This week The Michael J. Fox Foundation announced the launch of a new Parkinson&#8217;s research initiative called<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/fi_logo.svg" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-25818" width="1" height="1" /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-300x93.jpg" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-25820 size-medium" width="300" height="93" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-300x93.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-768x239.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-1024x319.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-880x274.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-1180x367.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
As part of our broader collaboration with The Foundation, 23andMe is inviting participants of its more than 12,000 strong Parkinson’s Research community to join the <a href="https://www.statnews.com/2017/10/30/23andme-fox-parkinsons/">initiative</a>. While the two organizations have a long history of working together to study Parkinson’s disease, this new initiative will make data broadly available to researchers, drug makers, and regulators worldwide starting in 2018, with the goals of sparking innovation and discoveries around Parkinson’s disease.
The hope is to recruit tens or even hundreds of thousands of people with Parkinson’s to be involved in a collaborative and diverse cohort of patients that will add new kinds of information that could be used quickly accessed by qualified researchers. New technology and leveraging online tools allow for those with Parkinson’s to more easily contribute data, allowing researchers to pair it with genetic data that could ultimately accelerate discovery.

In addition, The Michael J. Fox Foundation and 23andMe are launching the Fox Insight Genetics substudy. This will give eligible Fox Insight participants with Parkinson’s an option to be genotyped by 23andMe at no cost, and contribute their deidentified genetic data to research.
For 23andMe, which pioneered the use of genetics with online tools and people-centered research, this offers a chance to build upon the success of its work on Parkinson’s disease and encourage innovation by qualified outside researchers.
&#8220;Joining forces with The Michael J. Fox Foundation will help our research goals of understanding, treating and preventing this disease,&#8221; said Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe CEO, and co-founder. &#8220;Making the data available to the wider research community will accelerate our understanding of Parkinson&#8217;s disease.”
The goal is to better understand Parkinson’s disease with the hope of finding new treatments. But the initiative is also a response to Parkinson’s patient&#8217;s desire to actively contribute to research and share their own experience, which isn’t always captured in traditional disease research.
“What I find fascinating when I talk to Parkinson’s patients is that we all have a different disease,” says Michael J. Fox, who launched the Foundation in 2000 with a vision of bringing Parkinson’s patients and scientists into a true two-way dialogue to speed patient-relevant research outcomes. “One of our Foundation’s most important goals has been finding a way to incorporate patient involvement and patient knowledge and wisdom and enthusiasm in research. Capturing the natural back-and-forth between patients helps doctors and researchers.”
Starting next year de-identified data from Fox Insight will be made easily accessible to qualified Parkinson’s researchers, for independent study. This sort of access to the research could shorten research timelines, and speed the development of new therapies. 
Go <a href="http://foxinsight.org">here</a> for more information about Fox Insight.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

New Parkinson’s Disease Research Collaboration with the Michael J. Fox Foundation

By Amick Boone
(Editor&#8217;s note 8/21/202: This post has been slightly edited from when it first published in 2017.) Seven-year-old Shilah Yin likes being different. She even likes it when people describe her hair — a thick frizzy blond mane that juts out at all angles — as looking like the wacky time-traveling scientist Doc Brown’s from Back to the Future. Luckily it’s one of her favorite movies.
<div id="attachment_25723" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25723" class="wp-image-25723 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Scalp_hair-uncombable_hair_syndrome-1-300x164.gif" alt="A case of uncombable hair syndrome" width="300" height="164" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Scalp_hair-uncombable_hair_syndrome-1-300x164.gif 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Scalp_hair-uncombable_hair_syndrome-1-271x149.gif 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/Scalp_hair-uncombable_hair_syndrome-1-372x204.gif 372w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Source: Cobb HK, Tiu AY. &#8220;A case of uncombable hair syndrome and global developmental delays.&#8221; International Journal of Case Reports and Images 2017;8(2):108–111. doi:10.5348/ijcri-201718-CR-10757</div>
Shilah has something called “uncombable hair syndrome.” It’s a real but rare genetic disorder affecting the hair shaft of the scalp characterized by silvery-blond or sometimes straw-colored hair that stands out from the scalp in a disorderly way and cannot be combed flat.
Stories published in <a href="https://www.today.com/health/uncombable-hair-syndrome-condition-gives-girl-unruly-mane-t114586">Today</a> and <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4735506/Melbourne-schoolgirl-Unbrushable-Hair-Syndrome.html">Daily Mail</a> report that Shilah was born with brown hair, but a strawberry-blond fuzz began to appear when she was about three months old. From then on, it grew straight out from her scalp and became blonder.
Shilah says she’s special and unique, like a unicorn, and her family supports her positive attitude. They document her experience on Instagram to share how special Shilah is and to make others aware of the disorder.
<h2>A Rare Hair Disorder</h2>
Uncontrollable hair syndrome is specific to children, first appearing between three months and 12 years and usually improving or resolving by puberty.
The condition only affects a child’s scalp hair. While the amount of hair remains normal, it often grows slowly. Over time, the hair becomes progressively dry and turns silvery-blond or straw-colored, standing out and growing in different directions.
The first case of uncontrollable hair syndrome was reported in 1912, and in 1973, the syndrome was named &#8220;cheveux incoiffables&#8221; by doctors in France. In the 1980s, it also became known as “spun-glass hair.”
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 300px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
<h3>Does 23andMe Test for Uncombable Hair Syndrome?</h3>
23andMe doesn’t report on the genes that cause uncombable hair syndrome, but we do report on genes that influence other hair traits.
23andMe offers customers reports on hair curliness, hair color, <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/newborn-hair">newborn hair amount</a>, <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/unibrow/">unibrow</a>, and widow’s peak. For men, we report on whether or not you’ve inherited genes that influence back hair, hair loss, or bald spots. <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-health-ancestry/">Learn more</a>.
</div>
<h2>How Genetics Contribute to Uncombable Hair Syndrome</h2>
According to the National Institutes of Health, the syndrome is caused by variants in the genes PADI3, TGM3, and TCHH. These three genes code for proteins involved in hair shaft formation. The syndrome appears to be inherited in an <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002052.htm">autosomal recessive</a> fashion, which means that if both parents are carriers, there is a 25 percent chance of their child inheriting both abnormal variants and, consequently, developing the syndrome. There is a 50 percent chance of a child inheriting only one abnormal gene and being a carrier. There is also a 25 percent chance of the child inheriting both normal variants.
These are the variants that researchers know about. Scientists also suspect that some cases of uncombable hair syndrome are caused by other genes that have not yet been identified. These could be inherited, by contrast, in an <a href="https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002049.htm">autosomal dominant </a>manner, meaning that having a variant in only one copy of the responsible gene in each cell is enough to cause the condition. When a person with a variant that causes an autosomal dominant condition has children, each child has a 50 percent (1 in 2) chance of inheriting the variant.
Many of these autosomal dominant cases may occur with “reduced penetrance,” which means that not all people with a variant in the responsible gene will have uncombable hair syndrome. With reduced penetrance, a condition may appear to “skip a generation” or may appear to occur for the first time, or only once, in a family.
<h2>Diagnosing Uncombable Hair Syndrome</h2>
People with uncombable hair syndrome often report that no one in their family has had it, and that may well be the case, from what they can see. However, hair shaft abnormalities associated with the syndrome have shown up in unaffected family members when they looked at their hair under a specific type of microscope.
The individual hair strands are either triangular or kidney-shaped in cross-section. The hair strands have a groove along one or two faces. To diagnose uncombable hair syndrome, doctors observe symptoms. They also look under a microscope for these characteristic hair strand qualities.
<h2>Is there Treatment for Uncombable Hair Syndrome?</h2>
Unfortunately, there is no proven treatment for the syndrome. However, the condition usually improves or resolves on its own with the onset of puberty. Gentle hair care is recommended using conditioners and soft brushes. It&#8217;s also recommended to avoid harsh hair treatments, excessive brushing, and blow-drying. Some published studies suggest that <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biotin">biotin supplements</a> may improve the condition.
Shilah, for her part, loves her unruly hair. She especially likes it when her dad combs and dries. Together, they want to fluff it up as big as it can get.
Learn more about how genetics influences your hair color, curl, thickness, and texture <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/hair-texture/">here</a>. 
Amick Boone is a freelance writer who has written about health and life sciences for over a decade.  When she&#8217;s not at her computer, she&#8217;s usually in motion &#8211; doing yoga, riding her bike or traveling.

Amick Boone

Understanding Uncombable Hair Syndrome

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 Asks About DNA

Like moving to the top of a ridge to suddenly see the landscape anew, Bob Hutchinson’s 23andMe gave him a new view of himself, of his family history and even of the world around him.
<div id="attachment_25693" style="width: 243px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25693" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/dd64ff48-353c-45ec-9144-586d6b79c45f-11-233x300.jpg" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-25693" width="233" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/dd64ff48-353c-45ec-9144-586d6b79c45f-11-233x300.jpg 233w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/dd64ff48-353c-45ec-9144-586d6b79c45f-11.jpg 359w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 233px) 100vw, 233px" />Bob Hutchinson&#8217;s parents.</div>
“It was a surprise,” Bob told the<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/science/dna-tests-ancestry.html?_r=0"> New York Times</a> recently.
His story was featured both in the paper and online in a weekly<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/nytimes/videos/?ref=page_internal"> Facebook Live</a> episode called “Conversations on Race.”
Bob grew up in northern New Jersey, thinking his family was white with Swedish and Italian ancestry. But using 23andMe told him something else. His <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">Ancestry Composition</a> showed that he is in fact more than an eighth sub-Saharan African.
“I think it’s great, it’s who I am,” Bob said during his live conversation with Times reporter Rachel Swarms. “It’s great to be so mixed.”
The surprised revealed as secret about his family, helping him connect with cousins he didn’t know he had, but who knew who he was, about his family and about the family secret.
Check out his story in the<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/28/science/dna-tests-ancestry.html?_r=0"> New York Times</a>, or watch the<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pg/nytimes/videos/?ref=page_internal"> recorded conversation</a>.

DNA Testing Helps Reveal Hidden Family History

Adoptee Night at Tuesday’s Major League Baseball game between the Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox in Minneapolis, will be a return home for Holly Choon Hyang<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mixed-Roots-Foundation-Portrait-Logo-with-IDU-Tagline-Centered-01-300x284.png" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25666" width="300" height="284" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mixed-Roots-Foundation-Portrait-Logo-with-IDU-Tagline-Centered-01-300x284.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mixed-Roots-Foundation-Portrait-Logo-with-IDU-Tagline-Centered-01-768x727.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Mixed-Roots-Foundation-Portrait-Logo-with-IDU-Tagline-Centered-01.png 806w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> Bachman, founder, and president of the LA-based<a href="https://mixedrootsfoundation.org/"> Mixed Roots Foundation</a>
This is the 5th annual Adoptee Night at the Twins home field. The night is meant to honor those touched by adoption and foster care. For Holly it’s become an annual affair since founding the Mixed Roots Foundation in 2011. It’s also something that she’s duplicated elsewhere putting together a few dozen similar events with other MLB teams, as well as professional soccer teams, the NBA, and soon the NFL.
“We want to raise awareness and funds,” said Holly, herself an adoptee from Korea who was raised in Minnesota.
She hopes that adoption and the journey of adoptees and foster kids become as familiar to everyone as America’s pastime, baseball.
<div id="attachment_25664" style="width: 190px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25664" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/1a-180x300.jpg" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-25664" width="180" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/1a-180x300.jpg 180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/1a.jpg 261w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 180px) 100vw, 180px" />Holly just prior to her adoption.</div>
Holly wants to connect with the families who often flock to these games. As little as a generation ago, it was more taboo to talk openly about adoption, but that has changed. An estimated 100 million people are “touched by adoption” in the United States, meaning that someone in their family is adopted or that they know someone who is adopted, according to the Council for Adoption. There are about 500,000 children are in the foster care system.
Holly hopes that this generation will recognize that adoption and foster care is about more than just finding homes for kids who need it; it also involves supporting families and adoptees beyond the actual adoption process, she said.
“Because I&#8217;m adopted, I know that there needs to be more post-adoption resources,” Holly said. “With that, two of our core initiatives for Mixed Roots Foundation are mentoring and DNA testing.”
In particular, testing is used to find biological relatives, but it also helping with family medical history or learning about ancestry. Up to half of all adoptions cross some cultural or ethnic line, according to Mixed Remix Foundation.
For Holly, with her roots from South Korea but adopted into a family with European ancestry, her journey started in high school when she first traveled to Korea and connected with her own Korean ancestry.
With the power of science and technology, adoptees now have access to tools to help them search for biological family, or to connect with their ethnic and cultural roots. Up to half of all adoptions cross some cultural or ethnic line, according to some estimates.
With assisting adoptees and their families discover their biological and cultural roots, Mixed Roots Foundation’s name “mixed roots” came out of this idea of the intermingling of an adoptee’s cultural, biological and adoptive families roots. Part of an adoptees journey is reconciling all of that with their identity, and that’s why there’s a strong diversity message in everything that Mixed Roots does, Holly said.
“We all have mixed roots,” she said. “Learning about that is fundamental to our identity.”
Hosted by the MN Twins and Mixed Roots Foundation, the night is co-sponsored by 23andMe, and the<a href="https://mixedchicks.net/"> Mixed Chicks</a>, maker of the multicultural hair products for men and women with mixed ancestry will be throwing out the First Pitch. Native MN Korean Adoptee singer and song writer,<a href="http://www.kimberlymichaels.com"> Kimberly Michaels</a> will perform the National Anthem.
To learn more, donate or volunteer with Mixed Roots Foundation, please visit <a href="http://www.mixedrootsfoundation.org">www.mixedrootsfoundation.org</a> or follow on social media@mixedroots.

Adoptee Night in Minneapolis

We are all 100 percent human.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AllHuman_FB-300x300.png" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-25658 size-medium" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AllHuman_FB-300x300.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AllHuman_FB-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AllHuman_FB-768x768.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AllHuman_FB-1024x1024.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AllHuman_FB-880x880.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AllHuman_FB-271x271.png 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AllHuman_FB-372x372.png 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AllHuman_FB-574x574.png 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AllHuman_FB-980x980.png 980w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/AllHuman_FB.png 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
The DNA that 23andMe empowers customers to explore is fascinating not because we are so different but rather because we are so similar — 99.5 percent the same.
Any two of us can find a common ancestor. Many of us can find relatives around the world that connect us to people and cultures we never before experienced. It is only the tiny fraction of our DNA — the 0.5 percent — that is different and leads to the amazing variety and talent in the world.
23andMe condemns all forms of racism, including people who are using genetic testing to advance hate-based dogma. If we see it on our site, we ban it and close the offenders’ accounts. These individuals, who use their data in this way, are missing the fundamental point that their DNA is connected to the world and everyone on it.
There is no superior DNA;  we are all from the same common ancestors and we share the same building blocks of life.
We are all 100 percent human.
&nbsp;

<div style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 640px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">Here are some answers to questions on this issue:
• How does 23andMe moderate its forums for hate speech?
We do not tolerate hate speech and other forms of abuse on our forums, blog and messaging applications within the 23andMe product. 23andMe’s customer care team moderates these 23andMe-specific channels, along with a team that monitors our social media profiles. If we identify hate speech or any other abuse of 23andMe-specific channels, we remove those comments and ban the users. If we identify inappropriate comments on our social profiles we remove those wherever possible.</div>
<div style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 640px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">• Have you kicked any white supremacist customers off your forums, or taken any other action against them?</div>
<div style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 640px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">We have banned people from our forums and from commenting on our blog. These bans were based on inappropriate comments and forum behavior, but we have not had a case that specifically involved a white supremacist. 
We condemn racism in all forms. We consistently promote a message of inclusion, and we believe our service has the power to change minds. Our hope is all individuals see our test as an opportunity to learn more about themselves, and also understand we are more alike than different. In fact science tells us we’re 99.5% genetically identical.
</div>

All Human

Best Buy, the big box retailer, just became the latest store to start selling 23andMe kits on its shelves.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/MKT6908-237x300.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25517" width="237" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/MKT6908-237x300.jpg 237w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/MKT6908.jpg 572w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 237px) 100vw, 237px" />
Customers can now find the kits on Amazon, at CVS, and Target. Going beyond online sales is all part of our effort to make the product more readily available to consumers.

Over on the<a href="https://corporate.bestbuy.com/23andme-now-at-best-buy-helps-reveal-story-of-who-you-are/"> Best Buy blog</a>, 23andMe’s vice president of consumer marketing and acquisition, Jon Ward, explained a little about our service and the decision to sell on store shelves as well as online.
Here’s what he said:
How does 23andMe differ from traditional genetic testing?
We really pride ourselves on taking complex, powerful technologies and making them relevant to consumers. We try to keep things as easy as possible for people. The instructions for how to handle the saliva tube are very clear, and shipping the kit back to us is prepaid. The customer doesn’t see the most complicated parts — extracting the DNA, genotyping someone’s sample and running the data through our systems to interpret the relevant information. That all happens behind the scenes.
How many people have used 23andMe?
More than 2 million in 60 countries. We’ve been at this for 11 years, but our growth has really started accelerating recently.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/33111270506_6cdfd74444_k-e1502216359695-300x219.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25605" width="300" height="219" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/33111270506_6cdfd74444_k-e1502216359695-300x219.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/33111270506_6cdfd74444_k-e1502216359695-768x559.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/33111270506_6cdfd74444_k-e1502216359695-1024x746.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/33111270506_6cdfd74444_k-e1502216359695-880x641.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/33111270506_6cdfd74444_k-e1502216359695.jpg 1075w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />You can get a better understanding of yourself and your place in the world. A lot of people are looking at health. They want insights into how they can live longer and healthier lives. There’s another group who’s very interested in ancestry and their families. Those people want to know where they’re from and who they might be related to. They want to know any surprises or interesting tidbits that might not have been captured in their family story. And the third big area, honestly, is people who just want to know more about themselves. They’re not really sure what they’re going to get.
Why is Best Buy a good fit for this product?
We believe Best Buy has an audience of early adopters — people who are very open to new technologies that help them live better lives. And we think it fits with a lot of the emerging categories at Best Buy, like mobile and health tech.
Have you taken the test? What did you learn from it?
Yes. I learned I’m a carrier for a hearing disease called Pendred Syndrome, which, if my wife were a carrier, we might have a deaf child. So that’s pretty interesting. I know I’m not a carrier for cystic fibrosis or Tay Sachs or any of the other 40-plus carrier diseases. I also found out that based on my genetics I&#8217;m more likely to be  lactose intolerant. I had no idea, but now I’ve been able to change how I eat. And I found out that I am 1 percent Ashkenazi Jewish. Who knew?
What are some of the less serious — more fun — things you can learn?
There are a whole bunch of things people find interesting. We know things like how likely you are to move during your sleep, or whether you prefer sweet or salty snacks. We can tell you if you’re likely to have a bald spot, <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/traits/cheek-dimples">cheek dimples</a> or a cleft chin. We assess your most likely eye color and how likely you are to have red hair or curly hair. We can tell you if you’re likely to have photic sneeze reflex, which causes you to sneeze when you look into the sun.
You mentioned that you can test for a person’s<a href="https://mediacenter.23andme.com/press-releases/23andme-inc-granted-first-fda-authorization-market-direct-consumer-genetic-health-risk-reports/"> genetic health risk for diseases like Parkinson’s and late-onset Alzheimer’s</a>. What type of response have you seen from consumers?
We’ve seen a lot of interest in those diseases. People with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s in their families want to look into their risks so they can understand the latest research and maybe make lifestyle changes to help to the extent they can mitigate the onset of the disease.
What do you do once you get your results? <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/BBY_on_gray-e1498579519190-300x220.jpg" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-25529 size-medium" width="300" height="220" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/BBY_on_gray-e1498579519190-300x220.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/BBY_on_gray-e1498579519190.jpg 452w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
A lot of people print their results and go right to their doctor. If you’re negative for every carrier disease, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re completely in the clear. But it’s a good baseline test for some of the most common variants associated with those diseases. If you’re considering having children, you’ll want more comprehensive screening done. And if you have one of the variants we test for, you’ll probably want to have additional testing, have your partner tested and have a family-planning discussion to make sure you know what you’d do if you had a child who had one of those diseases. And, for example, if you’re positive for the genetic mutation associated with late-onset Alzheimer’s, we will point you to<a href="https://medical.23andme.org/resources/"> resources we’ve curated on our website</a> where you can learn more about the disease.
A lot of this information is very personal. How do you protect customer privacy?
We wouldn’t have a business if we didn’t protect people’s information. We have state-of-the-art security and privacy policies, and we have a full-time privacy officer. We give people enormous control. If you want, you can download your data and close your account at any time.
The test results can have a big impact on someone’s life. What are some of your favorite<a href="https://www.23andme.com/stories/"> customer stories</a>?
The stories that always get me are the ones where people have discovered long-lost relatives on 23andMe. We have an optional feature called DNA Relatives that, if you choose to participate, will match you with others in the database who share DNA segments—from distant cousins to close relatives. There was a story where a half-brother and sister discovered each other mid-life. I think they were both only children, but all of a sudden their family opened up. Another one was a story about a woman named Angel who had been given up for adoption, and we helped reunite her with her family for Christmas. She was probably in her 60s and suddenly she has this big, fully formed family she didn’t know she had. It’s just very moving.

23andMe Kits At Best Buy

Sprinkled in the crowds at <a href="http://www.gaypridecalendar.com/">Pride marches</a> this weekend, as with every year, will be employees from 23andMe, who will be there with their families, partners and friends to support lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender culture and civil rights.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FahSathirapongsasuti-Preferred-199x300.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25500" width="199" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FahSathirapongsasuti-Preferred-199x300.jpg 199w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FahSathirapongsasuti-Preferred-768x1156.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FahSathirapongsasuti-Preferred-680x1024.jpg 680w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FahSathirapongsasuti-Preferred-585x880.jpg 585w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FahSathirapongsasuti-Preferred-784x1180.jpg 784w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/FahSathirapongsasuti-Preferred-scaled.jpg 1701w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" />
“We’ll be there to celebrate the diversity of love,” said 23andMe computational biologist Fah Sathirapongsasuti, PhD. “Like our genomes, love unites us in its diversity. We want to showcase the different shades of love within our own community too.”
When he isn’t marching with his partner in support of LGBTQ rights, or blitzing through a workout, or hiking to the base of Mount Everest, Fah wrestles with some of 23andMe’s most difficult and important research questions. He is instrumental in hunting through mountains of genetic and biomedical data to find new <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/23andme-and-drug-discovery/">drug targets to treat disease</a>. During his Ph.D. studies at Harvard, Fah developed the first method to detect copy number variations from exome sequencing data, and as an undergraduate at Stanford was honored with the President’s Award for Academic Excellence.
Coming to 23andMe was a natural step, Fah said. It allowed him to to continue to work on the forefront of genetic research, but do it at a place where he felt welcomed.
“This is the work I love, but I’m also inspired by the talented team that is as committed to this science as I am,” he said. “And what’s important for me is that this place doesn’t just welcome diversity it celebrates it.”
23andMe has always been a place that’s inclusive, but this isn’t just about the workplace culture, it is also about the work we do, said Fah, who helps head up the LGBTQ community at the company.
Fah recently invited fellow employees to share their photos of themselves and loved ones that capture moments of love as part of a celebration for Pride Month and the diversity of love within our company.
As a scientist another attraction of working here is the willingness of the company to study many different questions around genetics.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/pride_TW-300x150.png" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25501" width="300" height="150" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/pride_TW-300x150.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/pride_TW-768x384.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/pride_TW-880x440.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/pride_TW.png 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
For example, 23andMe began doing research around <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/23andme-studies-the-genetics-of-sexual-orientation/">sexual orientation</a> more than six years ago, in part because our customers said they wanted to know more about this.  Ultimately we conducted one of the first large genome-wide association studies of sexual orientation ever done. While we are yet to identify any common genetic markers associated with sexual orientation, we did find some <a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Drabant-Poster-v7.pdf">intriguing leads</a> for future research. Genetics clearly plays a role, but sexual orientation is the product of both genetic and environmental factors and more work is needed to determine the role they each play. Adding to the complexity, many researchers conceptualize sexual orientation as having three components like a layered cake: self-identity, behavior, and attraction.
For Fah this is the point of much of the work that’s done in genetics research; it’s fundamentally an exploration about what makes us who we are. It explains both how we are each unique, but also how much more we have in common. Genetically we are 99.5 percent similar.
“We should recognize our common humanity, and also celebrate our diversity and what makes us unique,” Fah said. “There is a parallel with genetics in that while love comes in different forms, in all those forms, love is love.&#8221;
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Celebrating Diversity

Today more than ever, it’s easy to focus on all that separates us, but our DNA tells another story. <div id="attachment_25469" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-25469" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/iStock-501466418-300x200.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-25469 size-medium" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/iStock-501466418-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/iStock-501466418.jpg 724w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Having just landed in a small boat, a refugee family walks up from the beach toward a road on the north coast of the Greek island of Lesbos.</div>
We are all much more alike than we are different. In fact, each and every one of us is 99.5 percent genetically similar. Those small difference shouldn&#8217;t separate us. All of us are 100 percent human. 
Today is<a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/refugeeday/index.shtml"> World Refugee Day</a>, a time to reflect on the plight of millions of people fleeing war, famine and persecution across the globe. 23andMe wants to raise awareness about the global refugee crisis, and celebrate the humanity we all share. 
Learn more about the worldwide refugee crisis visit the United Nations World Refugee Day<a href="http://www.un.org/en/events/refugeeday/resources.shtml"> website</a>, or to find out how you can help visit the<a href="https://www.rescue.org/"> International Refugee Rescue Committee</a>.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/40884_17_23ME_008_001v5.p181-634x1024.jpg" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-25493" width="634" height="1024" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/40884_17_23ME_008_001v5.p181-634x1024.jpg 634w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/40884_17_23ME_008_001v5.p181-186x300.jpg 186w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/40884_17_23ME_008_001v5.p181-768x1241.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/40884_17_23ME_008_001v5.p181-545x880.jpg 545w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/40884_17_23ME_008_001v5.p181-730x1180.jpg 730w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/40884_17_23ME_008_001v5.p181-scaled.jpg 1584w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 634px) 100vw, 634px" />
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