To enhance its research and enrich its customer experience, 23andMe is launching the African Genetics Project, <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-24241" src="https://blog-api.23andme.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Africa_icon-300x244.jpg" alt="Africa_icon" width="300" height="244" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Africa_icon-300x244.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Africa_icon-768x625.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Africa_icon-1024x834.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Africa_icon-880x717.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Africa_icon-1180x961.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Africa_icon.jpg 2014w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />recruiting people who emigrated from, or whose parents emigrated from several specific countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Africa is the birthplace of all humanity, and its people are the most genetically diverse in all the world, yet our knowledge of that diversity is limited. This newest project follows continuing efforts by 23andMe to enrich our understanding of the human story and increase diversity in genetic research, while also providing more detailed ancestry results for 23andMe customers with recent African ancestry.
23andMe’s African Genetics Project is offering kits at no cost to people with all four of their grandparents born in the same African country or from the same ethnic or tribal group within one of the following countries – Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Ivory coast, Liberia, Republic of Congo, Senegal, Somalia, Sudan and Togo.
The west African countries in that list are a priority for 23andMe because the majority of slaves brought from Africa to the Americas were brought from these African locations. We are also gathering data from individuals with all four grandparents from Somalia, Sudan and Ethiopia to aid in identifying ancestry for more recent immigrants and to improve our reference populations for Africa.
This effort is unique in many respects, but primarily because it allows people of African ancestry who know where in Africa their family came from, to help others with African ancestry discover more about their own African roots. The effort may also yield insights into the TransAtlantic slave trade, and migrations within Africa over the last few hundred years.
While the goals of this project are focused primarily on improving ancestry insights, the African Genetics Project is part of a long list of efforts undertaken by 23andMe to improve diversity in research. Some estimates show that<a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v475/n7355/full/475163a.html"> more than 90 percent</a> of the research into the genetics underlying disease is on individuals of European descent alone, but for many conditions an individual’s ethnicity plays an important role and the insights from those studies fall short of helping people of other backgrounds.
There are a number of reasons for the lack of diversity  – historical, cultural, economic and social – but by reaching out and recruiting people from all backgrounds it will also ensure that everyone benefits from advances in genetic science.
Over the last five years, 23andMe has undertaken several initiatives on that front including its <a href="https://blog.23andme.org/articles/roots-into-the-future/">Roots Into the Future</a> project to study the genetics of disease impacting African Americans, the first-ever <a href="https://blog.23andme.org/articles/a-webinar-on-the-genetic-landscape-of-the-usa/">genetic portrait of the United States</a> that mapped the country’s Native American, African and European ancestry, and more recently a NIH-funded project to develop a new way to detect disease causing genetic variants among ethnically mixed populations.
Taken together, these initiatives have helped 23andMe improve diversity in its research. The African Genetics Project is part of that same effort and it will allow 23andMe to identify genetic similarities of people from specific locations in Africa. This in turn will not only improve what we can tell our customers with African ancestry, but will also aid our research into how people migrated within and from Africa over the last 5,000 years.
Learn more <a href="https://www.23andme.org/africa-project/">here</a> and enroll today.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

The African Genetics Project

<div id="attachment_24377" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-24377" class="wp-image-24377 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Gov.-Sandoval-300x264.jpg" alt="gov-sandoval" width="300" height="264" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Gov.-Sandoval-300x264.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Gov.-Sandoval-768x675.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Gov.-Sandoval-1024x901.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Gov.-Sandoval-880x774.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Gov.-Sandoval-1180x1038.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Gov.-Sandoval.jpg 1244w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, center, on the day the study was announced.</div>
If you’d like to know whether people want access to their genetic information and will participate in research, just go to Nevada.


Gov. Brian Sandoval was one of the first to sign up, and in less than a day more 5,000 of his fellow “Silver State” residents joined him to be part of an <a href="http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2016/09/16/nevada-dna-study-expanded-10000/90519458/">  innovative population health study</a> being conducted by Renown Health and the Desert Research Institute and powered by 23andMe.
&#8220;Surpassing an ambitious enrollment goal of 5000 people in less than 24 hours is unheard of in research studies,&#8221; said Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe’s CEO and cofounder.


The pilot study – which kicked off in September and was expanded to 10,000 residents to meet the huge demand – offers participants access to their 23andMe results at no costs. Researchers will then use health and environmental information with genetic and phenotypic data from study participants to look at ways to improve health in the state.
“This is a (project) that other communities can learn from,” said Dr. Anthony Slonim, president and CEO of Renown Health.
The hope is that the study will enable researchers to build predictive models that could in turn be used to learn more about public health issues in the state, and ultimately improve the health of Nevadans.
This study uses a service developed by 23andMe called<a href="https://researchers.23andme.org/"> Genotyping Services for Research (GSR)</a>, a platform that gives researchers a simple end-to-end solution to incorporate genetic information into their studies regardless of their expertise in genetics.


“We choose the Genotyping Services for Research platform because it&#8217;s the only platform that enables us to give something back to the research participants.  Participant engagement is key to the success of this project.  
On the  research side we don’t have to build a CLIA-certified lab or other infrastructure, to do our own work,” said Joseph Grzymski, Ph.D., the principal investigator of the study. “So the merging of the two is extremely powerful.”
Beyond that, 23andMe’s GSR platform allows researchers to return results to people who are participating in these studies, said Ruby Gadelrab, 23andMe’s vice president of commercial marketing.
“Typically research studies don’t do that,” she said. “GSR is currently the only genotyping service that enables researchers to give something back to participants in the form of the 23andMe customer experience.”


Check out the video to learn more about this promising new study.
<iframe loading="lazy" width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qycd_fRSHAY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

People Eager to Participate in Nevada Health Study

23andMe scientists will be at the annual American Society of <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-24281" src="https://blog-api.23andme.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/microscope.jpg" alt="microscope" width="131" height="166" />Human Genetics meeting in Vancouver this month, sharing a wide spectrum of interesting data, including more on the genetics of Parkinson’s disease, promising new methods for drug discovery, and even some fun findings around traits like nail biting and the ability to carry a tune.
These conferences, which attract thousands of geneticists and include hundreds of scientific presentations over four days, are tough to encapsulate in one article. But each year, ASHG does a good job of keying in on the most interesting current issues in the field of genetics, creating forums for some of those big ideas, and then offering scientists a chance to show off their latest work in those areas.
This year is no different, with talks on gene editing, strategies for incorporating health records into genetic research, and panel discussions on the genetics of cancer and aging.
<h2>Therapeutics</h2>
Along with presenting some of our findings, 23andMe also has the honor of having two of our scientists speak at this year’s conference.
Richard Scheller, 23andMe’s chief science officer and head of the therapeutics group, will speak on Wednesday during a session on using genome-wide association studies to help develop drug targets. Richard will be one of four speakers during a session titled “From GWAS and Mendelian Genes to Therapeutic Drug Targets.” 23andMe’s therapeutics group is using human genetic data as the starting point for identifying new therapies for both common and rare diseases.
<h2>Associations with Nail Biting</h2>
23andMe senior statistical geneticist Chao Tian will also speak at the four-day conference. Chao is no stranger to the conference, having<a href="https://blog-api.23andme.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/GWAS-for-Susceptibility-to-Infection.pdf"> presented a poster in 2013</a> that used genome-wide association studies to classify HLA alleles associated with infectious diseases. This year, Chao will speak in a short “platform session” on Saturday, Oct. 22, focused on Neuropsychiatric Disease in the Young and Old. She will present data on genetic and phenotypic associations for<a href="https://ep70.eventpilot.us/web/page.php?page=IntHtml&amp;project=ASHG16&amp;id=160121314"> nail biting</a>. Among her findings were that some of the variants associated with the trait are in genes or gene regions that have also been associated with certain psychiatric disorders.
Along with talks, panel discussions, and plenary sessions, scientists will also highlight their findings in poster sessions – which usually consist of vast halls where researchers literally post their work on boards and stand by to answer questions posed by anyone who happens to walk by. This informal question and answer session – involving attendees, most of whom are scientists – can be the most stimulating part of the conference, where researchers are sometimes forced to explain their methods and defend their findings in real time.
Below is the list of some poster presentations 23andMe will present at ASHG. We’ll provide more details during the conference.
<div style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 600px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">23andMe&#8217;s Presentations at ASHG</h2>
• Genetic variation underlying self-reported weight-loss success in the presence of a dietary intervention – Authors: J.F. Shelton; N.A Furlotte; R. Smith; C. Wheldon; M.N. Johnson; C. Wilson; G. Benton; R. Gentleman
• Interrogating gene-by-environment interactions using genetic risk scores – Authors: Furlotte; V. Vacic; G. Benton; A. Auton; D. Hinds
• Generalized polygenic risk prediction for direct-to- consumer genetic testing of non-medical traits – Authors: M.L. Multhaup; R.P. Smith; D. Hinds; N.A. Furlotte
• GWASs of ability to carry a musical tune and mathematical educational attainment – Authors: R. Bell; D. Hinds; C. Tian
• GWAS of levodopa-induced dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease – Authors: O.V. Sazonova; I. HallgrÃ­msdÃ³ttir; J. Shelton; P. Cannon
• Phenome-wide association study of 28 variants associated with Parkinson’s disease in a web-based cohort – Authors: K. Heilbron; B. Alipanahi; P. Cannon
• Leveraging PheWAS to Fine Map Complex Trait GWAS Loci – Authors: F. Sathirapongsasuti; P. Fontanillas; V. Vacic; A. Auton
• Efficient calculation of genetic correlations across 700,000 pairs of diverse phenotypes – Authors: A. Kleinman; N. Furlotte; A. Auton; D. Hinds
• The impact of personal experience with direct ­-to- ­consumer genetic testing on physician readiness – Authors: E.S. Gordon; E. Kim; J. Cintron; R. Gold; J. Pollard; E. Nelson
</div>

23andMe Scientists To Present New Findings at ASHG

Sorting through hundreds of genetic risk variants for asthma, Australian scientists – with input and data from researchers at 23andMe – have <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-thumbnail wp-image-5814 alignright" src="https://blog-api.23andme.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/iStock_000003241516XSmall-200x200.jpg" alt="inhaler_asthma" width="200" height="200" />identified an association between asthma and the expression of four genes, a finding that could aid efforts for treating the chronic disease that impacts an estimated 300 million people worldwide.


Published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, the<a href="http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(16)30804-1/pdf"> new study</a> – led by asthma researchers at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute in Brisbane, Australia – took an innovative approach to identifying these four genes, developing a gene-based test and software the researchers dubbed EUGENE. This approach combines information from genome wide association studies for asthma with expression Quantitative Trait Loci, or eQTLs, known locations in the genome that influence how that gene involved in asthma are expressed.


Because there are so many different genetic risk variants for asthma – potentially thousands of variants – the researchers were looking for a way to improve the power of traditional genome wide association studies for identifying genes that have a functional role in the disease.


This approach helped researchers to find four genes B4GALT3, USMG5, P2RY13 and P2RY14. Two of those genes – P2RY13 and P2RY14 – are both associated with impaired lung function in asthmatics. P2RY14 also is associated with elevated white blood cell counts, which is often seen during a heightened inflammatory response.


Beyond identifying these four novel asthma risk genes, the lead researcher Manuel Ferreira and his team took these findings a step further. They did functional studies in mice to look at changes in the expression of two of the genes – P2RY13 and P2RY14.
The researchers found that increased expression of these two genes in mice resulted in impaired lung function and an increase in eosinophil counts – the white blood cells that are often used as biomarkers for asthma. These findings may aid in research into treatments for asthma, according to the study authors.
The study appears in the <a href="http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(16)30804-1/pdf">Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.</a>

A new methodology helps identify four new asthma risk genes

In the latest in a series of studies by researchers looking at the impact of direct-to-consumer <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-24308" src="https://blog-api.23andme.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/computer-survey-300x243.jpg" alt="computer-survey" width="300" height="243" />genetic testing, investigators found that people’s perception of risk was changed much more by a genetic test that showed a decreased risk versus one that reported an increased risk.
“You see a much bigger change for good news than bad news,”<a href="http://news.mit.edu/2016/good-personal-genomic-data-makes-bigger-impact-0908"> said Joshua Krieger</a>, a doctoral candidate at MIT and one of the lead authors of the study.
These<a href="https://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v34/n9/full/nbt.3661.html"> latest findings</a> are part of ongoing collaborative research by scientists at MIT, the Broad Institute, Harvard Medical School Brigham, Women’s Hospital and 23andMe, to gauge how genetic testing affects consumers. In this study, called the<a href="http://www.genomes2people.org/pgen/"> Impact of Personal Genomics</a>, or the PGen study, researchers are looking not just at how testing changes people’s perception of risk, but whether testing triggers undue stress, or leads people to flock to their doctors and burden the healthcare system.


In the past, criticism of direct-to-consumer genetic testing included speculation that it would result in undue stress for consumers, and a “raiding of the medical commons.”
This study found no evidence to support either of those concerns – people did not burden their doctors with visits after getting their results, and they didn’t appear to overreact to those results either. But, a positive test result had a greater impact on risk perception than a negative one.
“There is an optimism bias, in that people want to believe good news,” said Krieger.


Indeed, the impact of positive news was about twice as strong as that of negative news, according to the study.
While researchers could only speculate about why there was a difference in the impact of good versus bad news – or a reported decrease in risk versus an increase – they also noted that when there was a large change in perceived risk based on the genetic test a consumer was much more likely to seek medical advice.


“Though we found good news-bad news asymmetry in risk perception changes, these changes appeared to be moderate and congruent with test results,” the study said. “Taken together, our results suggest that DTC consumers learn from their (genetic test) results and update their beliefs, but they primarily seek additional medical actions after they receive news of large and unexpected risks.”


While this work is important for ongoing efforts to improve how test results are reported out to consumers, it is based on 23andMe reports that are no longer offered to consumers.  After an extensive and ongoing regulatory process with the FDA, 23andMe has changed the type of health information it reports to its customers. Extensive user comprehension testing, and its own research into how consumers absorb and understand the information informs 23andMe’s new health reports.
But for this study, scientists drew data from about 617 23andMe customers who enrolled in the research study before those regulatory changes were made. Researchers surveyed those customers before they received their results and again six months after they received them. While there was neither “excessive overreaction nor complete disregard of the test results,” there was indeed a difference in how certain results impacted consumers’ perception of risk.
“This research expands our understanding of how the consumers of personal genomics may react to what they perceive as elevated or diminished risk, and reminds us that perceptions are not always logical,” said Robert C. Green, a medical geneticist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and the principal investigator for the PGen study.

The impact of genetic testing on perceived risk of cancer

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-21214" src="https://blog-api.23andme.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/IBD-IMage-.jpg" alt="IBD IMage" width="240" height="160" />In an important milestone for research, 23andMe has enrolled 10,000 people to participate in a study focused on understanding the role genetics plays in the onset and progression of Inflammatory Bowel Disease.


In collaboration with Pfizer, Inc, <a href="http://23andMe.com/ibd/">23andMe’s IBD Study</a> is unique in its size, and its use of genetics in combination with online survey tools to speed discovery. Now that 10,000 people with IBD have joined together to fight this condition, 23andMe researchers can begin their work in earnest.

“I joined 23andMe to share my genetic information with those researching Crohn&#8217;s Disease,” one participant told us. “I would love to contribute to a better understanding of this pernicious illness and hopefully, one day, a cure.”

Inflammatory Bowel Disease, also known as IBD, is a chronic autoimmune condition, which includes both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. It affects more than 5 million people worldwide and can be debilitating. Symptoms include among other things cramps, pain, fever, loss of appetite, bowel problems and severe weight loss. Currently there is no cure.


Although there are treatments, the effectiveness of those treatments varies and that is part of what our researchers want to understand with this study. The hope is that insight from this research will aid in developing more effective ways to treat the condition and map the progression of the illness.
Having such a large number of genotyped individuals with IBD offers scientists a rare opportunity. 23andMe’s non-traditional approach to research also is unique for people with IBD who want to participate by allowing them to do so from their homes instead of having to travel to a research facility.


This model makes it easier for researchers to share findings with participants, breaking with the traditional research model and treating people as partners, not subjects. 23andMe also offers the additional benefit allowing participants to learn more about themselves by looking at their results. This in turn feeds engagement, encouraging people to continue their involvement in research as they learn about themselves, and creating a virtuous circle for discovery.


This model for research is what has helped 23andMe to study other conditions such as<a href="https://www.23andme.org/pd/"> Parkinson’s disease</a>,<a href="https://www.23andme.org/lupus/"> Lupus</a> and<a href="https://www.23andme.org/mpn/"> Myeloproliferative neoplasms</a>. It is also a research model that is being embraced by others, including the NIH’s Precision Medicine Initiative. 23andMe knows from experience that engaged consumers are the key to making this kind of research work.


“We are excited to see the enthusiasm with which people have received this study,” said Joyce Tung, PhD, 23andMe’s vice president for research. “It goes to show that people really want to participate in research with a model in which researchers put more into the relationship.”

Important Goal Reached for IBD Study

I love family. Modern families. Blended families. Adopted families. And, DNA families.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-24348 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Anne-and-her-sisters-300x229.jpg" alt="Anne and her sisters." width="300" height="229" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Anne-and-her-sisters-300x229.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Anne-and-her-sisters-768x585.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Anne-and-her-sisters-1024x780.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Anne-and-her-sisters-880x671.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Anne-and-her-sisters-1180x899.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Anne-and-her-sisters.jpg 1252w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Over the last ten years, I’ve seen the ancestry part of our genetic service change lives. Every day I watch people connect with their DNA family, and see how the concept of family can evolve into something greater – and even more meaningful.
There’s always been the possibility of learning about your family’s past through historical documents and public records, but the scientific data – your genetic data – can make the story of someone come alive in another way. From sperm donor brothers and sisters finding each other; to adoptees meeting cousins; to co-workers finding out they are related; to simply seeing what you share with the family you already know, DNA gives us deeper insight into ourselves. In fact, customers write in and tell me how they’ve been able to discover records and photos and share the oral traditions of their rich family history, through their new, 23andMe connections.

<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 300px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">23andMe Ancestry Service Highlights
• In 2008 we were the first to conduct comprehensive autosomal analysis for ancestry across all 23 pairs of chromosomes to inform ancestry reports.
•  In 2009 we launched our Relative Finder tool (now called DNA Relatives) that allowed users to find relatives in our database based on shared segments of DNA.
•  In 2011 we introduced our Neanderthal Report, allowing people to see how much Neanderthal DNA they carried.
•  In 2012 we broke new ground with our Ancestry Composition Report, based on a proprietary machine learning algorithm, that provided insights into ancestry from 21 populations. We have since updated that report to use an even more reference populations – 31.
• In 2016 we launched our Relatives in Common tool, which allows customers to see how their known relatives and mutual relatives are related to each other based on their DNA.</div>
We all have a beautiful rich genetic story inside each of us. I believe looking at your genetic ancestry is as important as being able to look at yourself in a mirror. Understanding who you are and where you come from is one of the most powerful ways to learn about genetics.
From the very beginning, 23andMe has been focused on two things: providing people with access to information from their own DNA, and building a world-class scientific organization to push the boundaries of genetics research in both health and ancestry. While I firmly believe in the power of everyone accessing their genetic health data, I understand some people want to explore genetics through the journey of their family first. (And family is first for me!)
Today, I want to enable more families to come together to learn who they are and where they are from – and have the choice to see the world as one big, modern DNA family. All of us here at 23andMe are excited to offer a $99 ancestry service with ancestry-only reports.
Our population geneticists, statistical geneticists and computational biologists have worked with our engineers and designers to build fun and engaging features backed by our research.
We feel this standalone ancestry service offers some of the best features on the market, as we pioneered many of the most powerful DNA ancestry tools including autosomal analysis, ancestry composition and DNA relatives since the beginning.
The future of genetic ancestry is exciting.  We are all in this together.
Coming together as a global genetic family can only help all of us understand how we are genetically related to the world around us. (Remember we are 99.9 percent genetically the same!)   As the world of genetics continues to expand with new health and ancestry discoveries, so do the personal insights we each will gain, deepening our own understanding into who we are as individuals, as humans, and possibly as part of one big DNA family.

Reinventing The Way We See Family

A new study has found a genetic variant associated with whether a commonly prescribed antidepressant is effective.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-7843" src="https://blog-api.23andme.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/cartoon-pills-300x284.png" alt="cartoon-pills" width="300" height="284" />
In a recently published <a href="https://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v6/n9/full/tp2016171a.html">paper</a>, scientists from <a href="http://www.janssen.com/research-and-development">Janssen Research &amp; Development</a> and 23andMe report finding a genetic association for the efficacy of the drug bupropion – marketed for treatment of depression under the name Wellbutrin®.
The biological significance of the genetic variant identified in the study is not yet known, and, according to the researchers, will still have to be replicated. But this finding offers intriguing possibilities for future research.

<h5>
</h5>
<h4>Different Response to Treatments</h4>
Major depressive disorder is one of the leading causes of disability and is estimated to affect more than <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/mental-health-a-world-of-depression-1.16318">350 million</a> people worldwide. In the past efforts to understanding the role genetics plays in the condition and its treatment – particularly among patients who do not respond well to current medication – have been hindered by the heterogeneity of the disorder and by studies that <a href="http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/ng.3623">until recently</a> have been undersized.
“Genetic predisposition may contribute to the differences in drug-specific, class-specific, or antidepressant-wide treatment resistance,”   the authors said. “Clinical studies with genetic data are often limited in sample sizes. Drug response obtained from self-reports may offer an alternative approach to conduct a study with much larger sample size.”<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-24308" src="https://blog-api.23andme.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/computer-survey-300x243.jpg" alt="computer-survey" width="300" height="243" />
In this study published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v6/n9/full/tp2016171a.html">Translational Psychiatry</a>, researchers were able to use data from more than 48,000 23andMe customers of European ancestry who completed a survey on antidepressant efficacy and side effects and another 190,000 healthy controls self-reported to be free of any major psychiatric disorders, all of those included in the study consented to participate in research.
The survey that was used to ask customers about the efficacy of treatments for their depression was developed with the assistance of Dr. Steven Hamilton of Kaiser Permanente and Carol Schaffner, from the University of California San Francisco.
The scientists working on this study analyzed the self-reported data from customers to study the effectiveness of three different types of drugs used to treat major depressive disorder. The researchers also included customers who did not report having depression and used them as controls in the study. In each case the study looked at “responders” and “nonresponders” to different treatment and compared them with the healthy individuals who were used as controls.
Currently there are about 30 different prescription antidepressants, many of which affect neurotransmitters in the brain associated with depression.
Although there have been studies that have attempted to look at the role genetics may play in the effectiveness of different treatments, this study is by far the largest effort in that regard.
The three types of medications included in this study were selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors also known as SSRIs; norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors, known as NDRIs, which include the drug bupropion (Wellbutrinâ„¢); and citalopram/escitalopram responders.
All of these drugs work by suppressing certain kinds of chemicals in the brain that are associated with depression and are known as neurotransmitters – these include serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine.
The only association found that met genome-wide significance was for a variant in a region between two genes – GPRIN3 and SNCA. People with the variant had higher odds that treatment with bupropion (Wellbutrin®) would be ineffective. While the function of that gene region is not fully known, the researchers noted that when looking at what is called a “gene set enrichment analysis of buproprion GWAS&#8221; they noticed that many of the suggestive associated genes play roles in circadian rhythm and long-term depression pathways. Sleep disturbances are common features of depression, the researchers noted.
The study can be found in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/tp/journal/v6/n9/full/tp2016171a.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Transitional Psychiatry</a>.

Genetics found to influence antidepressant efficacy

Nevada-based Renown Health and the Desert Research Institute are collaborating with 23andMe in a population <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-23374" src="https://blog-api.23andme.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Research-Icon-285x300.jpeg" alt="Research Icon" width="285" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Research-Icon-285x300.jpeg 285w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Research-Icon.jpeg 673w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 285px) 100vw, 285px" />health study in that state.


Combining health and environmental data collected by those institutions with genetic and phenotypic data from study participants who test with 23andMe, researchers hope to learn more about a broad range of public health risks.
Tapping into existing sources of data already collected by Renown, such as the health histories, patient demographics, as well as other social and environmental data points, researchers hope to better understand the health needs of residents in the state, said Anthony Slonim, M.D., DrPH, Renown Health president and CEO.


“This is the ultimate example of population health in action in a community based setting,” said Dr. Slonim.


Funded by the Renown Health Foundation and Nevada’s Knowledge Fund, this pilot study will offer 5,000 Nevada residents the opportunity to participate in this research and receive their 23andMe results, which include more than 65 personalized genetic reports on their health, traits and ancestry, at no cost. Using this study, researchers hope to build the infrastructure that could be used for all Nevada’s 2.8 million residents. This in turn could help researchers build predictive models to aid in better health outcomes for state residents.
The study will use <a href="https://researchers.23andme.org/?_ga=1.22318587.11442988.1396887568">23andMe’s Genotyping Services for Research</a> platform, which enables researchers to review genetic data and health-related survey responses from study participants. Combining genetic data with health and population data from Renown, as well as information from environmental databases, DRI scientists will analyze and model public health risks ranging from disease and illness, to the effects of air quality on the health of Nevadans.
“We see this as an innovative approach to population health that will benefit Nevadans, and could serve as a model for other states,” said Andy Page, president of 23andMe.

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Press Coverage of the Study
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• Fast Company 
<a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/3063694/23andmes-newest-health-research-partner-the-state-of-nevada" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&#038;q=https://www.fastcompany.com/3063694/23andmes-newest-health-research-partner-the-state-of-nevada&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1474134333445000&#038;usg=AFQjCNGQ0wzhqIjRVzWSmhhF8Q-gq3xghw" rel="noopener noreferrer">23andMe&#8217;s Newest Health Research Partner: The State Of Nevada</a> 
&#8211; Engadget 
<a href="https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/15/23andme-study-needs-5-000-nevada-volunteers/" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&#038;q=https://www.engadget.com/2016/09/15/23andme-study-needs-5-000-nevada-volunteers/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1474134333445000&#038;usg=AFQjCNEwNQig-w-Ygt2QlbVTBdYi9d0w1Q" rel="noopener noreferrer">23andMe health study needs 5,000 Nevada volunteers</a></div>
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• Reno Gazette-Journal 
<a href="http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2016/09/15/renown-dri-partner-company-test-dna-5000-including-gov-sandoval/90408762/" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&#038;q=http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2016/09/15/renown-dri-partner-company-test-dna-5000-including-gov-sandoval/90408762/&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1474134333445000&#038;usg=AFQjCNHUnQN-Yfuz0uzLwbaRbxbcZytWKw" rel="noopener noreferrer">Renown, DRI partner with 23andMe to test DNA of 5,000 Northern Nevadans</a></div>
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• Las Vegas Review Journal 
<a href="http://www.reviewjournal.com/life/health/northern-nevadans-offered-free-genetic-testing-exchange-their-data" target="_blank" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&#038;q=http://www.reviewjournal.com/life/health/northern-nevadans-offered-free-genetic-testing-exchange-their-data&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1474134333445000&#038;usg=AFQjCNHQnVwCXZr5L7qRfZB2Lru5bPxNGg" rel="noopener noreferrer">Northern Nevadans offered free genetic testing in exchange for their data</a>
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