The Ink Well » DNA-Footprints Echoes
The ABCs of DNA — IBD vs IBS vs mIBC
IBD vs. IBS When you are matched up to a potential family member at one of the genetic testing services, they do so by finding segments of DNA where the alleles are the same over a minimum distance of both your and your match’s DNA. At least that’s what is supposed to happen. There are several things that can go wrong when matching segments between people and here we’re going to discuss the unfortunate incident of the IBS cousin. No, IBS…Read More … Read entire article »
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23andMe Responds to Customer Complaints About Rebuilt Forum by Returning Old Functionality!
Recent Changes Made a Mess of the Forums I don’t know about you, but when the new forum was created over at 23andMe I felt like I was hit over the head with a sandbag! I couldn’t seem to ‘see’ straight. I couldn’t figure out how to find anything and I had a huge headache after hours of trying. I kept trying for a week with no better success. I couldn’t locate new posts and I couldn’t figure out where to…Read More … Read entire article »
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23andM Reverses Decision, Reaches Out to Alienated Customers
In a surprising move, 23andMe reversed its earlier decision to drop relative finder matches for customers which stop subscribing after fulfilling their 1-year commitment. This move was in reaction to the strongly negative reaction of their customer base to their unannounced changes to the TOS. The author was honored to work with other community leaders to communicate the community’s distress to the owner of 23andMe, Anne Wojcicki. I want to express my appreciation to CeCe Moore for reaching out to…Read More … Read entire article »
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Breach of Trust at 23andMe
Recently, 23andMe has changed their TOS reneging on their promise that, if you’ve paid off your year subscription but don’t want to pay indefinitely, you will not get future matches nor health info but you won’t lose access to the information that you already have including your RF matches and your health reports. Now, should you choose not to continue to pay their subscription fee, it is like you never paid them hundreds of dollars at all.. EXCEPT that they…Read More … Read entire article »
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Where to Start on 23andMe — Relative Finder
Welcome Trackers let the DNA Safari begin! By trackers, I mean those following the DNA Footprints that your ancestors left within your body as clues to who you are and where you come from. Adoptees, birth parents and orphans are especially welcome, but anyone on the hunt for their ancestry is welcome — as are constructive comments from anyone. Congrats on taking your first steps along this fascinating road. You’ve made the leap, submitted your sample to 23andMe and your…Read More … Read entire article »
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The ABCs of DNA — SNPs
SNPs There are two main ways that people are genetically different from each other. Either because they have a variation in the sequence of bases along their chromosomes or because they have a different number of copies of a gene. It is the former situation we’ll discuss here, where the SNPs vary. An SNP, pronounced snip, is shorthand for single nulceotide polymorphism. A nucleotide is a genetic base — Adenine (A), Guanine (G), Cytosine (C) or Thymine (T) — attached to…Read More … Read entire article »
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The ABCs of DNA — Chromosomes
What is a Chromosome? When the very long polymeric molecule of DNA is wound around a protein called a histone into a thread like strand, it is called a chromosome. The histone not only supports the DNA strand, but on occasion it can control DNA expression by folding the DNA over a particular gene, physically blocking access to the gene and preventing it from being ‘read’ or transcribed.The DNA of eukaryotes and archae exists as chromosomes. Not all organisms have chromosomes. In…Read More … Read entire article »
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The ABCs of DNA — The Cell
What is a Cell? The simplest organisms are single-celled creatures such as bacteria and algae while more complex organisms, such as humans and trees, are comprised of many cells with specialized functions. Cells consist of membrane bound collections of DNA, proteins, sugars and cytosol –the jelly-like liquid inside the cell. The semi-porous cell membrane controls what enters and exits the cell. Scientists split cells into two main types: prokaryotic cells, such as those comprising bacteria and archae that do not have…Read More … Read entire article »
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The ABCs of DNA — Part 2
DNA Structure Nuclear DNA molecules consist of a string of ring-shaped sugar molecules attached to a phosphate backbone on one side forming the sides of the twisted-ladder-like structure and one of the four DNA bases on the other. As the name deoxyribo suggests, the ring-shaped 5-carbon sugar on nuclear DNA has lost an oxygen molecule. There are four bases* that comprise the DNA code: adenine (A), guanine (G), cytosine (C), and thymine (T). The arrangement of these four bases along the…Read More … Read entire article »
Filed under: DNA-Footprints Echoes