By Jey McCreight, PhD, Research Communications Scientist at 23andMe
Happy Pride! As June comes to an end, we’d like to take a moment to celebrate our LGBTQ+ research participants and employees. Whether they’re contributing data or analyzing it, the quality of our science wouldn’t be the same without them.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-26303 size-large" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride-Social-Image-1024x536.jpg" alt="An icon that includes the text &quot;Happy LGBTQ+ Pride Month&quot;" width="1024" height="536" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride-Social-Image-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride-Social-Image-300x157.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride-Social-Image-768x402.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride-Social-Image-880x461.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride-Social-Image-1180x618.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride-Social-Image.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />
<h6>Latest Research</h6>
This is especially true for one of our latest research projects. Forming relationships is such an essential part of the human experience. With this in mind our Research Team is currently conducting a genome-wide association study of sexual orientation with a number of collaborators.
While investigating the genetics of sexual orientation is frequently controversial, we believe that good science can combat misinformation. For example, there is a common misconception, known as genetic essentialism, that genes completely and immutably determine traits. The reality, however, is that sexual orientation is 30 to 40 percent heritable. That estimate comes from studying identical and non-identical twins.<a id="a1" href="#f1">[1]</a> That range of heritability is similar to other traits such as being introverted or extroverted.
<h6>A Complex Trait</h6>
The genetic component is not due to a single “gay gene.” Rather it is a complicated architecture of many genetic variants contributing small effects. This is also due to the fact that sexual orientation is a very complex trait that encompasses many different aspects such as sexual attraction, sexual experience, and sexual identity. Given this moderate heritability, it’s likely that some people who identify as sexual minorities do not have the (yet to be discovered) genetic factors that associate with differences in sexual orientation. Similarly, it is likely that among people with these genetic factors, many identify as straight.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-26302" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride2018-1024x520.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="520" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride2018-1024x520.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride2018-300x152.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride2018-768x390.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride2018-880x447.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride2018-1180x600.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/Pride2018.jpg 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />We want to make clear that studying sexual orientation by no means implies that same-sex attraction is a disease. That&#8217;s is an antiquated, harmful, and false idea. We are studying sexual orientation because we want to learn more about what makes us human. It&#8217;s also why we study <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/the-genetics-of-empathy/">how we feel empathy</a>, or what determines <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/untangling-the-genetics-of-hair-color/">hair color</a>, or whether we <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/health-traits/23andme-adds-four-new-trait-reports/">like or hate cilantro</a>. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community who is both a 23andMe scientist and research participant, I’m excited to learn more about what makes me, me.
While the science of sexual orientation is moving forward, the field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) has some catching up to do. When hostile environments push people out of STEM fields, we lose great minds that could have made the next big discovery. Unfortunately, this is not a hypothetical situation for many LGBTQ+ individuals.
<h6>Discrimination</h6>
For example, it’s still legal for employers to discriminate against someone for their sexual or gender identity in 28 states.<a id="a2" href="#f2">[2]</a> With the fear of being fired, harassed, or ostracized looming overhead, it’s unsurprising that over 40 percent of LGBTQ+ identified workers in STEM fields are not “out” to their colleagues.<a id="a3" href="#f3">[3]</a> “Out” LGBTQ+ workers are less likely to experience anxiety, isolation, and the feeling that their career has stalled compared to their closeted coworkers.<a id="a4" href="#f4">[4]</a>
Despite this, among “out” STEM faculty members, about 70 percent still felt uncomfortable in their department and were approximately 7 times more likely to experience exclusionary behavior by their colleagues.<a id="a5" href="#f5">[5]</a>
Even before beginning their careers, LGBTQ+ students are being lost from STEM fields. Undergraduate sexual minority students are 7 percent less likely to be retained in STEM compared to switching into a non-STEM program.<a id="a6" href="#f6">[6]</a> This is despite these students being more likely to have worked in a lab than their heterosexual counterparts, which is typically associated with retention in STEM fields.
<h6>23andMe&#8217;s Commitment</h6>
23andMe values diversity and makes it a priority to ensure that both our product and workplace are inclusive. Our Product Science team is currently working on separating biological sex and gender identity on user profiles. This is to make our product more inclusive to trans* and non-binary individuals. We’ve also shown our support by offering the same health care benefits to same-sex partners of employees. 23andMe recently sponsored the <a href="https://lesbianswhotech.org/sanfrancisco2018/">Lesbians Who Tech Summit.</a> We&#8217;re also printing rainbow chromosome shirts for Pride.
&#8220;At 23andMe we&#8217;ve always believed that the best science happens when everyone has the opportunity to participate,” says Anne Wojcicki, 23andMe CEO and co-founder. “We value all of our LGBTQ+ customers and employees and thank them for being an important part of our community!&#8221;
Fun shirts won’t single-handedly change the world, but letting employees know they can be proud of who they are is completely worth it. The communities I grew up in weren’t always supportive, but now I feel so lucky to work somewhere where LGBTQ+ individuals are welcomed and celebrated by our allies.
<footer class="footnotes">Footnotes:</footer>
<footer class="footnotes"><a id="f1" href="#a1">[1] </a> <a href="https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.157.11.1843">https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.157.11.184</a></footer>
<a href="#a2">[2] </a>http://www.hrc.org/state-maps/employment<a id="f2" href="#a2"></a>
<a id="f3" href="#a3">[3] </a> Jeremy B. Yoder &amp; Allison Mattheis. (2016) Queer in STEM: Workplace Experiences Reported in a National Survey of LGBTQA Individuals in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Careers. Journal of Homosexuality, 63:1, 1–27, DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2015.1078632<a id="f4" href="#a4"></a>
<a id="f4" href="#a4">[4] </a> <a href="https://hbr.org/2011/07/for-lgbt-workers-being-out-brings-advantages">https://hbr.org/2011/07/for-lgbt-workers-being-out-brings-advantages</a>
<a id="f5" href="#a5">[5]</a><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262989539_Factors_impacting_the_academic_climate_for_LGBQ_STEM_faculty">https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262989539_Factors_impacting_the_academic_climate_for_LGBQ_STEM_faculty</a>
<footer class="footnotes"></footer>
<a id="f6" href="#a6">[6]</a> <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/3/eaao6373.full">http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/4/3/eaao6373.full</a>
<footer class="footnotes"></footer>

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

23andMe Celebrates Pride Month

Expanding on a series of initiatives to improve diversity in genomic research, 23andMe is launching the <a href="https://research.23andme.com/populations-collaborations/">Populations Collaborations Program</a>, partnering with researchers working across the globe to genotype people in communities who are underrepresented in genetic research.

Everyone, no matter their ethnicity, should benefit from the scientific insights we gain through research but that hasn’t happened to date because of a lack of diversity in biomedical and genetic research. Underrepresented communities already frequently experience <a href="https://www.kff.org/disparities-policy/issue-brief/disparities-in-health-and-health-care-five-key-questions-and-answers/#footnote-195310-1">less access to health care and poorer outcomes</a>, and because there are <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/genomics-is-failing-on-diversity-1.20759">fewer studies among these underrepresented populations</a> those disparities are compounded.

Through the Populations Collaborations program, we will provide financial and scientific support for qualified researchers from academic research institutions in the United States to genotype people in communities across Africa, Asia, and the Americas. This, in turn, will help improve the diversity of our data as well as improve genetics research globally.

“Many populations around the world remain missing from genomic databases,” said Brenna Henn, an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of California, Davis. “In order to increase representation, DNA sampling often requires serious engagement from academic institutions and local communities, but few funding sources support the necessary field work. 23andMe’s Populations Collaborations Program provides an exciting new mechanism to improve our understanding of human history and genetic diversity everywhere around the world, while also helping their customers pinpoint their diverse ancestries.” 

&nbsp;
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/World-Map-1024x625.png" alt="" class="aligncenter wp-image-26132 size-large" title="Diversity in genomic research" height="625" width="1024" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/World-Map-1024x625.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/World-Map-300x183.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/World-Map-768x469.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/World-Map-880x537.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/World-Map-1180x721.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/World-Map.png 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />


The effort follows collaborations 23andMe has <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/108/13/5154.long#sec-11">already completed</a> or initiated with researchers recruiting participants from places like Honduras and Angola. The most recent completed project is a collaboration with Dr. Nathan Nunn, Frederic E. Abbe Professor of Economics at Harvard, who is studying individuals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The genetic data we provide will assist those researchers in their studies, and be used by 23andMe to conduct research for publication and to improve our products and services, such as providing finer resolution for our ancestry reports.

In addition to considering scientific merit, we will evaluate how the research benefits the community being studied. The research process — which requires that researchers obtain consent from participants — will be overseen by an independent review board from the researchers’ institutions, as well as ethics review boards in the countries where the research is conducted. We will give preference to studies that engage local researchers and community members in the project, and we’ll provide additional support for community investments.

Improving diversity in genetic research is a global challenge, but it’s a priority for our company. 23andMe’s mission has always been to help people — all people — access, understand and benefit from the human genome. So over the years, we have endeavored to create programs to reach people in underrepresented communities. 

Those efforts go back several years and include 23andMe’s <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/roots-into-the-future/">Roots Into the Future project</a>, which was designed to study the genetics of diseases impacting African Americans. We’ve also worked on an NIH-funded project to develop a new way to detect disease-causing genetic variants among <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/announcements/23andme-scientists-improving-diversity-in-genetic-research/">ethnically mixed populations</a>. Our <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/the-african-genetics-project/">African Genetics Project</a> recruited people who emigrated from, or whose parents emigrated from, several specific countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in order to enhance research and enrich our services. 

More recently, we began an <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/african-american-sequencing-project/">African-American Sequencing Project</a>, which creates an African American sequencing panel from 23andMe customers who consented to participate in research. The data from this panel will be made available for qualified researchers conducting important health studies through an NIH database. At the end of last year, we also launched the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/global-genetics/">Global Genetics Project</a>, which provides complimentary kits to participants with all four grandparents born in countries underrepresented in our reference data. The project has gained significant momentum, with enrollment hitting over 1,600 participants in the two months since its launch.

We still have a lot of work to do, but we hope that these initiatives will help 23andMe expand its own reference data sets, improve the ability of our scientists to study groups who are currently underrepresented in genetic research, and reveal new insights. We hope our latest Populations Collaborations Program will help qualified researchers to conduct a wide range of research studies to benefit communities where they work and across the globe.

23andMe’s Populations Collaborations

In honor of Black History Month, several 23andMe researchers participated in a two-day event in honor of <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/health-traits/honoring-henrietta-lacks/">Henrietta Lacks</a> and her contribution to science.
On top of<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/health-traits/honoring-henrietta-lacks/"> honoring Henrietta’s life</a>, the event was also intended to draw attention to the need for more diversity in medical research. Estimates are that people of color make up only five percent of participants in medical research. That has a very real impact on healthcare because a person’s ancestry plays a role in how they<a href="https://brightthemag.com/health-medical-research-pharmaceutical-minorities-eugenics-5c5284a8cd7f"> respond to different drugs</a> or their risk for certain conditions.
On the second day of the event, this disparity was brought into focus by a scientist from the University of California San Francisco and her research regarding childhood asthma.
<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00251-016-0914-1">Marquitta White</a>, PhD, a researcher in<a href="https://pharm.ucsf.edu/burchard/people"> Prof. Esteban Burchard’s lab</a>, noted that socioeconomic and environmental differences do not fully explain why African American and Puerto Rican children are more likely to die from asthma. Part of the difference in outcomes may be because children of color respond differently to albuterol, the most commonly prescribed medication for asthma. Currently, there are few studies that look at how people of non-European ancestry respond to the drug or their specific risks for asthma. 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/diversityiStockBlog.jpg" alt="" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-9756" width="1" height="1" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/diversityiStockBlog.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/diversityiStockBlog-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/diversityiStockBlog-271x149.jpg 271w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1px) 100vw, 1px" /><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/AGP-Image-1024x496.png" alt="" class="alignright size-large wp-image-26030" width="1024" height="496">
The need to change that is a message that resonates with us here at 23andMe, where it has always been our mission to help people — all people — access, understand, and benefit from the human genome. Everyone should benefit from the scientific insights we learn through research. That means people of all ethnicities. But that hasn’t happened because research — not just 23andMe research, but all biomedical and genetic research — has been hampered by a lack of diversity.
Over the years, 23andMe has had several initiatives to improve the representation of people of color in genetic research. Programs such as 23andMe’s <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/announcements/roots-into-the-future/">Roots Into the Future</a> project that was designed to study the genetics of diseases impacting African Americans have helped so that we now have tens of thousands of people of color who have consented to participate in research. We’ve also worked on an <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/announcements/23andme-scientists-improving-diversity-in-genetic-research/">NIH-funded project</a> to develop a new way to detect disease-causing genetic variants among ethnically mixed populations, an<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/the-african-genetics-project/"> African Genetics Project</a>, and more recently 23andMe began an<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/african-american-sequencing-project/"> African-American Sequencing Project</a>. The data from this project will be made available for qualified researchers conducting important health studies through an NIH database.
Finally, our most recent effort is a <a href="https://www.23andme.com/global-genetics/">Global Genetics Project</a>, which aims to enroll at least 5,000 participants from populations around the world within two years. The data will be mainly used to trace global ancestry and human-migration history, but it could also guide health research in under-represented groups.
We still have a lot of work to do, but we hope that these initiatives will help 23andMe expand its own reference data sets, improve the ability of our scientists to study groups who are currently underrepresented in genetic research, and reveal new insights. Beyond what this can do for our own research, this will also help qualified researchers with whom we collaborate to conduct studies within some of these communities. &nbsp;
You can learn more about what we’re doing to improve diversity in research<a href="https://www.23andme.com/roots/#commitment"> here</a>.

A Need for Diversity in Research

Even after a best-selling book and countless articles, few of us know the name Henrietta Lacks — but we should.
<div id="attachment_26005" style="width: 260px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26005" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Henrietta_Lacks_1920-1951.jpg" alt="" class="size-full wp-image-26005" width="250" height="362" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Henrietta_Lacks_1920-1951.jpg 250w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Henrietta_Lacks_1920-1951-207x300.jpg 207w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px" />Henrietta Lacks</div>
The young African American mother of five, who died in 1951 of an aggressive form of cervical cancer, has remained a hidden figure in our history. Yet her contributions to science — in the form of the human cancer cells cultured from her body — have transformed medicine. These immortal “HeLa cells”, as scientists dubbed them, have been vital for the development of everything from the polio vaccine, to chemotherapy drugs, HPV treatments, in-vitro fertilization and gene mapping. And the cells are still being used today, critical in important research. It’s distressing to learn now that at the time it never occured to doctors or scientists to even ask Henrietta or her family for permission.
This week 23andMe participated in an event to honor Henrietta Lacks’ contribution to science. Put together by <a href="http://www.aachac.org/">African American Community Health Advisory Committee,</a> in partnership with the San Francisco-Peninsula Alumnae Chapter, <a href="http://www.dstsfpa.org/">Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc</a>., and the <a href="https://www.smchealth.org/division-public-health-policy-and-planning">County of San Mateo,</a> California, the event included two members of the Henrietta’s family in part to help bring awareness of health issues for people of color. 
The tragedy of Henrietta’s death, and the loss experienced by her husband and children, was compounded by the fact that no one ever told her family that her cells had been taken and cultured for research. Major breakthroughs were made, and so were billions of dollars, but her family — who lived in the shadow of the world-renowned John’s Hopkins Hospital where some of this research took place — was kept in the dark for decades. They first learned about what was happening when <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-23611189">scientists reached out </a>to them for additional blood samples. And in an irony of this story, while Henrietta’s cells were so vital for medical research, many of her family members lived without basic health insurance. At the event this week, her grandson Frank Lacks was there to encourage people to learn from her story. The lesson isn’t that underrepresented people should walk away from participating in this kind of research, said Frank, they should be demanding a seat at the table so they too can benefit from it.
Henrietta’s story, so ably told in<a href="http://rebeccaskloot.com/"> Rebecca Skloot</a>’<a href="http://rebeccaskloot.com/">s</a> 2010 book<a href="http://rebeccaskloot.com/the-immortal-life/"> The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks</a> and in a new<a href="http://www.hbo.com/movies/the-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks"> HBO Films movie</a> starring Oprah Winfrey, is both moving and important for finally recognizing the contribution of this hidden hero. 
Her story also reminds us of how far we’ve come, and how important one person, like Henrietta, could be for research. It also highlights how much more needs to be done to improve health research in underrepresented populations.
After years of developing 23andMe’s unique research model — one that enlists people as participants in research, not subjects to it — we’ve learned that people want to participate in important science, and more than 80 percent of our customers choose to participate in research. But our research participants also want to know and have control over how their information is being used. They want the choice to participate, or not, an option Henrietta never had. They do not want someone else making that choice for them. They want to know what happens to their data, and when a discovery is made, they want to hear about it. 23andMe works toward being as transparent with our own customers as possible, sharing with them information about research we do using customer data, and giving customers control over whether or not they want to share their data. 23andMe also gives participants the option of opting out of research at any time. For more please read our<a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/privacy/"> privacy statement</a>,<a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/tos/"> terms of service</a>, our <a href="https://www.23andme.com/about/consent/">consent form</a>, or visit our bibliography cataloguing  <a href="https://www.23andme.com/publications/">our research</a>. 
Henrietta didn’t just help power scientific research: Her story helped transform how researchers treat people who participate in scientific studies. Research on human subjects now must be overseen by independent review boards to ensure that participants understand the research being done with their information, that they are not harmed by that research, and that their interests are protected. 
For all of that and more we owe our thanks to Henrietta, and we should each learn more about her story. It was also a fitting way to begin Black History Month.
&nbsp;
<h5>To Learn More</h5>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://henriettalacksfoundation.org/">Henrietta Lacks Foundation</a></li>
<li><a href="http://rebeccaskloot.com/">Rebecca Skloot</a>, author of the book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks</li>
<li><a href="http://www.hbo.com/movies/the-immortal-life-of-henrietta-lacks">HBO Films “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”</a></li>
<li><a href="https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2013/08/07/hela-cells-a-new-chapter-in-an-enduring-story/#more-1902">HeLa Cells: A New Chapter in an Enduring Story</a>, blog by NIH Director Francis Collins</li>
<li>NIH Henrietta Lacks Timeline</li>
</ul>

Honoring Henrietta Lacks

By Erica Bellman
If you’re familiar with 23andMe’s products, you know there are currently two options for how customers can receive results: <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">Ancestry only</a>, or
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-25799 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-768x513.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Map-of-India-1180x788.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
both <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-health-ancestry/">Ancestry and Health</a>. On the surface, these two categories might seem unrelated, but when it comes to the science, ancestry and health are intrinsically linked, and knowledge of one may provide vital information about the other.
<h6>Heritable Disorders</h6>
A <a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v49/n9/full/ng.3953.html?foxtrotcallback=true">recent article</a> in Nature illuminates this connection. The piece looks at how recent studies of certain South Asian populations’ ancestral origins have spurred important insights about recessive heritable disorders.
To understand why the South Asian studies could be so fruitful for genetic health research, it’s crucial to understand the so-called “founder effect.” In essence, the founder effect is the loss of genetic variation that occurs when a new population emerges from a very small number of individuals (or founders) — who are isolated by geography or culture, for example — from a larger population.
Throughout South Asia’s “mosaic” of populations, a prominent demographic pattern has been for individuals to marry within their communities. One of the results of this pattern is the higher-than-typical frequency of certain of genetic variants that can cause recessive disorders, which in turn makes those variants easier to detect, screen for, and ultimately prevent.

<h6>Founder Populations</h6>
It’s important to note that this certainly isn’t the first time scientists have identified health implications for a population descended from founders. For example, individuals of <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/ashkenazi-ancestry-and-health">Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry</a> were vital in improving our understanding of Tay-Sachs disease. The Finnish people have been studied due to their genetic uniformity and the occurrence of hereditary diseases such as congenital <a href="https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/1500/congenital-nephrotic-syndrome-finnish-type">nephrosis</a>, a kidney disease.
By continuing to study recessive disorders in founder populations, geneticists will be able to identify variants in the same deleterious gene in other populations. This helps to better understand the biology of the conditions, and develop potential treatments.
“If we know people of a certain ancestry have the same disease, we’re able to locate the regions of their genome where their ancestral background may overlap,” said Kimberly McManus, a population geneticist on 23andMe’s Research and Development team. “These sites can be informative, because they’re potential segments that may be causing or influencing the disease.”
<h6>More Data</h6>
Right now, one of the biggest hurdles to advancement in ancestry-inspired health research is the relative lack of genetic samples obtained from founder populations. Populations in South Asia, Africa and East Asia hold some of the richest genetic diversity in the world. However, they’ve historically been the least studied.
“Until a few years ago, more than 90% of genetic studies were based on individuals of European descent,&#8221; Kimberly said. &#8220;(This was) primarily due to the lack of available data from diverse populations.”
But some research-driven organizations are implementing programs that could significantly increase the diversity of the data available for study.
<h6>African Genetics</h6>
For 23andMe’s <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/the-african-genetics-project/">African Genetics Project,</a> the company distributed free kits to people of underrepresented populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The aim is to better serve those communities and customers who might have ancestral ties there.
“The benefits of increasing our sample sizes from these populations will be twofold,” Kimberly said. “It will allow people from these populations to better understand their ancestry. And it will allow researchers to investigate genetic health risks in these populations, as the genetics may be slightly different than in other populations.”
These new horizons for research and increased diversity of genetic samples. They present exciting possibilities for health breakthroughs. However, genetic similarities between populations around the world far outweigh the differences.
“Ancestry-inspired health is very important,&#8221; Kimberly said. &#8220;But it’s also important to remember that the vast, vast majority of variants are shared between all populations.  Sequencing genomes of understudied groups can just be useful in better understanding some of the health traits shared among these populations.”

Erica Bellman

Ancestry-inspired genetic health and understudied populations

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

Adoptee Night in Minneapolis

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

In a move to improve diversity in genetic research, this week 23andMe will start recruiting eligible customers to participate in the creation of an African American sequencing panel for <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/05242016_ig_ad_3-e1497048414624-300x225.png" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-25055 size-medium" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/05242016_ig_ad_3-e1497048414624-300x225.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/05242016_ig_ad_3-e1497048414624-768x575.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/05242016_ig_ad_3-e1497048414624-1024x767.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/05242016_ig_ad_3-e1497048414624-880x659.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/05242016_ig_ad_3-e1497048414624.png 1074w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />research.
With the help of a<a href="https://mediacenter.23andme.com/press-releases/23andme-nih-work-to-reduce-health-research-disparities-among-african-americans/"> grant</a> from the<a href="https://www.genome.gov/"> National Human Genome Research Institute</a>, 23andMe scientists will use contributions from customers who’ve consented to participate in this research to create a reference dataset and make the de-identified genetic data available to other qualified and vetted genetic researchers at educational and research institutions around the world.
“We are very excited about this project and its potential to make a difference in people’s lives,” said the project’s Principal Investigator,<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/a-reference-of-human-genetic-variation/"> Adam Auton,</a> a 23andMe senior scientist and statistical geneticist. “This work will help address the genetic  research disparities for African Americans in particular, something that has long needed attention.”
Only a fraction of the genetic research studies done to date include people with African ancestry. <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/genomics-is-failing-on-diversity-1.20759">According to recent data focusing on this disparity, </a> only about 19 percent of all published genetic research includes data from non-Europeans, and only about two percent are conducted on those of African ancestry. While the bias towards European studies reflects many complicated logistic, systemic, and societal issues, it has a huge impact on what scientists can determine about the genetics underlying diseases and other conditions that impact not just non-European populations but everyone. A recent<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms12521#abstract"> study</a> by the University of Maryland School deftly explains the implications of these disparities:
“As long as ancestry-related biases are not addressed, and most studies continue to predominantly sample from European populations, the genetics community will face challenges with implementation, interpretation and cost-effectiveness when treating minority populations.” 
To help address these disparities, 23andMe is recruiting African American customers who are are willing to have their genome sequenced. Those who are interested would then be asked to complete an additional level of consent, that would allow 23andMe to add their de-identified genetic data to a library of genetic and phenotypic data. This means the library would not receive any personally identifiable information  connected to the genetic and phenotypic information. This library of data is managed by the NIH and used by qualified scientific researchers. 
As part of this work we will ask a subset of our African American customers, who have consented to participate in research, if they would be willing to participate and have their DNA sequenced to become part of this reference panel. Reference panels are important because they allow scientists to improve the accuracy of genome wide association studies, which drive much of genetic research conducted today. 
When a customer of 23andMe sends in their saliva sample, they are genotyped at hundreds of thousands of sites that are known to vary between individuals. However, there are tens of millions of variable sites in the genome that are not genotyped. By having access to a large number of fully sequenced genomes — a sequence panel — researchers are able to use “genotype imputation” to infer or predict the genotypes at these unobserved positions. Much like a code breaker filling in missing letters in a message, scientists — using algorithms and data from whole genome sequences panels — can predict, or impute, the missing letters of genetic data. Having a sequence panel like this gives researchers a tool to study conditions that are specific to African Americans.
Ultimately, the sequence panel data will be shared with the NIH, who will make it available to other researchers. This in turn will expand scientists’ ability to make genetic discoveries for African Americans and help build a broader understanding of how genetics influence diseases and traits across multiple populations.
This is the latest in a number of efforts by 23andMe to help alleviate some of the existing disparities in genetic research. Last year, 23andMe was awarded another NIH grant to use “admixture mapping” as a means to improve the detection of disease-causing genetic variants among people of African, Latino and Asian ancestry. In 2011, 23andMe launched its Roots into the Future® project to study the genetics of disease specific to African Americans. The African Genetics Project is a part of this growing effort to improve our knowledge of African genetic diversity.
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The African American Sequencing Project

February is Black History Month offering us another opportunity to talk about diversity in genetic research and why it’s important for all of us.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25259" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-880x880.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3-980x980.jpg 980w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/05242016_ig_ad_3.jpg 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
23andMe’s mission has always been to help people access, understand, and benefit from the human genome. Everyone should gain from the scientific insights we learn through research. That means people of all ethnicities. But that hasn’t happened because research — not just 23andMe research — but all biomedical and genetic research has been hampered by a lack of diversity.


A recently article published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/genomics-is-failing-on-diversity-1.20759">Nature</a> found that less than three percent of the genome wide association studies published involve people of African Ancestry. And it’s not just African Americans who are being left out. More than 80 percent of biomedical research is focused on people of European ancestry.
There are very real repercussions when research is limited to just one group.
For example, a lack of diversity in research could lead to misdiagnosis. A <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/study-warns-of-misdiagnosis-in-genetic-testing-1471453590">recent study</a> by researchers at Harvard looked specifically at how a gene mutation was misclassified among African American patients indicating that they were at risk for a serious heart condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy when in fact they were not. Basically the researchers found that the variants or mutations that caused a heightened risk in patients of European ancestry were not risky for those of African or other non-European ancestry.
By studying Europeans alone, we blind ourselves to discoveries that could be found in other populations that frankly could help all people.
So what can we do about it?
A lot, it turns out.
23andMe recognized early on that we needed to do more. In 2011 early in our company’s history, we launched something called the <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/announcements/roots-into-the-future/">“Roots Into the Future Project,”</a> enrolling  10,000 African Americans in a study meant to bring better understanding of the connection between DNA and diseases most relevant to African Americans. We have since added another 10,000 to the study. And we’ve steadily added additional efforts to improve diversity.
In November 2013 we kicked off our African Ancestry Project, which recruited people with four grandparents from Sub-Saharan Africa to improve our knowledge of African genetic diversity. Late last year we launched an even more ambitious initiative called the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/africa-project/">African Genetics Project</a>, that enrolls individuals from 16 different African countries. The purpose is not just to help people with African ancestry uncover their African roots, but it could also help yield new insights into the TransAtlantic slave trade.
We know that the Africans enslaved in the Americas were not a monolithic group but individuals from different cultures with different languages who were forced together into slavery. We hope this study will help our researchers identify direct connections between locations in Africa and the Americas.
This isn’t the first time that we’ve looked at our data to gain insights that go beyond just health research. A little over two years ago our researchers published the first <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/dna-usa-2/">genetic portrait of the United States</a>, illustrating the complex mix of African, Native American, Latino and European ancestry across the country and giving new insight into our social and political history.
Beyond that work, we’re also looking at how to leverage data we already have.
In early 2016, 23andMe received an NIH grant to improve how we study disease in African American and Latino populations. Both of these populations are “admixed,” meaning they have a mix of African, European and Native ancestry. By using something called mapping by admixture linkage disequilibrium, or admixed mapping, we believe we can identify disease causing genetic variants for conditions that are more prevalent among African Americans, such as high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and Asthma.


Then late in 2016, 23andMe launched the African Sequencing Project, which also received funding from the NIH. This effort will help 23andMe create a new reference panel for African Americans that we could share with the broader scientific community. This would make it easier for all researchers to do important health research in the African American community.
Find out more about our efforts <a href="https://www.23andme.com/roots/#commitment">here</a>.

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