February is Black History Month offering us another opportunity to talk about diversity in genetic research and why it’s important for all of us.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25259" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-880x880.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-980x980.jpg 980w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3.jpg 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
23andMe’s mission has always been to help people access, understand, and benefit from the human genome. Everyone should gain from the scientific insights we learn through research. That means people of all ethnicities. But that hasn’t happened because research — not just 23andMe research — but all biomedical and genetic research has been hampered by a lack of diversity.


A recently article published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/genomics-is-failing-on-diversity-1.20759">Nature</a> found that less than three percent of the genome wide association studies published involve people of African Ancestry. And it’s not just African Americans who are being left out. More than 80 percent of biomedical research is focused on people of European ancestry.
There are very real repercussions when research is limited to just one group.
For example, a lack of diversity in research could lead to misdiagnosis. A <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/study-warns-of-misdiagnosis-in-genetic-testing-1471453590">recent study</a> by researchers at Harvard looked specifically at how a gene mutation was misclassified among African American patients indicating that they were at risk for a serious heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy when in fact they were not. Basically the researchers found that the variants or mutations that caused a heightened risk in patients of European ancestry were not risky for those of African or other non-European ancestry.
By studying Europeans alone, we blind ourselves to discoveries that could be found in other populations that frankly could help all people.
So what can we do about it?
A lot, it turns out.
23andMe recognized early on that we needed to do more. In 2011 early in our company’s history, we launched something called the <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/announcements/roots-into-the-future/">“Roots Into the Future Project,”</a> enrolling  10,000 African Americans in a study meant to bring better understanding of the connection between DNA and diseases most relevant to African Americans. We have since added another 10,000 to the study. And we’ve steadily added additional efforts to improve diversity.
In November 2013 we kicked off our African Ancestry Project, which recruited people with four grandparents from Sub-Saharan Africa to improve our knowledge of African genetic diversity. Late last year we launched an even more ambitious initiative called the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/africa-project/">African Genetics Project</a>, that enrolls individuals from 16 different African countries. The purpose is not just to help people with African ancestry uncover their African roots, but it could also help yield new insights into the TransAtlantic slave trade.
We know that the Africans enslaved in the Americas were not a monolithic group but individuals from different cultures with different languages who were forced together into slavery. We hope this study will help our researchers identify direct connections between locations in Africa and the Americas.
This isn’t the first time that we’ve looked at our data to gain insights that go beyond just health research. A little over two years ago our researchers published the first <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/dna-usa-2/">genetic portrait of the United States</a>, illustrating the complex mix of African, Native American, Latino and European ancestry across the country and giving new insight into our social and political history.
Beyond that work, we’re also looking at how to leverage data we already have.
In early 2016, 23andMe received an NIH grant to improve how we study disease in African American and Latino populations. Both of these populations are “admixed,” meaning they have a mix of African, European and Native ancestry. By using something called mapping by admixture linkage disequilibrium, or admixed mapping, we believe we can identify disease causing genetic variants for conditions that are more prevalent among African Americans, such as high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and Asthma.


Then late in 2016, 23andMe launched the African Sequencing Project, which also received funding from the NIH. This effort will help 23andMe create a new reference panel for African Americans that we could share with the broader scientific community. This would make it easier for all researchers to do important health research in the African American community.
Find out more about our efforts <a href="https://www.23andme.com/roots/#commitment">here</a>.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

Black History Month Draws Attention to The Need for Diversity in Genetic Research

In the article <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/11/magazine/neanderthals-were-people-too.html?_r=0">Neanderthals Were People Too</a>, Jon Mooallem describes an electric moment where he felt a visceral connection to our long lost human cousins.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25260" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/EGrhX_Flint-Nana-Kennis-Kennis-reconstructions-of-the-Gibraltar-12-skulls-Photo-S.Finlayson-212x300.jpg" alt="" width="212" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/EGrhX_Flint-Nana-Kennis-Kennis-reconstructions-of-the-Gibraltar-12-skulls-Photo-S.Finlayson-212x300.jpg 212w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/EGrhX_Flint-Nana-Kennis-Kennis-reconstructions-of-the-Gibraltar-12-skulls-Photo-S.Finlayson-768x1084.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/EGrhX_Flint-Nana-Kennis-Kennis-reconstructions-of-the-Gibraltar-12-skulls-Photo-S.Finlayson-725x1024.jpg 725w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/EGrhX_Flint-Nana-Kennis-Kennis-reconstructions-of-the-Gibraltar-12-skulls-Photo-S.Finlayson-623x880.jpg 623w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/EGrhX_Flint-Nana-Kennis-Kennis-reconstructions-of-the-Gibraltar-12-skulls-Photo-S.Finlayson-836x1180.jpg 836w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/EGrhX_Flint-Nana-Kennis-Kennis-reconstructions-of-the-Gibraltar-12-skulls-Photo-S.Finlayson-scaled.jpg 1813w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px" />
Watching a group of archeologist painstakingly excavate a small hearth in a cave in Gibraltar, Mooallen is suddenly struck by what he’s seeing. The bits of charcoal, the fire stained ground where embers are scattered and the smoke stained walls where the cinders from the fire had pushed up against the rock wall.


“Suddenly, it struck me — though it should have earlier — that what we were looking at were the remnants of a single event: a specific fire, on a specific night, made by specific Neanderthals. Maybe this won’t sound that profound, but it snapped that prehistoric abstraction into focus. This wasn’t just a “hearth,” I realized; it was a campfire.”


<h6>The Connection</h6>

He was looking at the remains of a fire that warmed these human cousins of ours on a night 50,000 years ago, and he felt connected.
Whether we feel it or not, most humans living today are connected to Neanderthals.
All non-Africans have between one and three percent Neanderthal DNA, a remnant of interbreeding as modern humans migrated out of Africa and met Neanderthals for the first time. And we likely carry remnants of other hominids in our DNA, such as the Denisovans.
Perhaps it’s that genetic connection that fuels our fascination with Neanderthal, or maybe it’s that what we learn is informing us all more about what it means to be human.
We know that we owe much to the Neanderthals. It’s likely that interbreeding with Neanderthals helped give humans an evolutionary advantage to adapt — beneficial immune response and blood clotting for instance — but it also left us with a subtle risk for certain diseases, according to <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/02/our-hidden-neandertal-dna-may-increase-risk-allergies-depression">research published early last year</a>.

<h6>The Neanderthal Advantage</h6>

Vanderbilt University&#8217;s John Anthony Capra, was the lead author of that study, which we previously wrote about in the <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/the-lasting-legacy-of-neanderthals/">blog</a>. Capra recently spoke with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/20/science/john-anthony-capra-neanderthals-dna-humans.html">The New York Times</a> about that research.
Over time humans <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/new-neanderthal-research/">purged</a> all but the last vestiges of Neanderthal DNA — but some of what remains, even some of what previously could have been beneficial, is deleterious, according to Capra.


“What we’ve been finding is that Neanderthal DNA has a subtle influence on risk for disease,” Capra said.


For the research, Capra and his team looked at electronic health records from 50,000 individuals and found associations with Neanderthal DNA and immune response, blood clotting, and depression.
These findings and others indicate that Neanderthals were much more like us than we previously thought.


“We tend to think of them as dumb and brutish,” Capra said. “There’s no reason to believe that. Maybe those of us of European heritage should be thinking, “Let’s improve their standing in the popular imagination. They’re our ancestors, too.’”

The Neanderthal Within

Equipped with pipe cleaners, pom poms, and a PowerPoint presentation on basic genetics, members of the 23andMe Education team headed back to school last week.

&nbsp;

The team was at Hoover Community School in Redwood City, to impart the basics of genetics to 6th and 7th graders, who are part of an <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25262" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/23andEdu_8Dec2016-70-11-256x300.jpg" alt="" width="256" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/23andEdu_8Dec2016-70-11-256x300.jpg 256w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/23andEdu_8Dec2016-70-11-768x902.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/23andEdu_8Dec2016-70-11-872x1024.jpg 872w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/23andEdu_8Dec2016-70-11-749x880.jpg 749w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/23andEdu_8Dec2016-70-11-1005x1180.jpg 1005w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 256px) 100vw, 256px" />after school program. It’s the kind of extracurricular learning that’s not always available for these students, said David Cruz, who helps with the after school program and is the manager of development and corporate partnerships for the Boys &amp; Girls Clubs of the Peninsula.


“It is important that low income students at the Boys &amp; Girls Clubs receive these types of unique experiences to explore topics of ancestry and genetics, too often they are not presented with these opportunities at home or at their schools,” Cruz said.


The students also taught our team from 23andMe a few things about having fun.
The afternoon started with the students playing a little game meant to illustrate how genetics influence physical traits like hair texture, eye color, freckling and tongue rolling ability in a population. Some of the funniest moments centered on an activity meant to  figure out who could roll their tongue. It involved students sticking out their tongues, and seeing who could roll their tongues and who couldn’t. The fun continued with students  examining their ears, checking to see who had  attached or detached earlobes, another inherited trait.


The education team gave a brief presentation on the basics of DNA, followed by some additional interactive activities. Applying lessons learned from the presentation, students wore glow-in-the-dark bracelets in four  different colors to represent their As, Cs, Ts, and Gs — the four DNA bases that are the building blocks of DNA. Using what they learned in the lesson about complementary base pairing rules, the students paired with their complimentary color to form their own parallel DNA sequences and  simulate the DNA replication process.

		<style type="text/css">
			#gallery-1 {
				margin: auto;
			}
			#gallery-1 .gallery-item {
				float: left;
				margin-top: 10px;
				text-align: center;
				width: 33%;
			}
			#gallery-1 img {
				border: 2px solid #cfcfcf;
			}
			#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {
				margin-left: 0;
			}
			/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */
		</style>
		<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-25040 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>
			<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>
				<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_42331-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_42331-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_42331-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_42331-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_42331-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/IMG_42331-980x980.jpg 980w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
			</dt></dl><dl class='gallery-item'>
			<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>
				<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/23andEdu_8Dec2016-1001-e1488311020260-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/23andEdu_8Dec2016-1001-e1488311020260-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/23andEdu_8Dec2016-1001-e1488311020260-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/23andEdu_8Dec2016-1001-e1488311020260-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/23andEdu_8Dec2016-1001-e1488311020260-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/23andEdu_8Dec2016-1001-e1488311020260-980x980.jpg 980w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
			</dt></dl><dl class='gallery-item'>
			<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>
				<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/23andEdu_8Dec2016-931-150x150.jpg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/23andEdu_8Dec2016-931-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/23andEdu_8Dec2016-931-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/23andEdu_8Dec2016-931-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/23andEdu_8Dec2016-931-574x574.jpg 574w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
			</dt></dl> 
		</div>

To illustrate how DNA is constructed and how the nucleotide bases pair with one another, the students created a double helix ladder using pipe cleaners as the sugar-phosphate backbone, and small fabric pom poms, or pony beads, as color-coded base pairs.
Then it was on to diagramming inheritance on paper using something called Punnett squares, which are used by biologists to determine the probability of an offspring having a particular genotype.
In this case the  students also used Easter eggs to illustrate the process, cracking open two one for mom and one for dad. Each egg contained a random combination of alleles for the genes that code for hair texture, eye color, and lip thickness. Students completed Punnett squares to determine the traits for the offspring of the eggs. Using the inheritance model as a guide, students decorated trait balloons with markers to illustrate the eye color and lip thickness, and yarn to simulate hair texture. For one student, the exercise   helped her understand why her aunt and uncle have brown eyes, but her cousin,their child, has blue eyes!


The most popular activity was a brief guessing game on the length of DNA inside a single human cell, using a piece of yarn to physically show the length. Before revealing the full section of string, students offered hypotheses ranging from a few inches to two football fields. Most were surprised at the actual length: approximately 6 feet!
Although we were there to inspire interest in science and genetics, we also left inspired by the level of enthusiasm and curiosity among the students.
Many asked thoughtful questions, like:
How does genetics influence cancer?
Can we use DNA to clone humans?
What do genes have to do with diabetes?
Can genes make someone do bad things?


This last question led to a broader discussion about the interplay between genetics and environmental factors, a conversation we weren’t exactly expecting from middle schoolers.  But the surprises didn’t stop there, with one student schooling us on CRISPR-Cas9.  He noted  that in using this   “novel” gene editing method,  “mistakes will be made.”
And then quoting Einstein he added: “A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new.”


At times, attention briefly veered off course. It’s tough to focus on genetics for a full three hours, especially after a full school day. Balloons were popping, pom poms were flying, and during a brief moment in one classroom after several unsuccessful attempts to restore attention, one student near the back was able to focus the entire group when upon finishing his model, he gave an excited shout and held up a perfect pipe cleaner double helix.


The afternoon finished with fun gifts for everyone: each student received a complimentary Tech Museum ticket (thanks to Barry Starr at the Tech Museum), candies, stickers, and pins. Each teacher received a genetics-themed T-shirt and each classroom received two free You Share Genes with Me and The One and Only Me books.
The afternoon built on a similar event 23andMe participated in last year, visiting students at the Boys &amp; Girls Club adjacent to Hoover for a program affiliated with the school. This year’s program doubled in size with 70 participating students and teachers, said Cruz.
“The majority of our students are youth of color and it is empowering for them to learn how certain traits and physical characteristics help form their identities,” Cruz said. “23andMe not just taught our students about the basics of DNA, they opened up a new career pathway in the bio tech industry for our youth to explore.”

The day was part of the 23andMe Education team’s mission to facilitate genetic literacy at all levels. Thanks again to the teachers, administrators, and most importantly the students at Hoover for welcoming us into their world for an afternoon. We learned a lot!

23andEducation

Robin Smith, 23ndMe Senior Scientist


When did that 2 percent Yakut ancestry make its way into your family tree?
The newest <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry">23andMe Ancestry feature</a> may have the answer for you.
This feature is another first for 23andMe, which broke new ground by offering customers a detailed accounting of their genetic ancestry with the Ancestry Composition report. Customers who have connected accounts with a parent can also see what ancestries were inherited from each side of the family tree. The Ancestry Composition report also allows customers to dig deeper into their genetic ancestry with a genome map of their ancestry. (To learn more about this feature, see the <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/meet-your-chromosome-painting/">Meet Your Chromosome Painting</a> blog post.)


Now, 23andMe has added a fourth analysis to the report, which we call <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">&#8220;Ancestry Timeline.&#8221;</a> This feature allows customers to go back in time and learn approximately when a particular ancestry entered their family tree.

Ancestry Timeline was made possible through pioneering work by 23andMe Research Scientist <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/a-conversation-with-23andmes-kasia-bryc/">Kasia Bryc</a>, whose previous <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/dna-usa-2/">research provided insights into the American melting pot</a>.
<div id="attachment_25230" style="width: 881px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25230" class="wp-image-25230 size-large" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ancestry_timeline_sarah_antonio-871x1024.png" alt="" width="871" height="1024" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ancestry_timeline_sarah_antonio-871x1024.png 871w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ancestry_timeline_sarah_antonio-255x300.png 255w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ancestry_timeline_sarah_antonio-768x903.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ancestry_timeline_sarah_antonio-748x880.png 748w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/ancestry_timeline_sarah_antonio-1003x1180.png 1003w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 871px) 100vw, 871px" />According their Ancestry Composition results, Sarah is about 25% British &amp; Irish and Antonio is about 20% Iberian. The Ancestry Timeline feature puts these results in a new context. Sarah likely had a recent ancestor (a grandparent, great-grandparent, or 2nd great-grandparent) who was 100 percent British &amp; Irish, while you have to go pretty far back on Antonio&#8217;s family tree to find someone who was 100 percent Iberian (5-8 generations ago.)</div>
23andMe determines your Ancestry Timeline by analyzing the pattern of ancestry in your genome. It looks at both the number and size of segments that derive from a particular ancestry as well as their distribution across your chromosomes. Large segments of ancestry in your genome that all come from the same population suggest a recent ancestor, while shorter segments suggest a more distant one.
An important caveat of the Ancestry Timeline feature is that it assumes that your ancestry from each population originally comes from a single (recent or distant) ancestor.
It also says nothing about where a particular ancestor was born—only their genetics. Therefore, a British &amp; Irish ancestor born in Philadelphia would look the same as one born in Dublin. Ancestry Timeline also has the same limitations as Ancestry Composition, in that it doesn&#8217;t report contributions by recently admixed populations (e.g. &#8220;Mexican&#8221; ancestry is reported as a mixture of European, Native American, and African ancestry) and trace ancestries (e.g. &lt;0.5 percent) should be taken with a grain of salt.


For a more technical explanation of how the Ancestry Timeline feature works, <a href="https://permalinks.23andme.com/pdf/23-14_admixture_date_estimator.pdf">read our white paper</a>.

23andMe’s New Ancestry Timeline

<div id="attachment_23961" style="width: 250px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23961" class="wp-image-23961 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/esteban-gonzalez-burchard-240x300.jpg" alt="esteban-gonzalez-burchard" width="240" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/esteban-gonzalez-burchard-240x300.jpg 240w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/esteban-gonzalez-burchard-768x960.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/esteban-gonzalez-burchard-819x1024.jpg 819w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/esteban-gonzalez-burchard-704x880.jpg 704w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/esteban-gonzalez-burchard-944x1180.jpg 944w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/esteban-gonzalez-burchard.jpg 1157w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px" />Genetic Ancestry Matters in Precision Medicine Webinar: 1/19/2017 11 am &#8211; 12 pm PT To register go here.</div>
It&#8217;s long been known that disease risk is different among different ethnic groups, and so too is the effectiveness of certain treatments, but we still don’t know exactly why that is.


UCSF medical researcher Esteban Burchard, MD, MPH, has focused his work on solving this puzzle and focusing more genetic research on under-represented Latino and African American communities to achieve that.


For example, his lab is working to identify the risk factors that predispose Latino and African American children and teens to higher risks for asthma. His team is exploring how these new genetic discoveries could lead to improved treatments for the condition.
In a webinar intended for healthcare professionals, educators and academic researchers, Dr. Burchard, will discuss the role of ancestry in advancing socially responsible scientific research to precision medicine in the clinic.

Genetic Ancestry Matters in Precision Medicine

If you think that opposites attract, you are likely mistaken, or at least that&#8217;s what the science says. Over a hundred years ago, researchers first discovered that couples are actually more alike than <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-17437" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AfricanAmericanCoupleHeart-200x300.jpg" alt="AfricanAmericanCoupleHeart" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AfricanAmericanCoupleHeart-200x300.jpg 200w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/AfricanAmericanCoupleHeart.jpg 283w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />they are different.


One of the first things researchers noted was that tall people tend to partner with other tall people. Since then, studies of this phenomena – called &#8220;assortative mating&#8221; – have found strong correlations among couples for almost all traits, including behavior, personality, and disease risk.


There are  a lot of reasons for this. Love is complicated, and figuring out precisely why couples get together is tricky.
But a new study the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-016-0016">Nature Human Behavior</a> has identified genetic evidence for assortative mating, reporting that, at least for one trait, height, there is a strong correlation between the genetic variants that influence height in one partner and the actual height of the other.
In this  study, researchers from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, the University of North Carolina, 23andMe and dozens of other institutions, were able to look specifically at genetic factors by using a new design and analytical approach that allowed for them to carefully control for non-genetic influences. 
Isolating all the different cultural and social influences involved in why people partner up, isn&#8217;t easy, however. We may be attracted to our partners for any number of reasons. For instance, partners might have similar BMIs because people are attracted to individuals with a BMI that resembles their own. Or, they might choose a partner who is culturally similar. Alternatively, their BMIs might converge over time due to shared environment.


To isolate some of those kinds of influences the researchers in this study used data from more than 24,000 couples, including 11,908 from 23andMe, and compared an individual’s genetically-predicted height and BMI to those of their partner. Because genetics are determined at birth, these shouldn’t be correlated if partners become more similar only after meeting each other.
The researchers also controlled for population, to remove the effects of shared cultural background.
They found a strong correlation between people’s genetic predisposition for height and the actual height of their partner. The findings showed that similarity in couples’ heights can be largely explained by people selecting mates who are like them. Tall people, it seems, are attracted to other tall people.
But the findings were not as strong for BMI, where there was a weaker correlation between people’s genetic contributions to BMI and the actual BMI of their partners.
One possible implication of this is that “mate choice” may, in turn, affect the genetic architecture of traits in humans as well. Assortative mating may increase the odds of parents passing on a trait, like height, to their children.


“These results have implications for the interpretation of resemblance between relatives and for estimates of genetic parameters in populations,” the researchers said.
You can find the paper in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-016-0016">Nature</a>.

Genetic evidence of assortative mating in humans

Just before we kick off another year of blogging, it’s worth taking a moment to look back and single out what for us were some of the big stories, breakthroughs or findings in genetics from last year. 
Here is our top five.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-4565 size-full" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/iStock_000004751590XSmall.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" />
<h6>Diversity</h6>
For a very long time, medical research in general has focused largely on people of European ancestry and that is even<a href="https://www.nature.com/news/genomics-is-failing-on-diversity-1.20759"> more apparent with genetic research</a>. Less than five percent of genetic research on disease includes people of African ancestry. In fact most genetic research is focused on people of European ancestry, meaning that we risk missing key scientific discoveries that could benefit people of all ancestries. Last year 23andMe launched two separate efforts meant to help alleviate some of these disparities. Both are NIH-funded studies but they approach the diversity issue in different ways.
Kasia Bryc, a senior scientist and population geneticist at 23andMe, is leading one of the studies that will use<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/announcements/23andme-scientists-improving-diversity-in-genetic-research/"> admixture mapping</a> to identify genetic variants associated with disease in under-represented populations. This leverages 23andMe’s existing database, which includes a large number of African Americans and Latinos who have mixed ancestry. The second study is the African American African American Sequencing Project that is being lead by Adam Auton, a 23andMe senior scientist and statistical geneticist. This project will help address health research disparities by creating a genetic resource for health research in African Americans that could improve the understanding of diseases in minority populations.
Gene Editing, Again
This is the third year in a row we’ve singled out the innovative technique for specific bits of DNA, called CRISPR. It is a simple and quick way of snipping out deleterious sections of DNA and stitching in “corrected” sections. This offers huge potential for treating diseases or other deleterious conditions. It has already been used to treat<a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v539/n7629/full/nature20134.html"> sickle cell anemia</a> and<a href="https://www.nature.com/news/chinese-scientists-to-pioneer-first-human-crispr-trial-1.20302"> lung cancer</a>. But CRISP also presents some serious ethical issues about tampering with human DNA, and there are other issues.
For instance, researchers working on treating HIV found that the virus could quickly develop mutations that resist editing. The findings by researchers at McGill University in Montreal were<a href="https://www.nature.com/news/hiv-overcomes-crispr-gene-editing-attack-1.19712"> published back in April.</a> It illustrates the complexity of creating gene therapies with CRISPR. But even with this kind of hurdle, the promise of this technology makes it likely we’ll be hearing more about CRISPR this year.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-22305 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-300x234.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="234" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-300x234.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-768x600.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-1024x800.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-880x687.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-1180x921.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<h6>Not Depressing</h6>
Past efforts to study genetics of major depressive disorder all came up short until last year. It turns out that size matters when it comes to the study of depression. Past efforts were limited by numbers. However a “mega analysis” of data from more than 400,000 people  found 17 genetic variants in 15 different genetic regions associated with major depressive disorder.
<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/08/01/large-dna-study-using-23andme-data-finds-15-sites-linked-to-depression/?utm_term=.a6c976af27d5"> The study</a>, by scientists from Pfizer, Massachusetts General Hospital and 23andMe identified genes associated with depression and schizophrenia. The study also illustrates the<a href="http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/article-abstract/2595522"> power of big data</a>. While identifying genes associated with the condition is useful to better understand the disease and its causes. It also gives researchers studying the biology of the disease clearer paths to follow, but much work is still needed.
<h6>Love and Science </h6>
Our year started with the<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/love-and-science/"> moving story</a> of the married couple, Eric Minikel and Sonia Vallabh.  Together they switched careers to become medical researchers and focus all their energy on the study and treatment for prion disease. It is a rare but devastating and fatal genetic condition. It hits the nervous system, impairs brain function, and causes other neurodegenerative symptoms. It typically manifests itself around the age of 50.
Sonia’s mother died of the disease at 52. Sonia inherited the genetic mutation that puts her at a very high risk for the disease. The couple formed a<a href="http://www.prionalliance.org/"> non-profit</a> focused on the disease. They’ve incorporated data from 23andMe in<a href="http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/8/322/322ra9.full"> their work</a> and their story has been featured in both the<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/02/insomnia-that-kills/384841/"> Atlantic</a> and the<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/a-prion-love-story"> New Yorker</a>.
<h6>The Election</h6>
The ascendance of Trump to the U.S. presidency leaves open a lot of questions about the future of government funded research in the US. Not just that even the<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/12/waiting-science-adviser"> role of science</a> in setting policy is up in the air. Also unknown is whether the new administration will keep Francis Collins, as director of the NIH. At the helm of the agency since 2009, Collins has helped push the<a href="https://www.nih.gov/research-training/allofus-research-program"> Precision Medicine Initiative</a>, now called “All of Us.” He has deftly navigated the political waters of Washington, but<a href="https://www.statnews.com/2016/12/13/trump-collins-eisen/"> some</a> have publicly pushed for his replacement. Whether he stays or goes, it’s still unknown what if any science initiatives the new administration will champion.

Our Top Five from 2016

The stories all start the same – with a 23andMe kit given at Christmas – but then they follow their own fascinating narratives that are as unique as the customers who share them<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-17056 size-full alignright" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ChristmasTree.jpg" alt="" width="424" height="283" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ChristmasTree.jpg 424w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ChristmasTree-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 424px) 100vw, 424px" /> with us.
Almost daily we hear from people who’ve learned something new about themselves or their families using 23andMe. Some of the stories are moving or mysterious, others have a lighter touch, but they all carry the weight of someone’s humanity.
With the holiday just around the corner, we wanted to share a few stories with you.
There’s Pat Nosko’s story of finding family.
“It’s the most amazingly beautiful gift I could have ever hoped to give my mother,” said Kelle Scott, who gave her mother Pat a kit at Christmas. Pat, who’d been adopted and knew little about her biological parents, <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-customer-stories/a-most-amazing-gift">found a sister </a>she never knew she had.
It’s was Lenny Scoval’s wife how gave him a kit for Christmas, and he too <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/boy-south-carolina/">found family</a>.
An adoptee, who at 52, connected with seven of the twelve siblings he’d never knew he had.
It was Adam’s partner Steve who gave him a kit as a present. Adam <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-customer-stories/a-list-for-midlife">found biological family</a>, but also found that he could help someone else, someone who like himself had been searching for biological family. Adam probably best summed up what many customers have told of about using 23andMe.
“This entire experience has helped explain why I am the way I am,” he said, “and I am forever grateful.”
Happy Holidays! 
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VnujfbhfVNA" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

A tree in the snow in a forest that is lit up like a Christmas tree.

The Gift

Editor’s note: We first wrote about the Christmas Tree genome a few years ago, but it&#8217;s worth another <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-17056" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ChristmasTree-200x200.jpg" alt="Chritstmas Tree" width="200" height="200" />look.  There is some real interesting science around sequencing various conifers, like the <a href="http://www.genetics.org/content/196/3/875">Loblolly pine</a>, the <a href="https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130522131039.htm">Norway spruce</a>, and  California sugar pine, which is endangered. While pines only have 12 chromosomes, the genomes of these massive highly evolved cone-bearing trees are huge. Understanding their genetic structure, and how these majestic trees, which have been around for hundreds of millions of years, survived through millennia is important. So we thought it worthwhile to run again for the holidays. Cheers!
If you could just get your Christmas tree to spit into a tube and extract some DNA, you might learn a lot about your holiday decoration.
For starters, you might be able to tell where it originated. Plant genetics, like animal genetics, is influenced by geography. A team of Douglas fir tree researchers, under the direction of Andrew Eckert and David Neale from the University of California, Davis, have discovered <a href="http://www.genetics.org/content/182/4/1289" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">seven genetic markers</a> with frequencies that vary with location across the Pacific Northwest. These markers were found in genes associated with cold-hardiness.
The implication is that northern Douglas fir trees, exposed to blustery winter weather, evolved to be genetically different from their southern-dwelling cousins. Their find, although not surprising, is interesting; science is now beginning to understand exactly how genetic variation leads to the cold-hardy trees of the north.
The real cutting edge of Christmas tree research, however, lies with cut trees and the mess that they make. Anyone with firsthand experience with a fresh-cut Christmas tree knows that shed needles are the price paid for that fresh piney scent. With an ever-earlier start to the Christmas season, needle retention research represents an opportunity; a tree which could retain its needles from Thanksgiving until well past New Year’s would be a commercial hit.
Gary Chastagner of the Washington State University, sometimes referred to as “Mr. Christmas Tree,” is leading a scientific quest for the holy grail of Christmas trees: better needle retention. The $1.3 million dollar project will use RNA sequencing and the “Denmark Needle Retention Scale” (which Chastagner developed with Danish tree scientists) to look for genetic associations.
Mr. Christmas Tree’s undertaking is an ambitious one, but could herald great news for those of us who prefer their pine needles on the Christmas tree and not in the vacuum cleaner. My next request? A tree which grows its own lights.

Latest Posts — Page 93