Each year at this time 23andMe puts together a list of the most interesting genetic findings of 2013. We’re doing that again but with a twist.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/top10ten-266x300.jpg" alt="top10ten" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-10750" width="266" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/top10ten-266x300.jpg 266w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/top10ten.jpg 306w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 266px) 100vw, 266px" />
We want to include in our list a few things that aren’t findings or discoveries, but clearly, these stories have had a huge impact on the field of genetics. The fact that these stories made such a big splash beyond the world of science and health reporting illustrates how important genetics has become for everyone.
As far as research goes, in the last year, we’ve seen the continued rapid pace of discovery in genetic sciences. These new findings have included research into the biology of disease, mental illness and new insights into our understanding of human evolution. Researchers here at 23andMe are also a part of this push to understand not just the human story, but the biology of disease and the role genetics plays in our lives.
So let’s take a quick look back at the last year and 23andMe’s list of the Top Ten Genetic Stories of 2013.
<h6> THE ANGELINA EFFECT<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Angelina-image-196x300.jpg" alt="46th New York Film Festival &quot;Changeling&quot; Premiere - Inside Arrivals" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-20131" width="173" height="265" /></h6>
Angelina Jolie’s<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opinion/my-medical-choice.html"> revelation</a> that she underwent a double prophylactic mastectomy after learning she had a mutation in the BRCA1 gene, brought genetic screening into sharp focus for everyone. In making her difficult choice, she took into consideration her family history – her mother died of ovarian cancer (also associated with BRCA1 gene mutation) and her aunt also had breast cancer   – her ancestry and her age. Going public with her story also offered comfort to many women facing similar choices.
<h6>EWWW</h6>
It probably wasn’t what Walt Whitman<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/plainpoems/1900.html"> meant</a>, but indeed we all “contain multitudes.” Our bodies are host to literally trillions of microorganisms that make up the “human microbiome,” and those organisms play a very important but not fully understood role in our health. There is also a link between the make-up of that microbiome and the genetic variation of our immune systems, which is another thing we haven’t yet fully figured out. But even without fully understanding how these all interrelate, doctors have started to use these important microorganisms to treat illnesses. Early in the year, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study that followed 16 patients who were treated for a severe gut infection with a<a href="https://www.nature.com/news/faecal-transplants-succeed-in-clinical-trial-1.12227"> fecal transplant.</a> While it might be something you’d rather not talk about over dinner, the treatment of the Clostridium difficile infection worked in 15 of the 16 patients.
<h6>FIVE MENTAL ILLNESSES SHARE A COMMON GENETIC LINK</h6>
A<a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2962129-1/fulltext"> study published in early 2013</a> found that five very distinct psychiatric disorders share an association with some variants in genes that control signaling in the brain. The large study looked at schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism, major depression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Although these are very different conditions, the findings may help researchers better understand the underpinnings of these very different illnesses. Two of the four variants involve calcium channels, integral for signaling within the brain.
<h6 dir="ltr">NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/allergy.jpg" alt="allergy" class="alignright size-full wp-image-6151" width="198" height="176" /></h6>
There’s an ongoing debate about the interplay between genetics and the environment in why there has been an apparent increase in the rate of allergies. There are many theories offered to explain this including the “<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2841828/">hygiene hypothesis</a>,” which suggests that an increasingly sanitized environment inhibits the development of the immune system.  Another theory is that increased exposure to chemicals and pollutants are the culprits. The rate of <a href="http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749%2805%2901314-X/abstract">allergies</a> has more than<a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db10.htm#howdoes"> doubled over the last decade</a>.   While this increase is pointing to environmental factors, genetics is an important component.
A study done by 23andMe scientists and researchers at the University of Bristol’s<a href="http://www.bristol.ac.uk/alspac/"> Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC)</a> in the UK found <a href="https://mediacenter.23andme.com/press-releases/allergies_2013">new genetic associations for asthma and allergies</a>. It was the largest genome-wide association study ever conducted on common allergies with data from more than 53,000 people. The study showed that there are also common genetic variants underlying allergies to cats, pollen and dust mites
<h6>HUMAN GENES CAN’T BE PATENTED</h6>
Not long after Angelina’s revelation, the Supreme Court unanimously decided to bar the patenting of human genes. The case involved Myriad Genetics, which has long held patents for breast and ovarian cancer screening. What’s not so clear from the Supreme Court’s decision is what sort of impact this decision will have on research and innovation. While several companies almost immediately jumped into BRCA testing, legal challenges by Myriad to   stop those efforts quickly followed, leaving more doubt about how this will all play out.
<h6>THE WAY BACK<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/neanderthal.jpg" alt="neanderthal" class="alignright size-full wp-image-18144" width="150" height="270" /></h6>
Scientists extracted DNA from a 400,000-year-old thigh bone found buried in a Spanish cave, known as<a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature12788.html"> Sima de Los Huesos, or Pit of Bones.</a>  Apart from the big deal of extracting genetic material from a really, really old bone – the oldest human DNA recovered yet – the find also gives us more information about human evolution, namely that it’s not as linear as some have thought. The DNA in the bone resembled that of ancient humans known as Denisovan.
Because of the time frame and the location, many had thought the bones would be from Neanderthals. The Denisovan DNA was a bit of a head-scratcher. Previous finds placed Denisovans in Siberia and only at about 80,000 years ago. Clearly, this adds more nuances to the story of human evolution. We can also add more pieces to that understanding after another DNA find this year. DNA from the 24,000-year-old skeletal remains of a boy buried near Lake Baikal in Siberia, has also altered researchers&#8217; view of the migration patterns of early Europeans.
The DNA matched not just with Western Europeans but with Native Americans. This suggests that the earliest people to settle the Americas were<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/342/6157/409.full"> a mix of both populations.</a> While previous research has suggested that Native Americans descended from people who migrated from Siberia, this overlap with early Europeans is new. It also suggests that during the last Ice Age, people from Europe had migrated farther east than previously thought.
<h6>ALZHEIMER’S SEQUENCE DATA – CHAPTER ONE</h6>
The more information we can collect from people with the disease, the better we can understand them. Researchers working on Alzheimer’s disease got a huge boost in their efforts this year after the first batch of genetic data was<a href="http://www.nih.gov/news/health/dec2013/nhgri-02.htm"> made available</a> as part of the<a href="https://www.niagads.org/adsp/"> Alzheimer&#8217;s Disease Sequencing Project</a>. The project, conducted by the National Institutes of Health, makes available full genome sequence data on 410 people with Alzheimer’s. The hope is that by offering this information to a wide range of researchers, it will open up the possibility of new discoveries.
<h6>SHARING DATA<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/atcg-200x200.jpg" alt="DNA code analysis" class="alignright size-thumbnail wp-image-3837" width="200" height="200" /></h6>
Hundreds of institutions worldwide are currently doing clinical and genetic research. If you could share that data and standardize how it is reported, you could make it that much more useful. That’s exactly what more than 70 medical, research and advocacy organizations did this year, the National Institutes of Health among them. They all agreed to set up a system<a href="https://www.broadinstitute.org/news/globalalliance"> to share genetic and clinical information</a>. By creating a database of genetic variation and health information, it would offer researchers, and doctors, a powerful resource for discovery.
Illustrating the power of shared data, using data from the Electronic Medical Records Genomics Network<a href="https://www.genome.gov/27540473"> (eMERGE</a>) for short – researchers have identified dozens of new variants linked to diseases ranging from skin cancer to anemia. The eMERGE data set allowed researchers to search by gene variant to find associated conditions. As the database grows it will allow researchers to discover connections between seemingly unrelated diseases and genetic variants.
The power of big datasets that include not just genetic information but also phenotypic information, is part of what 23andMe is all about. This year 23andMe researchers leverage our database and certain phenotypes to  functionally classify different genetic associations. our researchers presented some of our findings on this at the ASHG conference this year in Boston. Their findings show that on occasion, a single genetic variant will be associated with multiple different phenotypes. So for example, in autoimmune diseases, a single SNP influences multiple different diseases. Sometimes these shared associations are more surprising, such as the genetic association shared by both<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/health-traits/23andmes-latest-publication-shines-light-on-male-pattern-baldness-and-unexpected-associations-with-disease/"> Parkinson’s disease and baldness</a>. We’ve also found correlations between breast cancer and breast size, body mass index and food choice, and hair color and skin cancer.
<h6>MY, WHAT LONG TELOMERES YOU HAVE</h6>
Several papers this year indicate that genetic variants in telomere genes (such as TERT, TERC, POT1, etc.) not only influence the length of telomeres, which in turn is a good indicator of longevity, but those variants are also associated with certain cancers. Researchers in several different Genome-Wide Association Studies have found links to cancers such as multiple myeloma,<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23535731"> breast and ovarian cancer</a>, testicular cancer,<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?cmd=retrieve&#038;list_uids=23143601&#038;dopt=citation"> lung cancer,</a> and chronic<a href="https://www.nature.com/ng/journal/v45/n5/full/ng.2584.html"> lymphocytic leukemia</a>.
<h6>23ANDME AND THE FDA</h6>
It’s not the kind of news we like, but there’s no way for us to do a roundup of the year&#8217;s big stories without mentioning that the FDA in December ordered 23andMe to stop offering new consumers access to their health-related genetic tests, while the company moves through the FDA’s regulatory review process. 23andMe remains committed to being a pioneer in the genetics revolution and has made its work with the FDA its top priority.
Making it all work will be good not just for the FDA and 23andMe, but for the future of the direct-to-consumer genetic testing industry. Individuals who want to understand their genetics will win too – that’s everyone’s goal. Here’s to 2014.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

This Year’s Top Ten Genetic Findings of 2013

Our favorite ancient cousins, the Neanderthals, are in the news again.
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-421 size-medium" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2.jpg 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<h6>Quality</h6>
Breathtaking in its quality her genome tells us a little about her,   but more importantly it gives us a better understanding of human evolution.
By comparing her data with other sequence data, researchers have been able to show that there was intermixing not just between modern humans and Neanderthals, but between Neanderthals, Denisovans (another ancient human), modern humans and perhaps other as yet unknown groups of ancient humans.
Using the sequence and comparing it to other Neanderthal, Denisovan and modern human genomes, the researchers – which included scientists from UC Berkeley, MIT, Harvard, the University of Washington and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing – were able to illustrate how genes flowed between these populations.
<h6>The Period of Intermixing</h6>
While there was interbreeding between Neanderthals, Denisovans and modern humans, there is still a distinct genetic difference between them.
As Carl Zimmer<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/science/toe-fossil-provides-complete-neanderthal-genome.html?pagewanted=2&amp;ref=science"> reported</a> in The New York Times, they “did not become one big genetic blur.”
After the periods of intermixing Denisovan and Neanderthals gradually disappeared, but their DNA remains in most modern humans.
The genome sequence – which is of a quality comparable to that of a sequence one could get from a modern human – offered researchers other insights including that ancient woman’s parents were likely related – perhaps half-siblings – and that her ancestors also likely inbred.
The findings lend support for a more nuanced story of human evolution.
<h6>Much to Learn</h6>
Earlier this year researchers extracted DNA from a 400,000 year-old thigh bone found buried in a Spanish cave, known as<a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nature12788.html"> Sima de los Huesos, or Pit of Bones.</a>
Apart from the big deal of extracting genetic material from a really, really old bone – the oldest human DNA recovered yet – the find surprised researchers.
The age of the bone, and its location, lead them to believe they would find Neanderthal DNA. It turned out to be Denisovan. Previous finds placed the Denisovans farther east and only back as far as 80,000 years.
Clearly there is still much to learn about how all these pieces fit together with our own evolutionary history.
&#8211; <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/our-neanderthal-cousins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Our Neanderthal Cousins</a>
&#8211; <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/more-fun-with-neanderthals/">More Fun with Neanderthals</a>
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/new-evidence-suggests-interbreeding-between-humans-and-neanderthals/"> New Evidence Suggests Humans and Neanderthal Interbreeding</a>
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<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-14049" title="neanderthal icon" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/neanderthal-icon-96x150.jpg" alt="" width="50" height="77" />
Got Neanderthal DNA?
23andMe customers can <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/labs/neanderthal/">find their inner Neanderthal</a> or at least how much Neanderthal DNA they have. Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store">Visit our store</a>!
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Neanderthals Genome Sheds Light On Human Evolution

Editor&#8217;s note: This post has been changed to reflect 23andMe&#8217;s newly regulated product offering. 
Caitlin, a blogger and self-described nerd, titled her ode to 23andMe “<a href="http://desertdandelion.blogspot.com/2012/12/do-these-genes-make-my-butt-look-big.html">Do These Genes Make My Butt Look Big?</a>” 
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-19480" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Rob-and-Caitlin-300x225.jpg" alt="Rob and Caitlin" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Rob-and-Caitlin-300x225.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Rob-and-Caitlin-768x576.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Rob-and-Caitlin-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Rob-and-Caitlin-880x660.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Rob-and-Caitlin-1180x885.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /> 
When she and her husband Rob gave each other the test kits as a gift, the two were captivated by the results, and like many things in her life, she went online to share.
The first thing Caitlin wanted to address was her relationship with Rob. The two had been together since high school, so long in fact that they began to look like each other she said. So some folks started asking, “Are you related?”
“Not so.” And 23andMe gave them the proof!
At first blush one might look at this young couple and see two fun loving, adventurous 28 year-olds. But Caitlin is a survivor of childhood cancer and Rob a combat veteran from the Iraq war. They have known their share of hardship, and yet, as a couple, life is about what’s new, what’s next and what they can learn. Testing with 23andMe was part of that exploration.
“(I)t can also show &#8230; where your family most likely came from, how much <a href="https://www.23andme.com/ancestry/deep/">Neanderthal DNA</a> you have, and what physical traits you&#8217;re most likely to have, given your genes,” said Caitlin.
When she first looked at her results, Caitlin started with the easy stuff, her predicted traits. Her genetics indicate that she’s likely to have Curly hair (check); that she would likely be near sighted (check), have green or brown eyes (check), and most likely have a big head – as Caitlin commented: “Yep, it&#8217;s huge”.
Then Caitlin moved to the health results. It did make her feel more assured about the veracity of the rest of the results and she became more proactive.
Caitlin took her report to her doctor to review.   Again, Caitlin felt empowered with the knowledge the results provided so she could have an educated discussion with her doctor.
Comparing their results, she and Rob discovered that, as prospective parents, their genes are a good fit.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-19481 size-full" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DSC_0496-1-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1714" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DSC_0496-1-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DSC_0496-1-1024x685.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DSC_0496-1-300x201.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DSC_0496-1-768x514.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DSC_0496-1-880x589.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/DSC_0496-1-1180x790.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px" />
“We also found out that our child has only a 22 percent chance of being blue-eyed, that we are not related (even though many people have suggested the possibility given the resemblance between us), and that neither of us appear to carry any of the diseases they keep track of,” She said.
But for Rob the golden nugget was this, Caitlin has 2.9 percent Neanderthal DNA which puts her in the 89 percentile.
“Rob is slightly less Neanderthal than I am, which he&#8217;s pretty proud of. So there you have it, quite possibly the most nerdy gift I have ever given and received.”
Results not typical. Results vary due to unique differences in each individual’s DNA. On average, users receive at least one or two results that may help with proactively managing health.  23andMe’s services are not a substitute for professional medical or diagnostic advice.

Spit And Tell

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-18144" title="neanderthal" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/neanderthal.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="270" />
By Amick Boone
They once numbered 300 strong, but the Oregon Cavemen, members of a Grants Pass booster club formed in 1922 whose members claim to be “direct descendants of the Neanderthal,” are fading fast.
Club members worry that as their numbers dwindle, soon there won’t be anyone around to protect their totem — a 17-foot fiberglass caveman statue that has long been a sort of guardian of the town, known as the gateway to the Oregon Caves National Monument.
The Oregon Caveman story appeared recently in an <a href="https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324010704578419171802521946.html?mod=ITP_AHED">article in the Wall Street Journal</a>, which detailed how the group fought tooth-and-nail to keep their animal-skin-wearing, club-wielding caveman standing tall on one of the main streets of Grants Pass.
The group’s original bylaws made claims regarding their Neanderthal lineage, but back then there was no way to know for sure.   These days, we have access to genetic testing that could help the Cavemen find out how much Neanderthal DNA they have, but it might not necessarily mean what they think. And the club might be as exclusive as they once believed.
Most non-African people do have Neanderthal DNA, on average about 2.5 percent, but some outliers have even more. However — sorry, Oregon Cavemen — Neanderthal DNA may not predispose you to an animal-print fashion sense or a taste for primitive weaponry.   In fact, what it means to have a higher percentage of Neanderthal DNA — whether it gives you a thicker forehead or makes you hairier, for instance — isn’t known.
Homo neandertalensis — thick-boned humans who thrived for hundreds of thousands of years in Europe and parts of Asia — died out about 30,000 years ago, while we modern humans (Homo sapiens) survived. Apart from some theories of how Neanderthals contribute to modern humans, including that they gave us some sort of <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/2011/110809/full/476136a.html">“hybrid vigor”</a> — according to Peter Parham, a geneticist at Stanford University School of Medicine — why we flourished and Neanderthals died out is an evolutionary mystery <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/find-your-inner-neanderthal/">we’ve yet to unravel</a>.
While the fate of the caveman statue in Grants Pass has very little to do with Neanderthals, it does give us a chance to revisit the topic of our ancient human cousins. Far from being dumb and unable to communicate, scientists have learned that Neanderthals used relatively complicated tools, created adornments, and likely had a spoken language.
Clearly our understanding of Neanderthals has evolved from the cartoonish caveman depictions of the past as we learn more about not just our shared DNA but also as more Neanderthal artifacts are uncovered.
As University of Wisconsin anthropologist John Hawks noted in <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/decoding-neanderthals.html">a recent NOVA special on PBS</a>: “Neanderthals have the mother of all image problems.”
For more on Neanderthals check out these posts:
&#8211; <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/more-fun-with-neanderthals/">More Fun with Neanderthals</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/ancestry-2/find-your-inner-neanderthal/"> Find Your Inner Neanderthal</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/news/new-evidence-suggests-interbreeding-between-humans-and-neanderthals/"> New Evidence Suggests Humans and Neanderthal Interbreeding</a>
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<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-14049" title="neanderthal icon" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/neanderthal-icon-96x150.jpg" alt="" width="50" height="77" />
Got Neanderthal DNA?
23andMe customers can <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/labs/neanderthal/">find their inner Neanderthal</a> or at least how much Neanderthal DNA they have. Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store">Visit our store</a>!
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Amick Boone

Oregon Cavemen May Have Neanderthals All Wrong

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-421 size-medium" title="Neanderthal" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2.jpg 400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
There’s much to recommend in Carl Zimmer’s profile of David Reich in Discovery Magazine.  Not least of which are details on our favorite extinct human cousins, Neanderthals.
Neanderthals are the rock stars of the piece. Zimmer also gives them their due, as well as a good primer on human evolution, and ancient migration out of Africa. He also explains  what all that ancient DNA might mean for modern humans.
There are few things as fascinating to the folks here at 23andMe. At the forefront is the idea that the DNA of Neanderthals – who vanished about 30,000 years ago – lives on in us. And it bolsters the theory that Neanderthals and humans interbred between 37,000 and 86,000 years ago. This was about the time when modern humans began to migrate from Africa to Europe.
23andMe’s popular <a href="https://www.23andme.com/ancestry/deep/">Neanderthal feature</a> was developed by scientists Eric Durand and Mike Macpherson. It can tell you how much Neanderthal DNA you have.
In Zimmer’s piece Reich suggests that there may also be DNA from other extinct human subspecies in our genes, such as <a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7327/abs/nature09710.html">Denisova</a>, another of our early human cousins. The remnants of that ancient DNA &#8212; which pieces, how much of it, and who carries it today &#8212; contain insights not just about human evolution and migration, but about health and traits in modern humans.
If you haven’t already, check out Zimmer&#8217;s story or read more about what we&#8217;ve written about Neanderthals and humans:
&#8211; <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/more-fun-with-neanderthals">More Fun with Neanderthals</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/find-your-inner-neanderthal"> Find Your Inner Neanderthal</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/new-evidence-suggests-interbreeding-between-humans-and-neanderthals"> New Evidence Suggests Humans and Neanderthal Interbreeding</a>
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<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-14049" title="neanderthal icon" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/neanderthal-icon-96x150.jpg" alt="" width="50" height="77" />
Got Neanderthal DNA?
23andMe customers can <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/labs/neanderthal/">find their inner Neanderthal</a> or at least how much Neanderthal DNA they have. Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store">Visit our store</a>!
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Our Neanderthal Cousins

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-full wp-image-7425" title="ancestry-photo-sheridan" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/ancestry-photo-sheridan.png" alt="" width="280" height="152" />
We first met <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-introducing-sheridan/">Sheridan</a>* in the fall of 2010. As an adoptee, she was curious about her DNA and what 23andMe might be able to tell her.
With the help of old friends and some new ones on 23andMe, Sheridan learned about her <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-sheridans-global-origins/">global origins</a>,  which include an African-American father and a mother of European descent, and <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-sheridans-got-relatives/">connected with DNA relatives</a>.
She even discovered that she and her good friend Brian are <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-finding-connections/">4th cousins</a>, which means she has some Irish ancestry. Together, they <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-old-roots-and-new-horizons/">figured out a branch of her family tree</a>.

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For a quick Ancestry primer, check out:
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/genetics-101/ancestry-at-23andme-what-can-you-learn/">Ancestry at 23andMe: What Can You Learn?</a>
Follow Sheridan’s journey from the beginning:*
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-introducing-sheridan/">Introducing Sheridan</a> 
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-sheridans-global-origins/">Sheridan’s Global Origins</a> 
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-sheridans-got-relatives/">Sheridan’s Got Relatives</a> 
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-finding-connections/">Finding Connections</a> 
<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-and-you/23andme-how-to/ancestry-at-23andme-old-roots-and-new-horizons/">Old Roots and New Horizons</a>
*Sheridan and her story are works of fiction and any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental.
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<h6>Using DNA Relatives</h6>
For Sheridan, learning about herself on 23andMe did more than just kindle a love for the Irish. By combining the information she learned about her ancestral origins with information from some of the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">DNA Relatives</a> she found, she and Brian were able to fill in the first pieces of her genealogical history.
Since then, Sheridan’s filled in even more of the family tree on her mother’s side.
Her second cousin Mike, identified through 23andMe as a DNA Relative, was able to track down the name of his grandmother’s sister &#8212; a woman very likely to be Sheridan’s own grandmother. To Brian’s delight, Mike also found the name of his grandmother’s sister’s husband, a Fitzpatrick descended from the same Irish ancestors as Brian.
<h6>Neanderthal</h6>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignleft wp-image-17249 size-medium" title="Neanderthal-friends-sheridan" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-272x300.png" alt="" width="272" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-272x300.png 272w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-768x849.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-927x1024.png 927w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-796x880.png 796w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan-1068x1180.png 1068w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Neanderthal-friends-sheridan.png 1192w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 272px) 100vw, 272px" />
Brian always kept her in the loop on 23andMe, though. Some more mutual friends joined and they quickly started sharing on 23andMe. Sheridan remembers when the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/you/labs/neanderthal/">Neanderthal Ancestry feature</a> came out. There was an unofficial contest over who had the most <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/find-your-inner-neanderthal/">Neanderthal DNA</a>; Brian was disappointed that he was solidly average for a Northern European person. Sheridan tried to cheer him up by pointing out that he still had the most caveman of their friends with mostly European ancestry.
“Besides,” she said, “I only have 2.2 percent Neanderthal!”
“That’s because Neanderthals were never even in Africa to begin with,” he snorted, but he seemed mollified.
Sheridan, far from feeling shortchanged, found it fascinating that even a small percentage of her DNA could be traced back to these prehistoric “cousins.”
<h6>Ancestry Composition</h6>
But Brian’s Stone Age enthusiasm paled in comparison to his excitement over Ancestry Composition. A new and improved replacement for the popular Ancestry Painting feature, <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/ancestry/23andmes-newest-feature-explores-your-ancestry/">Ancestry Composition</a> gives a much more detailed breakdown of a person’s genetic ancestry. Brian called Sheridan at two in the morning when it came out.
“It’s here!” he exclaimed when she groggily answered the phone.
“Unghh wha&#8211;?” she mumbled.
“Ancestry Composition! Like Ancestry Painting, but way better. Remember? Your Ancestry Painting was cool, but your Composition is even cooler. Mine’s still kind of boring, though. But you should look at yours! And I can see it split it up by which side I got from my mom and which side from my dad and you can zoom in and out and change the thresholds&#8230; hey, you still there? Sheridan? Hello?”
So maybe two in the morning wasn’t the best time for Brian to tell Sheridan about Ancestry Composition. But the next day they met up at the coffee shop to explore the new feature together.
Brian quickly explained that 23andMe had updated its main ancestry feature with lots of examples of people with full ancestry from different parts of the world &#8212; like South Asia, France, or Finland. Some of these people were part of research studies and their genetic data is publicly available. But many of the people 23andMe used to develop its ancestry analysis are 23andMe customers themselves.
“Of course, you can only learn what, say, ‘Welsh DNA’ looks like if you have some examples of it,” he said. “The more examples you can learn from, the better your analysis will be. And 23andMe has a lot of different types of examples.”
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-17254" title="Brian-composition" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Brian-composition-700x421.png" alt="" width="350" />
Brian clicked on the ‘+’ symbol in the “Resolution” bar to zoom in. “It’s still all European for me &#8212; no surprise &#8212; but now it can break it down into sub-regions.” The list of ancestries on the right of the screen expanded as he clicked and when he hovered the mouse pointer over the darker blue ring the map zoomed in to the British Isles.
“See? 99% British and Irish!” he said, puffing out his chest, which today was sporting, perhaps not accidentally, a green “Kiss me, I’m Irish!” t-shirt.
Sheridan rolled her eyes.
“Ok, ok, you were saying mine was cooler, though, right?”
“Oh, right. Yeah.”
Sheridan scooted him aside and pulled her Ancestry Composition up on the screen. The rings quickly morphed into concentric stacks of bright colors with a rainbow-colored map in the middle.
“Ooh,” she breathed. “Yeah, that’s pretty cool.”
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According to the new analysis, Sheridan’s DNA was about 62% European, 37% Sub-Saharan African, and 1.2% East Asian or Native American. The rest of her DNA was unassigned, meaning it couldn’t be mapped confidently to any specific population.
&#8220;Africa isn&#8217;t broken down into sub-regions yet the way Europe is,&#8221; Brian said, pointing to the pink stripe, &#8220;but 23andMe is going to update this soon.&#8221;
&#8220;Hm, I guess I can wait a little longer,&#8221; said Sheridan. &#8220;It&#8217;s nice to see all the European populations, though. Look, there’s the Irish ancestry for me, too!”
She already knew that she probably had some Irish ancestry based on the fact that she and 99% Irish Brian were 4th cousins and they’d traced their Irish family connection through her second cousin Mike, but it was somehow gratifying to see it spelled out so clearly on her screen. She could also see that she had some Eastern European and even a bit of Native American ancestry.
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-17257" title="Miguel-composition" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Miguel-composition-300x161.png" alt="" width="350" /> 
<img decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-17258" title="Mesut-composition" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mesut-composition-300x154.png" alt="" width="350" /> 
<img decoding="async" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-17262" title="Ancestry Composition Native American" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Ancestry-Composition-Native-American-700x331.png" alt="" width="350" />
There was also a small dark blue band in her Composition labeled as “Ashkenazi”.
“That might actually be interesting,” Brian mused, “Let’s look into that later.”
For now, Ancestry Composition kept them busy as they explored their friends’ results. Miguel had a colorful Composition like Sheridan, except it had much more Native American and much less African. Mesut, Sheridan’s Turkish friend, was mainly Middle Eastern and European.
“Did Camille know she has Native American ancestry?” she asked, pointing to the 3.3% Native American in her Ancestry Composition.
“Not before she did 23andMe,” said Brian. “When she saw that result she did some digging and it turns out that her paternal grandfather was one-eighth <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojibwe_people">Chippewa</a>!”
He went to the drop down menu and selected another friend of theirs, Jamie. “This is pretty cool, too. Jamie’s half Askhenazi Jewish, and since her parents are also on 23andMe you can use the ‘Split View’ setting to see which side of the family it’s from.”
The map in the middle disappeared and the labels “Father” and “Mother appeared on either side of a vertical line splitting the colored rings in half. Sheridan could see that the Ashkenazi ancestry was clearly from Jamie’s mother’s side.
“Wow, that’s cool,” said Sheridan.
She thought for a second.
“So if I do end up learning who my mother is, and if I’m able to find her, and if she wants to do 23andMe&#8230; would this be able to tell me more about my father’s side, too?”
Brian nodded.
“That’ a lot of ‘ifs’, but yeah, I think so. You just need one parent for it to tell which half of your DNA came from that parent. Then by default, the other half came from the other parent.”
“Whew.” Sheridan sat back. “This whole genetic ancestry thing just got even more interesting.”
To be continued&#8230;

Ancestry at 23andMe: New Insights for Sheridan

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-10750 size-full" title="top10ten" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/top10ten.jpg" alt="" width="306" height="345" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/top10ten.jpg 306w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/top10ten-266x300.jpg 266w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 306px) 100vw, 306px" />
Take a moment to look back at the ten most interesting and significant genetic findings of 2012 or at least the ones that drew our attention.
In the last 12 months we’ve seen huge strides in genetic research giving us new insight into serious conditions such as Alzheimer’s as well as new treatments for cystic fibrosis. And in the last year scientists have made huge leaps in our understanding of the human genome itself with the culmination of a massive study of the so-called uncharted non-coding portions of our DNA – the ENCODE project.
Researchers at 23andMe continue to contribute to some of these important findings with groundbreaking work on the relative importance of family health history versus genetics when determining disease risk and a new method to screen for the genetic risk for certain types of blood disorders.
It’s been another great year of discovery and here’s our top ten.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-5677 size-full" title="alzheimers" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/alzheimers.jpg" alt="" width="435" height="310" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/alzheimers.jpg 435w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/alzheimers-300x214.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 435px) 100vw, 435px" />
1) &nbsp;A Genetic Variant Protective Against Alzheimer’s Disease – The T version of rs63750847 &nbsp;– also known as the A673T variant in the APP gene – was associated with about five times lower odds of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?cmd=Search&amp;db=pubmed&amp;term=22801501">Alzheimer&#8217;s</a>. While this is a very rare variant – only about one in 10,000 people of European descent have it – the research, done by the Icelandic company deCODE Genetics in association with Genentech, adds more insight into the development of the disease. Many mutations in the APP gene actually cause Alzheimer’s through an overproduction of beta amyloid protein in the brain (a hallmark of Alzheimer’s), but the protective variant appears to do the opposite, according to the study. New drugs built on this finding could help protect against Alzheimer’s, or even the mental ravages of normal aging. 23andMe does offer customers reports on their own Alzheimer’s risk based on the more common APOE variant, as well as a report on this protective APP variant.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-15558 size-full" title="encode" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/encode.jpg" alt="" width="574" height="334" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/encode.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/encode-300x175.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 574px) 100vw, 574px" />
2) &nbsp;ENCODE Project Creates a Map of the Uncharted Areas of the Genome – Much of the work in genetics has been focused on the areas in our DNA that code for proteins, but this is a very small part – just 1 percent – of our genome. The<a href="https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/09/encode-human-genome/"> ENCODE project</a>, which has enlisted more than 400 scientists over several years, is attempting to map the rest of it, the so called<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/news/a-map-of-the-uncharted-genome/"> “dark matter” of the genome</a>. What they’ve created is the foundation of a sort of encyclopedia of the functions of many of these uncharted areas of the genome. It’s a resource that will be used by many scientists in the years to come.
3) &nbsp;Noninvasive Prenatal Sequencing – Two separate research groups reported within weeks of each other that they had<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/health-traits/noninvasive-sequencing-of-a-human-fetus/"> successfully sequenced a human fetus</a> and done so noninvasively. The breakthrough offers an opportunity for earlier prenatal screening than currently offered with amniocentesis or chorionic villous sampling (CVS) without the same risks for a developing fetus.
4) &nbsp;New insights into a group of rare blood disorders known as MPNs – In less than a year, 23andMe recruited a 1,000-person cohort with a group of rare blood disorders known as myeloproliferative neoplasms, or MPNs. Within months of reaching that goal we began reporting our<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/novel-genetic-findings-for-myeloproliferative-neoplasms/"> new findings</a>. Among them were replications of known genetic associations with the disease as well as new ones including an association between these conditions and variants in the TERT and ATM genes.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-6487 size-full" title="neanderthal_bones" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/neanderthal_bones.jpg" alt="" width="350" height="421" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/neanderthal_bones.jpg 350w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/neanderthal_bones-249x300.jpg 249w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px" />
5) &nbsp;New Insights into Human Origins and Evolution – Several different studies highlight ongoing research on our early ancestors and the evolution of modern humans. Beyond the compelling tale of our early ancestors, the journey out of African and the intermixing with Neanderthals and Denisovans, the new research also gives us insight into the<a href="https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/11/recent-human-evolution-2/"> significance of rare genetic variants</a>.
6) &nbsp;Family Medical and Genetics Used Together to Predict Disease – 23andMe <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/using-genetics-and-family-history-for-health/">developed a model</a> to show that both family history and genetic tests have strengths in predicting disease risks, but when used together they provide the best predictor for disease.
&nbsp;7) &nbsp;Older Dads’ Biological Clocks – For a long time prospective fathers could wile away the years without much worry about when to have kids, while prospective moms were constantly checking their ticking biological clocks.<a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v488/n7412/full/nature11396.html"> A study</a> may turn the tables a bit, pushing men to think a little more about how long they wait to start a family. The study says that as men grow older the number of de novo mutations they<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/health-traits/for-older-dads/"> pass onto their children increases</a>, and preliminary studies suggest that the more de novo mutations passed onto a child the higher the risk that child could develop certain types of conditions, such as autism and schizophrenia. That said becoming a dad can actually be good for you. There’s evidence linking <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/health-traits/ah-fatherhood-dirty-diapers-skinned-knees-and-healthier-hearts/">fatherhood to healthier hearts.</a>
8) &nbsp;Breast Size Matters, But Not How You Think – Researchers at 23andMe found that genetic factors influence breast size and that in turn these factors are connected to the genetics of breast cancer.
&nbsp;9) &nbsp;New Treatment for Cystic Fibrosis – &nbsp;Early in 2012 the FDA approved ivacaftor (Kalydeco ®) as a new treatment for cystic fibrosis, one of the most common recessively inherited diseases. The drug<a href="https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444024204578046911440223842.html?mod=WSJ_TechInnovationAwards1012_MiddleSecondSummaries%20."> developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc</a>. is the first treatment that targets one of the underlying causes of cystic fibrosis – a specific genetic mutation – rather than its symptoms.
10) &nbsp;Autism Study Reveals No Genetic Associations – It may be strange to <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/health-traits/autism-study-reveals-no-genetic-associations/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">point to a study that finds no genetic associations</a>, but sometimes an absence of evidence can hint toward new routes of study. Cases of Autism spectrum disorders – which run the gamut from mild to severe impairment and include autism, Asperger syndrome and other disorders – have become increasingly common in the U.S. Why that is, is not so easy to discern. The lack of an association doesn’t mean that genetics isn’t important. In fact twin studies suggest that autism is at least moderately heritable, but it may be that genetic variations play a smaller role than rare mutations or copy number variation in the risk of a person developing autism.

Top Genetic Findings of 2012

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-15111 size-medium" title="Got Neanderthal?" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Got-Neanderthal-300x206.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="206" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Got-Neanderthal-300x206.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Got-Neanderthal.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Not everyone would embrace their inner caveman, but in <a href="https://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_evolution/2012/10/neanderthal_and_denisovan_genetics_human_ancestors_interbred_with_extinct.single.html#pagebreak_anchor_2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">today’s Slate</a> Ann Gibbons sure did.
<a href="http://www.anngibbons.com/">Gibbons</a>, who also writes for Science, is the author of the book The First Human: The Race to Discover Our Earliest Ancestors. Over almost two decades, she’s delved into the discoveries around human evolution.
In her Slate piece she writes about getting tested by 23andMe. While she was interested in her European ancestry, what really drew her in was the portion of her results that showed she has 2.9 percent Neanderthal DNA.
For someone who has spent years writing about the march of mankind from our earliest ancestors to the emergence of modern humans, finding a tangible link to the past is powerful stuff. The PBS show NOVA scienceNOW recently aired a piece that nicely crafts a story about <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/evolution/what-makes-us-human-pro.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">what it means to humans</a> to share Neanderthal DNA.
For a lot of us here, although Neanderthals disappeared long ago, it&#8217;s most intriguing that their DNA continues to live on in all non-African people. It may be that the DNA of other prehistoric human groups also are intermixed in our own DNA. Much like with Neanderthals, scientists extracted ancient DNA from the skeletal remains of another ancient cousin known as the Denisovans. The remains – a finger bone – was found in a cave in Siberia, showed that Denisovans were cousins of Neanderthals, who lived in Asia and disappeared about 40,000 years ago. Their DNA is found today in Melanasians.
As for Neanderthals, 23andMe launched our popular Neanderthal Lab about a year ago. It allows customers to determine what percentage of their DNA is Neanderthal. A typical range is between 1 percent and 4 percent with the average being about 2.5 percent, but there are outliers, who have much more.
Check out these posts about Neanderthals and Humans: 
&#8211; <a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/did-humans-and-neanderthals-have-sex/">Did Humans and Neanderthals Have Sex?</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/find-your-inner-neanderthal"> Find Your Inner Neanderthal</a> 
&#8211;<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/articles/new-evidence-suggests-interbreeding-between-humans-and-neanderthals"> New Evidence Suggests Humans and Neanderthal Interbreeding</a>
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Got Neanderthal DNA?
23andMe customers can find their inner Neanderthal or at least how much Neanderthal DNA they have at <a href=" https://www.23andme.com/you/labs/neanderthal/">23andMe Ancestry Labs</a>. Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store">Visit our store</a>!
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More On 23andMe’s Neanderthal Lab

<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-421 size-full" title="Neanderthal" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="266" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2.jpg 400w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/neanderthaler2-300x200.jpg 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px" />
Did they really “do it?&#8221;
We’re not talking about actress Kristen Stewart and her “Snow White and the Huntsman” director; We’re talking about Neanderthals and modern humans. 
Without meaning to get all People magazine on you, the question about whether modern humans and Neanderthals hooked up has again become a subject of scientific debate.
The short answer is yes, they had sex. At least, based on the science it certainly appears there was indeed “interbreeding” between modern humans and Neanderthals. 
But a counter argument published in <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2012/08/14/1200567109">PNAS</a>, asserts that the shared DNA found in both modern humans and our Neanderthal cousins may have come from common African ancestors. Since the paper’s publication there has been a lot of coverage in the<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2012/aug/14/study-doubt-human-neanderthal-interbreeding"> popular press</a>, as well as<a href="http://blogs.nature.com/news/2012/08/neanderthal-sex-debate-highlights-benefits-of-pre-publication.html"> science-centered publications</a>.
Several researchers have said the model supporting the theory that the shared DNA comes from a common African ancestor is wrong. Beyond that, the science done to support the theory of interbreeding actually took into account the idea that is the cornerstone of their theory and debunked it. 
Or as Discovery magazine blogger Razib Khan observed, “One could say that the appropriate follow up paper to the PNAS contribution was actually published before it.”
23andMe scientist Eric Durand, a computational biologists who helped work on the<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/neandertal/"> first draft of the Neanderthal genome</a> and on analysis of<a href="https://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v468/n7327/abs/nature09710.html"> the Denisova genome</a>– another of our early human cousins – said much the same thing.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright wp-image-15111 size-medium" title="Got Neanderthal?" src="http://35.88.189.111/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Got-Neanderthal-300x206.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="206" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Got-Neanderthal-300x206.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Got-Neanderthal.jpg 600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
“It is surprising that such a paper got published – and received so much press coverage – as the<a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/content/328/5979/710.full"> initial paper</a> explored such a demographic model of ancient structure and wrote in the main text that it could explain the data,” Eric said. “At this time we simply regarded this model as less parsimonious than the recent admixture model, because the ancient structure model implies that barrier to gene flow consistently separated highly adaptable hominins for hundreds of generations.”
Beyond that paper published in Science two years ago, Eric worked with others from UC Berkeley on a<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22513287"> paper published earlier this yea</a>r, using another statistical approach that also undercuts the theory that a common African cousin explains the shared DNA between modern humans and Neanderthal.
What’s more exciting for Eric is that this more recent paper uses a new methodology to estimate that the interbreeding occurred between 37,000 and 86,000 years ago, or about the time when modern humans began their slow migration from Africa to Europe.
The estimate “actually coincides pretty well with the estimated time of the ‘out-of-Africa’ event,” Eric said.
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Got Neanderthal DNA?
23andMe customers can find their inner Neanderthal or at least how much Neanderthal DNA they have at <a href=" https://www.23andme.com/you/labs/neanderthal/">23andMe Ancestry Labs</a>. Not yet a customer? <a href="https://www.23andme.com/store">Visit our store</a>!
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Neanderthal — Page 4