genome-wide association study, revealing underlying genetic associations that couldn’t be seen otherwise. In this case, they found five genetic variants in four different genes or gene regions. Variants in one of those genes, EP300, are associated with schizophrenia.

“These genetic and phenotypic findings suggest that neuroticism might share the same biological pathways with psychiatric disorders,” the researchers concluded in the paper.

The researchers said they were able to increase “power for gene discovery for neuroticism.” Beyond that, the researchers argue that the model demonstrates, “that this statistical framework is a promising tool for improving gene discovery using existing (genome-wide association study) summary statistics.”

Go to the Journal of <a href="https://academic.oup.com/hmg/article-abstract/26/22/4530/4097760">Human Molecular Genetics</a> to read more about this study.

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