The Institute for Genetic Genealogy will hold the International Genetic Genealogy Conference in August. Details on the Conference with a list of speakers, can be found on the Conference website. This should be a very informative meeting. This blogger will be attending.
The problem reported below has been corrected.If you have multiple connections to a cousin, the separate connections are now correctly marked for the degree of relationship.
Like numerous others I received two additional pages of Hints today at AncestryDNA. In examining the matches I have found that AncestryDNA is now showing all multiple matches at the furthest degree of relationship. As an example I have one person who is a 3rd cousin once removed and a 6th cousin on another line. When I open the match each is shown as a 6th cousin even though there are two different lines of relationship.
There were two 3rd cousins in my predicted 4th to 6th cousin Hinted match list.
I have started using the Note section to tag the match with the person's name, the degree of relationship and the name of the person or couple the relationship is from.
I now have 5 pages of Hints out of 182 pages of matches. Needless to say, I'll never get through looking at all of those pages of matches.
Dear Project Administrator,
Thank you for another outstanding year of discovery at Family Tree DNA.
As you may know, our end-of-the-year prices for new kit orders and
upgrades is ending December 31, 2013.
Order and pay today before the sale ends!
Paternal Lineage Orders: New Kits Product Regular Price Sale Price Y-DNA37 $169 US $119 US Order Y-DNA67 $268 US $189 US Order Y-DNA111 $359 US $289 US Order Upgrades Product Regular Price Sale Price refine 12-37 $109 US $69 US refine 12-67 $199 US $148 US refine 25-37 $59 US $35 US refine 25-67 $159 US $114 US refine 37-67 $109 US $79 US refine 37-111 $220 US $188 US refine 67-111 $129 US $109 US Login and Upgrade
Universal Lineage Orders
Family Finder Get a $100 Restaurant.com gift card with every Family Finder order in the United States! Product Regular Price Sale Price Family Finder $99 US $99* US Order Discover New Matches with Family Finder Transfer Transfer your 23andMe© or AncestryDNA™ today for the best Family Finder analysis and the most useful tools. Learn more... Product Regular Price Sale Price Autosomal transfer $69 US $49 US Order
Maternal Lineage Orders New Kits Product Regular Price Sale Price mtFullSequence $199 US $169 US Order Upgrades Product Regular Price Sale Price mtHVR1toMega $169 US $149 US mtHVR2toMega $159 US $139 US mtFullSequence Add On $199 US $169 US Login and Upgrade
Combination Tests Achieve multiple testing goals with combined testing packages. For men only: Product Regular Price Sale Price Family Finder + Y-DNA37 $268 US $218* US Order Family Finder + Y-DNA67 $367 US $288* US Order Y-DNA37 + mtFullSequence $368 US $288 US Order Y-DNA67 + mtFullSequence $467 US $358 US Order Comprehensive $566 US $457* US Order * Get a $100 Restaurant.com gift card with every Family Finder order in the United States! For men and women: Product Regular Price Sale Price Family Finder + mtFullSequence $298 US $268* US Order * Get a $100 Restaurant.com gift card with every Family Finder order in the United States!
Orders must be placed and paid for by December 31, 2013 to receive this offer.
IMPORTANT: We encourage you to spread the word starting now as the natural
tendency is for people to order at the last minute. This promotion will run
through the end of December and we will not be extending it beyond
December 31, 2013.
Here is the new landing page at 23andme as of today, 5 Dec 2013:
Welcome to 23andMe.
At this time, we have suspended our health-related genetic tests to comply immediately with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s directive to discontinue new consumer access during our regulatory review process.
We are continuing to provide you with both ancestry-related genetic tests and raw genetic data, without 23andMe’s interpretation.
If you are an existing customer please click the link below and then go to the health page for additional information. If you are a customer that purchased before 11/22/13, you will still have access to your health-related results.
We remain firmly committed to fulfilling our long-term mission to help people everywhere have access to their own genetic data and have the ability to use that information to improve their lives.
Upon entering the site, please confirm you understand the new changes in our services.
I understand that 23andMe only sells ancestry reports and raw genetic data at this time. I understand 23andMe will not provide health-related reports. However, 23andMe may provide health-related results in the future, dependent upon FDA marketing authorization.
Clicking on I Understand will take you to the normal login page.
FAQ entries with additional information:
FDA Update: December 5th
23andMe
posted this on Dec 05 06:16 PM
Here is the latest update regarding the FDA letter and how it will impact our service.
At this time, we have suspended our health-related genetic tests to comply immediately with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s directive to discontinue new consumer access during our regulatory review process.
Is 23andMe still selling its Personal Genome Service?
Yes. 23andMe’s Personal Genome Service including ancestry information and access to raw genetic data without interpretation is still available. Some health-related results may become available in the future, dependent upon FDA marketing authorization.
Which reports are impacted?
All health-related results including health risks, drug response, inherited conditions and traits.
23andMe will continue our education efforts and research using our database of genetic and phenotypic data.
Customers will continue to have access to their raw data.
Which customers are impacted?
All customers who purchased prior to November 22, 2013 will have access to their health-related genetic results.
Customers who purchased on November 22, 2013 or later will not have access to health-related results. Some health-related results may become available in the future, dependent upon FDA marketing authorization.
Customers who purchased on or after November 22, 2013 will be eligible for a full refund. Eligible customers will receive an email with personalized instructions on how to elect a full refund.
I currently have access to my health data – will that information be removed from my account?
No. Existing customers will continue to have access to their health-related results.
My sample is currently at the lab for processing, will I get health data?
Access to health data is based on your purchase date. If you purchased 23andMe prior to November 22, 2013, you will receive health data.
If you purchased a 23andMe kit on or after November 22, 2013, we will not be able to provide health-related results at this time. Some health-related results may become available in the future, dependent upon FDA marketing authorization.
I purchased a kit as a gift before November 22nd, but have not given it to the recipient. Will they still receive health results when they send it in?
Yes. Access to health-related results is based on the purchase date of the kit. Any kit purchased before November 22, 2013 and returned to our lab will receive health-related results.
I purchased a kit as a gift after November 22nd, but have not given it to the recipient. Will they still receive health results? Can I get a refund?
Access to health-related results is based on the purchase date of the kit. For any kit purchased after November 22, 2013, we will not be able to provide health-related results. If you are eligible, you will receive an email with personalized instructions for claiming the refund.
Will the company continue to provide new health reports to international customers?
No. At this time 23andMe is not going to provide new health-related results to any customers who purchased on or after November 22, 2013.
Which health reports will be available in the future? Do you have any sense of when health-related results may become available again?
We can’t speculate on the timing or outcome of the regulatory review process, but are committed to working with the FDA.
Will refunds be offered?
Yes, customers who purchased on or after November 22, 2013 will receive an email with instructions on how to elect a full refund.
Due to the volume of impacted customers, it may take a few weeks for refunds to be processed. We appreciate your patience.
Eligible customers who do not receive an email with refund instructions are encouraged to double-check their spam email folders. Alternatively, they can contact Customer Care: https://23andme.zendesk.com/entries/23796730-Requesting-a-refund
If I purchase a kit with just ancestry-related results and raw data, is the price still $99?
Yes. The price remains unchanged at $99.
How accurate is 23andMe’s data?
We adhere to the highest scientific standards and the same laboratory processing standards currently applied to physician-ordered tests.
Our testing has shown a greater than 99.9 percent accuracy rate.
Our lab follows strict quality standards that are part of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments of 1988 — known as CLIA. These are the same standards used in specific health and disease-related testing. We decided several years ago to comply with CLIA guidelines to be consistent with other types of laboratory testing and to assure customers about the quality of our data.
White papers that outline our scientific and statistical standards and the criteria for the genetic associations included in our reports are available on our website at: https://www.23andme.com/for/scientists/#whitepapers
From NATURE:
Improving genome understanding
The cost and accuracy of genome sequencing have improved dramatically. George Church asks why so few people are opting to inspect their genome.
09 October 2013 Corrected: 09 October 2013
Readers of Nature, we can assume, are bright and insatiably curious. So why have so few obtained and interpreted their own genome sequence? We should avoid being judgemental of people who practise genomic modesty or who choose not to act on genome information, but we should also ask if we are providing adequate and equal access to education about the benefits and risks of genome information.
Continued: http://www.nature.com/news/improving-genome-understanding-1.13907
Today's big news is the FDA warning letter to 23andme giving them 15 days to either get into compliance or present a plan for compliance or cease selling the 23andme test as a "medical device" under (b)(4) of the regulations. See this link for the letter:
Warning Letter.
Earlier letters can be found by searching the site at this link: http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/default.htm.
ARTICLE Received 11 Jul 2013 | Accepted 4 Sep 2013 | Published 8 Oct 2013
Marta D. Costa [1,2,*], Joana B. Pereira[1,2,*], Maria Pala [3], Vero´nica Fernandes [1,2], Anna Olivieri [4], Alessandro Achilli [5], Ugo A. Perego [4,6], Sergei Rychkov [7], Oksana Naumova[7], Jirˇi Hatina[8], Scott R. Woodward [6,9], Ken Khong Eng [1,10],
Vincent Macaulay [11], Martin Carr [3], Pedro Soares [2], Luı´sa Pereira [2,12] & Martin B. Richards [1,3]
The origins of Ashkenazi Jews remain highly controversial. Like Judaism, mitochondrial DNA
is passed along the maternal line. Its variation in the Ashkenazim is highly
distinctive, with four major and numerous minor founders. However, due to their rarity in the
general population, these founders have been difficult to trace to a source. Here we show that
all four major founders, ~40% of Ashkenazi mtDNA variation, have ancestry in prehistoric
Europe, rather than the Near East or Caucasus. Furthermore, most of the remaining minor
founders share a similar deep European ancestry. Thus the great majority of Ashkenazi
maternal lineages were not brought from the Levant, as commonly supposed, nor recruited in
the Caucasus, as sometimes suggested, but assimilated within Europe. These results point to
a significant role for the conversion of women in the formation of Ashkenazi communities,
and provide the foundation for a detailed reconstruction of Ashkenazi genealogical history.
I’m probably going to live longer than you are.
I can’t be sure, of course, but I have two genes associated with exceptional longevity, so all other things being equal, well, I’d take those odds in Vegas.
I have two working copies of ACTN3 in my muscle fibers, which is associated with elite athletic performance and means my body is optimized for power sports like sprinting and weight lifting.
I also lack a functional FUT2 gene, so I’m immune to stomach flu. (If this is my mutant power, I am the lamest of the X-Men.)
As part of the GG genotype, I don’t have congenital problems learning from my errors, due to how my dopamine signaling system works. Hopefully that’s a benefit to the blog.
Here is a chart using My Results-Ancestry Tools-Family Inheritance: Advanced from 23andme. This displays the places on my chromosomes where my two 1st cousins and a 3rd cousin match me. Note that there are significant parts of the chromosomes with no match.
First cousins should share 12.5% and a third cousin should share 3.125% of their genomes. I share 17.9%, 15.9%, and 3.05% respectively. I am related on both my paternal and maternal lines with the first 1st cousin and the 3rd cousin. The second 1st cousin is related only through my maternal line.
