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>.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

A Fresh Take on Genetics for Freshmen

We’re returning one more time to the story of Jessica and Alice, and how they used 23andMe to unravel a <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-customer-stories/jesss-story/">century old mystery</a>.
<div id="attachment_22174" style="width: 236px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-22174" class="wp-image-22174 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Phil-and-Sam-226x300.jpeg" alt="Jess's grandfather Phil and her great grandfather Sam. " width="226" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Phil-and-Sam-226x300.jpeg 226w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Phil-and-Sam-662x880.jpeg 662w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Phil-and-Sam.jpeg 665w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px" />Jess&#8217;s grandfather Phil and her great grandfather Sam.</div>

We first <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-customer-stories/jesss-story/">wrote about the story</a> back in February 2015 and again <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-customer-stories/the-other-side-of-the-story/">a few weeks later</a>, and we aren’t the only ones fascinated by it.


Scott Fisher, the host of the syndicated family history radio program <a href="http://extremegenes.com/ep-104-23andme-dna-day-and-pursuing-a-jail-break/">Extreme Genes</a>, dedicated his most recent show to their story.
Fisher has <a href="http://extremegenes.com/story-and-photos-of-two-men-switched-at-birth-in-1913-with-their-oops-fathers/">a great interview</a> with Jess, Alice, and genetic genealogist CeCe Moore, who each detail how they worked over three years to piece together a mystery that probably couldn’t have been solved any other way, and it all started when Alice tested with 23andMe.


“I took a DNA test and the results came back all the way wrong,” Alice told Fischer.


Or at least that’s what she thought.
Raised to believe she was three-quarters Irish, Alice’s ancestry results came back showing that she had 50 percent Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. This sparked what turned into years of trying to figure out if this was all a mistake or something else. Her mother and father weren’t around to ask anymore, so Alice eventually had all seven of her siblings tested with 23andMe.
They all showed the same result. They were half Ashkenazi.
How that was possible was the mystery to Alice, so she began working to solve it. She enlisted the help of CeCe, no stranger of difficult family mysteries, and the two got to work.
“There are unexpected surprises in pretty much every case I work on,” said CeCe.


This one was no different, and CeCe and Alice dove deeper looking at paper records and came up with some theories. If it was just Alice’s results that were different, perhaps the difference could be explained by a single infidelity, but everyone in her family had the same ancestry profile. Obviously something about their family history was different than they suspected. Alice’s father, James, had had a tough upbringing. He knew his parents but had been raised in an orphanage.
Alice began zeroing in on her father and the possibility that   he was switched at birth. But how could you figure something like that out?

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				Alice&#8217;s grandfather, John, who is believed to be Jess&#8217;s great-grandfather.
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				<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/filename-1-150x150.png" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" aria-describedby="gallery-1-23095" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/filename-1-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/filename-1-271x271.png 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/filename-1-372x372.png 372w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
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				Jess&#8217;s Grandfather, Phil.
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				<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/img_9061-150x150.jpeg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" aria-describedby="gallery-1-23094" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/img_9061-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/img_9061-271x271.jpeg 271w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
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				Jess&#8217;s great-grandfather, Sam, who is believed to be Alice&#8217;s grandfather.
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				<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="150" height="150" src="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Alices-Father-150x150.jpeg" class="attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail" alt="" aria-describedby="gallery-1-23093" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Alices-Father-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Alices-Father-271x271.jpeg 271w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px" />
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				Alice&#8217;s Father, James.
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He was born at Fordham hospital in the Bronx in 1913, so CeCe and Alice began looking at birth records for babies born on the same day, in the same hospital. Perhaps, they thought, a nurse accidentally put Alice’s father in another child’s crib. CeCe and Alice even went so far as approaching the descendants of a man born that same day with a similar last name and had him test with 23andMe, but they found no match.


And then last year, Jessica, who lives in North Carolina, signed up for 23andMe. Like Alice she also got a big surprise.


“I knew my mom is Japanese, Filipino and Native American,” Jessica said.


Her dad was a bit of a mystery because he’d died when Jessica was still young, but she knew that he was Jewish. But the results came back and instead of showing she had Jewish ancestry, it showed she was a quarter Irish.
“It didn’t match what I knew,” Jessica said.
That might have been it, but that one of Alice’s nephews also tested with 23andMe. Alice found that she shared no DNA with him, that they in fact were not biologically related. Although that would seem to be another dead end, Alice knew that his results could help her solve the mystery.
When he shared with Alice some of his DNA Relative matches, she saw a name she didn’t recognize, Jessica.


“When I saw her listing, I started shaking,” said Alice.
She knew this could be the key.
So Alice sent her a message.
“Help solve a hundred year-old mystery,” Alice said in her message.
Jessica was intrigued.
When they connected, Alice immediately asked whether Jessica had been surprised by her ancestry results.
And then Alice floated her idea, that Jessica’s grandfather and Alice’s father, who were both born on the same day at the same hospital in the Bronx in 1913, had been switched at birth.
For Jessica, the whole thing sounded intriguing. She wanted to know. For Alice, who’d resigned herself to never solving the mystery, she could hardly contain herself.
When they shared family photos, it seemed even clearer that the mystery had been solved.


“You can’t look and come to any other conclusion,” said Fischer in the show.


For CeCe, the photos illustrate something she’s seen in many cases. Here are these two men, clearly not biologically related to the parents who raised them, and for those men how out of place they sometimes must have felt.
It’s also intriguing to think about how their lives might have been different, said Jessica.
“That might be the strangest part,” Jessica said. “They ended up living different lives.”

Family Mystery Solved with 23andMe

While 23andMe can inform you about your ancestry, that information doesn’t define you, as has been so eloquently written about by Jesmyn Ward <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/innovation-cracking-the-dna-code" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">in the New Yorker</a>, and by Simone Kitchens in <a href="http://www.glamour.com/inspired/2015/02/what-are-you-how-to-answer-identity-questions" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">her story</a> that first <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-22626 size-large" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/0315-GL-AABY06-01-copy-e1435353553605-452x768.jpg" alt="At Home in the WorldIn my apartment, with a favorite photo of me and my mom.Rachel Comey dress. See GLAMOUR Shopper for more information." width="452" height="768" />appeared in Glamour. Both Jesmyn and Simone write about being multiracial and the difficulty of navigating not just how their mixed race influences how others perceive them, but how they perceive themselves. In his new book <a href="http://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/219260/loving-day-by-mat-johnson/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Loving Day</a>, the writer <a href="http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/books/interviews/a35341/mat-johnson-interview-mixed-race-in-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mat Johnson</a> covers some of the same territory. How people think about race, and the commonly accepted notions about what it means, are changing. Probably at the forefront of that transformation are people like these three writers who are of mixed ancestry. More and more people are walking this path. In the United States nearly 7 percent of adult Americans have a multiracial background, according to a <a href="http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2015/06/11/multiracial-in-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">new report</a> by the Pew Research Center. Many other people simply do not know of their own mixed ancestry. Reconciling what it means to be mixed is complicated, and that process is elegantly captured in Simone’s piece, which we’re republishing here. Take a look. 



By Simone Kitchens
This is what I look like to you:
I&#8217;m brown.
Various shades of brown. Dark brown curly hair, darker brown eyes, skin a tan sort of brown. You might think I&#8217;m black or part black, but most people have trouble pinpointing my race. I do too.
I&#8217;ve gotten the &#8220;What are you?&#8221; question about once a week for the past 20 years, ever since I heard it for the first time in the girls&#8217; bathroom in sixth grade. I was looking in the mirror when a girl at the sink yelled over, &#8220;Are you mixed?&#8221; She was black. She came closer to get a better look. &#8220;What are you?&#8221; she asked. A group of girls, her friends, studied me as well.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; I said.
The girl went back to drying off her hands and said, &#8220;You&#8217;re half-black.&#8221; She was matter-of-fact, as if she were filling me in on something I wasn&#8217;t aware of. From that moment on, I&#8217;ve known myself as a half-black person.
But &#8220;half-black&#8221; has never felt like the whole story.
I grew up with my mom, who was adopted and didn&#8217;t know her background. I look like her; she&#8217;s brownish too. I always had my mom for reference, and while I didn&#8217;t know my dad, I didn&#8217;t think a lot about why I look the way I do. Still, as a brown girl in Oklahoma, there were times when I noticed I was the only nonwhite person at a roller-skating rink or food court.
Some mixed people feel they&#8217;ve lived a black experience in America. President Obama, who is mixed-race, once said:
&#8220;I self-identify as African American–that&#8217;s how I&#8217;m treated and that&#8217;s how I&#8217;m viewed. I&#8217;m proud of it.&#8221;

In many ways, I identify. At times I&#8217;ve also gotten the feeling that people are assuming something about me, trying to place me. I get it–skin tone isn&#8217;t an easy thing to sort out. (And if anyone should understand skin tone, it&#8217;s me: I&#8217;m a beauty editor. I&#8217;ve worked on stories about how hard it is for women of color to find their true foundation shade, a frustration I&#8217;ve experienced firsthand.)
When it comes to people&#8217;s curiosity, this awareness of my skin tone, I&#8217;ve heard it all. The conversation usually goes like this:


&#8220;Where are you from?&#8221;


&#8220;Oklahoma.&#8221;
&#8220;No, but where are your parents from?&#8221; People seem unsatisfied when I say my parents are also from Oklahoma; perhaps they&#8217;re expecting something more &#8220;exotic.&#8221;
By the time I was in my twenties, my response to the question took on a &#8220;Sorry, can&#8217;t help you&#8221; tone. A friend joked that when a group of people looked at me for a little too long, they were playing Guess Her Race. What I never admitted was that I was playing the same game. My biggest insecurity was that I didn&#8217;t have the answer.

<h6>
Checking the Box–or Not</h6>

When I applied for college in 2002, I had to state my race. On the application there were six options, and I was instructed to choose one: Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, or Other. I identified with a few of these, but not fully enough that I felt I could legitimately tick only one, so I checked &#8220;Other,&#8221; then wrote &#8220;See essay&#8221; next to it. I wrote honestly about how it felt not to know, and then to have to choose an option as faceless as &#8220;Other.&#8221; For better or for worse, my identity could not be contained in a box.
I finally met my dad and his side of the family a few years later. In them I found a loving group of people–siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins–who embraced me. I also found out more about my ancestry. It turns out his side of the family is part German and part Native American, though if you saw my dad walking down the street, you&#8217;d probably think, White guy. I was so happy to connect and learn more about myself and my family, but I still couldn&#8217;t relate it to the tone of my skin.
Then I moved to New York City, a place where everyone on the subway looks like they&#8217;re from somewhere else. I still got the question, but now people took the liberty of telling me what they thought I was: &#8220;You look Egyptian&#8230; Brazilian&#8230; Dominican&#8230;.&#8221;
&#8220;I&#8217;m not sure,&#8221; I&#8217;d say with a smile. This was the way I lived my life–I&#8217;d become seemingly comfortable with the unknown.
And then the impossible happened. A year ago, after a lifetime of near misses, my mother met her birth mother. Here, I thought, was the missing link to what I was, and maybe, finally, an answer. My maternal grandmother, I discovered, is Irish and part Native American. But, frustratingly, there were few clues about my mom&#8217;s birth father, my grandfather–a man who doesn&#8217;t look that brown in the one black-and-white photo I&#8217;ve seen. I still didn&#8217;t feel any closer to understanding why I&#8217;m this color.

<h5>
Time to Turn to Science</h5>

Then, last spring, I learned that Henry Louis Gates Jr., Ph.D., would be speaking in New York, and I knew I had to hear him. With his PBS show, Finding Your Roots, this pioneer in ancestry research has helped many celebrities trace their backgrounds. He&#8217;s also a proponent of genetic testing kits like 23andMe, now easily available online.
At the end of the lecture, I introduced myself to Gates and mentioned that I was from Oklahoma. His response:
&#8220;I was going to say you look Native American.&#8221;
My heart sank.
Here I was in this room, with a lot of other black people, and didn&#8217;t look black to Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of our nation&#8217;s foremost experts on race. I ordered a 23andMe kit the next day. I had to know.
The kit costs $99 and is simple to use. You spit (a good amount) into a plastic vial, close it up, and send it off. It takes about three weeks to get your ancestry reports. The wait felt like an eternity.
When the email arrived, I was with two of my best friends, Rightor and Elizabeth. I held up my phone, pointing to the message that would reveal my race, my identity, my everything.
They went silent.


When I&#8217;d dispatched my kit, it had never occurred to me that I might not be ready to receive this information. Now I realized: I didn&#8217;t want to open the email–not yet. Suddenly, certainty didn&#8217;t seem so exciting.
Rightor whispered, &#8220;I do still hope you&#8217;re part black. You&#8217;re our half-black friend.&#8221;
We all laughed. I&#8217;d gotten used to being the brown friend among white friends. Now this message had the power to change my idea of myself.
I had taken the test last June, in a time we could call pre-Ferguson, pre-Eric Garner, two tragedies that drastically shifted the conversation around race in our country. Now, as the email waited in my inbox, I watched what felt like injustice on repeat. I kept asking myself, Where do I fit in?
When I went to the Millions March NYC protest in December, I stood shoulder to shoulder with blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics. Still, I wondered: What am I, here in this crowd? One of the oppressed? An empathizer? An outsider?
I realized that while I&#8217;d been searching for the answer to what I was, I&#8217;d also been looking for affirmation of the black part of me. I wanted to belong to that group because I did identify myself in that way. But what if technically, genetically, I didn&#8217;t belong? I was scared to find out.
The test results sat in my inbox for months. Then, one day, it hit me: I could know or not know. Live my life being safe, like I&#8217;ve always done, or take this leap. I was searching for answers, but did I actually want to hear them? I hadn&#8217;t been ready before; now all of a sudden, for some reason, I was.
My hands shaking, I opened the message. A map of the world popped up, indicating I had roots all over. Almost every continent was highlighted in a bright color.
The cold, hard science, the letter told me, was this: I was 67.8 percent European and just 2.9 percent West African; about a third of my DNA was labeled &#8220;unassigned.&#8221;
I had a moment of feeling, What the f&#8211;k? I&#8217;d waited 30 years only to find out that a good chunk of me was still a mystery, even to a genetic-testing company?
I read further. As it happens, DNA that traces from multiple continents is labeled &#8220;unassigned.&#8221; I also learned that Native American DNA is hard to test for, since there are few reference populations available to provide samples. (The Native American sample pool used for my analysis is smaller than the European samples.) With a good portion of my genetic makeup still unknown (mostly the not-white portion, it seemed), I went to bed feeling hollow.
When I started this process, my initial excitement had been clouded by a thought: More actual facts about my history might close off the possibility that I could be black, Brazilian, Dominican, fill in the blank.
All my life there&#8217;s been a chance that I could be a lot of things, and I&#8217;ve embraced that. Feeling unattached to groups and hard to categorize had become the most defining part of me. Not having a fixed identity had become my identity.
The day after I opened the email, I went through my morning, still feeling disappointed. As I crossed the street, a black man passed me on the left. At the same time a white woman came toward me on my right. For the first time in my life, it flipped for me: Before, I wasn&#8217;t sure which one would have thought I was part of their culture, what they would have called me. But in that moment, I saw parts of myself in both of them–I could identify with each one and, for that matter, whomever I wanted.


I flashed back to the Millions March, to all the faces on the New York City subway, to that sixth-grade girl looking in the bathroom mirror. What I had been seeing were just skin tones. I&#8217;d spent so much time trying to understand my own color, but as it turned out, there was something empowering about the fact that I didn&#8217;t have to take ownership of any particular race. I realized: I could be what I was by being who I was. My search led me to my father&#8217;s family, whom I adore, and to my mother&#8217;s family, whom I&#8217;m getting to know–and, most important, to myself. The daughter I am, the sister I am, the friend I am.
This is who I am. No email could ever change that.
The next time someone asks what I am, my response will be ready:
&#8220;I&#8217;m Simone. What are you?&#8221;


Simone Kitchens, Glamour&#8217;s deputy beauty editor, lives in Brooklyn.

Simone Kitchens

I’m Simone

This past weekend, 23andMe’s Joanna Mountain and Christine Moschella, attended
<div id="attachment_21379" style="width: 309px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-21379" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/J-C.001.jpg" alt="Joanna Mountain, 23andMe's Research Director, and on the right Christine Moschella, 23andMe's Community Manager." class="size-full wp-image-21379" width="299" height="233" />Joanna Mountain, 23andMe&#8217;s Research Director, and on the right Christine Moschella, 23andMe&#8217;s Community Manager.</div>
the <a href="http://i4gg.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2014 Institute for Genetic Genealogy Conference</a> at the <a href="http://www.4hcenter.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">National 4H Center</a> just outside Washington, DC. The conference offered a great opportunity to connect again with genetic genealogists and learn from other experts in the field.
Over the three days Joanna, 23andMe’s Director of Research, and Christine, our Community Manager, shared details of some of our ancestry and genealogy features. But the pair were also there to hear feedback directly from our customers, and to answer questions about topics ranging from where things stand with the <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/update-on-the-regulatory-review-process-with-the-fda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">FDA regulatory process</a> to tips on using our saliva kit.
<h6>
Using DNA Relatives 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/African-American-Example1-300x220.jpg" alt="African American Example" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-19805" width="300" height="220" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/African-American-Example1-300x220.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/African-American-Example1.jpg 661w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></h6>
Joanna presented an overview of two of 23andMe’s most popular tools – <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/23andme-ancestry-basics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">DNA Relatives and Ancestry Composition</a>. She went over &#8211; their origins, methodologies, and history &#8211; highlighting both the science behind these features and how they have been improved over a relatively short time.
The purpose for attending the conference was not only to share information with genetic genealogy enthusiasts but also to get feedback about how these customers are currently using the service and to hear ideas for improvements.
In numerous presentations and conversations with attendees, we heard about some of the creative ways customers are interacting with the information provided by 23andMe, and learned more about what kind of tools and information genetic genealogists in particular find most important.
<h6>Feedback</h6>
We also got some feedback about which features could be improved. In some instances, we are already in the process of making those improvements, which we are very excited about. We hope the community continues to provide the kind of constructive feedback that they’ve always given as we improve our ancestry features.
Overall it was a fun and intense three days for Joanna and Christine, who said they loved meeting some of our most passionate customers in person. It’s always motivating to hear about the difference that 23andMe has made for customers and how excited they are about what more we could do. It’s an excitement we share. Thank you <a href="http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CeCe Moore</a> and <a href="http://www.timjanzen.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tim Janzen</a> for organizing the conference, with plenty of help from their family members; we hope that they will organize another such event in the future!

Tools For Genetic Genealogists

There are few places as far removed from Manhattan than vast tundra and cold forests that make up the land of the Sami, but for Laura, a full-fledged New Yorker, there was no place she felt more connected.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Laura-G.-300x300.jpg" alt="Laura G." class="alignright size-medium wp-image-21064" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Laura-G.-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Laura-G.-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Laura-G.-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Laura-G.-880x880.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Laura-G.-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Laura-G.-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Laura-G.-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Laura-G.-980x980.jpg 980w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Laura-G..jpg 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
After venturing into the vast region that covers the artic north of four Scandinavian countries to form the cultural region also known as Sami or Lappland, Laura was hooked.
“The draw to this part of the world became irresistible,” said the writer and media consultant.
<h6>A Connection with Scandanavia</h6>
And it wasn’t just the otherworldly beauty of the place that pulled at her. Laura felt another bond she couldn’t quite explain. That deeper connection became clear only after testing with 23andMe. It’s what ultimately triggered a life-changing decision that also altered how Laura thought of herself.
“Everybody has a tribe and we’re all connected to other people and that’s an unassailable fact of science,” Laura said. “But to have a sense that you belong and are connected is an amazing and profound thing.”
For ten years Laura was a successful media consultant in the media capital of the world, New York City. She lived in Chelsea and was comfortable in the bustle of a city of eight million people. Austere and cold northern European landscapes were not on her radar.
“But I was sent to Sweden on a work trip and I felt this weird connection,” she said.
<h6>A Fascination with the Place</h6>
She remembered visiting a park there that had a reindeer enclosure. She kept coming back, sometimes in the evening just to look at the animals. She didn’t know what it was that fascinated her or why she fell completely in love with the place.
“It was strange,” she said.
At this part of her story, Laura takes a moment to explain that for much of her life she felt she was missing something. Her biological mother had died when Laura was three, and that experience was always with her. Although her dad remarried a caring woman who adopted and raised Laura – the only mother she’s known – Laura always felt a need to know more about her biological mother and where she came from.
“As with many children that lose a parent early, I developed an insatiable appetite for anything related to history, and background,” she said.
<h6>Looking Deeper</h6>
In essence, she wanted to look backward to find out more about her mother and in doing that learn more about herself. Although she went on to become first a journalist and then a writer and media consultant, Laura was always drawn to history. And growing up as the child of a doctor, she was also drawn to science. Then about three years ago she learned about 23andMe and using DNA to explore her own ancestry. For her, it was a perfect mix of cutting-edge science that also gave you insight into your family’s genetic history.
So she got tested.
“That was probably the most important thing that has ever happened to me,” Laura said. “When I took the test I was shocked to discover that I shared DNA with the Sami people of the northern Arctic.”
<h6>The Sami</h6>
That strange connection when she felt, suddenly made sense. Laura started to make more regular visits to the region so she could learn more about the culture and the people.
The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sami</a> are the oldest indigenous culture in Northern Europe. Their people live across stretches of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. A reindeer herding culture, the Sami have had a cultural rebirth establishing a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%C3%A1mi_University_College" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sami University College</a>, to teach the language and maintain the traditions of the people.
Laura made several visits to the region and with each one her affinity with the Sami grew, she said.
“It was shocking to see people who looked like me,” said Laura, who is blond but with almond-shaped eyes, common among the Sami.
<h6>Taking a Leap</h6>
Her visits became more focused on an area in northern Norway around Kautokeino. Then last summer she took an even bigger step, she packed up everything she owned, put her two cats in pet carriers, and moved to the Norwegian Arctic and the heart of Sami reindeer herding country. There she enrolled in Sami University to study the language.
Her visits had been an effort to understand the genetic connection she had with the place, even cataloging her exploration in a blog called “Genetic Nomad.” She wanted to learn as much as she could about the Sami.
“I came to the tundra for a visit, and another visit, and another, and fell in love with the people and culture,” she said.
Even after a harsh winter, the draw of the place hasn’t changed, she said. Her connection to the place and the people has only grown stronger, she said. Laura said she marvels that a simple DNA test could have had such an impact on her life, and she believes it could do the same for others.
“I found my tribe,” Laura said. “I don&#8217;t think I could ever properly express my gratitude or how powerful I believe the ancestry portion of this test can be for humanity or for people who felt they had no history.”

Genetic Nomad

We got a great response from our Google Hangout earlier this month, which focused on some of 23andMe’s basic ancestry tools. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-21014" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-300x75.jpg" alt="05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy" width="300" height="75" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-300x75.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-768x192.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-1024x256.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-880x220.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy-1180x295.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/05152014_hangout_banner_0002_right_Busy.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />


During the presentation <a href="http://www.yourgeneticgenealogist.com">CeCe Moore</a>, a genetic genealogist and 23andMe Ancestry Ambassador, started with a quick overview of the science behind using DNA for ancestry before diving into the features.
Also joining CeCe were Laurie Kahn, an ancestry Product Manager here at 23andMe and Christine Moschella, our Community Manager.
After the basics the team dove right into some of 23andMe’s features including Ancestry Composition, Ancestral Origins and DNA Relatives.
CeCe covered ways customers can use different settings to get finer detail about their ancestry and how to make the most of your matches. She also covered some of the basics on how to invite DNA Relatives to share information that can help in genealogical searches and how to use information even when those matches don’t choose to share with you.
This is our first Google Hangout to go over 23andMe tools with customers and we hope to do more. It’s a great overview and if you are just starting to explore your ancestry with DNA this is a wonderful way to get oriented with some of ways you can explore using 23andMe. So check it out.
<iframe loading="lazy" width="650" height="366" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kCJr7t2Sbpg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>

23andMe Ancestry Basics

Thank your lucky clovers because almost everyone in the 23andMe database is connected to someone who is Irish, and plenty of others have at least a wee bit of Irish ancestry.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-20593 size-medium" title="Irish Ancestry" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kiss-Me-Im-Irish-300x300.jpeg" alt="Kiss Me I'm Irish" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kiss-Me-Im-Irish-300x300.jpeg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kiss-Me-Im-Irish-150x150.jpeg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kiss-Me-Im-Irish-768x768.jpeg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kiss-Me-Im-Irish-880x880.jpeg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kiss-Me-Im-Irish-271x271.jpeg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kiss-Me-Im-Irish-372x372.jpeg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kiss-Me-Im-Irish-574x574.jpeg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Kiss-Me-Im-Irish.jpeg 960w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, 23andMe researchers looked at the aggregated and anonymous data of our customers to determine just how many had a connection, even if it was a small one, to the Emerald Isle.
What we found out was that about 87 percent of our more than 600,000 customers have at least a tiny amount of ancestry that is shared with someone of confirmed Irish descent. This doesn’t mean they have Irish ancestry, but that they share ancestry with someone who is Irish. We can do this by looking at DNA segments of a certain length that are shared with people of with confirmed Irish heritage.
For comparison’s sake in the US population about 11 percent of people report that they have Irish ancestry, according to the US Census. Boston has the highest concentration among U.S. cities with more than 20 percent listing themselves as Irish American. The total US population of more than 34 million people who report being Irish American dwarfs the 4.6 million people living in Ireland today. The total population of Ireland makes up only a very small fraction of all the people in the world today with Irish ancestry.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-20611 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Countries-of-Origin_Ireland-copy-300x203.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="203" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Countries-of-Origin_Ireland-copy-300x203.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Countries-of-Origin_Ireland-copy-768x519.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Countries-of-Origin_Ireland-copy-1024x692.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Countries-of-Origin_Ireland-copy-880x594.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Countries-of-Origin_Ireland-copy-1180x797.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Countries-of-Origin_Ireland-copy.jpg 1704w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Just in case you’re calling “blarney” on 23andMe’s estimates, it’s important to note a few things about how we derived our percentage. Because our researchers are looking at DNA segments that are very small – in this case about 7 centimorgans – that probably equates to a common ancestor with someone who is Irish within the last 10 to 12 generations. That’s way, way back.
Although our <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/23andme-makes-more-improvements-to-ancestry-features" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ancestry Composition</a> tool can tell you what percentage of your DNA comes from populations around the world, breaking down the Asian, African or European ancestry. It also can give you finer detail, but the overlapping nature of DNA means that it groups Irish and British ancestry together. To get a better idea of Irish ancestry, customers can look at our Countries of Ancestry tool. This can show a customer DNA they have in common with other people who have confirmed ancestry from various countries, including Ireland. Our researchers used aggregated and anonymous data from all of our customers to determine what the percentage of customers who have shared segments of DNA with people who have confirmed Irish ancestry.
Ultimately we think the numbers mean you don&#8217;t need to to be Irish to be connected to someone who is.

23andEire

Daniella had always pestered her father about details of their ancestry, but apart from a few bits and pieces he never gave her a clear picture of their family background.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20247" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Daniella-300x300.jpg" alt="Daniella" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Daniella-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Daniella-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Daniella-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Daniella-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Daniella-880x880.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Daniella-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Daniella-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Daniella-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Daniella-980x980.jpg 980w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Daniella.jpg 1152w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
When he began his battle with terminal cancer, Daniella decided that it was time to learn more about their ancestry together using 23andMe.
Both Daniella, a co-host of a local TV show in Brooklyn, NY, and her father had always shared a love of science. Testing allowed them to bond over the science of DNA. It also allowed Daniella to learn more about her family.
What she knew about her family only went back two or three generations and that most of that information was hazy at best.
“I had been asking my Dad to write down what he knew of our family tree. The names he knew. The stories he knew. This foray into 23andMe was intended to supplement that and wake us all up to how connected we are to people we did not know and places we did not know and makes us all feel deeply that we are all woven into the human tapestry.”
Daniella saw 23andMe offered as a way to make her father feel that connection, so she shared her own results with him.
As a chemical engineer, the science behind genetic testing piqued her father’s interest. His 23andMe results came in just as the Christmas 
holidays were beginning.
“We are really good at being a family. I knew that we would all be getting together looking at some old Kodak slides. I just thought that 23andMe would just be another way for us to feel connected, for him to feel connected. It was pretty powerful.”
They went through the results together. Of course, they found his Italian heritage, which they knew, but there was a Middle Eastern line that ran through his DNA as well. They linked their accounts and compared their DNA. It was obvious what came from her Mom and where she aligned with her Dad.
“We always connected through science. Both of us loved new technology, the latest innovations and discoveries,” Daniella said. “It was a real intellectual connection and with 23andMe here was something we could really discuss and see how it would enlighten us.”
Going through their ancestral results prompted Daniella’s father to talk in detail about his childhood and family ancestors. The process had the desired effect &#8211; he could see himself in the bigger picture not just a man fighting cancer.
Even after the holidays as he would remember something more he would send her an email. One of his last correspondences included another treasured piece of family history shared &#8211; his great grandmother’s last name.
“The timing of getting the results was impeccable. I wanted to make him feel part of a really big family. And it worked. My mom said “You had a very special connection and this allowed you to find your own closure.”
Results not typical. Results vary due to unique differences in each individual’s DNA. On average, users receive at least one or two results that may help with proactively managing health. 23andMe’s services are not a substitute for professional medical or diagnostic advice.

The Ties That Bind

Not long before his grandmother died, DeSean Stokes sat with her as she shared stories of her life.
<div id="attachment_20206" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-20206" class="size-medium wp-image-20206" alt="DeSean with his grandparents Evelyn and Isham Brown." src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DeSean_Stokes_Evelyn_Brown_Isham_Brown-300x221.jpg" width="300" height="221" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DeSean_Stokes_Evelyn_Brown_Isham_Brown-300x221.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DeSean_Stokes_Evelyn_Brown_Isham_Brown-768x567.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DeSean_Stokes_Evelyn_Brown_Isham_Brown-880x649.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DeSean_Stokes_Evelyn_Brown_Isham_Brown.jpg 1000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />DeSean with his grandparents Evelyn and Isham Brown.</div>
One of 15 children brought up in the segregated south, his grandmother, Evelyn, was the first in her family to go to college – Alabama State University, Class of 1954. She became an elementary school teacher, working for 50 years in the classroom. Evelyn was happily married to Isham Brown for 56 years and the couple raised three bright and successful kids.
When she died in early 2013, DeSean said it was the stories she told him that kept running through his mind. He wanted to know more, not just about her but where she came from and the generations that came before.
That’s where 23andMe came in.  It helped him delve into parts of his ancestry that he wouldn’t have been able to find just from the stories his grandmother told him.
“23andMe opened up even more doors to my ancestral story,” he said.
<h6>Stories Become Songs</h6>
An actor and musician, DeSean said much of his work involves telling or even inhabiting the stories of others.
“As a musician and actor, my job is to tell interesting stories,” he said.
But after his grandmother’s death, it was his own family’s story that he wanted to tell.
“There is so much history you can learn about yourself and family just from sitting down and talking with your oldest living relatives,” DeSean said.
Those conversations with his grandmother also inspired him to write a<a href="https://youtu.be/nEW9m5VGHVw"> song for Evelyn</a>.
“Music is in my DNA &#8212; I live it, breath it and feel it in everything I do,” DeSean said.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20207" alt="DeSean_Stokes_Photo_By_Jeffrey_Hornstein" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/DeSean_Stokes_Photo_By_Jeffrey_Hornstein-256x300.jpg" width="256" height="300" />
<h6>Sharing with Evelyn</h6>
He played the music for her just before her death in early 2013. After she died he felt a need to learn more, not just about her but about her ancestors. His grandmother’s stories could only take him back so far.
An African-American, he knows the history of slavery and what that meant – mixed-ancestry and very little information about where in Africa his ancestors came. Looking at family photos he also couldn’t help but notice the different shades of color in his family. It left him wondering. He’d heard from Evelyn and his grandparents about their families, but not much more.
“They only knew the details of a couple generations before and the rest was unknown,” he said.
<h6>DNA Testing</h6>
Using DNA testing, DeSean could peer into the past that was locked away by time.
From his 23andMe results, he learned that his ancestry, was, not surprisingly, mostly from West Africa. But DeSean also learned that about a quarter of his ancestry was from Europe and included connections to the United Kingdom, Ireland, Russia, and Poland. He even found that his ancestry included Jamaican ancestry, Native American ancestry, and Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry.
Using 23andMe, DeSean has connected with newly discovered relatives from around the world.
“I am so thankful for the time I had with my grandmother,” he said. “She will always be a part of me. The freckles on my face remind me of her every time I look in the mirror.  I am thankful for everything she passed down to me.  I am also grateful to 23andMe for opening up even more doors to my ancestral story.  It is the music I&#8217;ve been longing to hear.&#8221;
23andMe provides genetic testing services for informational purposes; your results may or may not help you to search for or identify relatives or family members.

Ancestry Composition — Page 6