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Posts Tagged ‘23andMe’

23andMe DNA Testing Kit Giveaway

Posted in 23andMe, Family, tagged , , on June 25, 2009 | 35 Comments »


 

Here's the Kit. Cool graphics, huh?

Here's the Kit. Cool graphics, huh?

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been writing a bit (!) about 23andMe for the past few months. I’ve contemplated the difference between my jeans and my genes, I’ve wondered why my family (who all have kits) won’t spit, I’ve worried about how much to share, how much info is too much. But mostly, I’ve spent the last several months amazed at both the plethora of information you get from having a DNA Test at 23andMe, and the incredible generosity of the 23andWe community where someone always seems ready to answer my questions immediately. (And every time – as this time – I have full disclosure, I am a paid freelance employee of 23andMe. And if you think that means I can’t be unbiased about the service – you’re just WRONG.!)

 

Now, the fabu people at 23andMe have given me a chance to offer you the chance to win the DNA Testing Service for yourself. It’s worth $399 and gives you access to detailed information about your traits, family background and health predispositions—to enter, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post answering one of the following questions:

Is there anything about your family background that you hope genotyping might help you figure out?
-or-
One of the main goals of 23andMe is to further research into the genetic aspect of our health. How do you think having more information about your own genes might help you manage your health?
-or-
What would you do if you found out you were predisposed to something…let’s just say scary. Would you freak out, or feel empowered?

I’ll use Random.com to pick a winner. Now the legal mumbo jumbo: The contest is open to legal residents of the USA, ages 18 or older and the winner is responsible for any applicable taxes. Here’s a link to the official rules:
https://www.23andme.com/bloggergiveawayofficialrules/

Comments will be open until 11 PM on Sunday, June 28, and will contact the winner sometime on Monday, June 29. Make sure you leave your email (it won’t show up in your comment online) so I can let you know you’ve won. 

Good Luck Everybody!

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More Alike than I Thought: It's all in the Genome Sequence

Posted in 23andMe, tagged , , , , , , on April 23, 2009 | 1 Comment »


23andme_logoTake a guess as to how statistically similar you are to any other random person in the world.

8% maybe? 20% 33%?

The true number, according to the 23andMe geneticists, is anywhere from 63-69%.  If the random person happens to be your same race, that number jumps to  between 73% and 74.%  And that’s just the part (or SNP’s – look it up!) that they look at.  Overall, the similarity number is closer to 98%.

Whoa.

I know, I know.  We all have 23 sets of chromosomes (hence 23andMe – don’t worry, I didn’t figure that out for a while either.) We all (mostly) have two arms, two eyes, two kidneys, one heart. (well, everyone but my sixth grade English teacher.  Only someone without a heart could make kids diagram sentences for hours on end.)

It kinda makes you think, doesn’t it? So many of our society’s ills are based around our (perceived) differences: racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia. Certainly the latest You Tube phenomenon, Susan Boyle, has brought up the ever-present “look-ism” we as a culture all engage in.

Those opposed to Gay marriage see gay people as “other.”  Guess what?  They’re MORE THAN 50% genetical identical to you.  How about those who have problems with those of a different race?  Can I hear another “more than 50%? Those people you don’t like because of their religion? Ditto.

I know, we’re all different from each other.  Each of us is unique. And I know, too, that we are not our biology. A large part of who we are is how we think, what we feel, how we behave.  But still.  Differences tend to define us.  But we are way more similar than we are different.  And maybe, just maybe, if more thought about things that way – well – it may be a cliche.  But maybe, just maybe, the world would be a better place.

Full Disclosure: this post was sponsored (but not influenced) by 23andMe.

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What? Me Worry? My 23andMe Results

Posted in 23andMe, tagged , , , on April 16, 2009 | Leave a Comment »


23andme_logoI spoke to a geneticist at 23andMe today (as a paid blogger for them (full disclosure here) I get that courtesy.) and told him that it seemed to me that I was (genetically speaking anyway) completely average in every way.

“Didn’t you see the Diabetes?” he  asked.

Well, yes.  According to my 23andMe genetic analysis, I am significantly more genetically disposed to Type 2 Diabetes than your average person. I had seen it, but I didn’t care.  I figured that environmental factors were way more significant than genetic ones, and since I’m not obese, I don’t smoke, and I don’t have a sweet tooth, I sort of dismissed the whole thing.

As it turns out, my English Major self was scientifically correct: genes account for only 26% of risk factors for developing diabetes.  74% of your risk has to do with how you eat and other environmental stuff. Not to worry. Case dismissed. (more…)

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Spit Happens: Taking the 23andMe Spit Test

Posted in 23andMe, Genetics, tagged , , on April 9, 2009 | 1 Comment »


23andme_logoI am a terrible spitter. Seriously. I am one of those people who, when she tries to spit (like, say after getting a mouthful of gnats while running on a summer day. And yes, I sometimes do run. Not a lot, but sometimes. Hey, it isn’t easy finding time to run)

ANWAY, I am one of those people who, when she tries to spit, ends up with a chin full of drool. I’m not even good at spitting out my toothpaste. I cannot begin to count the number of times I’ve found toothpaste IN MY HAIR after brushing. Of course, I only find it after it’s dried and stuck together in a little clump on my head, because realizing that it was there while I was standing at the sink would just be too easy, what with the ability at that moment to rinse it out and all.

Honestly, it’s not as if it’s been a big issue for me. Spitting is for old men, tobacco chewing baseball players, and babies, when they eat something they don’t like. It’s not like I’ve aspired to be the Michael Phelps of spitting. Honking a lugey has never been high on my list of to-do lists, not to mention to-do-well lists.

I even think the word is awful. Spit. Sounds like an expletive, doesn’t it? No really, say it really loudly and with a bit of anger in your voice. See? Now go wash your mouth out with soap, you naughty girl, you.

Even the clinical alternative to the word spit, “saliva,” seems salacious. It sounds like one of your “female” parts, the uterus, the vulva, the saliva.

So I’m not a spitter. You can imagine, then, how I felt when I saw the amount of saliva I had to produce for 23andMe. (I couldn’t help but notice that the thing you have to spit into for 23andMe is called a vial! Get it? Vile/Vial. Accident? I think not!)

But you know what? It wasn’t that bad. I think my problem with spitting has always been the distance thing. Projectile spitting is not my forte. Spitting directly into a little tube, however, was perfectly fine. Gross, but fine. I got all the saliva in there without too much difficulty.

Once I had the spit, I took a look. I haven’t seen that much of my own saliva in one place since I was fitted for a retainer in seventh grade. But this spit was different, special. It was sort of like a test-tube baby. All this promise in a tube: the promise of learning about my heritage, delving into my genetic make-up, solving, perhaps, the mystery of why I’ve never, ever, been good at math.

Who knows what all this spitting will bring? Maybe I’ll start to associate spitting not with old men and phlegmy handkerchiefs, but with knowledge and medical breakthroughs. But for now, I think I’ve spit enough. Excuse me while I go wipe my chin.

Full Disclosure:  I am a founding member of the 23andMe and me Pregnancy Community, which sponsored this post.

Part of the mission of 23andMe is to increase research into pregnancy and pregnancy related issues.  You can be a part of it (even if you don’t spit!) The more women who participate by answering surveys, the better the reasearch will be. If you are currently pregnant  or have been pregnant before please visit http://www.23andme.com/pregnancy and complete a short survey.

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Why I spat: My 23andMe Spitting Experience

Posted in Genetics, Health, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on March 31, 2009 | 1 Comment »


Well, the launch is finally here, and now I can divulge my 23andMe secret:  I am a founding member of the 23andMe pregnancy blogging community.  And no, I am not making another, related to the pregnancy part of that announcement.  Those days are gone.  That ship has sailed.  This uterus is CLOSED for operation.  I have been pregnant — so I qualified for the job. (Yes, it’s a job: full disclosure, here.)

What will I be doing?  Posting at least once a week.  Getting involved in the forums.  Participating in surveys. Basically being a part of an incredibly cool, potentially medically influential company that really, truly, wants to make a difference in women’s health – and in health care in general. (No pressure, but if you’re pregnant, you can contribute to some pretty cool research related to women’s gestational health by participating too. Click here.)

If you’ve ever wondered what it takes to get your genome tested (and full disclosure: as an employee, I had it done for free.)  read my post, below.  And check out this video, to see what it’s like to Spit!

And now – the post:

WHY I SPAT

Genotyping. The whole thing has a kind of futuristic feeling. Like I should be wearing a silver jumpsuit and sitting in a white laminate Pod, eating simulated food, while a computer calculates the precise moment at which my offspring will appear and completely disrupt my life.

But genotyping isn’t science fiction. It’s here.

Part of me feels a little “don’t ask/don’t tell.” What if I find out something terrible? Like I have a tremendous chance of developing a particularly awful disease, or that I’m genetically related to that horrible mother at my kids’ school who’s always telling everyone what a “genius” her kid is, or that, in all likelihood, I will never, ever, be truly thin. I’m not sure I want to know.

Take, for instance, the possibility that my genes indicate that I will never be thin. Will I use it as an excuse to scarf down a pint of ice-cream with a chocolate-chip cookie chaser? Or if I am genetically related to that mother – will I feel obligated to ask her to join me for Thanksgiving dinner, thus increasing exponentially the possibility of my suffering a sever bout of indigestion? Or, in a completely unfunny scenario, what if I find out I have the breast cancer gene? Will I live in fear for the rest of my life? Will I opt to take preventative action? Who knows?

But I’ve never been one to shy away from the truth, to eschew knowledge and go through life in blissful ignorance. So I do want to know as much about myself as I can. But more than that, I want to know about how I came to be who I am.

My mother’s family consisted of her, her brother, and her parents. Every other person in her extended family was killed in World War II. My grandparents never wanted to discuss their painful past, which left me with little to no information about where that side of my family came from. Maybe genotyping could offer some sort of snap-shot of them that I don’t have, and maybe my genetic picture will help fill in the blanks in my family’s medical history.

My own family consists of me, my husband, and our two children. Like most mothers, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for my kids. (At their request, I even put on a cat costume this Halloween. And trust me, a forty-three year old mother in a tight cat-suit with ears does not make anyone meow.) Maybe learning about my own genetic make-up will give me the information I need to keep my children healthy, help them grow.

I might find out things I don’t want to know. But the thought that I might find out something horrible is outweighed by the possibility that I might find out something useful. Or even that I may help someone else by contributing to research that could lead to breakthroughs in any number of medical fields. I could inform myself, know what I need to do to help me and my family live long productive life. Plus, I could and find out if it’s true what my Great Uncle Nat always said: I’m related to Harry Connick Jr. Cousin Harry!!! I love you!

If I find out, however, that I will never, ever, be truly thin. I may have to ask for a refund.


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What A Trip!

Posted in 23andMe, Diet, Travel, Uncategorized, Weight, tagged , , , , , , on January 22, 2009 | 10 Comments »


I’ve been back from my 23andMe super-secret-special-project extravaganza trip for some time now.  I’ve been basking in the glory that was four days away from household chores, drop-off, pick up, and frigid temperatures. I did miss my kids and hubby, tis true, but it was a small price to pay for a little solitude, a bit of fun, and a whole lot of information about personal genome testing.

But my giveaway jacket is chocolate brown!

But my giveaway jacket is chocolate brown!

Since I am still bound by the 23andMe code of secrecy, I can’t tell you too much about why I was there and what I’ll be doing for the company.  I can, however, tell you that while I was there I scored an ENORMOUS amount of swag.  One of the cutest things I got was the little jacket pictured here (only mine is chocolate brown)., by wati design.  Sadly, it’s a size two.  Too small for my 8 year old daughter.  But that’s where you come in: leave a comment below, and you could win this gorgeous little embroidered size 2T blazer, sure to make any little girl look like a million bucks.  (Just make sure to leave your email so I can find you if you win.)

Keep reading and I’ll tell you more about the rules and regs at the end of the post. (more…)

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