Nov 26 2009
Looking for something to talk about between mouthfuls of green bean casserole and cranberry dressing?
Instead of discussing the big game or Friday’s shopping prospects, U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin would like you to consider chatting up your relatives to learn their medical histories in honor of Family Health History Day.
“An important first step in preventing [...]
Nov 25 2009
Type 2 diabetes is a common disease characterized by high blood glucose levels and unresponsiveness to insulin. Individuals with type 2 diabetes may produce insulin at normal levels but do not respond to it sufficiently, either because the insulin receptors in their cells have become less sensitive or because the insulin produced in the pancreas [...]
Nov 24 2009
More than 30 million people worldwide are living with HIV, and about three million more are infected each year. Although people infected with the virus are living longer and healthier lives thanks to intense research, there is still no cure.
One way to identify new strategies for fighting HIV is to look to those people whose [...]
Nov 20 2009
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic autoimmune disorder – encompassing both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis – that affects more than a million people in the United States. Normally, our immune system works to fight off harmful pathogens that might pass through our digestive tract. In IBD, however, the immune system stays in overdrive and attacks [...]
Nov 19 2009
Get ready — there’s a whole new way to do genealogy.
You may have already heard about a new feature 23andMe is offering its customers, called Relative Finder. With the launch of our new Ancestry Edition, we wanted to tell you more about it.
Don’t just settle for two branches of your family tree…
Relative Finder is a [...]
Nov 18 2009
The following is a joint letter addressing the Opinion piece by Pauline C. Ng, Sarah S. Murray, Samuel Levy and J. Craig Venter that appeared in the October 8, 2009 issue of Nature (coverage here, here, here, and here). Unfortunately, Nature could not publish the letter because of space restrictions, so 23andMe and Navigenics decided [...]
Nov 17 2009
PET scans showing dopamine activity in a normal brain and a Parkinson’s patient’s before and after treatment with a therapeutic implant.
More than a million Americans have Parkinson’s disease, and another 50,000 are diagnosed each year. Scientists know that many of the characteristic symptoms of Parkinson’s — tremors, rigid muscles and movement problems — can [...]
Nov 13 2009
Some people want to know everything their genetics can tell them, while others are interested in only part of the story. That’s why starting next week, on Thursday November 19th , we will begin offering our service as two distinct products to better meet the needs of our customers: The 23andMe Ancestry Edition and The [...]
Nov 11 2009
The most common type of arthritis, osteoarthritis, occurs due to accumulated wear and tear – welcome to old age! – or from repetitive movements or injury. Rheumatoid arthritis, on the other hand, is caused by an autoimmune attack on the lining of the joints, resulting in stiffness, muscle aches, and general fatigue. Approximately two million [...]
Nov 10 2009
Cisplatin, a cancer chemotherapy drug first approved by the FDA in 1978, revolutionized the treatment of many types of cancer. Despite its effectiveness, in many cases doctors are forced to reduce the drug’s dose, or abandon it altogether, due to serious side effects on patients’ hearing.
Between 10-25% of adults and up to 60% of children [...]
