23andMe is a biotechnology and personal genomics company privately held and based in California's Mountain View. It develops novel technologies and methods that enable people to understand their genetic information, which has been gleaned from a simple saliva sample.
Currently the company can test for more than 100 diseases, conditions, and traits, but this number increases all the time as scientists in labs around the world learn more about the genes that cause disease. Examples of the conditions that 23andme can provide information about are; Alcohol Flush Reaction, Age-related Macular Degeneration, Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency, BRCA Cancer Mutations, Clopidogrel Efficacy, Cystic Fibrosis, Eye Color, Malaria Resistance, Lactose Intolerance, Prostate Cancer, Parkinson's Disease, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Resistance to HIV/AIDS, Sickle Cell Anemia, Diabetes Type 1 and Type 2, and many more.
Once a customer has sent in a saliva sample 23andMe scientists go to work. They extract DNA from the cheek cells in the saliva, and amplify it by PCR to make sure they have enough to study. What they are looking for are particular kinds of SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) - these are the tiny DNA differences that occur when a single nucleotide has been altered. The consequence of this is that SNPs create biological variation by altering the proteins that genes code for, and this influences traits such as appearance and disease susceptibility. Of the 10 million or so SNPs in the human genome, 23andMe is able to study about 550,000.
Though details can be found regarding propensity to certain diseases, 23andMe does not diagnose any disease or provide information about treating them.
23andMe has come out with a novel way of determining the ancestry of people. They provide information about both paternal and maternal ancestry. The paternal ancestry is traced using analysis of Y chromosome. The maternal ancestry is traced through the analysis of mitochondrial DNA. Their Ancestry Painting feature can be used discover the continental region from which a segment of DNA has originated from. In order to provide more accurate ancestry details, 23andMe funded a research study that analysed the genotype of fifty different ethnic groups. Using their service, customers can study the ethnic origins of their DNA and locate it in different parts of the world
23andMe's laboratory is licensed by the federal government to practice clinical testing of DNA samples. The results are not made public by the company, the information is afer all very personal, but customers can share and compare their information if they wish. It is always up to the individual how much, if any, data they wish to share.