The Science Behind the Show

I stumbled across this article about 23andMe, the company providing the DNA research for all those celebrities on Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and thought I would share. The article appeared in Market Watch section of the Wall Street Journal:

23andMe Provides the Science Behind PBS Series “Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.” With Its Personal Genome Service®

23andMe is the Key to Celebrities Learning About Their Heritage, Ethnicity, Ancestry and Relationships to Each Other

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 9, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Barbara Walters, Kevin Bacon, Kyra Sedgwick, Wanda Sykes and a host of celebrities are tracing their ancestry in the PBS series Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. ( http://www.pbs.org/findingyourroots ) with the scientific help of leading personal genetics company, 23andMe. 23andMe genotyped all of the celebrities featured on Finding Your Roots and consulted with show producers to help them map the heritage and discover the global origins of each celebrity. Finding Your Roots premiered Sunday, March 25 at 8 pm and airs for nine consecutive weeks through Sunday, May 20 at 8 pm on PBS (check local listings).

Saliva samples from the celebrities were used to provide the DNA, which was extracted from the cheek cells found in their saliva. DNA samples were then genotyped on 23andMe’s customized genotyping array, which reads more than one million specific points, called single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), in an individual’s genome. In addition, 23andMe evaluates tens of thousands of handpicked SNPs focused on particular traits selected from the scientific literature to provide personal genetic information available only through 23andMe. All laboratory testing provided for 23andMe customers and Finding Your Roots participants is performed in a CLIA-certified laboratory.

Until recently, DNA genealogy tests could assess only one or two branches of a person’s family tree, because they used only the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA. 23andMe analyzes these DNA segments along with “autosomal” DNA from chromosomes 1 to 22, allowing individuals to trace ancestry along many branches of their family tree. The company’s Relative Finder feature also enables individuals to connect with their living relatives who are also in 23andMe’s growing database, which now includes more than 150,000 individuals.

Click here to read the full article.

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