23andMe is proud to announce the first publication out of 23andWe, our novel participant-driven research program.
Our results, which encompass replications of previous findings and newly discovered associations, appear online today in PLoS Genetics.
23andWe is a web-based research framework designed to simultaneously facilitate the rapid recruitment of participants to many studies, thus reducing the time and money needed to make new discoveries.
“This paper announces and validates a revolutionary way of conducting scientific research,” said our President and Co-Founder, Anne Wojcicki. “In this paper, we confirm that self-reported data from our customers has the potential to yield data of comparable quality to data gathered using traditional research methods. We are excited about moving scientific research forward faster.”
(Check out “Sergey’s Search” in the current issue of Wired to learn how this approach is allowing us to validate genetic associations in a fraction of the time traditionally needed. And check out this recent Blog post to read about some of our other 23andWe successes.)
Over 9,000 people contributed data to our study of 22 separate traits. Novel SNP associations were revealed for hair curl, asparagus anosmia (the inability to detect the scent of specific asparagus metabolites in urine), the photic sneeze reflex (the tendency to sneeze when entering bright light), and freckling.
Previously identified genetic associations between nine genes and certain pigmentation-related traits (hair color, eye color, and freckling) were replicated.
23andMe chose to publish its results in PLoS Genetics because of the journal’s open-access policy. This policy allows anyone–including 23andMe customers who contributed to the research–to freely access the study. Customers will also see the results incorporated into the reports available in their online accounts.
