World Records often involve peril and great feats of courage, and in a way A.J. Jacobs’ plan to stage a <a href="http://globalfamilyreunion.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Global Family Reunion</a> in New York City this June is a kind of daring <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/aj_about-291x300.jpg" alt="aj_about" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-21667" height="300" width="291" srcset="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/aj_about-291x300.jpg 291w, https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/aj_about.jpg 301w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 291px) 100vw, 291px" />tightrope walk of its own.
The daylong event – which the <a href="http://globalfamilyreunion.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New York Times</a> recently described as “part TED talk, part Coachella and part family picnic” – is billed as the largest family reunion ever.
AJ has put together an event that sprinkles in a little science, a little fun and a lot of socializing. Among the featured speakers are Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., who is also a host of the PBS show <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wnet/finding-your-roots/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Finding Your Roots&#8221;</a>, the documentarian Morgan Spurlock, and performances by the illusionist David Blaine and the group Sister Sledge.
If A.J., an editor at large at Esquire and good <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-customer-stories/all-in-the-family/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">friend of 23andMe</a>, pulls it off, it will clearly be one for Guinness’s record book, but more than that the reunion also marks a sea change in the use of genetic testing for genealogical purposes. This direct to consumer genetic testing thing is really here to stay.
There’s also a point to the reunion beyond just setting a record. As A.J. has said both here on our blog but also in his well-received talks, we’re all family.
“I want to remind people that we are, in fact, one big family,” A.J. told the Times. “We do share 99.9 percent of our DNA, and that we need to treat each other with a little more kindness.”


There are still tickets available with money from the event going toward Alzheimer’s disease research. 23andMe will be on hand as well.
So if you plan to be in New York City on June 6 why don’t you drop in on some family?


(Ed’s note: A.J. really wants to connect with you if you are a 23andMe customer and are signed on you can connect with him <a href="https://www.23andme.com/user/?community_profile=2c85e926031b871d" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a>. In addition, A.J. has been generous enough to offer a discount for 23andMe customers. You can go <a href="https://globalfamilyreunion.eventbrite.com/?discount=23ANDME" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">here</a> and get 25 percent off tickets.)

<div style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 600px; background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/global-family-reunion.jpg" alt="global family reunion" class="alignright size-full wp-image-22488" height="51" width="140" /> 
<a href="http://globalfamilyreunion.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GLOBAL FAMILY REUNION</a> 
The Day the World Connects</div>
<div style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 600px; background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
WHAT: The largest, most inclusive, most fascinating family reunion in history. 
WHO IS INVITED: All members of the human family.</div>
<div style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 600px; background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
AGENDA: The Reunion will have TED-style talks from scientists, genealogists and entertainers about every aspect of family, including DNA, genealogy and personal stories. There will be music, comedy, games, exhibits, food and booths. And the world’s largest family photo.</div>
<div style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 600px; background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
WHEN: June 6, 2015 (all day long)</div>
<div style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 600px; background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
WHERE: The New York Hall of Science, on the grounds of the historic World’s Fair. 
THE CAUSE: Proceeds from the event will benefit the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund and the Alzheimer’s Association NYC.</div>
<div style="float: center; text-align: justified; width: 600px; background-color: #eeeeee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
THE BOOK AND MOVIE: The Global Family Reunion will be featured in a book by bestselling author A.J. Jacobs and a documentary by Morgan Spurlock (Supersize Me).
</div>

Family Reunion Time

By A.J. Jacobs
I’d always wanted a big family. A few years ago, I got a huge one. After receiving my results back from 23andMe, I discovered I had more than a thousand genetic cousins in their database.
This prompted the question: What could I do with all these new relatives? My answer: Maybe it’d be interesting to meet my whole family. Throw a party for them.
So that’s exactly what I’m doing: Next summer, I’m hosting what I hope will be the largest, most inclusive and most entertaining <a href="http://globalfamilyreunion.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">family reunion</a>, ever.
There will be talks from scientists and entertainers about every aspect of the family, including DNA, genealogy and personal stories. There will be music, comedy, games, exhibits, food — and the world’s largest family photo. And there’s a good chance you’re one of the cousins on my invitation list.
To back up: I’m an editor at Esquire magazine and <a href="http://ajjacobs.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">author of several books</a>. My books usually involve projects that overwhelm my life and test the patience of my lovely wife. I wrote a book called <a href="http://ajjacobs.com/books/the-year-of-living-biblically/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Year of Living Biblically</a> where I tried to follow all of the rules of the Bible, from the 10 commandments to growing a ridiculously bushy beard. I <a href="http://ajjacobs.com/books/drop-dead-healthy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wrote another</a> where I tried to become as healthy as possible by following all the medical advice in the world (results varied).
I’d always been interested in family history. My father was an amateur genealogist, and, when I was a kid, he traced our line back to the 17th century, thanks to the records kept about our ancestor, a famous rabbi named the Vilna Gaon.
I got hooked again as an adult after I got my 23andMe results, as well as another thought-provoking email. That email was from a man who claimed to have a family tree with 80,000 people on it, including me, his 12th cousin. At first, I didn’t believe him. I thought he was going to ask me to wire him $10,000 to a Nigerian bank account. 
<iframe loading="lazy" width="560" height="315" src="https://embed-ssl.ted.com/talks/aj_jacobs_the_world_s_largest_family_reunion_we_re_all_invited.html" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
But it turns out it’s for real. He’s part of a new breed of genealogists who are creating monster mega family trees. These trees are built using both DNA test results combined with a crowdsourced collaborative Wikipedia-like model of family history. You have thousands of people working on the same tree all over the world using websites such as Geni, WikiTree and FamilySearch.
Right now, the biggest family tree on the Internet — and one I happen to be part of &#8212; is mind-bogglingly huge. It’s got 79 million people in 160 countries. This tree has every U.S. president. It has everyone from Gwyneth Paltrow to Albert Einstein. The links are often lengthy and sometimes through marriage, but it’s fun to figure them out. (Abraham Lincoln is my aunt’s first cousin 8 times removed’s wife’s second great nephew!)
And that’s when I decided to see if we could gather all these relatives together, at least the living ones. I want to remind people that we are, in fact, one big family; that we do share 99.9 percent of our DNA, and that we need to treat each other with a little more kindness.
The event will be on the grounds of the World’s Fair in New York on June 6, 2015. It will be a fundraiser for Alzheimer’s (I chose Alzheimer’s because 60 million members of our human family suffer from it). It will be the subject of a documentary by Morgan Spurlock, the man who did Supersize Me. And it will cost $20 or less.
The good folks at 23andMe will be participating. (In fact, 23andMe lists me as genetic cousins with the company’s co-founder Anne Wojcicki and public relations director Catherine Afarian).
A Global Family Tree isn’t just a neat parlor trick — it’s got important repercussions. In a few years, we will likely have almost all seven billion members of the human family on a single tree. This will have huge scientific benefits. In fact, there’s a team of scientists at MIT studying the tree right now to see how traits and diseases are passed down. It’s also the best learning tool I’ve ever come across. When my kids realize they’re cousins with Albert Einstein, they want to know about him. It enmeshes us in history.
I’ve reached out to some of my cousins on 23andMe already to tell them about the Global Family Reunion. Admittedly, there have been some skeptics. “Is this a scam?” wrote a fifth cousin.
But I’ve also received tons of some enthusiastic RSVP’s. At one point, I sent an email to a cousin whose name was hidden only to discover he was a friend of mine from college.
If you can’t make it to New York, there will be branch parties around the world. Go to GlobalFamilyReunion.com to find out more. And, for 23andMe customers, please share your ancestry data with me on 23andMe. I want you in the family. 
A.J. Jacobs is an editor at large at Esquire magazine, a commentator on NPR and columnist for Mental Floss magazine. The author of several books, including &#8220;Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection,” AJ is currently helping to build a family tree of the entire world and holding the biggest family reunion ever in 2015.

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