{"cache":{"posts_f30bc_18e9f":{"__typename":"RootQueryToPostConnection","nodes":[{"__typename":"Post","id":"cG9zdDoyNTczMA==","databaseId":25730,"featuredImage":{"__typename":"NodeWithFeaturedImageToMediaItemConnectionEdge","node":{"__typename":"MediaItem","id":"cG9zdDoyNTc1MA==","altText":"","mediaDetails":{"__typename":"MediaDetails","width":943,"height":207},"sourceUrl_772ce_bf21a":"https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ASHG.001.jpg","mediaItemUrl":"https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ASHG.001.jpg","title_b28e9_bf21a":"ASHG.001"}},"author":null,"date":"2017-10-10T16:26:58","uri":"/articles/23andme-ashg-2017","title_b28e9_bf21a":"23andMe At ASHG 2017","slug":"23andme-ashg-2017","categories_3cd3e_bf21a":{"__typename":"PostToCategoryConnection","edges":[{"__typename":"PostToCategoryConnectionEdge","node":{"__typename":"Category","id":"dGVybToxMzQ0","name":"Research","slug":"23andme-research","uri":"/category/23andme-research","seo":{"__typename":"TaxonomySEO","title":"Research Archives - 23andMe Blog","opengraphTitle":"Research Archives","metaDesc":"23andMe research unique research model combines genetic and phenotypic information in what is among the largest databases of its kind.","opengraphDescription":"23andMe research unique research model combines genetic and phenotypic information in what is among the largest databases of its kind.","fullHead":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n"}}}]},"imageOptions":{"__typename":"Post_Imageoptions","featuredImageSquare":{"__typename":"MediaItem","id":"cG9zdDoyNTUyNg==","mediaDetails":{"__typename":"MediaDetails","sizes_cad4b_bf21a":[{"__typename":"MediaSize","name":"thumbnail"},{"__typename":"MediaSize","name":"medium"},{"__typename":"MediaSize","name":"square_sm"},{"__typename":"MediaSize","name":"square_md"},{"__typename":"MediaSize","name":"wide_sm"},{"__typename":"MediaSize","name":"wide_md"}],"height":261,"width":400},"mediaItemUrl":"https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Logo_with_Register_CMYK-1.jpg","sourceUrl_772ce_bf21a":"https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Logo_with_Register_CMYK-1.jpg"},"singleTemplateFeaturedImage":"default"},"content_b28e9_bf21a":"

The annual meeting of the American Society of Human Genetics kicks off in Orlando this October, $\"\"$ packed with five days of seminars, panel discussions, talks, and presentations that are all part of an event that might best be described as the Coachella (or Woodstock if you prefer) of genetics.

This year’s main event, the “Presidential Symposium,” will be a conversation on global health issues with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who now co-chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health.

But highlighting just one of the hundreds of talks during the week risks ignoring dozens of equally arresting subjects that will be part of this yearly event—gene editing, genetic education, and a slew of new genetic research.

Like in past years, 23andMe’s research team and its research will be well represented, but we’ll also be hosting a workshop about our research collaborations and live-tweeting from the meeting. We have a few fun surprises while we’re in Orlando.

Here is a list of 23andMe’s involvement at ASHG:

Educational Event

GWAS and Beyond: Academic Collaborations with 23andMe

$\"\"$

Adam Auton, D.Phil. (23andMe): Introduction to 23andMe research and collaborations
John Perry, Ph.D. (University of Cambridge): Using population genetics to understand the etiology of reproductive health and biological aging
Alice S. Whittemore, Ph.D. and Nilah Monnier Ioannidis, Ph.D. (Stanford University): Collaborations with 23andMe on the genetic basis of cutaneous squamous cell cancer (cSCC)
Time: Oct. 18, 12:30 pm – 1:45 pm
Location: Lake Eola – Lobby Level/Hilton Orlando Hotel

Talks

Large-scale identity-by-descent mapping discovers rare haplotypes of large effect

$\"\"$

Presenter: Suyash Shringarpure, Ph.D., Senior Statistical Geneticist
Author(s): S. Shringarpure; D. Hinds; V. Vacic; 23andMe Research Team
Time: Oct. 19, 10:15 am – 10:30 am
Location: Room 330A – Level 3/Convention Center

GWAS of canker sores implicates Th-1 pathway and shared genetic architecture with immune-mediated disease

$\"\"$

Presenter: Fah Sathirapongsasuti, Ph.D., Senior Computational Biologist
Author(s): F. Sathirapongsasuti; S. Pitts; D. Hinds; V. Vacic; R. Gentleman; the 23andMe Research Team
Time: Oct. 19, 11:45 am – 12 pm
Location: Room 220F – Level2/Convention Center

Posters

All posters can be found in the Exhibit Hall on Level 1 of the Convention Center

Tipping the scales: Participants make healthy dietary changes in response to direct-to-consumer genetic test results

$\"\"$

Presenter: Sarah Laskey, Ph.D., Health R&D Scientist
Author(s): S.B. Laskey; J.F. Shelton; M. Johnson; C. Wilson; R. Smith; B.L. Koelsch; The 23andMe Research Team
Time: Oct. 18, 3pm – 4 pm

Clonal Hematopoiesis: genetic and phenotypic associations in the general population

$\"\"$

Chao Tian

Presenter: Chao Tian, Ph.D., Senior Statistical Geneticist
Author(s): C. Tian; P. Fontanillas; J. Tung; D. Hinds; the 23andMe Research Team
Time: Oct. 18, 3 pm – 4 pm

Minds, genes, and machines: Performance on online cognitive assessments is correlated with individual characteristics in 23andMe customers

$\"\"$

Presenter: Olga Sazonova, Ph.D., Senior Computational Biologist
Author(s): O.V. Sazonova; L. Germine; C. Wilson; P. Fontanillas; C.E. Carey; 23andMe Research Team
Time: Oct. 19, 2 pm – 3 pm

A web-based initiative to accelerate research on African ancestry in the Americas

$\"\"$

Presenter: Meghan Moreno, Project Manager
Author(s): M.E. Moreno; K. Bryc; P.K. Penton; R. Rubenstein; L. Vermillion; J.L. Mountain; the 23andMe Research Team
Time: Oct. 20, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

Human knockouts in the Ashkenazi Jewish population

$\"\"$

Presenter: Aaron Kleinman, Ph.D., Senior Computational Biologist
Author(s): A. Kleinman; O. Sazonova; S. Pitts; V. Vacic; R. Gentleman; the 23andMe Research Team
Time: Oct. 20, 12:30 pm – 1:30 pm

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We assume that, like a knife dulled by repeated use, as we age our brain loses the sharp edge of youth, but the truth is more complicated than that. $\"cog-tools\"$

Some brain functions get worse; some get better.

Looking to add another layer of data for scientists studying the relationship between genetics, aging and the brain, 23andMe is experimenting with collecting data through half a dozen new cognitive games. Unlike surveys, these cognitive games measure specific aspects of brain aptitude directly, by collecting data about research participants’ choices and abilities as they perform the game tasks.\n

\nDeveloped with the help of Laura Germine, Ph.D., Director of the McLean Hospital Laboratory for Brain and Cognitive Health Technology and a psychiatry researcher at Harvard Medical School, the games will test attention, focus, processing speed, motor skills and risk-taking, and help researchers gauge various aspects of cognitive function. This kind of data can help those studying psychiatric and neurological conditions as well as the aging process among other things.

In prior research, Germine has found that although some brain function decline as we age, some functions improve\n

\n“We found different abilities really maturing or ripening at different ages,” she told the New York Times last year.

Germine said, “It’s a much richer picture of the life span than just calling it aging.”\n

\n23andMe’s purpose for using these games is to study the relationship between those brain changes and genetics.

In the past, genetic factors have been correlated with cognitive attributes and ability. Using these new tools to gather data on cognitive ability adds a new layer to the kind of phenotypic information 23andMe researchers can gather for their work, and potentially share with 23andMe’s over 2 million customers through new insights from that data. 23andMe’s unique research model invites customers to participate in research if they wish – customers can opt out of research without impacting their 23andMe experience.

Researchers can then use the resulting aggregated and de-identified data to study the genetics underlying disease.

As part of that process, 23andMe asks customers all sorts of questions from whether they can curl their tongues to whether they’ve ever had cancer. The answers to those questions, combined with genetic information, give our researchers a tremendous resource that has already led to important genetic findings.

This new information, using games to track changes in focus or processing speed or motor skills, for example, could help researchers learn more detailed information about people’s cognitive function.

The hope is that with the launch of cognitive games, our researchers will be able to gather important new data points for learning what role genetics may play in brain function, personality, and the aging process, as well as how those abilities change over time.

And since when has generating research data been this fun for the participant too?

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