http://spittoon.23andme.com A receptacle for genetic knowledge. Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:13:36 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en 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 ... http://spittoon.23andme.com/2009/11/19/introducing-relative-finder-the-newest-feature-from-23andme/ 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, ... http://spittoon.23andme.com/2009/11/18/23andme-navigenics-open-letter-to-nature/ 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 ... http://spittoon.23andme.com/2009/11/17/snpwatch-common-genetic-variants-associated-with-risk-for-parkinsons-disease-identified-in-asian-and-european-populations/ 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 ... http://spittoon.23andme.com/2009/11/13/get-just-the-information-you-want-23andme-to-offer-separate-health-and-ancestry-editions/ 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 ... http://spittoon.23andme.com/2009/11/11/snpwatch-three-new-genetic-variants-associated-with-rheumatoid-arthritis-risk/ 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 ... http://spittoon.23andme.com/2009/11/10/snpwatch-genetic-variations-may-impact-risk-of-hearing-loss-in-children-receiving-common-chemotherapy-drug/ The Kaiser Permanente Research Program on Genes, Environment and Health (RPGEH) is an exceptional study that has the potential to transform medicine.  As someone who proudly spent over 25 years as a patient with Kaiser, I would be excited to see my family's medical records used for such a worthy ... http://spittoon.23andme.com/2009/11/04/let-research-participants-access-their-genomes/ The “stomach flu” isn’t really the flu at all. It’s actually viral gastroenteritis, and its most common cause is a group of viruses called noroviruses. No matter what you call it, the illness is highly contagious and very unpleasant — symptoms include abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. In close quarters, ... http://spittoon.23andme.com/2009/11/03/ewwww-cruise-ship-cleanliness-not-what-it-should-be/ New research suggests that your skills behind the wheel may be affected by your genes. To better understand the effects of a variant in the BDNF gene on motor skills learning, Steven Cramer and colleagues at UC Irvine tested 29 subjects in a driving simulator. Their results, published in the ... http://spittoon.23andme.com/2009/10/30/snpwatch-the-bad-driving-gene/ Medco Health Solutions, Inc., announced this week that it will conduct a clinical trial to assess whether clopidogrel bisulfate (Plavix®, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-aventis) is just as effective as the newer drug prasugrel (Effient™, Eli Lilly and Company) in people who lack a genetic variation that inhibits their metabolism of ... http://spittoon.23andme.com/2009/10/28/medco-to-include-genetics-in-comparison-of-anti-clotting-drug-effectiveness/