23andMe is a company that makes a DNA testing kit that genealogists can use to learn more about their ancestry and health. The company recently acquired a company called CureTogether, Inc. The combined resources should enhance what 23andMe currently offers. You may have heard of 23andMe. They sell a DNA testing kit that requires you to provide a sample of saliva. A lab gets your DNA from the cheek cells that are preserved in your saliva. The lab then copies your DNA in a process called amplification until it has a large enough sample to enable genotyping. The DNA kit … Continue reading →

You already know that family history can play a role in your health. You may even have made a family medical history to share with your doctor so that they can work with you to reduce your disease risk. Genetics certainly does play an important role in determining our health and forecasting potential health risks. There is another layer to the whole health and heritability thing, though. Epigenetics is the study of whether or not inherited genes are expressed, and it could provide powerful information about disease risk and prevention. Epigenetics deals largely with the effect of environmental factors on … Continue reading →

23andMe is a company that sells genetic testing kits to people who wish to know more about the information that is revealed in their genes. Every year, 23andMe releases a list of their top ten genetic findings. Many of these findings are of interest to genealogists. 23andMe has a blog that it calls “The Spittoon”. It is a rather amusing, and appropriate name. This company sells DNA testing kits to consumers. Those who purchase a kit provide a saliva sample to 23andMe. To do this, a person basically has to spit into the sample collection device. Therefore, “spittoon” is an … Continue reading →