Oprah Winfrey just released her annual<a href="https://www.amazon.com/oprahsfavoritethings"> favorite things list</a>, and 23andMe’s on it, right up there between her Wisdom of Sundays book and Tory Sport Track Pants.
Not that you need the ultimate arbiter of taste to tell you what to buy this holiday season, but it is Oprah. As she says 23andMe is like “the ultimate selfie.”
Head on over to 23andMe.com and learn more about our latest holiday offers.
Cheers.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/O-Favorite-Things.jpg" alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-25850" width="764" height="470" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/O-Favorite-Things.jpg 764w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/O-Favorite-Things-300x185.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 764px) 100vw, 764px" />

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

Checking Oprah’s List

The fertility rate in the United States is at its lowest point in more than a century, according to<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/vsrr/natality.htm"> new data</a> released this summer from the National Center for Health Statistics.
The numbers are a testament to women delaying having children while they enter the workforce. But, according to researchers, the data also point to a need for new efforts to better understand improving fertility outcomes in women who wait to have their children. 
Early this year 23andMe launched its<a href="https://www.23andme.com/fertility/"> Fertility Research Community</a> with <a href="http://www.celmatix.com">Celmatix</a>, a next-generation women’s health company, to use genetics and other data to uncover what impacts women’s ability to conceive. It focuses on women aged 18 to 45, who are actively trying to conceive or who recently had a child.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Fertility_blog_stat.jpg" alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-25805" width="455" height="234" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Fertility_blog_stat.jpg 455w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Fertility_blog_stat-300x154.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 455px) 100vw, 455px" />
In an indication of the interest around this issue, the study was able to enroll 4,500 women in a matter of a few days. This kind of recruitment can typically take years to complete, and the speed of this illustrates how important this issue is for many women.
As the research has begun in earnest, it’s clear that the interest from participants is holding. All those enrolled completed an essential background survey, sharing health and lifestyle information. Close to 90 percent completed the first follow up survey with researchers and about 80 percent completed the second.
As the study progresses over the next year, participants will continue to receive emails every two months with reminders to complete follow-up surveys.
At the end of this process, our scientists will combine the information contributed by participants with genetic data and the outcome of the women’s efforts to conceive. The hope is that the research will uncover new insights into what impacts a woman’s fertility and her ability to deliver a healthy baby.
23andMe’s research model has already proven useful in<a href="https://www.23andme.com/publications/"> fueling valuable insights</a> into other conditions and we hope to do the same for this community.

New Data on Fertility in the United States

This week The Michael J. Fox Foundation announced the launch of a new Parkinson&#8217;s research initiative called<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/fi_logo.svg" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-25818" width="1" height="1" /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-300x93.jpg" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-25820 size-medium" width="300" height="93" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-300x93.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-768x239.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-1024x319.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-880x274.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-1180x367.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
As part of our broader collaboration with The Foundation, 23andMe is inviting participants of its more than 12,000 strong Parkinson’s Research community to join the <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2017/10/30/23andme-fox-parkinsons/">initiative</a>. While the two organizations have a long history of working together to study Parkinson’s disease, this new initiative will make data broadly available to researchers, drug makers, and regulators worldwide starting in 2018, with the goals of sparking innovation and discoveries around Parkinson’s disease.
The hope is to recruit tens or even hundreds of thousands of people with Parkinson’s to be involved in a collaborative and diverse cohort of patients that will add new kinds of information that could be used quickly accessed by qualified researchers. New technology and leveraging online tools allow for those with Parkinson’s to more easily contribute data, allowing researchers to pair it with genetic data that could ultimately accelerate discovery.

In addition, The Michael J. Fox Foundation and 23andMe are launching the Fox Insight Genetics substudy. This will give eligible Fox Insight participants with Parkinson’s an option to be genotyped by 23andMe at no cost, and contribute their deidentified genetic data to research.
For 23andMe, which pioneered the use of genetics with online tools and people-centered research, this offers a chance to build upon the success of its work on Parkinson’s disease and encourage innovation by qualified outside researchers.
&#8220;Joining forces with The Michael J. Fox Foundation will help our research goals of understanding, treating and preventing this disease,&#8221; said Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe CEO, and co-founder. &#8220;Making the data available to the wider research community will accelerate our understanding of Parkinson&#8217;s disease.”
The goal is to better understand Parkinson’s disease with the hope of finding new treatments. But the initiative is also a response to Parkinson’s patient&#8217;s desire to actively contribute to research and share their own experience, which isn’t always captured in traditional disease research.
“What I find fascinating when I talk to Parkinson’s patients is that we all have a different disease,” says Michael J. Fox, who launched the Foundation in 2000 with a vision of bringing Parkinson’s patients and scientists into a true two-way dialogue to speed patient-relevant research outcomes. “One of our Foundation’s most important goals has been finding a way to incorporate patient involvement and patient knowledge and wisdom and enthusiasm in research. Capturing the natural back-and-forth between patients helps doctors and researchers.”
Starting next year de-identified data from Fox Insight will be made easily accessible to qualified Parkinson’s researchers, for independent study. This sort of access to the research could shorten research timelines, and speed the development of new therapies. 
Go <a href="http://foxinsight.org">here</a> for more information about Fox Insight.

New Parkinson’s Disease Research Collaboration with the Michael J. Fox Foundation

An international team of scientists, led by researchers in Australia, found more than a hundred different genetic variants in or near immune-related genes that are associated with having asthma, hay fever and eczema.
In a study published this week in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ng.3985">Nature Genetics</a>, researchers at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane Australia— and about a dozen other institutions around the world including 23andMe — identified new genomic regions associated with these three allergic diseases providing a deeper understanding about why these conditions often occur together in an individual.
Led by Manuel Ferreira, Ph.D, the study was three times larger than the next largest genome wide associations of allergic disease. This study also stands out because it didn’t focus on just one condition, looking instead at the overlapping genetic influences for these three conditions, which tend to occur together.
“Asthma, hay fever and eczema are allergic diseases that affect different parts of the body: the lungs, the nose and the skin,” Ferreira said. “We already knew that they were similar at many levels. For example, we knew that the three diseases shared many genetic risk factors. What we didn’t know was exactly where in the genome those shared genetic risk factors were located.”
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-636878352-1024x793.jpg" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-25827" width="1024" height="793" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-636878352-1024x793.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-636878352-300x232.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-636878352-768x594.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-636878352-880x681.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-636878352.jpg 1164w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />By dramatically increasing the size of the study and focusing on three overlapping conditions, the researchers substantially improved their ability to identify shared risk variants.
The scientists looked at data from more than 360,000 people — including data from about 118,000 23andMe customers who consented to participate in research as well as data from institutions in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia. Their analysis identified more than 130 different genes or gene regions associated with allergic disease, with the vast majority involved in immune response. This, in turn, explains why these conditions often occur together.
“Our genetic findings demonstrate that asthma, hay fever, and eczema co-occur to a large extent because they share genetic risk variants that dis-regulate the expression of immune-related genes,” the researchers concluded in their paper.
The majority of genes and gene regions identified influence the function of immune cells. The genetic variants identified in the study disrupt the function of genes involved in immune response, in essence turning them off. 
Beyond identifying the different genes involved and explaining why these conditions occur together, the study also helped identify potential new treatments for therapy. 
“Importantly, we have identified several drugs that we believe could be targeted at some of these genes to treat allergies,” Ferreira said. “The first step would be to test those drugs in the laboratory.”

New research identifies more than a hundred immune-related genes associated with asthma and allergies

Thanks to everyone who visited our <a href="https://research.23andme.com/collaborate/">collaboration</a> workshop, talks, posters, and booth at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.
Being able to interact with other members of the genomics community at ASHG, and hear your feedback about 23andMe is what makes this conference so special. Getting a <a href="https://www.genomeweb.com/business-policy-funding/ashg-bill-gates-and-francis-collins-discuss-global-health-and-genetics">shout out</a> from Bill Gates wasn’t too shabby either.
If you weren&#8217;t able to attend or simply ran out of time at this jam-packed event, we&#8217;ve made available pdfs of the presentations available below.
<div id="attachment_25815" style="width: 660px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25815" class="wp-image-25815 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Population-Specific-Reference-Panel.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="843" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Population-Specific-Reference-Panel.jpg 650w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Population-Specific-Reference-Panel-231x300.jpg 231w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px" /><a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/23andMe_ASHG_2017_Aaron.pdf">Human knockouts in the Ashkenazi Jewish population</a></div>
<div id="attachment_25814" style="width: 660px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25814" class="wp-image-25814 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Cognitive-Assessment.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="843" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Cognitive-Assessment.jpg 650w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Cognitive-Assessment-231x300.jpg 231w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px" /><a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/23andMe_ASHG_2017_Olga.pdf">Performance on online cognitive assessments is correlated with individual characteristics in 23andMe customers</a></div>
<div id="attachment_25816" style="width: 660px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25816" class="wp-image-25816 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Tipping-the-Scales.jpg" alt="" width="650" height="842" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Tipping-the-Scales.jpg 650w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Tipping-the-Scales-232x300.jpg 232w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 650px) 100vw, 650px" /><a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/23andMe_ASHG_2017_Sarah.pdf">Tipping the scales: Participants make healthy dietary changes in response to direct-to-consumer genetic test results</a></div>
<div id="attachment_25813" style="width: 659px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25813" class="wp-image-25813 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Clonal-Hematopoiesis.jpg" alt="" width="649" height="838" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Clonal-Hematopoiesis.jpg 649w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Clonal-Hematopoiesis-232x300.jpg 232w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 649px) 100vw, 649px" /><a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/23andMe_ASHG_2017_Chao.pdf">Clonal Hematopoiesis: genetic and phenotypic associations in the general population</a></div>
<div id="attachment_25812" style="width: 656px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25812" class="wp-image-25812 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/African-Genetics-Project.jpg" alt="" width="646" height="841" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/African-Genetics-Project.jpg 646w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/African-Genetics-Project-230x300.jpg 230w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 646px) 100vw, 646px" /><a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/23andMe_ASHG_2017_Meghan.pdf">A web-based initiative to accelerate research on African ancestry in the Americas </a></div>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-25955 size-large" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.39.22-PM-1024x508.png" alt="" width="1024" height="508" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.39.22-PM-1024x508.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.39.22-PM-300x149.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.39.22-PM-768x381.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.39.22-PM-880x436.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.39.22-PM-1180x585.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.39.22-PM.png 1996w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" /> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-25956" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.42.05-PM-1024x521.png" alt="" width="1024" height="521" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.42.05-PM-1024x521.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.42.05-PM-300x153.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.42.05-PM-768x391.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.42.05-PM-880x448.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.42.05-PM-1180x601.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Screen-Shot-2018-01-04-at-3.42.05-PM.png 1776w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />

23andMe’s Posters at ASHG 2017

By Erica Bellman
If you’re familiar with 23andMe’s products, you know there are currently two options for how customers can receive results: <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">Ancestry only</a>, or
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-25799 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-768x513.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-1180x788.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
both <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-health-ancestry/">Ancestry and Health</a>. On the surface, these two categories might seem unrelated, but when it comes to the science, ancestry and health are intrinsically linked, and knowledge of one may provide vital information about the other.
<h6>Heritable Disorders</h6>
A <a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v49/n9/full/ng.3953.html?foxtrotcallback=true">recent article</a> in Nature illuminates this connection. The piece looks at how recent studies of certain South Asian populations’ ancestral origins have spurred important insights about recessive heritable disorders.
To understand why the South Asian studies could be so fruitful for genetic health research, it’s crucial to understand the so-called “founder effect.” In essence, the founder effect is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population emerges from a very small number of individuals (or founders) — who are isolated by geography or culture, for example — from a larger population.
Throughout South Asia’s “mosaic” of populations, a prominent demographic pattern has been for individuals to marry within their communities. One of the results of this pattern is the higher-than-typical frequency of certain of genetic variants that can cause recessive disorders, which in turn makes those variants easier to detect, screen for, and ultimately prevent.

<h6>Founder Populations</h6>
It’s important to note that this certainly isn’t the first time scientists have identified health implications for a population descended from founders. For example, individuals of <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/ashkenazi-ancestry-and-health">Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry</a> were vital in improving our understanding of Tay-Sachs disease. The Finnish people have been studied due to their genetic uniformity and the occurrence of hereditary diseases such as congenital <a href="https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/1500/congenital-nephrotic-syndrome-finnish-type">nephrosis</a>, a kidney disease.
By continuing to study recessive disorders in founder populations, geneticists will be able to identify variants in the same deleterious gene in other populations. This helps to better understand the biology of the conditions, and develop potential treatments.
“If we know people of a certain ancestry have the same disease, we’re able to locate the regions of their genome where their ancestral background may overlap,” said Kimberly McManus, a population geneticist on 23andMe’s Research and Development team. “These sites can be informative, because they’re potential segments that may be causing or influencing the disease.”
<h6>More Data</h6>
Right now, one of the biggest hurdles to advancement in ancestry-inspired health research is the relative lack of genetic samples obtained from founder populations. Populations in South Asia, Africa and East Asia hold some of the richest genetic diversity in the world. However, they’ve historically been the least studied.
“Until a few years ago, more than 90% of genetic studies were based on individuals of European descent,&#8221; Kimberly said. &#8220;(This was) primarily due to the lack of available data from diverse populations.”
But some research-driven organizations are implementing programs that could significantly increase the diversity of the data available for study.
<h6>African Genetics</h6>
For 23andMe’s <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/the-african-genetics-project/">African Genetics Project,</a> the company distributed free kits to people of underrepresented populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim is to better serve those communities and customers who might have ancestral ties there.
“The benefits of increasing our sample sizes from these populations will be twofold,” Kimberly said. “It will allow people from these populations to better understand their ancestry. And it will allow researchers to investigate genetic health risks in these populations, as the genetics may be slightly different than in other populations.”
These new horizons for research and increased diversity of genetic samples. They present exciting possibilities for health breakthroughs. However, genetic similarities between populations around the world far outweigh the differences.
“Ancestry-inspired health is very important,&#8221; Kimberly said. &#8220;But it’s also important to remember that the vast, vast majority of variants are shared between all populations.  Sequencing genomes of understudied groups can just be useful in better understanding some of the health traits shared among these populations.”

Erica Bellman

Ancestry-inspired genetic health and understudied populations

Over the last decade, more and more people have embraced a gluten-free diet, but their motivations often differ.

Some of these people might have wheat allergies or gluten intolerance. But a small percentage of people have a condition called <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/health-predispositions/celiac-disease">celiac disease.</a> For someone with celiac disease gluten triggers an immune response that damages the small intestine. This can affect the absorption of nutrients and lead to painful digestive problems.

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Celiac_1-1024x535.png" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-25801" width="1024" height="535" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Celiac_1-1024x535.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Celiac_1-300x157.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Celiac_1-768x401.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Celiac_1-880x460.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Celiac_1-1180x617.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Celiac_1.png 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
&nbsp;
<h6>New 23andMe Report on Celiac Disease</h6>
This week 23andMe released a new genetic health risk report on celiac disease.*  The new report looks at two genetic variants — rs2187668 and rs7454108 — that are linked to the HLA-DQ2.5 and HLA-DQ8 haplotypes associated with higher risk for celiac. 
A haplotype is a group of genes inherited together from a single parent. People with one or both of these two haplotypes account for about 95 percent of all of celiac disease cases. So if you have celiac disease, it’s likely you have one of these variants. 
But it’s important to note that having one of these variants doesn’t mean you will develop celiac disease. Although 15 to 30 percent of all people have one of these risk variants, only about 3 percent of people with one of these variants develop celiac disease. If you don’t have one of these haplotypes it is very unlikely that you will develop celiac disease.
<h6>A Gluten-Free Diet</h6>
But knowing you have one of these variants can be important especially for those who believe they have symptoms or additional risk factors. If they learn they have at least one of the risk variants, the report could help them follow-up with a doctor. A doctor  may recommend more rigorous screening. For most people with celiac disease, the most effective treatment is adhering to a completely gluten-free diet. This can help alleviate symptoms and allow the small intestine to heal.

It’s possible to have gluten sensitivity and not have celiac disease. This report does not cover non-celiac disease gluten sensitivity. 23andMe doesn’t currently have reports on food allergies or other sensitivities to gluten.

23andMe&#8217;s Celiac Disease report adds to a growing list of valuable and actionable <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-health-ancestry">genetic health risk reports</a> we offer customers. 

*The Celiac Disease genetic health risk report (i) is indicated for reporting of the rs2187668 variant in the HLA-DQA1 gene, which tags the HLA-DQ2.5 haplotype; and the rs7454108 variant near the HLA-DQB1 gene, which tags the HLA-DQ8 haplotype, (ii) describes if a person has variants associated with an increased risk of developing celiac disease, and (iii) is most relevant for people of European descent.

New 23andMe Report on Celiac Disease

In the largest study of its kind, an international team of researchers identified new genetic variants associated with restless legs syndrome.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-25795 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-831812340-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-831812340-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-831812340-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-831812340-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-831812340-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-831812340-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/iStock-831812340.jpg 1254w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Published in the journal Lancet Neurology, <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(17)30327-7/fulltext">the study</a> also identified underlying biological pathways for the condition, pointing researchers to possible drug targets for treatment.
“Restless legs syndrome is surprisingly common, but despite this, we know little about what causes it – and hence how to treat it,” said Dr. Steven Bell from the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at the <a href="http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/restless-legs-syndrome-study-identifies-13-new-genetic-risk-variants">University of Cambridge</a>, and one of the lead authors of the study.
Characterized by an unpleasant urge to <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/wellness/sleep-movement/">move the legs</a> usually during inactivity, the condition is chronic and can disrupt sleep and impact a person’s long-term wellbeing. It affects as many as 10 percent of the people with European ancestry, and, according to researchers, it can lead to an increased risk for depression, anxiety, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.
Although past studies identified a strong genetic link to the condition, this study, the largest conducted so far, identified 13 genetic variants newly associated with the condition and replicated six other previously identified associations. This study was far larger than previous genome wide association studies into the condition, using data from more than 110,000 people who were part of three different study groups, more than half of those were 23andMe customers who consented to participate in research. The findings were then replicated in a separate data set.
The new genetic variants identified in this study are on or near genes involved in changes in the formation of neuronal circuits as well as the growth and development of nerve cells, a process known as as neurogenesis.
“We are convinced that the newly discovered risk loci will contribute substantially to our understanding of the causal biology of the disease,” said Dr. Barbara Schormair, of the Institute of Neurogenomics at the Helmholtz Zentrum München, who co-authored the paper.
The researchers also noted that the drug thalidomide targets the interaction of one genes, MEIS2, which is involved in this process. Thalidomide, a sedative developed in Germany in the 1950s, was implicated in severe birth defects. No longer prescribed to women in childbearing years, and only approved by the FDA under what is called Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies, the drug is currently used to treat multiple myeloma.
“The genetic risk variants that we’ve discovered add more weight to the idea that this condition is related to the development of our nervous system,” said Dr. Emanuele Di Angelantonio, another researcher on this study from the University of Cambridge. “It also gives us some clues to how we may treat patients affected by the condition.”
Find the full study at <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laneur/article/PIIS1474-4422(17)30327-7/fulltext">Lancet Neurology</a>.

New associations found for restless legs syndrome

This week the 23andMe Research Team joins over 6,500 fellow scientists in sharing our research at the American Society of Human Genetics annual meeting in Orlando. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/23andMe_Logo-1-300x198.jpg" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-25534 size-medium" height="198" width="300" />
One of the most exciting parts of these conferences is geeking out on the rapid growth of genomics datasets in recent years and daydreaming about what you could do with all that sweet, sweet data.
The 23andMe database is no exception. Approximately 85 percent of our 2 million+ customers consent to participate in research and have collectively answered more than 700 million survey questions. Such a powerful dataset has led to 80+ successful collaborations and publications, including new insights into <a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v49/n10/full/ng.3955.html">Parkinson’s Disease</a>, <a href="http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1612665">spontaneous preterm birth</a>, and <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00257-5">susceptibility to common infections</a>. But unlike other studies, we have the unique ability to re-contact our cohort to ask additional questions and investigate new phenotypes.
So to have a bit of fun this week, we’re turning it over to you, ASHG 2017 attendees: 
What question would you ask 23andMe research participants for analysis in a new GWAS? 
Our favorite three entries will receive a free 23andMe Health + Ancestry Service Kit!
<h5>How it works:</h5>
<ol>
<li>Attend the American Society of Human Genetics 2017 annual meeting.</li>
<li>Follow the <a href="https://twitter.com/23andmeresearch">@23andMeResearch</a> Twitter account</li>
<li>Tweet at <a href="https://twitter.com/23andmeresearch">@23andMeResearch</a> with your answer to the following: “What question would you ask 23andMe research participants for analysis in a new GWAS?” Up to 5 entries allowed per person.</li>
<li>Entries must be received between 10 am EDT on Monday, October 16th, and 6 pm EDT on Thursday, October 19th to be considered.</li>
<li>Three winners will be selected by members of the 23andMe Research Team based on the originality and scientific merit of their entries and will be announced during the ASHG17 Tweetup on October 19th.</li>
<li>Winners must be following @23andMeResearch at the time of selection and may be asked to provide proof of ASHG attendance. Valid proof includes, but is not limited to, their name appearing on the conference schedule, a photo of their conference badge, a registration confirmation email, etc.</li>
<li>Winners will receive one gift code to order a 23andMe Health + Ancestry Service Kit online at <a href="https://www.23andme.com">www.23andMe.com</a>. </li>
</ol>

A full description of the Official Contest Rules can be found <a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/@23andMeResearch-ASHG-2017-Twitter-Contest-Official-Rules-6.25.17_final.pdf">here</a>.

We’re happy to have a chance to give back to the genomics community. Good luck with your brainstorming!

A image of double helix showing a variant

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