23andMe is a company that makes a DNA testing kit that genealogists can use to learn more about their ancestry and health. The company recently acquired a company called CureTogether, Inc. The combined resources should enhance what 23andMe currently offers.
You may have heard of 23andMe. They sell a DNA testing kit that requires you to provide a sample of saliva. A lab gets your DNA from the cheek cells that are preserved in your saliva. The lab then copies your DNA in a process called amplification until it has a large enough sample to enable genotyping.
The DNA kit also comes with a number that you must register online at 23andMe. Return to the website to learn about what your DNA sample reveals. Genealogists can learn about their ancestral history and how their genes could impact their health.
CureTogether, Inc. is designed to give people access to millions of ratings that compare the real-world performance of various treatments across 590 health conditions. You can sign up anonymously, and for free.
This gives you access to information from people who are going through the same health situations that you are. It is a way to “crowdsource” how well a particular treatment works as reported by people who are actually receiving the treatment. The website was started in July of 2008 to help people who live in daily chronic pain.
Recently, 23andMe announced that it acquired CureTogether, Inc. The two co-founders of CureTogether, Daniel Reda and Alexandra Carmichael, have been added to the 23andMe team. 23AndMe talks about this acquisition in a blog post that says:
“CureTogether, with more than 25,000 members, has gathered nearly four-million data points on 576 different medical conditions. Welcoming in those users and the data they’ve contributed to research will improve the important work we are already doing”.
This is going to bring more data to 23andMe which can be used to learn more about specific health conditions. There is potential that the acquisition of CureTogether by 23andMe could result in giving genealogists more information about how their genetic makeup could impact their health, (and the health of their relatives who also use the service).
Image by Nathan Siemers on Flickr