The Genetic Genealogist

Late last fall, Family Tree Magazine requested nominations for the best genealogy blogs, and then opened voting for the nominated list.  Yesterday, they announced the winners of the voting.  Diane Haddad wrote about the announcement on the Genealogy Insider blog, and Maureen Taylor wrote the article that will appear in the May issue of Family Tree Magazine: “Fab Forty.”

I am very pleased and honored to announce that TGG was selected as one of the 40 Best Genealogy Blogs, in the category of genetic genealogy. I would like to thank everyone who nominated and voted for me.  I have been very fortunate over the last few years to interact with a fascinating array of readers, and I am thankful for every one of them.

When I started blogging in February 2007 (I just recently counted my third anniversary of TGG!), there were very few blogs in the genetic genealogy space.  Today there are a number of interesting and well-written genetic genealogy blogs.  See my recent round-up at “10 Great Blogs for Genetic Genealogists.“  Each of these blogs is well worth adding to your reading list.

I would also like to congratulate all the other blogs on the list, as I am truly honored to be listed among them.  I am an avid reader of the vast majority of them, and I look forward to so much more.  Here are few links to their own announcements:

• Best 40 Blogs: Tracing the Tribe is honored!
• Woo Hoo! Yippee! Yahoo! Hooray!
• Genea-Musings made the Top 40 Blogs list
• Could the Day Get Any Better?
• Giddy
• The Family Tree Magazine 40 Best Genealogy Blogs

And here is the full list of winners.  A huge congratulations to them, as well as to all the blogs that were nominated:

All-Around

• Creative Gene by Jasia Smasha
• footnoteMaven by footnoteMaven
• GeneaBloggers by Thomas MacEntee
• Genea-Musings by Randy Seaver

Cemetery

• The Association of Graveyard Rabbits by several authors
• Granite in My Blood by Midge Frazel

Corporate

• Ancestry.com Blog by various authors

Genetic Genealogy

• The Genetic Genealogist by Blaine Bettinger

Heritage

• George Geder by George Geder
• Scottish Genealogy News and Events by Chris Paton
• Small Leaved Shamrock by Lisa
• Steve’s Genealogy Blog by Stephen Danko
• Tracing the Tribe: The Jewish Genealogy Blog by Schelly Talalay Dardashti

How-To

• Family Matters by Denise Barrett Olson
• Genealogy Guys by George G. Morgan and Drew Smith
• Genealogy Tip of the Day by Michael John Neill
• The ProGenealogists Blog by various authors

Local & Regional

• California Genealogical Society and Library Blog by Kathryn Doyle
• Sandusky History by the staff of the Sandusky (Ohio) Library Archives Research Center
• Midwestern Microhistory by Harold Henderson

News & Resources

• The Ancestry Insider by theAncestry Insider
• DearMyrtle by Pat Richley-Erickson
• Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter by Dick Eastman
• GenealogyBlog by Leland Meitzler

Photos & Heirlooms

• The Family Curator by Denise Levenick
• Shades of the Departed by footnoteMaven

Personal & Family

• Ancestories: The Stories of My Ancestors by Miriam Midkiff
• Apple’s Tree by anonymous
• BeNotForgot by Vickie Everhart
• Educated Genealogist by Sheri Fenley
• Greta’s Genealogy Blog by Greta Koehl
• Heritage Happens by Cheryl Fleming Palmer
• Herstoryan by Herstoryan
• Janet the Researcher by Janet Iles
• Kinexxions by Becky Wiseman
• Little Bytes of Life by Elizabeth
• Our Georgia Roots by Luckie Daniels
• WeTree by Amy Coffin
• West in New England by Bill West
• What’s Past is Prologue by Donna Pointkouski

In a move that puts it in more direct competition with personal genomics companies such as 23andMe and deCODEme, the genetic genealogy testing company Family Tree DNA announced today that it will offer a large-scale autosomal test for genealogical  purposes.  The test, which will be available to the public in mid-March, will allow test-takers the opportunity to connect with matching family members across all genetic ancestral lines.  The test will launch at a price of $249.

The Family Tree DNA Family Finder site is now online.

Although other companies such as 23andMe and deCODEme offer similar tests, members of the genetic genealogy community have lamented the fact that their databases are populated in significant part by people who have no interest in genealogy.  Presumably, people who purchase the FTDNA test and become part of that database will be strongly motivated by genealogical interests, and thus will be interested in communicating with genetic relatives.

Family Tree DNA has also indicated that test-takers will be able to download their raw data.  No word yet on what type of SNP chip is being used, or how many SNPs are tested.

The Press Release:

Houston, TX – February 16, 2010 – Family Tree DNA, the pioneer and largest DNA testing company for genealogy purposes, is launching today their newest test – named Family Finder – which will allow connecting with family members across all ancestral lines. “This is the most exciting genetic genealogy breakthrough since the company launched its Y-DNA test, which uncovers relatives in the direct paternal line”, says Bennett Greenspan, founder and CEO of Family Tree DNA.  Initially available to current Family Tree DNA members, Family Finder will be offered to the general public in mid-March.

While the Y-DNA matches men with a specific paternal line and the mtDNA finds potential relatives only along the maternal line, Family Finder can look for close relationships along all ancestral lines.  Anyone, regardless of their gender, may now confidently match to male and female cousins from any of their family lines in the past five generations.  The science – linked blocks of DNA across the 22 autosomal chromosomes are matched between two people.

Based on this concept, Family Tree DNA bioinformatics team has worked extensively to develop the calculations that would yield the closeness of the relationship.  The possibilities to find matches abound: grandparents, aunts and uncles; half siblings; first, second, third and fourth cousins; and, more tentatively, fifth cousins.  Unlike other companies that offer autosomal testing for relationship purposes, the Family Tree DNA “Family Finder” focuses on the genealogy of the test takers: matching contact names and email addresses are readily available for easy communication, and special tools have been developed to assist in the genealogy and matching process.

About Family Tree DNA

Founded in April 2000, Family Tree DNA was the first company to develop the commercial application of DNA testing for genealogical purposes, something that had previously been available only for academic and scientific research. Almost a decade later, the Houston-based company has a database with over 280,000 individual records – the largest DNA database in genetic genealogy, and a number that makes Family Tree DNA the prime source for anyone researching recent and distant family ties. In 2006 Family Tree DNA established a state of the art Genomics Research Center at its headquarters in Houston, Texas, where it currently performs R&D and processes over 200 advanced types of DNA tests for its customers.

DAVIDE at the European Genetics and Anthropology Blog has an interesting post regarding 23andMe’s Ancestry Painting, at “Taking a closer look at your inter-continental ancestry results at 23andMe.”  In the post, he describes how to “rummage through the Flash data behind the “Ancestry Painting” presentation” to learn more about the SNPs involved an admixed Ancestry Painting.  The post includes the incredibly simple directions:

First of all, you have to make sure you’ve got the free Firebug plug-in installed. Right click on the little bug in the lower-right corner of your browser window, and choose “Enable all panels”.  Then left click the same bug icon, which should make a whole new section appear at the bottom of the screen.

Go to the “Ancestry Painting” page, and wait till it loads up your “Chromosome View”.  Once it does, select “Response”, and you should get the following link in bold within your new section: POST https://www.23andme.com/you/fetchpaint.  Click on it and the desired data should appear.

Hacking My Results:

Let’s use the technique to look at my own results (as I’ve mentioned before, I’m not concerned about sharing my results publicly).  Here is a snapshot of my Ancestry Painting:

And here are my results using the Firebug plug-in:

According to the Ancestry Painting (and now the Firebug results), I have Asian segments on chromosomes 2, 6, 10-13, and 17-19, with chromosome 6 being the most admixed.  I also have African segments on chromosomes 6 and 12 (In his post, DAVIDE explains why the “Y” stands for African ancestry and the “C” stands for Asian ancestry.):

• 2: [218458622, 239581072, \"AC\"]
• 6: [52493023, 74927540, \"AC\"], [83148896, 93639689, \"AC\"], [162840363, 166917167, \"AC\"], [166917449, 170750927, \"CY\"]
• 10: [4830167, 10647503, \"AC\"]
• 11: [188510, 2518807, \"AC\"]
• 12: [116756453, 128147809, \"CY\"]
• 13: [42269010, 61029958, \"AC\"]
• 17: [2996430, 9991868, \"AC\"]
• 18: [45648536, 51574142, \"AC\"]
• 19: [59513631, 63779291, \"AC\"]

So, for example, my largest Asian segment begins at position 218458622 on one of my chromosome 2 and ends at 239581072.

Yet another interesting tool to use with your 23andMe results.

Familybuilder, launched in 2007, is a genealogy company that ranks among the top 10 online genealogy services in the world with over 17 million users and over 120 million family tree profiles.  Late last year the company began offering a genetic genealogy product, as I wrote about here on the blog (see “Familybuilder Announces DNA Testing”).

Disclosure: This is a review of Familybuilder’s Y-DNA service using a kit I received free of charge for purposes of this review.  Please note that this is not meant to be an endorsement but merely a review of the Y-DNA service offered by Familybuilder.

The results of a Familybuilder Y-DNA test includes:

“The Migration Map for you and your ancestors, your 17 Markers, your Haplogroup and the History of your DNA.  In addition, the ability to share your results with family and friends on social networks such as Facebook and MySpace as well as a downloadable PDF (suitable for framing).”

I received the following kit in the mail for the Y-DNA testing, which included a swab, detailed instructions, and a return envelope:

Since I have already tested my Y-DNA, I asked a male relative to take this Y-DNA test.  This surname, Conger, is believed to have originated with a John Belconger who emigrated in 1665 from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England to Newbury, Massachusetts and later Woodbridge, New Jersey.  Although there are likely many descendants of John Belconger in the United States, as far as I know there is only one other Conger who has undergone genetic genealogy testing, as discussed below.

After roughly four weeks, I received an email from Familybuilder that my DNA test results were ready (although my name is listed, these are a relative’s results, not mine).  Not surprisingly since the surname appears to have originated in Western Europe, the Y-DNA belongs to Haplogroup R:

With the results, Familybuilder included information about the predicted haplogroup.  The description for Haplogroup R, for example, includes the following snippets:

“ORIGIN – Haplogroup R descended from Haplogroup P (M45) in Central Asia.  About 30,000 years ago, one of the tribes in Central Asia moved towards the European subcontinent.  It is in this group that the first M207 mutation (Haplogroup R) occurred.”

“MIGRATION AND SPREAD – The highest frequency of Haplogroup R is found in Western Europe, where populations carrying R1b typically reach 75% frequency.”

Familybuilder also compares an individual’s results to results in their database in order to discover potential matches.  Unfortunately, as shown below, there were no matches with the Conger Y-DNA profile from the Familybuilder database:

Since there were no results in the database, I entered the results into Ysearch to potentially identify matches (see Ysearch User ID 4KTQB).  A search for matches with a genetic distance of 0 among people who tested at least 13 of the same markers turned up 19 matches, although none with the same “Conger” surname.  Outside of the United States, the most distant male ancestors for these matches are mostly from the U.K.

Interestingly, there is another Conger in the Ysearch database (User ID 4MSTZ), but his Y-DNA belongs to Haplogroup J2.  With these two tests, therefore, we have shown for the first time that not all Congers in the U.S. are descended from the same man.

Familybuilder also offers a “Print My DNA” and “Share My DNA” features, which allow users to share their results with friends and family.  The Share My DNA feature formats the results, for example, for easy posting to websites or social media such as Facebook.  See the following link for a nice display of the Conger results.

Lastly, Familybuilder also offers a new “Groups” feature as of October of 2009.  From the recent press release:

“Familybuilder DNA has added a new feature within their ancestral DNA Test Kits called DNA Groups. This feature allows consumers to create and manage their own groups based on commonalities such as a shared haplogroup, surname, national origin or current location. With DNA tests being a major tool for people searching for more information on their family histories, this feature takes the collaborative nature of genealogists to a digital forum. “By creating groups, users can collaborate with one another to piece together their family stories,” said Ilya Nikolayev, CEO of Familybuilder. Recently adding a DNA Matching Tool, this new feature allows consumers to engage with one another in new ways beyond traditional genealogical mechanisms.”

A Familybuilder Y-DNA test normally costs $59.95.  Familybuilder uses a state-of-the-art laboratory facility with ISO/IEC and ASCLD Lab Accreditation for testing.

You can follow Familybuilder on Twitter and Facebook.

• DNA Test Index has a great index of DNA testing providers, including genetic genealogy testing companies.  Via @genomicslawyer – an atypically complete list of genetic test providers: http://bit.ly/2f8FLW.

• ISOGG, the International Society of Genetic Genealogy, has a new information page at “I’ve Tested at 23andMe, Now What?“  The site includes a variety of tools to help you further explore your ancestry, including EURO-DNA-CALC and Promethease, among others.

• Family Tree DNA has a new Holiday Sale, as summarized at the U4 Haplogroup website.  The FTDNA ordering page also has the holiday prices.

• Linda Avey, co-founder of 23andMe, has started a new blog entitled The Life & Times of Lilly Mendel.  I’m looking forward to some interesting reading as Linda establishes the Brainstorm Research Foundation dedicated to the study of Alzheimer’s disease.

• The Genomics Law Report continues the fascinating What ELSI is New? series, including a contribution from yours truly.

ISOGG, the International Society of Genetic Genealogy, has a “Success Stories” page where it posts short summaries of just a few the many successes that genetic genealogy has helped people achieve.  Today I noticed that there are several new summaries regarding “Autosomal DNA Successes,” both of which were the result of 23andMe’s new Relative Finder (currently still in beta testing).

Relative Finder

As I recently wrote, Relative Finder is a feature at 23andMe that allows users to compare their autosomal DNA to the autosomal DNA of others to potentially find cousins.  This has long been done with Y-DNA and mtDNA, but this is one of the first times this has been done with autosomal DNA.

Success Story #1

The first success story is from someone who used Relative Finder to identify a huge number of potential cousins.  After connecting one of his or her potential 4th cousins, the individuals discovered that they have similar surnames from a certain location in common (in addition to DNA on chromosomes 3 and 10).  This individual also wisely noted that s/he now has “a good idea of the path that two of my DNA segments took through my pedigree to get to me.”  This is something I wrote about recently in “The Future of Genetic Genealogy – Tracing DNA To Individual Ancestors.”

Success Story #2 – A First?

The second success story is about two Relative Finder users who worked together to identify a line that they had in common, potentially identifying segments of DNA passed to them from a couple who were born in the 1730’s.  This is a very interesting result, and I wonder if it is the first time that genealogists have identified a segment of DNA that they inherited from distant autosomal ancestors (i.e. not their Y-DNA or mtDNA lines) outside of the medical realm.

Conclusion

I know I’ve mentioned this a great deal lately, but I again emphasize that geneticists and genealogists will be seeing much more of this type of success story in the future.

In the past week there have been so many articles and posts about either genetic genealogy or DTC genetics that I’m writing them up as a summary post rather than individually.

The New York Times Tackles DTC Genetic Testing

An article in yesterday’s New York Times by Jane E. Brody – “Buyer Beware of Home DNA Tests” – argues that DTC genetic testing is fraught with danger (the article and some of Brody’s arguments are summarized by Grace Ibay of Genetics & Health: “Seven Reasons Why Home DNA Tests Are Hype”).  The author even lumps in genetic genealogy (which has been around for over 9 years now, hardly a “new industry” that has sprung up “to cash in” on new science):

“As a source of entertainment at so-called spit parties or an effort to trace genetic ancestry, the tests might be seen as relatively harmless (unless someone is appalled to discover who their ancestors might be).  But for the many people who are bypassing the medical profession to determine, they believe, how likely they are to develop a life-threatening disorder, experts say direct-to-consumer genetic testing is fraught with potential dangers.”

Oh no, people might be “appalled” to discover their ancestors!  I can assure you that people were “appalled to discover who their ancestors might be” long before DNA testing!!  If the results of genetic genealogy testing upsets people, the government better outlaw census records, historical societies, and grandma’s stories after Thanksgiving dinner because the information you’ll receive there will surely be much more ‘appalling.’

Jen McCabe has a terrific thought-provoking rebuttal to the NYT article at ‘Jen’s Posterous’ – “Paternalism and “Patient Beware” Messages Hit DTC Genomic Testing.”  McCabe does a great job of deconstructing the arguments and countering them with her own.  I’ll admit that I’m terribly biased here, but I think that McCabe raises some excellent points.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see more response to this article, including perhaps at Genetic Future or Genomics Law Report.

Dr. Michael Hammer, the Ancestor Hunter

Miller-McCune has a great article – “The Ancestor Hunter” – about the University of Arizona’s Michael Hammer, who is a major contributor to the field of genetic genealogy.  Many readers will know that Dr. Hammer is also FTDNA’s Chief Scientist.  From the FTDNA about page:

“A Biotechnology Research Scientist at the University of Arizona with appointments in the Department of Anthropology and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, as well as Director of the Genomic Analysis and Technology Core facility, Dr. Hammer received his PhD in Genetics from the University of California at Berkeley and was a post-doctoral fellow at Princeton and Harvard Universities. He co-authored the first paper showing that present-day Cohanim are descended from a single male ancestor.”

The article discusses Dr. Hammer’s work in the field, including Native American studies, Cohanim relatedness, and co-founding the DNA Shoah Project, for example.

Questioning a Journalist’s Humanity

A few weeks ago I corresponded with journalist Peter Aldhous of NewScientist magazine about his mtDNA results from deCode Genetics.  Without any other information, he wondered if I could identify the probable haplogroup of two mtDNA samples.  One was easily identifiable, while the other was such a garble that I was thrown for a loop.  So, just to be sure, I wrote back to Peter and asked him a now-infamous question:

“This is a strange question, but are you sure this is Homo sapiens?”

Peter writes in his article:

“It’s not every day that an expert queries whether your DNA is human, so when I received this comment by email earlier this month I was somewhat bemused.

“I am not in fact the result of a coupling between human and alien, nor the product of some twisted genetic experiment. Instead, Blaine Bettinger, who blogs as The Genetic Genealogist, had been baffled by a DNA profile generated in error by deCODEme, a leading commercial “personal genomics” service provided by Decode Genetics in Reykjavik, Iceland. The false profile seems to be the fault of a software bug.”

The article was mentioned by GenomeWeb – “You Are Human, Right?” – and there are two extremely good blog posts about the article and the situation by Daniel MacArthur at Genetic Future – “There’s many a slip ‘twixt spit and SNP: errors in personal genomics data” and Dan Vorhaus at Genomics Law Report – “Leveraging the Crowd to Understand Your Genome.”

So what is the take-home message?  Of course it is not that DTC genetic testing is dangerous or requires government regulation; rather, it is that both DTC companies and consumers must be diligent.  As MacArthur writes:

“But the most important piece of advice for personal genomics customers is to engage with your data.  Aldhous only detected these anomalies because he was exploring his own genetic data in multiple ways, cross-checking it against both other data and his own (informed) expectations, and was persistent enough to follow up on the strange results he found.

“That’s a good example for other personal genomics customers to follow: rather than being a passive recipient of genetic forecasts, dig into your data and see if it makes sense, and keep asking questions until it does. In addition to making it more likely that you’ll pick up any errors in your results, you’ll also develop a much deeper understanding both of the nature of genetics and of your own genome.”

And Vorhaus posits that traditional sources of genetic interpretation – i.e. physicians – might be supplemented by other sources, including genome sharing:

“From unraveling bioinformatics errors, as Aldhous did, to adjusting medications, to uncovering unknown genetic variants, the upside of utilizing an open-access approach to personalized genomic interpretation is the ability to allow an untold number of eyes to comb over your data in search of something important (or perhaps just interesting). It seems highly improbable that any combination of DTC genomics companies and open-source genomics resources will ever completely supplant a one-on-one consultation with a trained medical professional, particularly where clinical genetic guidance is required. And concerns over privacy and misuse of data may inhibit many from sharing their own genomic data, at least at present. But there appears to be a significant role for open-source genomics resources to play in the continuing expansion and democratization of personal genomic inquiry.”

I encourage anyone who is interested in DTC genetic testing or just genetic genealogy to read through some of these articles to get a feeling for some of the issues that are currently being discussed regarding this field.

Today, the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF) reported that they are adopting a standardized Y-STR reporting system proposed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and supported by the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG).

The standardized system was first published in the Fall 2008 issue (pdf) of the Journal of Genetic Genealogy (JoGG).

First, let me add a note of caution – this change ONLY represents a change in how results are REPORTED.  Even though companies report results differently, this does not mean that the actual DNA testing results are wrong or different!  This shift is NOT to correct errors in testing results; it is only to standardize reporting.

From the Press Release:

SALT LAKE CITY (Aug. 17, 2009)-The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF) today announced it has implemented a recently developed industry-standard format for expressing Y-chromosome DNA profiles in genetic genealogy. The new system, or nomenclature, for Y-STR genetic markers will reduce confusion for genetic genealogy consumers, eliminate conversion errors, make personal DNA profiles easily portable and lead to more genetic matches when searching among different ancestry databases once the industry-wide standard is adopted. Y-DNA is an unrivaled tool for tracing paternal ancestry. Only males have the Y-chromosome, which is passed down virtually unchanged from father to son.

SMGF, a non-profit scientific organization with the world’s largest collection of correlated genetic and genealogical information, is the first to adopt the new system proposed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) of the U.S. Dept. of Commerce and promoted by the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG). Genetic genealogy is the application of genetics to traditional genealogy and is a component of ancestry research experiencing strong growth through personal DNA testing and online ancestry databases.

“We strongly believe this industry-wide standard benefits everyone,” said Natalie Myres, director of research and development for SMGF. “DNA profiles will become more useful to consumers because they will not have to use a conversion process to search different genetic genealogy databases. For DNA laboratories and providers, this common nomenclature leads to greater reporting accuracy and saves time explaining to customers why their results appear different from those of another provider.”

Until now, genetic genealogy companies and laboratories reported Y-STR genetic markers in DNA profiles to customers in various formats developed for forensic DNA reporting. “As DNA testing for genetic genealogy purposes has become common and more people put their DNA profiles into online ancestry databases, the need for a universal format became apparent,” said Katherine Borges, ISOGG director.

“This is a big benefit to consumers,” said Borges. “They will definitely find more matches because of this new standard. Currently, consumers are often unaware they have to convert their results for use on different databases or are intimidated enough by the process that they don’t check a variety of databases. Also, some errors find their way into conversion tools. All these problems reduce chances of finding matches.” Borges estimates close to one million DNA tests for genetic genealogy purposes have been purchased to date.

The three largest U.S. providers of genetic genealogy DNA testing have committed to adopting the new Y-STR reporting standard and Borges expects the others to follow suit. NIST has not recommended a uniform reporting standard for mtDNA, the genetic material passed down from mother to child.

About Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation
The Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation (SMGF; www.smgf.org) is a non-profit research organization that has created the world’s largest repository of correlated genetic and genealogical information. The SMGF database currently contains information about more than seven million ancestors through linked DNA samples and pedigree charts from more than 170 countries, or approximately 90 percent of the nations of the world. The foundation’s purpose is to foster a greater sense of identity, connection and belonging among all people by showing how closely we are connected as members of a single human family. For more information about the foundation’s free, publicly available database, visit www.smgf.org.

In a video available through CNBC, Linda Avey sits down to talk with Healthy Horizons about 23andMe.  The short video was originally aired today (7/24/09).

In March I announced the unofficial launch of Pathway Genomics, a new company offering genome SNP tests (Note: I am a consultant for Pathway Genomics).  Today the company officially launched, and their press release is below.  There is also an article at Bio-IT World (“Pathway Genomics Joins the Direct-to-Consumer Genomics Parade”).

Press Release:

Pathway Genomics Brings Together Renowned Team of Entrepreneurs, Scientists, Physicians, and a Government Certified Lab to Offer Personal Genetics Services

San Diego, Calif., July 15, 2009—Pathway Genomics, a privately held, venture‐backed company, today announced its launch, including the company’s web site, www.pathway.com. Pathway Genomics offers affordable genetic tests for under $250, enabling consumers to confidentially learn about their risk for various diseases, adverse drug responses, carrier status, and ancestral history. Leveraging customized and highly innovative DNA genotyping technologies, Pathway Genomics generates the most extensive analysis of an individual’s risk for disease and can trace the path of a person’s maternal and paternal ancestry back more than 150,000 years.

Pathway Genomics is located in San Diego, California and is the only U.S. based direct‐to‐consumer DNA genotyping company with California and CLIA (Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) certification for its wholly owned and operated onsite laboratory. By obtaining both state and federal approvals, Pathway Genomics’ quality standards ensure that genetic information delivered directly to the customer is highly confidential, accurate, and reliable.

“In addition to a strong team of scientists who have made cutting edge discoveries in genetic diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes, we’ve brought together a seasoned group of entrepreneurs and marketing experts to launch Pathway Genomics,” said Jim Plante, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Pathway Genomics.

Pathway Genomics was founded by Mr. Plante, who brings over a decade of experience in technology and preventative health having founded four venture capital‐backed technology companies and launching more than 12 new product lines and services in the consumer products, automotive, wireless, and risk‐management service industries.

Pathway Genomics’ scientific team, consisting of top experts in molecular genetics, biostatistics, and genetic counselors is headed by David Becker, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Becker is most notably recognized for his contribution to Alzheimer’s research. While working at Torrey Pines Therapeutics, Dr. Becker’s team, in conjunction with Rudolph Tanzi, Ph.D., of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School discovered and validated genes that contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease. This discovery was recently acknowledged by Time magazine as the #5 medical breakthrough in 2008.

“Evaluating an individual’s genetic profile is important, but it only reveals part of a person’s health and wellness. The overall picture should also include information about a person’s family history and lifestyle,” said Dr. Becker. “For this reason, we want our consumers to take control of their health by identifying areas in their life that they could change to reduce their risk for developing diseases.” The Founders Fund, Edelson Technology Partners, and Western Technology

Investment provided principle funding for Pathway Genomics. The Founders Fund has invested in a number of high‐tech companies including Facebook, SpaceX, and Quantcast, Edelson Technology Partners has invested in well‐known multinational corporations including Websense and Celgene, and Western Technology Investment has recently invested in PEAK Surgical and EnteroMedics.

Additional information about Pathway Genomics, including a list of diseases, drug responses, and ancestral haplogroups tested using Pathway Genomics’ health and ancestry kits, plus sample reports and step‐by‐step ordering instructions can be found at www.Pathway.com. For the first 500 people to log on to the site, order a kit, and enter the code MYPATH a 15% discount will be applied to the total order.

About Pathway Genomics

Located in San Diego, California, Pathway Genomics is a privately‐held, venture‐backed company that offers affordable, personal DNA genotyping tests for less than $250. As the only U.S. based direct‐to consumer genetic testing company to receive both California and federal Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments) CLIA for its wholly owned and operated onsite laboratory, consumers can access health and ancestry tests to learn about their disease risks, adverse drug responses, disease carrier status, or ancestral history. More information about Pathway Genomics can be obtained by visiting www.Pathway.com.