I love lists, Friday!

HOLY CRAP the Cinemagraphs freaked me out! At first I was what she talking about these being trippy?!? I saw the bird move…mind blown lol

I love the emotionally strong people article. So many things to thing about…and lots of reflection.

As a scientist interested in genetics I pretty much had to do 23andme and luckily for me, my boyfriend got me a kit for my last birthday! The ancestry data I found fascinating especially comparing mine to my bfs (his ended up being more interesting as unsurprisingly I was >90% British/Irish, he has significantly more variety) The website also has cute videos explaining some basic genetics and how they get the information for those who need a refresher. Due to FDA restrictions you don’t actually get any health information from the 23andme website anymore so I ended up on SNPedia.org looking up things by myself. I found this site informative and fun to browse. It also has links to the Promethease program which for $5 you can upload your 23andme data and it will generate a report on all information from published journals on your health/risks based on your SNPs. You get important information like whether you have mutations on BRCA1 (related to breast cancer susceptibility) and other genetic diseases and less important, but interesting information on whether you are a strong bitter taster or have red hair genes. Its important to note that many of these disease statistics are correlations and do not necessarily mean you will get certain diseases-how you take care of your self and other environmental factors play huge roles. But if you like information about yourself I would definitely recommend doing it 🙂
btw I look forward to these lists to help me get through my Friday every week and more recently have been loving the And I quote series. Thanks for doing these 🙂

Ooh, I need those make up charts! Living in LA has forced me to get better at make up but I still am always playing catch up..,

Just wanted to add my 2 cents about 23andMe. I’m a doctor and have serious concerns about their product…genetic testing is a serious thing for many reasons. It can have potential implications such as prejudice from any potential future employer, and can also affect your insurance premiums or ability to be insured if you’re found to be a carrier of a genetic condition. Also, not all genetic conditions are 100% penetrant, meaning not everyone with a gene will get a condition, so interpreting results can be tricky and can cause unnecessary anxiety. My advice is anyone considering genetic testing (which I think should only be done I cases of known family history or symptoms of a specific disease) should have genetic counselling from a professional first. Sorry for my rant, but I do feel that these companies are preying on individuals who mean well but don’t realize all the potential implications of testing. Okay, end rant! P.S. Love your site! 🙂