<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-421 size-medium" title="Neanderthal" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2.jpg 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
There’s much to recommend in Carl Zimmer’s profile of David Reich in Discovery Magazine.  Not least of which are details on our favorite extinct human cousins, Neanderthals.
Neanderthals are the rock stars of the piece. Zimmer also gives them their due, as well as a good primer on human evolution, and ancient migration out of Africa. He also explains  what all that ancient DNA might mean for modern humans.
There are few things as fascinating to the folks here at 23andMe. At the forefront is the idea that the DNA of Neanderthals – who vanished about 30,000 years ago – lives on in us. And it bolsters the theory that Neanderthals and humans interbred between 37,000 and 86,000 years ago. This was about the time when modern humans began to migrate from Africa to Europe.
23andMe’s popular <a href="https://www.23andme.com/ancestry/deep/">Neanderthal feature</a> was developed by scientists Eric Durand and Mike Macpherson. It can tell you how much Neanderthal DNA you have.
In Zimmer’s piece Reich suggests that there may also be DNA from other extinct human subspecies in our genes, such as <a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7327/abs/nature09710.html">Denisova</a>, another of our early human cousins. The remnants of that ancient DNA &#8212; which pieces, how much of it, and who carries it today &#8212; contain insights not just about human evolution and migration, but about health and traits in modern humans.
If you haven’t already, check out Zimmer&#8217;s story or read more about what we&#8217;ve written about Neanderthals and humans:
&#8211; <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/more-fun-with-neanderthals">More Fun with Neanderthals</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/find-your-inner-neanderthal"> Find Your Inner Neanderthal</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/new-evidence-suggests-interbreeding-between-humans-and-neanderthals"> New Evidence Suggests Humans and Neanderthal Interbreeding</a>
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Got Neanderthal DNA?
23andMe customers can <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/labs/neanderthal/">find their inner Neanderthal</a> or at least how much Neanderthal DNA they have. Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store">Visit our store</a>!
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23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

Our Neanderthal Cousins

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-17535 size-full" title="23andMe Jeopardy Clue" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/23andMe-Jeopardy-Clue-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1920" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/23andMe-Jeopardy-Clue-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/23andMe-Jeopardy-Clue-300x225.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/23andMe-Jeopardy-Clue-768x576.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/23andMe-Jeopardy-Clue-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/23andMe-Jeopardy-Clue-880x660.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/23andMe-Jeopardy-Clue-1180x885.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
Last week we put up a quiz in the spirit of Jeopardy! after host Alex Trebek made use of 23andMe in one of his game clues.
The time was up last night to make your entry. So here are the answers to our Homage to Jeopardy! Quiz.
Remember you didn’t have to get everything correct to be entered into the giveaway. We’ll announce the two lucky winners on Friday. For more on the rules go  <a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/23andMe-Jeopardy-Homage-Sweepstakes-Official-Rules-02.27.13.pdf">here</a>.
In the meantime, you can grade your own tests. We give you an A for effort. 
 
1) The “23” of 23andMe.com, a site tracing ancestry and personal genetic information, refers to pairs of these&#8230;
Too easy. The answer is “What are chromosomes.”
2) Men inherit one copy of this chromosome, while women inherit two &#8230;
If you marked your X on “What is the X Chromosome?” you are correct.
3) This recessive disease is characterized by crescent-shaped red blood cells &#8230;
The correct answer is “What is Sickle cell anemia?”
4) People with two copies of the E4 version of the APOE gene are at significantly increased risk for this disease&#8230;
The answer is “What is Alzheimer&#8217;s disease?”
5) This famous actor founded a Parkinson&#8217;s disease research foundation that partners with 23andMe, Inc&#8230;
The answer is “Who is Michael J. Fox?”
6) This fictional adoptee has appeared on the 23andMe blog to illustrate ancestry features&#8230;
Who is Sheridan?
7) 23andMe was used to analyze the DNA of famous figures on this PBS genealogy series&#8230;
What is &#8220;Finding Your Roots&#8221;?
8) Isolated populations can have higher rates of specific genetic variations due to this phenomenon&#8230;
What is the founder effect?

23andMe’s Homage to Jeopardy!

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-15595 size-full" title="DNA-bases" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/DNA-bases.png" alt="" width="607" height="457" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/DNA-bases.png 607w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/DNA-bases-300x226.png 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 607px) 100vw, 607px" />
Can 23andMe sample my dead relatives and why do you use spit to extract my DNA?
Inquiring minds want to know, or at least a lot of our customers do. 
There really are no dumb questions and if you have something to ask, we’ve probably heard it before. 23andMe has a lot of resources for folks trying to learn the basics; from<a href="https://www.23andme.com/user/claim/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> how do I register a kit</a> to<a href="https://www.23andme.com/gen101/snps/"> what’s a SNP</a>.
While we like to write about interesting genetic breakthroughs and compelling stories about people using 23andMe in unique ways on the blog, there’s something to be said about just covering the basics.
Like why we use spit and can’t sample your dead relatives.
Leave it to two science teachers to attack these pressing questions and many more.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-17508" title="Lab Out Load Logo" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Lab-Out-Load-Logo.jpg" alt="" width="204" height="198" />
Dale Basler and Brian Bartel, who when they’re not molding young minds also have a podcast and blog called<a href="http://laboutloud.com/"> Lab Out Loud</a>, spent some time with 23andMe scientist Emily Drabant talking about science and some of the<a href="http://laboutloud.com/2013/02/episode-90-looking-at-our-dna-with-23andme/"> basics of 23andMe</a>.
Dale and Brian asked about spit samples and dead relatives along with questions about how our Relative Finder determines how closely related someone is to you or the relative importance of your individual risks for a particular disease or how that risk compares to the average.
Check out the Lab Out Loud’s<a href="http://laboutloud.com/2013/02/episode-90-looking-at-our-dna-with-23andme/"> podcast</a>.

Some Basics About Using 23andMe

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-7425" title="ancestry-photo-sheridan" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ancestry-photo-sheridan.png" alt="" width="280" height="152" />
We first met <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-introducing-sheridan/">Sheridan</a>* in the fall of 2010. As an adoptee, she was curious about her DNA and what 23andMe might be able to tell her.
With the help of old friends and some new ones on 23andMe, Sheridan learned about her <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-sheridans-global-origins/">global origins</a>,  which include an African-American father and a mother of European descent, and <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-sheridans-got-relatives/">connected with DNA relatives</a>.
She even discovered that she and her good friend Brian are <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-finding-connections/">4th cousins</a>, which means she has some Irish ancestry. Together, they <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-old-roots-and-new-horizons/">figured out a branch of her family tree</a>.

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For a quick Ancestry primer, check out:
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/genetics-101/ancestry-at-23andme-what-can-you-learn/">Ancestry at 23andMe: What Can You Learn?</a>
Follow Sheridan’s journey from the beginning:*
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-introducing-sheridan/">Introducing Sheridan</a> 
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-sheridans-global-origins/">Sheridan’s Global Origins</a> 
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-sheridans-got-relatives/">Sheridan’s Got Relatives</a> 
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-finding-connections/">Finding Connections</a> 
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-old-roots-and-new-horizons/">Old Roots and New Horizons</a>
*Sheridan and her story are works of fiction and any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.
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<h6>Using DNA Relatives</h6>
For Sheridan, learning about herself on 23andMe did more than just kindle a love for the Irish. By combining the information she learned about her ancestral origins with information from some of the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">DNA Relatives</a> she found, she and Brian were able to fill in the first pieces of her genealogical history.
Since then, Sheridan’s filled in even more of the family tree on her mother’s side.
Her second cousin Mike, identified through 23andMe as a DNA Relative, was able to track down the name of his grandmother’s sister &#8212; a woman very likely to be Sheridan’s own grandmother. To Brian’s delight, Mike also found the name of his grandmother’s sister’s husband, a Fitzpatrick descended from the same Irish ancestors as Brian.
<h6>Neanderthal</h6>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-17249 size-medium" title="Neanderthal-friends-sheridan" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-272x300.png" alt="" width="272" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-272x300.png 272w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-768x849.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-927x1024.png 927w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-796x880.png 796w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-1068x1180.png 1068w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan.png 1192w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 272px) 100vw, 272px" />
Brian always kept her in the loop on 23andMe, though. Some more mutual friends joined and they quickly started sharing on 23andMe. Sheridan remembers when the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/labs/neanderthal/">Neanderthal Ancestry feature</a> came out. There was an unofficial contest over who had the most <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/find-your-inner-neanderthal/">Neanderthal DNA</a>; Brian was disappointed that he was solidly average for a Northern European person. Sheridan tried to cheer him up by pointing out that he still had the most caveman of their friends with mostly European ancestry.
“Besides,” she said, “I only have 2.2 percent Neanderthal!”
“That’s because Neanderthals were never even in Africa to begin with,” he snorted, but he seemed mollified.
Sheridan, far from feeling shortchanged, found it fascinating that even a small percentage of her DNA could be traced back to these prehistoric “cousins.”
<h6>Ancestry Composition</h6>
But Brian’s Stone Age enthusiasm paled in comparison to his excitement over Ancestry Composition. A new and improved replacement for the popular Ancestry Painting feature, <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/23andmes-newest-feature-explores-your-ancestry/">Ancestry Composition</a> gives a much more detailed breakdown of a person’s genetic ancestry. Brian called Sheridan at two in the morning when it came out.
“It’s here!” he exclaimed when she groggily answered the phone.
“Unghh wha&#8211;?” she mumbled.
“Ancestry Composition! Like Ancestry Painting, but way better. Remember? Your Ancestry Painting was cool, but your Composition is even cooler. Mine’s still kind of boring, though. But you should look at yours! And I can see it split it up by which side I got from my mom and which side from my dad and you can zoom in and out and change the thresholds&#8230; hey, you still there? Sheridan? Hello?”
So maybe two in the morning wasn’t the best time for Brian to tell Sheridan about Ancestry Composition. But the next day they met up at the coffee shop to explore the new feature together.
Brian quickly explained that 23andMe had updated its main ancestry feature with lots of examples of people with full ancestry from different parts of the world &#8212; like South Asia, France, or Finland. Some of these people were part of research studies and their genetic data is publicly available. But many of the people 23andMe used to develop its ancestry analysis are 23andMe customers themselves.
“Of course, you can only learn what, say, ‘Welsh DNA’ looks like if you have some examples of it,” he said. “The more examples you can learn from, the better your analysis will be. And 23andMe has a lot of different types of examples.”
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-17254" title="Brian-composition" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Brian-composition-700x421.png" alt="" width="350" />
Brian clicked on the ‘+’ symbol in the “Resolution” bar to zoom in. “It’s still all European for me &#8212; no surprise &#8212; but now it can break it down into sub-regions.” The list of ancestries on the right of the screen expanded as he clicked and when he hovered the mouse pointer over the darker blue ring the map zoomed in to the British Isles.
“See? 99% British and Irish!” he said, puffing out his chest, which today was sporting, perhaps not accidentally, a green “Kiss me, I’m Irish!” t-shirt.
Sheridan rolled her eyes.
“Ok, ok, you were saying mine was cooler, though, right?”
“Oh, right. Yeah.”
Sheridan scooted him aside and pulled her Ancestry Composition up on the screen. The rings quickly morphed into concentric stacks of bright colors with a rainbow-colored map in the middle.
“Ooh,” she breathed. “Yeah, that’s pretty cool.”
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-17299" title="sheridan-composition" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/sheridan-composition-700x500.png" alt="" width="700" />
According to the new analysis, Sheridan’s DNA was about 62% European, 37% Sub-Saharan African, and 1.2% East Asian or Native American. The rest of her DNA was unassigned, meaning it couldn’t be mapped confidently to any specific population.
&#8220;Africa isn&#8217;t broken down into sub-regions yet the way Europe is,&#8221; Brian said, pointing to the pink stripe, &#8220;but 23andMe is going to update this soon.&#8221;
&#8220;Hm, I guess I can wait a little longer,&#8221; said Sheridan. &#8220;It&#8217;s nice to see all the European populations, though. Look, there’s the Irish ancestry for me, too!”
She already knew that she probably had some Irish ancestry based on the fact that she and 99% Irish Brian were 4th cousins and they’d traced their Irish family connection through her second cousin Mike, but it was somehow gratifying to see it spelled out so clearly on her screen. She could also see that she had some Eastern European and even a bit of Native American ancestry.
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17257" title="Miguel-composition" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Miguel-composition-300x161.png" alt="" width="350" /> 
<img decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-17258" title="Mesut-composition" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mesut-composition-300x154.png" alt="" width="350" /> 
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-17262" title="Ancestry Composition Native American" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Ancestry-Composition-Native-American-700x331.png" alt="" width="350" />
There was also a small dark blue band in her Composition labeled as “Ashkenazi”.
“That might actually be interesting,” Brian mused, “Let’s look into that later.”
For now, Ancestry Composition kept them busy as they explored their friends’ results. Miguel had a colorful Composition like Sheridan, except it had much more Native American and much less African. Mesut, Sheridan’s Turkish friend, was mainly Middle Eastern and European.
“Did Camille know she has Native American ancestry?” she asked, pointing to the 3.3% Native American in her Ancestry Composition.
“Not before she did 23andMe,” said Brian. “When she saw that result she did some digging and it turns out that her paternal grandfather was one-eighth <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojibwe_people">Chippewa</a>!”
He went to the drop down menu and selected another friend of theirs, Jamie. “This is pretty cool, too. Jamie’s half Askhenazi Jewish, and since her parents are also on 23andMe you can use the ‘Split View’ setting to see which side of the family it’s from.”
The map in the middle disappeared and the labels “Father” and “Mother appeared on either side of a vertical line splitting the colored rings in half. Sheridan could see that the Ashkenazi ancestry was clearly from Jamie’s mother’s side.
“Wow, that’s cool,” said Sheridan.
She thought for a second.
“So if I do end up learning who my mother is, and if I’m able to find her, and if she wants to do 23andMe&#8230; would this be able to tell me more about my father’s side, too?”
Brian nodded.
“That’ a lot of ‘ifs’, but yeah, I think so. You just need one parent for it to tell which half of your DNA came from that parent. Then by default, the other half came from the other parent.”
“Whew.” Sheridan sat back. “This whole genetic ancestry thing just got even more interesting.”
To be continued&#8230;

Ancestry at 23andMe: New Insights for Sheridan

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-17056" title="Christmas Tree" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ChristmasTree-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ChristmasTree-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/ChristmasTree.jpg 424w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
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 seven genetic markers 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.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-17057 size-full" title="TreeNeedles" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/TreeNeedles.jpg" alt="" width="420" height="286" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/TreeNeedles.jpg 420w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/TreeNeedles-300x204.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px" />
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.
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Need a last-minute holiday gift to put under your tree?   <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Visit our store</a>!
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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.

The Genetics of Your Christmas Tree

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-16917 size-full" title="Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/turkeyDinner.jpg" alt="" width="420" height="286" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/turkeyDinner.jpg 420w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/turkeyDinner-300x204.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 420px) 100vw, 420px" />
Thanksgiving &#8212; it’s a time for friends, family and, of course, food.
Thanks to modern science, we now know quite a lot about the foods that grace our holiday tables.  Over the last few years, scientists have worked hard to sequence many common Thanksgiving foods: <a href="http://www.plosbiology.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pbio.1000475">turkeys</a>, potatoes, <a href="http://maizesequence.org/index.html">corn</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v42/n10/abs/ng.654.html">apples</a>, <a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v449/n7161/full/nature06148.html">wine grapes</a>, and many more (an attractive slideshow highlighting some of these food genomes is available here).
The sequencing of these holiday foods isn’t just an academic exercise; the hope is that new knowledge will lead to hardier and more nutritious crops.  Furthermore, the old adage “you are what you eat” has proven very true as insights into food genetics have translated into useful medical knowledge because of the underlying DNA similarities.  For instance, the transposon (genes that move around) were first discovered in corn, a discovery that earned Barbara McClintock her Nobel Prize.  Transposons are now understood to play an important role in disease and in <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/tomorrows-breakthroughs-this-is-your-brain-on-retrotransposons/">brain genetics</a>.
Because of the strong selection pressure on food crops, careful breeding and, more recently, genetic engineering, the genomes of these food items are constantly and quickly changing.  Potatoes and tomatoes are wildly different plants, and yet are only separated by a mere 10 million years of evolution. (Yes, 10 million years is “mere” on evolutionary time scales.)
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Don&#8217;t blame the turkey 
Did you know tryptophan has a bad, but undeserved, rap? This essential amino acid is not to blame for your post-Thanksgiving meal slumber. Turkey has no more tryptophan than chicken or many other foods. Your food coma has more to do with your large portions of carbs than tryptophan.
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The <a href="https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/11/turkeytech/">turkey</a> has undergone some particularly astounding changes since the time of your grandparents’ childhood Thanksgiving meals. The average turkey in 1929 weighed 13.2 pounds, whereas the average turkey today is 29 pounds.  Attribute this to careful breeding and the introduction of artificial insemination in the 1960’s. (Apparently birds over 30 pounds have trouble mating).
Whether you find these changes to your dinner table troubling or exciting, it is likely that such changes will continue.   With more knowledge about the genetics underlying our foods, the gates of genetic engineering are opening wide.   For farmers hoping for heartier and healthier crops, this may indeed be something for which to give thanks, but the full extent of possibilities and risks are yet to be seen.

Genetics at the Thanksgiving Dinner Table

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-16184" title="broccoli like chocolate" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/broccoli-like-chocolate-200x300.jpeg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/broccoli-like-chocolate-200x300.jpeg 200w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/broccoli-like-chocolate.jpeg 250w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Ever since my kids were wee tykes in diapers, I’ve gone through the same bedtime routine of reading them a story. We went from picture books to the simple joys of Seuss, to following the wizardly adventures of <a href="http://www.jkrowling.com/en_US/#/timeline/harry-potter-and-the-deathly-hallows/i" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harry, Hermione, and Ron.</a>
Our nightly page-turners don’t usually delve into the world of science or genetics but that all changed recently thanks to the book, <a href="http://genetics.thetech.org/book-titles" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“When Will Broccoli Taste Like Chocolate?”</a>
<h6>Ask a Geneticist</h6>
Sent along by some scientists at San Jose’s Tech Museum, the book is a great compilation of questions submitted by people to the website “Ask a Geneticist” and answered by Stanford University scientists. The website is part of a hands-on exhibit at the <a href="http://genetics.thetech.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tech Museum</a>. The questions – from both kids and adults – are sometimes cheeky, sometimes straight, and always interesting. The title comes from one of those questions, from an adult who likes all the good stuff that comes with eating broccoli, just not the taste.
I brought the book home to look at how someone smarter than me talks to people about the complicated world of genetics. So the book was meant for me, but then my son picked it up.
It suddenly became our reading material for the night when my son randomly turned the page to “What would it take to develop a superpower?”
<h6>Super Strength</h6>
This is a critical question for young boys everywhere and it has been the topic of several conversations with my son. He favors super strength, understanding flight just isn’t possible. For my daughter, who is two years older and a little more sophisticated, it was the the section on eye color that drew her in. The Tech has also created a<a href="http://genetics.thetech.org/online-exhibits/what-color-eyes-will-your-children-have" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> great tool</a> to calculate the probability of blue, or green, or brown eyes.
The answers in the book offer a chance to draw in not just kids, but anybody interested in the science. In the case of superpowers, the book explores the genetics behind strength and intelligence, as well as the peculiar ability to be oblivious to pain. They illustrate the answers with examples such as a family in Pakistan that can&#8217;t feel pain. This family has a genetic mutation that interrupts the the process by which nerves to sense pain. Turns out <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story?id=1386322#.UG8-cPl26PI">it’s not such a super superpower</a>, as my son learned.
<h6>Learning</h6>
23andMe does a pretty good job of making the journey into your DNA both fun and fascinating, but there are always more questions to be answered. &#8220;When Will Broccoli Taste Like Chocolate?&#8221; gives a broad sampling of those queries – some big, some small, some silly and some serious – we all have around this topic. The book, as well as the “Ask a Geneticist” website, offers a very approachable way for people to explore genetics.
And what about making broccoli taste like chocolate?
My kids learned it’s not as easy as putting cocoa and broccoli plants alone in a room together. Genetics is complicated, and genetically modifying foods can still be controversial and expensive. At least for my kids they’ll continue to hold their noses when eating their broccoli, while the book is making the rounds on both their nightstands for their own exploration into science.

Chocolate Broccoli

We know you’ve been studying hard at 23andMe U., but you’ve still got one more quiz to complete. 
This one hinges on some of the genetic differences between men and women.
So before you matriculate, here’s the last quiz. Now don’t sweat it, you’ll do fine and we’ll even give you some hints along the way to help!
You’ve learned that we all have 23 pairs of chromosomes. If you were paying attention in the last quiz you’ll know that 22 of those pairs contain the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/gen101/origins/">same genes on each chromosome</a> and are called “autosomes”. These question are about the all-important 23rd pair of chromosomes. Watch the videos and then test your knowledge.
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<td style="padding: 15px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-15324" title="where genes come from" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/where-genes-come-from-300x222.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="222" /></td>
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<h3><a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/v/genetics-101-part-3--where-do-your-genes-come-from" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Genetics 101 Part 3: Where Do Genes Come From</a></h3>
Description: 
Find out how chromosomes and genes are passed down from parent to child.
 Time: 
4 min 20 sec
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<td style="padding: 15px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-15325" title="why no why" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/why-no-why-300x220.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="220" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/why-no-why-300x220.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/why-no-why.jpg 483w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></td>
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<h3><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCm2x9OABI8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Genetics 101 Part 5: Why No Why?</a></h3>
Description: 
Find out why women don&#8217;t have a Y chromosome, but can still learn about their paternal ancestry.
 Time: 
1 min 10 sec
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Update: This quiz is officially over! <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/back-to-school-sex-chromosomes-quiz-results/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out the answers here.</a>
<div style="border: 1px solid #000; padding: 5px; font-style: italic; margin: 15px; width: 550px; float: center;">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-12163" style="float: left; margin-right: 15px;" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/JRBgdIBXKIeVIdETJrxYIw_ttam_logo.jpg" alt="" width="24" height="40" />You have now completed the 23rd Chromosome quiz. Click on the certificate below and get a larger image which you can print out and display it with pride.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-15341" title="CertificateXY" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/CertificateXY-300x198.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="198" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/CertificateXY-300x198.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/CertificateXY-768x508.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/CertificateXY.jpg 841w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Want to continue your education? You can learn about <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">yourself from both a health and ancestry perspective </a> on 23andMe. Not yet a customer? Visit our <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store/cart/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">store</a>.
</div>

Back to School: All About Sex… Chromosomes

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-15595 size-medium" title="DNA-bases" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/DNA-bases-300x226.png" alt="" width="300" height="226" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/DNA-bases-300x226.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/DNA-bases.png 607w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Attention all students! We&#8217;re extending the Genetics 101 quiz through Sunday, September 16th to give everyone plenty of time to brush up on their genetics and earn a chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card!
If you already filled out the quiz and weren’t prompted to enter your name and email address (or you aren&#8217;t sure if you did), please take the time to fill it out again. We apologize for the inconvenience!
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/learn-genetics-101">Take the Genetics 101 quiz. </a>

23andMe and You — Page 7