A new survey found that most Americans are interested in using DNA testing to understand more about their health and ancestry, but the national survey also revealed a need for better education around the science of genetics.
Commissioned by 23andMe, the survey found that people had a strong interest in genetics, but that interest was out ahead of their understanding of the science. Many people still struggle with basic genetic concepts, according to the survey. This gap in genetic literacy follows similar findings around the need for improved <a href="http://www.pewinternet.org/2015/09/10/what-the-public-knows-and-does-not-know-about-science/">science literacy in the United States</a>.
Thao Do, PhD, 23andMe Education and Academia Program Manager, sees that gap between interest in genetics and knowledge about genetics as an opportunity, for engaging with people on the science.
“It presents an opportunity to educate people in fun and interesting ways,” said Thao.
Genetic testing itself offers people an engaging way not just to learn more about their health and ancestry, but also the science behind their results.
The survey offered some striking contrasts between people expressing a strong desire to tap into potential insights obtained by genetic testing, while at the same time illustrating that they did not fully understand the science behind the tests. For example, nearly three-fourths of those surveyed (74 percent) said they were interested in testing, but about the same percentage of people (75 percent) didn’t know that humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes.
But most most Americans, about 77 percent, know that genetics plays a role in the risk for certain diseases, and about 90 percent of respondents knew that DNA testing could inform them about their ancestry. The vast majority of Americans, 94 percent, said that whether it is information about their health, or ancestry, or traits, that they feel they have a right to at-home DNA testing to directly access this type of genetic information.
23andMe partnered with Kelton Global to generate the 23andMe DNA Survey, which was conducted between July 5th, 2017 and July 12th, 2017 among 1,000 nationally representative Americans ages 18+, using an e-mail invitation and an online survey, with a margin of error of +/- 3.1%.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-25728" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Survey-Infographic-facts-fix.jpg" alt="" width="2667" height="9140" />

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

23andMe Asks About DNA

<div id="attachment_25557" style="width: 231px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25557" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/FullSizeRender-2-e1499367397553-221x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-25557 size-medium" width="221" height="300" />Thao Do, PhD., 23andMe’s Education and Academia Program Manager</div>
As schools were letting out for the summer, 23 professors and teachers from public and private universities, community colleges and Ivy League schools across the U.S. convened at 23andMe headquarters in Mountain View for the inaugural 23andMe Educators Summit.
Although they have different teaching backgrounds, they all came together with the same goal: finding the best teaching practices to engage students to learn genetics.
“Great teachers matter,”  said Thao Do, PhD., 23andMe’s Education and Academia Program Manager. “They can engage a student’s curiosity long after the class ends.”
<h5>Collaboration</h5>
Dr. Do, who organized the summit, said the goal of bringing these professionals together was to spark creative new ideas.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/IMG_4543-300x200.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25558" width="300" height="200" />
“When a group of diverse, passionate educators come together, something magical happens,” she said. “They start sharing their brilliant ideas and collaboratively innovate new teaching strategies together. The excitement and energy in the room were electric. This is what great learning and teaching look like and it is such an honor to witness.”
The summit is in line with the 23andMe’s Education program’s mission, which seeks to modernize genetics education and provides free educational resources to support teachers.  
As part of the Educators Summit, participants got a little lesson in what 23andMe does day to day, learning about the science behind our ancestry and health reports and about our innovative research and therapeutic efforts.
Beyond the work that is being done by 23andMe scientists, the participants also heard from  four seasoned educators —Dr. David Matthes (University of Minnesota), Dr. Bryant McAllister (University of Iowa), Dr. Stuart Kim (Stanford University), and Dr. Charles Aquadro (Cornell University) — who presented their own lesson plans to the group, inspiring discussions about their teaching approaches in the classroom.
<h5>Lesson Plans</h5>
At the end of each day, the participants formed small groups to collaboratively design new lesson plans together and shared their ideas with each other.
<div id="attachment_25560" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25560" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/FullSizeRender-300x152.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-25560 size-medium" width="300" height="152" />23andMe Director of Research Services Carrie Northover presenting at 23andMe&#8217;s Educator&#8217;s Summit.</div>
“Attending the 23andme educators conference was an eye-opening experience for me,” said James Mitroka, professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University. “I learned so much about how the company takes raw SNP data and translates it into meaningful trait and ancestry results. It was great getting to learn from experienced educators about how to share with students and the public the impact of genetic testing. Also, I enjoyed just getting to know educators who have a passion for the subject on a personal basis and sharing teaching ideas with each other. Overall, it was a great experience.”
Many participants found the open group discussions the most valuable, with topics ranging from common challenges of teaching genetics to strategies on how to create new educational resources for the classroom.
The discussion didn’t just end there: The group left with plans to self-organize a Genetic Literacy Consortium to continue sharing ideas about genetics education.
If you are an educator who is interested in joining a 23andMe Educator Summit, please <a href="https://education.23andme.org/educators-summit-events-form/">let us know.</a> We’ll keep you updated as new events are announced.
To learn more about the 23andMe Education Program, please visit <a href="https://www.23andme.com/education">www.23andme.com/education</a> or contact us at <a href="mailto:educators@23andme.com">educators@23andme.com</a>
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23andMe Educators Summit

The future of health care revolves around data, and lots of it.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-25257 size-full" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mike-snyder_web300.jpeg" alt="" width="300" height="401" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mike-snyder_web300.jpeg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/mike-snyder_web300-224x300.jpeg 224w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />


Perhaps no one knows more about the potential of “Big Data” to revolutionize medical treatment than<a href="https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/michael-snyder"> Michael Snyder</a>, the director of Stanford’s Center of Genomics and Personalized Medicine. Snyder plans to share some of his wisdom during a webinar on February 28th hosted by 23andMe titled “Big Data and Human Health.”


Using himself as a test case, Snyder has brought his own personal experience to finding the right data and integrating it properly into clinical practice. He helped create something called the integrative personal genomics profile,<a href="http://snyderome.stanford.edu/"> known as iPOP</a>, which generated billions of data points about him that he used to help diagnose his own risk for type 2 diabetes. But finding a clinical approach to effectively using this data is a challenge.


Snyder, who also recently completed the book Genomic &amp; Personalized Medicine: What Everyone Needs to Know (see sidebar), is both practical and hopeful for the potential of big data to transform medicine.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 300px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
Genomics &amp; Personalized Medicine
Similar to how efficiently information is packed into your DNA, Michael Snyder has packed an enormous amount of information into his short book “Genomics &amp; Personalized Medicine.”
Meant to be a quick guide that broadly covers the basics, Snyder has created a very easy to understand overview that boils down complex science and complicated issues in an easy to read book.
Using a question and answer format that’s easy to navigate the book is broken down into 22 chapters with each chapter condensing explanations of DNA basics to cancer genetics to ethics and data security. The answers on these topics are clear and concise, boiling down into a few pages or even a few paragraphs what are sometimes very complicated issues.
This make for a book that could be used as a very effective quick reference guide for both the layperson or medical professional. The book also works well for those interested in getting started on learning the basics on genetics and personalized medicine.
Give it a read.
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“Big Data information can be used to manage one’s health prior to the onset of disease,” he writes in his book. “This has the potential to shift medicine from a reactive practice of treating symptoms and diseases, to one where disease risk is predicted and managed prior to onset, or is at least diagnosed early.”


During the webinar, “Big Data and Human Health,” Snyder will cover some of the kinds of useful data that can now be collected on a person — from biosensors, to genetic data to data from electronic health records — and how best to use this information can be integrated into managing a person’s health.


To register or to find out more about the webinar go here. 
Register now to receive a copy of Dr. Snyder’s book, Genomics &amp; Personalized Medicine: What Everyone Needs to Know.  The first 100 healthcare professionals/clinicians to register will receive a copy.* The webinar is intended for clinicians and other healthcare professionals, but it is open to educators, researchers, students and lifelong learners.

<div style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 640px; background-color: ##effae7; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">*The first 100 health care professionals who register for the webinar will be eligible to receive a book. Books will be distributed via US mail following the live event. Limit one (1) book per registrant. By providing your email address upon registration and electing to receive a book, you grant 23andMe, Inc. the right to contact you to obtain your US ship-to address for the book. You may opt out of receiving the book at any time before it is shipped by sending an email to this address: medical@23andme.com. or if you fail to provide a ship-to address within thirty (30) days following 23andMe&#8217;s delivery of the email. Entries generated by a script, macro or other automated means will be disqualified. Registrants may submit one (1) entry per person – multiple entries will not be accepted and only the first entry submitted will be eligible. Anyone found using multiple accounts to submit the same entry will automatically be disqualified. This offer is valid exclusively for webinar registrants who are health care professionals with a valid US license and are based in the United States.</div>

Big Data and Human Health

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.

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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.

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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

<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

Your DNA is both a recipe for life, and a record of it – a thread that links your story to the human story.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-20364 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/African-Ancestry-for-Self-Identified-Whites-300x174.jpg" alt="African Ancestry for Self-Identified Whites" width="300" height="174" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/African-Ancestry-for-Self-Identified-Whites-300x174.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/African-Ancestry-for-Self-Identified-Whites-768x446.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/African-Ancestry-for-Self-Identified-Whites-880x511.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/African-Ancestry-for-Self-Identified-Whites.jpg 1012w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />


As part of <a href="https://education.23andme.org/">23andMe’s program for Educators</a>, we’ll be hosting a webinar looking at research done by Kasia Bryc, a senior scientist and population geneticist at 23andMe.
Kasia and her colleagues developed the first of its kind<a href="http://www.cell.com/ajhg/abstract/S0002-9297%2814%2900476-5"> genetic portrait of the United States</a> that illustrated some of the complex cultural and social history of America.
As part of the webinar
“<a href="https://education.23andme.org/genetic-landscape-webinar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">History in Your DNA: The Complex Genetic Portrait of the US</a>,” Kasia will spend about half an hour talking about her work and reserve another 30 minutes for questions from participants. The hour-long webinar is not just for educators and undergraduate and graduate students, but also life-long learners interested in the role genetics can play in illuminating what we know about history, anthropology and sociology.

<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 300px; background-color: #ffffcc; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">History in Your DNA: The Complex Genetic Portrait of the U.S.

When: 11 am to noon PST on Thursday, April 21

Who: Undergraduate and graduate level students and educators as well as others with prior knowledge or interest in genetic ancestry and the socio-political history of the United States.

Where: Go Here.

Highlights: Learn more about inheritance patterns, genetic admixture and the relationship between self-identified ancestry and genetic ancestry.
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Kasia’s groundbreaking work went beyond just using DNA to understand large-scale patterns of<a href="http://admixturemap.paintmychromosomes.com/"> human evolution and migration</a>, and focused on more recent human history in the United States.
Her study detailed how the ancestry make-up of self-identified African Americans, Latinos and European Americans differs by region. Many of these differences reflect some of the distinctive socio-political history and migration patterns in different parts of the United States.
It’s a fascinating look at how DNA can uncover some of the historical underpinnings of regional differences in the US.
The webinar will allow students, educators and those interested in life-long learning a chance to dive deeper into the history hidden in our DNA and how genetic ancestry can inform social science and humanities instruction.

A Webinar on the Genetic Landscape of the USA

A big part of our mission is to help advance genetics education.
We had a rewarding opportunity to do so last Friday, as the 23andMe Education Team hosted a holiday event for thirty 4th and 5th grade students from the <a href="http://www.bgcp.org/">Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula</a>  (BGCP) in Redwood City.  
Not far from our Mountain View offices, this club provides underprivileged students with a safe place to play and learn after school.  It’s one of three BGCP  “Clubhouses” in the area. As BGCP  puts it, Clubhouses are a place to interact with positive peer groups and adults who care, who mentor, and who inspire.
Our goal was to inspire through science — and have a lot of fun with a group of bright, enthusiastic students. We introduced students to DNA basics through interactive games, including learning how genetics can influence certain traits.
The bitter taste test was a huge hit, as were the facial contortions of the super tasters. Students also built double helix models out of Legos.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-23421 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_160730-300x169.jpg" alt="20151218_160730" height="169" width="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_160730-300x169.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_160730-768x432.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_160730-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_160730-880x495.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_160730-1180x664.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
One of the students thought most of the things he learned about DNA were “boss.”
For example, in response to seeing a double helix structure: “Boss.” Upon learning tongue rolling is partially genetically influenced:“Boss.” Realizing he got to keep the Legos: “Boss.”

We also had the students guess for a prize how much DNA (in length) is packed into each individual human cell, using a piece of yarn to indicate their hypotheses. The conversation, like the ball of yarn, unspooled slowly with initial estimates  coming in around 6 inches. The guessing continued, ramping to a rapid fire pace  with students going smaller and smaller until one finally pulled the tiniest fiber of yarn he could manage, convinced he was going to win. They were surprised when the answer was revealed: approximately 6 feet.


Our favorite comment, though, was from a young girl who after constructing her Lego double helix exclaimed, “This is the best day ever! I sprained my foot on Wednesday, and this is way better!”
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-23418 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_164608-300x169.jpg" alt="20151218_164608" height="169" width="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_164608-300x169.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_164608-768x432.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_164608-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_164608-880x495.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/20151218_164608-1180x664.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
&#8220;Seeing the enthusiasm and excitement of the children was immensely rewarding,&#8221; said Ashley Horgan, academic program coordinator at 23andMe.
&#8220;They were eager to share their own knowledge of DNA, ask questions and participate in each activity.  Their smiles and energy left us all grateful  for having had  the opportunity to spend a few hours of our day with them.&#8221;
Students took home a bag of DNA-themed goodies to further their scientific exploration with their families and friends over the holiday break.  
Each gift bag contained a biographical book, family admission to the Tech Museum in San Jose (donated by our friends  at <a href="http://www.thetech.org/">the Tech</a>), a &#8220;You Share Genes with Me&#8221; coloring book with colored pencils, a Lego set, and 23andMe temporary tattoos.
23andMe volunteers also went home with special gifts from the event &#8211; students&#8217; enthusiasm for new knowledge and their gratitude for our time (and gifts).
Thanks to our hosts at BGCP, and all of the 23andMe volunteers, including those who helped coordinate  the event!
&#8211; <a href="https://education.23andme.org/">23andMe Education Team</a>

Editor&#8217;s note: this version has been slightly altered from the original post.

“Best Day Ever”

<div id="attachment_23303" style="width: 229px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-23303" class="wp-image-23303 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/David-Matthes-2015-219x300.jpg" alt="David-Matthes-2015" width="219" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/David-Matthes-2015-219x300.jpg 219w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/David-Matthes-2015-768x1051.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/David-Matthes-2015-748x1024.jpg 748w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/David-Matthes-2015-643x880.jpg 643w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/David-Matthes-2015.jpg 852w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 219px) 100vw, 219px" />David Matthes</div>
When David Matthes teaches genetics to college freshmen using personal genomics, he sets his sights beyond effective instruction and beyond his classroom walls.
He is trying to increase awareness and knowledge in a deeper way that prepares his students to actively engage in the “post genome” world.


“I love the idea that these students would go out and become those ‘genome information facilitators’ that I see a need for in the future, as more and more genetic data starts becoming available,” said Dr. Matthes, an assistant professor in the Biology Program and the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Development at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. “I want people to feel comfortable with it themselves as they get this increasingly elaborate data, and to be positioned to be that kind of helper.”
He has taught a bioinformatics class going back to 1997, but he had a realization that a different approach was needed to match what was taking place in science and research.
“I feel particularly lucky to be alive at this time when the genome is opened up. This is like a new frontier has been opened,” Dr. Matthes said. “But we’ve come to a time where education hasn’t caught up to the technology, and we needed to address that.”


Dr. Matthes is doing his part to move education into this new frontier &#8212; by utilizing 23andMe personal genetic reports with different student populations and in different educational settings. He has incorporated 23andMe into a small freshman seminar and a continuing education class for senior citizens (“they are just fascinated by ancestry!”). And soon he’ll be scaling up the freshman course through a more collaborative teaching approach.
<h5>
Preparing Students for the 23andMe Journey<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-23170 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ed-logo-e1449514561248-245x300.jpg" alt="ed logo" width="245" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ed-logo-e1449514561248-245x300.jpg 245w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ed-logo-e1449514561248-768x942.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ed-logo-e1449514561248-835x1024.jpg 835w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ed-logo-e1449514561248-718x880.jpg 718w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ed-logo-e1449514561248.jpg 897w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px" /> 
</h5>

In the personal genomics classes Dr. Matthes teaches, each student &#8212; whether college freshmen or lifelong learners in the continuing education class &#8212; works with his or her own personal 23andMe reports. That, he said, is where the buy-in and engagement really come. “It really changes the whole dynamic of the class.”
For his small freshman seminar, Dr. Matthes made sure his students were well aware of what will be going on in the class, right from the time they register. He provided an overview of the class and its activities, and he asked that they review the 23andMe <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/tos/">terms of use</a> and <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/privacy/">privacy statement</a>.


“They are briefed for the journey,” Dr. Matthes said. “I want them to know &#8212; not the first day of class but before they even order the kit &#8212; what they’re getting into. They need to know that it’s not going to be terribly scary, but I do give them a summary of the kinds of unintended things that could be reasonably, commonly seen.”


Dr. Matthes is “scaling up” the course for the upcoming semester, in line with his university’s “Active Learning” classroom approach. Rather than a lecture-hall set up, this will involve students sitting at round tables, with access to technology, tools and resources to interact with the whole class and more closely collaborate with their peers.
“My freshman seminar was my way to prove to myself that I could take anybody &#8212; who didn’t have a biology background &#8212; and help them experience the joys of genome exploration,” Dr. Matthes said. “The larger class will be students who have had some genetics, cell biology and biochemistry. They are going to be better positioned to have conversations about technical aspects of the process and the deeper implications of genetic phenomena.”
His specific favorite activity using 23andMe results involves what he likes to call the “minor ancestors” &#8212; those small percentages of ancestry that show up in people’s results &#8212; to teach about ancestral markers. Dr. Matthes has his students calculate a range of dates in his or her family history when a person with 100% of that ancestry would have had to come into the student’s family, in order to end up contributing the current percentage shown in the 23andMe results.
“It’s a ballpark, back-of-the-envelope calculation,” Dr. Matthes admitted. “But I present it as, this is one of your family secrets that your DNA has helped you to know. It was lost to the lore of the family. Maybe conveniently lost! But now we can find out that they were there.”
<a href="http://education.23andme.org/l/ancestry-exploration-lesson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Check out the “minor ancestors” lesson from Dr. Matthes</a>.

<h5>
Spreading the Word 
</h5>

When he’s not teaching, Dr. Matthes often finds himself explaining to colleagues his approach instructing students about personal genomics.   He recently helped design a class with a genetics counselor where the first half of the class utilized 23andMe SNP data, and the second half looked at whole genome sequence data.
In this “post genome” age, he said, the rapid transformation of the technology to something easy and accessible is well underway.
“What a lucky time to be teaching the kinds of courses I teach,” Dr. Matthes said. “A lot of my colleagues are not thinking about it, but I think before long every university and every college in this country will be doing it.”


Editor’s note: This is another in a series of “Educator Spotlight” posts highlighting how educators are incorporating genetics into lesson plans. To find out more check out <a href="https://education.23andme.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">23andMe For Educators</a>.

<div class="copy-paste-block">  </div>

Preparing Students for the Genetics Frontier

To teach his students a powerful lesson in genetics, Bryant McAllister, an associate professor of biology at the University of Iowa, poses a simple question.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-23169" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/BFM_computer-225x300.jpg" alt="BFM_computer" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/BFM_computer-225x300.jpg 225w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/BFM_computer-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/BFM_computer-660x880.jpg 660w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/BFM_computer-885x1180.jpg 885w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/BFM_computer.jpg 1536w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />


“Who are you?” Dr. McAllister asks.


The answer, and the genetic tools to explore it, offer an opportunity for students to learn, not just about themselves and biology, but also a little about the scientific revolution of personal genomics.


“My idea was to utilize personal genomics to provide an opportunity for students to investigate their relationships with others through DNA analysis,” Dr. McAllister said. “I thought it would provide an unique and engaging perspective for them.”


After researching a number of personal genome testing options, he concluded that 23andMe was the best choice for his course:
“Who are you? Revelations from the Personal Genome,” which he first taught in the fall of 2014 to a small class of first-year students.
The course was open to all &#8212; without any science prerequisites or restrictions on students’ majors — and designed to be relevant for all types of students.
The 23andMe DNA kits are free to the students (costs are covered by a university budget for first-year seminars), but Dr. McAlister makes it very clear to his class that participation in genotyping is completely optional.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-23170" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ed-logo-245x300.jpg" alt="ed logo" width="245" height="300" />


“We spend the first class discussing the possible surprises that may come from doing a genetic test &#8212; such as a half sibling students never knew about or discovering unexpected ancestry composition. I feel it is my responsibility to clearly inform the students,” Dr. McAllister insisted.


He encourages students to speak with their families before deciding if they will get genotyped, and he explains the controls students have when viewing their data, such as the ability to turn off relative matching. Students have a week to decide if they would like to participate in 23andMe genotyping.
The 15-week class is set up so saliva samples are shipped to 23andMe after the second class meeting. This allows enough time for sample processing so class work with the 23andMe results starts no later than mid-way through the course.


Once the 23andMe results are returned, students trace the history of mitochondrial DNA and the Y chromosome and identify their own placement on a haplogroup tree. They study the significance of ancient genetic variants associated with Neanderthal admixture, and relate it to their 23andMe Neanderthal percentage ancestry reports.
In another activity, students consider the comparisons of SNP data against reference populations in order to determine ancestry using M&amp;M  candy.
Learn more about Dr. McAllister’s activity, <a href="https://education.23andme.org/l/where-did-my-mms-come-from/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Where do my M&amp;Ms come from?”</a>
In addition to exploring their  ancestry using 23andMe results, students also study the genotype -phenotype association for traits, such as lactose intolerance and the ability to taste bitter substances. Students also discuss genome-wide association studies focused on habitual coffee consumption, a particularly relevant topic for new undergraduates adjusting to college life.
Now in its second year, this freshman seminar is receiving a lot of interest. The class filled up very quickly, and students are more informed about what they will be participating in.


This growing student awareness of direct-to-consumer genetic testing is aligned with Dr. McAllister’s other ideas on how to further student engagement and understanding of personal genomics at the University of Iowa. For example, he would like to build a community of biology and life science majors who apply their science background to learn the applications of and technology behind personal genomics.


“I think these students could be a very helpful resource for people in our local community, to help people without an academic background in biology navigate their personal genotyping results and understand their implications,” he said.


Dr. McAllister also is interested in determining whether or not the use of 23andMe, along with specific learning activities, could significantly motivate students in an introductory biology course and increase their likelihood of success.


“In my opinion, we are just scratching the surface as to how personal genotyping can be used as an effective educational tool,” he said.


Editor&#8217;s note: This is the first in a series of &#8220;Educator Spotlight&#8221; posts highlighting how educators are incorporating genetics into lesson plans. To find out more check out <a href="https://education.23andme.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">23andMe For Educators</a>.

Education — Page 4