<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-16243" title="Amy_Kiefer V4" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Amy_Kiefer-V4-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Amy_Kiefer-V4-225x300.jpg 225w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Amy_Kiefer-V4.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />Amy Kiefer is a Survey Research Manager at 23andMe. She joined the company in 2008. 
What do nearsightedness, stretch marks, and motion sickness have to do with each other? They don’t appear to be genetically related – at least not according to our in-house statistical geneticists – but all of them are relatively common and annoying. These three conditions are also making 23andMe scientists happy since all of them are hot on the research wagon!
Scientists at 23andMe are gearing up for the annual <a href="http://www.ashg.org/">American Society of Human Genetics</a> 
(ASHG) meeting and will be presenting on all of these topics. Here are some highlights:
<h6>Are My Genes Making me Myopic?</h6>
Myopia, or nearsightedness, is thought to be highly heritable – if your mother wore glasses to see the chalkboard chances are you might need them – but until now scientists have only known a little about the underlying genetics.
23andMe scientist Amy Kiefer* will present results from a genetic study carried out with data from 23,000 nearsighted customers and 16,000 controls, all with European ancestry. The analysis identified associations between 17 genetic factors and myopia and replicated the only two <a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v42/n10/full/ng.663.html">previously identified</a> <a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v42/n10/full/ng.664.html">associations</a> in Europeans. Many of the new factors are located in genes that play important roles in eye development and function. This analysis is the largest ever gene association study on this topic.
<h6>Making a Stretch for My Genes</h6>
Some of us are all too familiar with stretch marks – red or white lines that appear on the skin, often after pregnancy. The appearance of these marks has encouraged many to open their wallets (to the tune of $5-10 billion annually) and fill their cupboards with cosmetics that claim to prevent or treat stretch marks.
But despite the range of products promising to “make those lines vanish”, very little is understood about what causes them in the first place. And up until 23andMe took a stab, no genetic factors had been associated with stretch marks in the general population.
Meghan Mullins* from 23andMe will present results from a genetic study with 30,000 customers who responded to the following question on the 23andMe website: “Do you have stretch marks on your hips, thighs, or backs of your arms? Yes/No/I’m not sure”. The analysis identified an association between stretch marks and a variant near a gene called elastin. Defects in the elastin gene are known to affect the integrity of the skin as well as cause heart defects. This study also identified an association between stretch marks and a variant in a protein called SRPX, but more work is needed to understand how this protein could play a role in this condition.
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<h6>Your Participation Makes Research Possible</h6>
 
The results presented in this post were made possible because of 23andMe customers. 23andMe offers a variety of ways for customers to contribute to research – all it takes is a little bit of spit and the willingness to answer web-based questionnaires. What you get back is the knowledge that you’ve personally helped move science forward. 

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-12163" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/JRBgdIBXKIeVIdETJrxYIw_ttam_logo.jpg" alt="" width="24" height="40" />Check out our latest survey on empathy. 
Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store/cart/">Visit our store!</a>
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A Motion for the Genetics of Motion Sickness
Roughly one in three individuals is highly susceptible to motion sickness; the remaining two-thirds of the population may experience motion sickness if the conditions are extreme. We understand what provokes motion sickness – traveling in cars, boats, planes, and also more unusual modes of transportation like skiing or riding a camel. Partaking in simulator experiments, for instance those carried out by the US Air Force and NASA, and escaping into virtual reality environments (aka playing video games) can also provoke motion sickness.
It’s estimated that up to 70% of a person’s risk for motion sickness is due to genetics, but the genetics of motion sickness has been very poorly understood &#8230; until now.
23andMe scientist Bethann Hromatka* will present results from a genetic study of nearly 37,000 customers who were surveyed about motion sickness. The analysis identified 14 genetic associations with motion sickness that fall into a few different biological categories. Three genetic variants are involved in development, including development of the eye and ear. Other variants are involved neurological processes and glucose/insulin regulation.
*Numerous 23andMe employees contributed to these studies. Statistical geneticist Nicholas Eriksson carried out the genetic analyses and others on the 23andMe Research Team contributed to survey design, data analysis, and scientific review.
<h6>Related posts:</h6>
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/cilantro-love-hate-genetic-trait/" rel="bookmark"> Cilantro Love and Hate: Is it a Genetic Trait?</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/highlighting-23andme-research/" rel="bookmark"> Highlighting 23andMe Research</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/announcements/23andme-scientists-head-to-montreal-for-ichgashg-eh/" rel="bookmark"> 23andMe Scientists Head to Montreal for ICHG/ASHG, Eh</a>

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

The Genetics of Nearsightedness, Stretch Marks, and Motion Sickness

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-4013 size-full" title="geneticresearch7" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/geneticresearch7.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="268" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/geneticresearch7.jpg 350w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/geneticresearch7-300x230.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" />
Team 23andMe will again have a strong presence at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics.
We’ve been at this gathering of geneticists and those interested in human genetics ever since 23andMe launched, but this year with the 62nd annual meeting being held in San Francisco – sort of our backyard – we’ll be there en masse.
Each year the annual meeting attracts the best and brightest in human genetics with thought-provoking displays of research results and stimulating discussions. This year is no different and more than 6,000 people are expected to attend over the four days starting on November 6th.
Along with the 24 scientific sessions – including panel discussions featuring our Senior Director of Research Dr. Joanna Mountain, who will discuss research partnerships between academics and private companies, and Science Content Manager Dr. Shirley Wu, who will speak on the use of social media in research  – there are also 400 presentations drawn from abstracts submitted by scientists from around the world.
This year 23andMe submitted almost two dozen abstracts on a wide range of topics including our groundbreaking and first-ever genome-wide association study on sexual orientation, as well as preliminary findings from our<a href="../announcements/exomes-the-first-of-many/"> Exome Pilot</a>, which is the first exome sequencing offered directly to consumers. (We will link to these abstracts when they’re available on the ASHG website.)
Also reported in one of the abstracts are some of our findings from a full-genome sequencing project on 50 people with the LRRK2 G2019S mutation associated with Parkinson’s disease. We’ll also have details of a study that looks at an association with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.
Being 23andMe we also have some less serious – but no less interesting – abstracts looking at such things as genetic associations with motion sickness, over 250 genetic associations with common traits such as baldness and unibrow, whether DNA can explain why some women get stretchmarks and others don’t, as well as why some people love cilantro and others think it tastes like soap.
We’re pretty excited by the upcoming conference.
We are particularly proud of our colleague, Dr. Uta Francke, who will deliver a presentation as recipient of the 2012 ASHG William Allan Award. As always the gathering will not just be a chance for us to present some of the interesting results from our research, but also to learn from others. There’s some fun stuff too, including a symposium on “Human Genetics in Contemporary Poetry, Fiction, and Art: How Humanists View our World,” and meeting will close with a forward looking symposium on the future of human genetics.
The preliminary 2012 Meeting schedule is now available. While we can’t wait for the meeting, we’re even more excited about sharing some of the interesting findings and breakthroughs we’ve made with the help of our customers. In the coming weeks we’ll collect information on all the 23andMe presentations onto a single web page so you can find them easily.
Stay tuned for more information about 23andMe’s presence at ASHG.
We’ll have a booth in the Exhibit Hall, and knowing our scientists, they’ll manage to squeeze a party in there too.

Highlighting 23andMe Research at ASHG 2012

In our last post, we announced four of the posters 23andMe scientists will be presenting in Montreal this week describing characteristics of our database and research platform. With the help of our tens of thousands of research<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-large wp-image-10018" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/phenome-crop.png" alt="" width="1" height="1" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/phenome-crop.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/phenome-crop-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/phenome-crop-295x300.png 295w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/phenome-crop-271x149.png 271w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1px) 100vw, 1px" /> participants, we&#8217;ve already made novel discoveries into the genetics of common traits as well as Parkinson&#8217;s disease. At ICHG/ASHG 2011, we&#8217;ll share some more of the novel findings we&#8217;ve discovered, covering everything from allergies to risk assessment.
(For a full list of 23andMe&#8217;s presentations, click &nbsp;<a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ASHG2011posters23andMe.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.)
Piecing together the complicated picture of allergies
If you’re like 20% of Americans, you probably suffer from at least one allergy. Your particular trigger might be cats, or maybe it&#8217;s dust mites, pollen, nuts, shellfish, or bees. And if that&#8217;s not enough misery, allergies are often accompanied by asthma as well. To learn more about the genetic factors influencing the allergy-asthma spectrum, scientists from 23andMe, Stanford, the United Kingdom, and Johnson &amp; Johnson analyzed data from more than 20,000 participants in the 23andMe database and the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC).
Principal Scientist Dr. David Hinds discusses their findings during the poster session on Thursday October 13th between 2-3pm with his poster, &#8220;Genetics of allergy and related phenotypes in participant driven and cross sectional cohorts.&#8221; (#417T)
(Also see our Research Finding on correlations between allergies.)
N 
ew genetic factors for hypothyroidism
What do Oprah Winfrey, Kelly Osbourne, and Linda Ronstadt have in common? Yes, they&#8217;re all famous women, but they also all suffer from hypothyroidism, a condition that affects about 5% of the population. 23andMe scientists conducted the first genome-wide association study of this common thyroid condition and identified four genetic factors associated with the disease, some of which have already been implicated in other thyroid disorders and some that are novel.
Founding Scientist Dr. Brian Naughton presents these findings and their broader connection with other autoimmune diseases during the poster session on Wednesday October 12th between 3-4pm with his poster, &#8220;Novel associations for hypothyroidism include known autoimmune risk loci.&#8221; (#1334W)
From genome to phenome
What do you get when you cross thousands of SNPs with thousands of phenotypes gathered from tens of thousands of people? Intriguing associations for everything from migraines to mosquito bites. Many genetic variants are associated with multiple conditions, a finding that was especially prominent amongst physical traits. We also found that associations for seemingly frivolous traits (breast size) can uncover biological relationships for serious diseases (breast cancer).
Principal Scientist Dr. Nick Eriksson describes these and other fascinating discoveries during the poster session on Thursday October 13th between 2-3pm with his poster, &#8220;Phenome-wide studies of SNPs from GWAS in a broadly phenotyped population.&#8221; (#430T)
All in the family &#8212; or not?
Conventional wisdom says that family history is the best overall method for assessing a person&#8217;s risk for disease, but is it really? How do SNP-based models compare to family history in assessing risk for disease? &nbsp;Perhaps not surprisingly, neither method is universally better than the other, but rather the relative performance of each depends on the characteristics of the disease. For less common diseases in particular, SNP-based risk assessments may perform better than family history.
Principal Scientist Dr. Nick Eriksson will be presenting the results of these analyses performed by Scientist Dr. Chuong (Tom) Do during the poster session on Wednesday October 12th between 3-4pm with the poster, &#8220;Prediction of complex multifactorial disease: comparing family history and genetics.&#8221; (#408W)
And that’s not all…
Read more about characteristics of our database and research cohorts <a title="23andMe Scientists Head to Montreal for ICHG/ASHG, Eh" href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/23andme-scientists-head-to-montreal-for-ichgashg-eh">here</a>. Check back tomorrow to learn more about the last two presentations we’ll be giving covering methods behind our Ancestry Finder feature and how we decide what genetics findings to include in our Personal Genome Service ®.
For a full list of 23andMe&#8217;s presentations, click <a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ASHG2011posters23andMe.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
You can also follow us on Twitter for highlights from the conference <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/23andme" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@23andMe</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/23science" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@23science</a>.

23andMe Scientists at ICHG/ASHG 2011

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-9894" title="ICHG Poster" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ICHG-Poster-e1317946714742-300x249.jpg" alt="" width="285" height="249" />
The joint  <a href="http://www.ichg2011.org/">12th International Congress of Human Genetics</a>  and  61st Annual Meeting of the  <a id="internal-source-marker_0.19561975239776075" href="http://www.ashg.org/">American Society of Human Genetics</a>  held this week in Montreal is expected to draw more than 7,000 attendees over five days. Joining the throng will be about a dozen scientists from 23andMe.
We’ll be there presenting a wide spectrum of research and perspectives driven by  our growing database. Along with findings on hypothyroidism, allergies, and risk prediction for complex diseases, we’ll be presenting several posters at the conference describing various aspects of our database and our <a href="https://www.23andme.com/research/">research model</a>.
(For a full list of 23andMe&#8217;s presentations, click <a href="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/ASHG2011posters23andMe.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.)

Who participates in research at 23andMe?
Contributing to research is not typically the motivating factor for people who buy 23andMe&#8217;s Personal Genome Service ® but it turns out that most are willing to give back to science if you give them a chance.  Of the more than 100,000 people who&#8217;ve been genotyped through 23andMe, almost 90% have agreed to participate in research and, of those, nearly 90% have answered questions on everything from back hair to Parkinson&#8217;s disease.
Senior Geneticist Dr. Joyce Tung will share findings on various characteristics of this &#8220;research cohort&#8221; during the poster session on Thursday October 13th between 2-3pm with her poster, &#8220;<a href="http://www.ichg2011.org/cgi-bin/showdetail.pl?absno=21499" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Characteristics of an online consumer genetic research cohort.</a>&#8221; (#914T)
How do you make a difference in rare disease research?
Studying human disease is often a numbers game, and for rare diseases the odds are stacked against. Getting enough research participants to be able to make meaningful discoveries is a major challenge but 23andMe has shown that our revolutionary online recruitment and research platform can do the job.
Research Project Manager Dr. Emily Drabant will describe lessons learned from analyzing the impact of various recruitment strategies on enrollment into our Parkinson&#8217;s disease and Sarcoma research initiatives during the poster session on Wednesday October 12th between 3-4pm with her poster, &#8220;<a href="http://www.ichg2011.org/cgi-bin/showdetail.pl?absno=11282" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Evaluation of recruitment strategies for web-based genetic studies.</a>&#8221; (#942W)
Can you use online surveys to gather high quality data on drug response?
Quick poll &#8212; can you remember how you responded to ibuprofen (or aspirin, or antidepressants, or antihistamines, etc.) the last time you took it? If you&#8217;re taking a prescription medication, do you remember if your dose was ever changed and, if so, how? Just like for diseases, learning more about how people respond to drugs requires getting enough study participants to see meaningful differences. 23andMe&#8217;s research platform &#8212; where tens of thousands of people answer questions online &#8212; can facilitate research in these areas but success hinges on whether people can accurately and consistently recall their medication usage and responses to medication when asked online.  By reaching beyond our traditional web-based survey approach to include follow-up phone interviews, we are able to learn from participant questions and  incorporate participant feedback into the  development of valid drug response questions for pharmacogenomics research.
Research Project Manager Dr. Kim Barnholt will present findings from Phase 1 of our <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/23andme-launches-first-national-institutes-of-health-funded-study" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NIH-funded study</a>  during the poster session on Friday October 14th between 2-3pm with her poster, &#8220;<a href="http://www.ichg2011.org/cgi-bin/showdetail.pl?absno=10797" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Web-based phenotyping for pharmacogenomics research.</a>&#8221; (#1391F)
Not so black and white
Looks can be deceiving, and often DNA tells a story that would otherwise remain lost in time. 23andMe&#8217;s senior writer and Content Editor Scott  <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/hidden-african-ancestry#more-9733" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recently wrote</a> about an observation in our database where between 3 and 4 percent of the 78,000 customers who are likely to consider themselves as entirely of European ancestry actually have &#8220;hidden&#8221; African ancestry. In Scott&#8217;s case, learning about these bits of genetic ancestry opened intriguing windows into history, both at the personal level and at the cultural, social, and political levels.
Senior Director of Research Dr. Joanna Mountain will discuss this phenomenon and its implications during the poster session on Wednesday October 12th between 3-4pm with her poster, &#8220;<a href="http://www.ichg2011.org/cgi-bin/showdetail.pl?absno=22039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Exceptions to the &#8216;One Drop Rule&#8217;? DNA evidence of African ancestry in European Americans.</a>&#8221; (#408W)
And that&#8217;s not all&#8230;
Learn more about the other presentations we&#8217;ll be giving <a title="23andMe Scientists Share Novel Findings From Our Research Platform at ICHG/ASHG 2011" href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/23andme-scientists-share-novel-findings-from-our-research-platform-at-ichgashg-2011">here</a>.
You can also follow us on Twitter for highlights from the conference <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/23andme" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@23andMe</a> or <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/23science" target="_blank" rel="noopener">@23science</a>.

23andMe Scientists Head to Montreal for ICHG/ASHG, Eh

During his presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins was open about his genotype at the TCF7L2 marker associated with diabetes, noting that he has the “riskier” TT genotype.  Such openness about personal genetic information is consistent with a trend towards increasing comfort with personal genetic information. That trend was in evidence at the ASHG conference, which was attended by more than 7000 scientists, physicians, students and exhibitors.
Several studies presented at the conference focused on reactions people have to receiving personal genetic information.  One study, conducted by David Kaufman and colleagues, was based on a survey of customers of 23andMe and two other companies.  The following four themes are among a number that emerged from the presentations and discussions:
1) People want to be able to decide on their own whether genetic information might be useful to them, rather than have an expert decide for them. 
Some participants in the ASHG meeting questioned the value of obtaining personal genetic information.  They argued that while some genetic tests are predictive, many tests have not been proven to lead to better clinical outcomes. Several scientists, however, have argued that personal utility (a subjective measure) is more relevant than clinical utility (where cost and clinical outcomes are used to calculate utility).  Scott Roberts noted that the personal utility of genetic information may take the form of increased awareness of disease/health risks, more informed health planning, psychological relief, or simply the feeling that &#8220;knowledge is power.&#8221;
A few of the studies presented at the meeting suggest that people do find value in personal genetic information, even when it isn’t highly predictive. When David Kaufman and colleagues at the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University asked customers of 23andMe, Navigenics, and DeCodeMe about their motivations for purchasing a personal genome service (PGS), curiosity was high on the list (followed by health concerns related to medical issues in family members).  Ninety percent of customers reported that their curiosity was satisfied, and less than 2% were unsatisfied with the overall personal genome service they had received.
In a separate study, S. C. Sanderson of Mount Sinai School of Medicine surveyed 131 college students who smoke, and found that even though the students understood that a GSTM1 variant associated with lung cancer risk is not highly predictive, they were nonetheless interested in obtaining their genotype for that variant.  These preliminary results suggest that there is interest in a broad array of genetic information.
2) Customers of direct access personal genomics services (PGS) generally understand the results they are receiving. 
A question in the minds of many is how well consumers understand personal genetic information.  David Kaufman and colleagues found that when they presented PGS customers with hypothetical sets of results for two different individuals, 93-95% of the study participants correctly interpreted the results. Furthermore, advanced education was not a prerequisite for &#8212; nor a guarantee of &#8212; understanding; people without college degrees understood the information more than 90% of the time, and people with postgraduate degrees still made mistakes. A study of individuals participating in the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC) conducted by Barbara Bernhardt of the University of Pennsylvania reached similar findings. While 23andMe is excited that these preliminary findings show that people generally understand their genetic information, we are constantly striving to improve how we communicate this information to customers.
3) Early studies indicate that people are not overly anxious about the personal genetic information they have received. 
The REVEAL study, which celebrated its 10th year at the ASHG meeting, has gathered extensive data regarding emotional responses to personal genetic information, finding that there is little difference in anxiety levels between people who learn that they have a genetic variant that puts them at higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease and people who learn that they do not. However, this study focused on a single genetic variant, involved relatives of individuals with Alzheimer’s disease, included presentation of results in person or via telephone, and excluded individuals who had a history of anxiety or depression, and so results may not extend to direct access personal genome services.
In contrast, in the study conducted by Barbara Bernhardt and her colleagues, individuals received results for multiple genetic variants associated with multiple diseases, where participants were not selected for having a particular family history.  The researchers found that no participants in this study reported being overly concerned about their risks based on genetics. While small, this study is among the first to evaluate emotional responses to results from a set of multiple genetic tests associated with multiple disorders.
4) Many customers of direct access personal genomics services are motivated to make positive changes in health-related behaviors. 
The study conducted by Barbara Bernhardt and colleagues found that about a third of the participants who received personalized genetic risk information responded by making a positive change in health-related behaviors. Most were making small changes such as exercising more. Most of those who said that they weren’t making changes said they felt that they were already doing the right thing.  Similarly, the study conducted by David Kaufman and colleagues found that about a third of PGS customers were being more careful about their diet, 15% had modified their intake of medications or supplements, and 14% were exercising more.  The REVEAL study found evidence of increased exercise in response to communication of both Alzheimer’s disease risk and cardiovascular disease risk associated with a specific genetic variant.
At a press briefing about these findings, a reporter asked the panel of scientists if people were wasting money on direct-to-consumer genetic services.  Bernhardt replied that if people’s curiosity is satisfied, and if people are making positive changes in health-related behaviors, then that is a good outcome.  Kaufman added that 90% of the PGS customers in his study responded that the service was worth the price.  And Andrew Faucett of Emory University, who spoke separately on oversight of genetic testing, replied that if the service helps people start a conversation with their physician, that’s good.
In summary
There is still much to be done in terms of better understanding how people interpret personal genetic information and what factors influence their reactions.  For instance, the jury is still out on whether or not obtaining personal genetic information leads to improved health-related behaviors in the long term.  But the early studies reported last week at the ASHG meeting are an exciting step towards that understanding.

How People React to Personal Genetic Information

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By Kim Barnholt and Amy Kiefer
It’s an exciting week for 23andMe! A number of our research scientists have headed to Washington, D.C. to showcase some of our research discoveries at the annual meeting of the <a title="ASHG" href="http://www.ashg.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">American Society of Human Genetics</a> (ASHG). ASHG is the primary professional membership organization for human geneticists worldwide, including 8,000 researchers, academicians, clinicians, genetic counselors, nurses, and industry professionals. This conference is one of the largest gatherings of human genetics specialists in the world and features a packed schedule of presentations, poster sessions, and exhibits during the November 2-6 event.
A few highlights from 23andMe’s conference presentations: 

<ul>
<li>With our cohort of over 3500 Parkinson’s patients and 20,000 controls, we replicate five known genetic markers for Parkinson’s disease and identify four novel associations with variants not previously known to be linked to the disease.</li>
<li>Demonstrating the power of our unique web-based approach to research, we replicate more than 100 known associations for more than 65 medical conditions, including type 2 diabetes, prostate cancer, and multiple sclerosis.</li>
<li>We report on previously unknown associations for genetic variants that influence hair color, hair curl, and yes, hair loss.</li>
<li>We report a robust new association &nbsp;between mumps susceptibility and a variant in the FUT2 &nbsp;gene which is also &nbsp;known to influence susceptibility to norovirus, the so-called Cruise Ship Virus.</li>
</ul>
We are excited to share our progress with you, and we plan to add more 23andMe reports as we move these discoveries through the scientific publication process. We are proud that our research efforts end not only in articles for the academic community, but also in the return of our findings to you, our participants, in the form of new 23andMe reports.
We believe that the results we are presenting this week demonstrate the enormous value and power of our research approach. If you have not already participated, now is a great time to <a title="survey" href="https://www.23andme.com/you/23andwe/surveys/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">take a survey</a> or complete some research snippets. If you have already contributed, thank you, and please keep up the good work!
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Kim Barnholt

23andMe at International Human Genetics Meeting

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-2073" title="studentdna" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/studentdna.jpg" alt="studentdna" width="350" height="233" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/studentdna.jpg 350w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/studentdna-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" />
It&#8217;s not enough to teach genetics, says Michael Dougherty, director of education for the American Society for Human Genetics.   It has to be taught in the right way.
&#8220;Current teaching practices may be producing a public that is unprepared to participate effectively as medical consumers in a world where personalized medicine will rely increasingly on genetic testing, risk assessment, predispositions, and ranges of treatment options that include biological and behavioral components,&#8221; writes Dougherty in an opinion piece published online today in the <a href="http://www.cell.com/AJHG/abstract/S0002-9297(09)00208-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">American Journal of Human Genetics</a>.
Dougherty calls for curriculum reform at all levels, from middle school all the way up through undergraduate education. The key, he says, is for students to understand that the genetics of most human traits and conditions are complex and, with only rare exceptions, not deterministic.
Dougherty suggests a new genetics curriculum that begins with lessons on traits that show continuous variation, such as height and weight, and focuses on how multiple inherited and environmental factors can affect these traits.   Teachers could then move on to discussions of genes and the molecular details of how they are passed from generation to generation.   Only here, in the later stages of their genetics education, would students learn about the rare single gene diseases, such as <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/carrier/cystic-fibrosis/">cystic fibrosis</a> and <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/carrier/phenylketonuria">PKU</a>, that make up the bulk of today&#8217;s genetics lessons.
&#8220;Our incompleteness of understanding and the messiness of complex-trait examples are poor arguments for maintaining the status quo in our genetics classrooms.   We know on theoretical grounds that the entirety of phenotype is defined by genes and environment, and substantial uncertainty still characterizes both.   To pretend such uncertainty does not exist is to deprive students of an appreciation of both modern genetics and the nature of science.&#8221;
Dougherty points to the Genes, Environment and Human Behavior module, funded by the Department of Energy and available from BSCS, as an example of the kind of lesson that could help correct the misconceptions that students already have.   The National Human Genome Research Institute also has available a <a href="https://www.genome.gov/10001551" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Human Genetic Variation curriculum supplement</a>.   And of course, you can always check out the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/gen101/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Genetics 101</a> section of the 23andMe website for a basic introduction to genetics.

Curriculum Reform Needed For An Informed Public When It Comes To Genetics, Expert Says

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For many people, the first and last place they will ever study genetics is high school biology class. So it is crucial that these classes prepare people to deal with the barrage of genetic advancements that are increasingly impacting everyday life.
Unfortunately, many high school biology courses are not doing such a good job of communicating the fundamentals of genetics, according to an analysis by researchers from the American Society for Human Genetics (<a href="http://www.ashg.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ASHG</a>).
For three years now the ASHG, along with several partners, has sponsored the Annual National DNA Day Essay Contest. The contest challenges high school students to examine, question, and reflect on the important concepts of genetics. Shortly before DNA Day 2008, researchers used a selection of these essays from previous years to see where students might be going wrong. Their results were published in the journal <a href="http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=2278104" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Genetics</a>.

Several themes emerged from the authors’ analysis. Most striking were the students’ lack of understanding of the limits to genetic engineering and their belief that single genes always determine traits and diseases.
The researchers attributed students’ misconceptions to “genohype” in media coverage of scientific discoveries, science curriculum standards that lack depth, and even the undergraduate biology education teachers receive.
Students often equated the identification of a disease-associated gene with “curing” a disease through gene replacement. A disturbing number of students thought genetic engineering could be used to “improve” and “design” their offspring, with the goal of having a “perfect” child.
Some students even suggested that genetic engineering would allow scientists to put a gene from one species into another in order to get a specific trait. For example:
“We could eliminate all the premature deaths of people dying around the world from thirst if we genetically modified people to inherit some of the characteristics of the camel, allowing them to go for months at a time without drinking water.”
The rules of the DNA Day Essay contest require teachers to submit the top three essays for each question from their students. The fact that so many essays were from students with serious misunderstandings suggested to the ASHG researchers that the teachers themselves may not be receiving very good undergraduate training in genetics, and that their unchallenged misconceptions are being passed on.
Like many before them, the authors of the ASHG study suggest that partnerships between scientists and educators will be valuable in improving genetics education. They propose shifting instruction from the simple Mendelian view of inheritance to a more nuanced perspective that takes into account multiple genetic and non-genetic contributions to traits and diseases, with a focus on concepts over content. But, they concede, this type of change is impeded by the need for districts and states to demonstrate content knowledge on standardized tests.
“Until significant research is performed by scientists and their educator colleagues that demonstrates which methods adequately teach both content and concepts, schools systems are unlikely to change their methods,” the authors write.
Some resources for genetics education:
<ul>
<li>23andMe&#8217;s own <a href="https://www.23andme.com/gen101/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Genetics 101</a></li>
<li><a href="http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">University of Utah Genetic Science Learning Center</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.dnalc.org/home.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dolan DNA Learning Center at Cold Spring Harbor</a></li>
</ul>

Student Misconceptions About Genetics

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The American Society for Human Genetics (ASHG) has released a statement outlining a set of recommendations for genetic ancestry testing.
At a press briefing on Thursday, members of the ASHG Ancestry Testing Task Force Committee discussed two main themes: the need for clear communication about the limitations of genetic ancestry testing, and the need for researchers and companies doing this type of testing to engage with the social sciences to put results in context.

Michael Bamshad of the University of Washington School of Medicine discussed at length the need for people to understand that ancestry assignments based on genetics are inherently uncertain and can be affected by several factors, including the reference populations used in the analysis, the type and number of genetic markers analyzed, and the statistical methods employed.
ASHG president Aravinda Chakravarti further emphasized that questions about the “accuracy” of genetic ancestry testing are aimed at the interpretation of the genetic data, not at the actual DNA analysis.
Task force co-chair Charmaine Royal of the Duke University Institute for Genome Sciences and Policy addressed the committee’s concerns about the psychological impacts of genetic ancestry testing, especially as related to issues of identity.
23andMe Senior Director of Research Dr. Joanna Mountain had a chance to talk with some of the members of the ASHG Ancestry Testing Task force about their statement.
“Members of the panel emphasized to me that their primary goal was to raise a set of concerns around identification of ancestry through genetics,” said Mountain.
“Because several of us at 23andMe were previously aware of these concerns, we developed our ancestry features with those concerns in mind. For instance, we consider a large number of markers for all the chromosomes of the human genome, including the mitochondrial genome. We also avoid being overly precise in reporting an individual&#8217;s ancestry. And we are currently creating educational <a href="https://www.23andme.com/gen101/prehistory/prologue/">tools</a> to help our customers understand how genetic information can be informative about ancestry.”
The speakers stressed several times that their statement was not aimed just at consumer companies offering genetic ancestry testing, but also at academic researchers in the field.
Unfortunately, Mountain said, the ASHG guidelines leave out some of the potential benefits of ancestry genetic testing.
“For instance, ASHG President-Elect Ed McCabe encouraged the audience to ask their family elders about family history over Thanksgiving, as an alternative to learning about ancestry through genetics. But individuals who have signed up for 23andMe&#8217;s service may find themselves far more motivated to discuss family history than they would before seeing their genetic data.”
For a more thorough analysis from a genetic genealogist&#8217;s point of view, click <a href="http://www.thegeneticgenealogist.com/2008/11/13/the-ashg-ancestry-testing-statement-and-recommendations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>.
McCabe said the statement released this week is a preliminary document. The committee expects to issue a more detailed report in Spring 2009.

ASHG — Page 4