Top all-time · #1289
23andMe Blog
Company blog · blog.23andme.comsciencehealth
23andMe Blog is the company blog at blog.23andme.com, writing about science and health. Since 2012, 55 different Hacker News readers have linked it 65 times, most often “Enhanced Customer Security at 23andMe with 2-Step Verification”. It is still writing: the last post was on 2026-10-30, and you can follow it by feed.
Rarely recommended · 0 of 34 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers cite 23andMe's blog as a source for genetics research on traits like cilantro aversion, misophonia and night-owl sleep, and for its statements on MTHFR and the data breach.
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 34 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Learn more about the world of genetics on 23andMe's Blog! Discovery of what your DNA can tell you about health, ancestry, and science.
Most-linked posts?
- Enhanced Customer Security at 23andMe with 2-Step Verification3 people · 3 mentions · first linked 2023-11-07
- Addressing Data Security Concerns2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2023-10-24
- 23andMe Provides An Update Regarding FDA’s Review2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2013-12-06
- 23andMe Covid-19 Study Findings Published2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-09-10
- Massive study on the genetics of educational attainment2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2018-07-23
- Evidence that blood type plays a role in COVID-192 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2020-06-09
- No Genetic Associations Found in Autism GWAS2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2012-12-11
- /23andme-research/something-to-chew-on/2 people · 2 mentions · first linked 2017-02-03
What Hacker News says?
There are known genetic factors for crying easily.[1] My oldest son and I cry easily; my wife and youngest son don't. By "crying" here I mean tearing up in response to both positive and negative emotions, including emotions expressed by others. My oldest son and I are about normal when it comes to outright bawling or crying in response to physical injury. Some public individuals cry easily: definitely John Boehner a…
Comment linking /health-traits/too-many-teardrops/
on “Crying”Submitted FDA Authorizes Ten 23andme Genetic Health Risk Reports as a story · 311 points
HN discussionI refer you back to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45386018 . What you say is "obvious" is your completely unsubstantiated perception. > There is no genetically pure or distinct native British phenotye to set apart other europeans. Nevertheless, such ancestry can be reliably determined by genetic testing, and Europeans do recognize it by sight. https://blog.23andme.com/articles/23andme-adds-more-detail-f... .
Comment linking /articles/23andme-adds-more-detail-for-customers-with-british-and-irish-ancestry
on “Shopify, pulling strings at Ruby Central, forces Bundler and RubyGems takeover”Submitted 23andMe raises $50M, cuts price to $99, sets goal of 1M genotyped customers as a story · 305 points
HN discussionWhat's the difference between the 2013 kits and today's? Edit: Answered my own question. http://blog.23andme.com/news/23andme-provides-an-update-rega...
Comment linking /news/23andme-provides-an-update-regarding-fdas-review/
on “With genetic testing, I gave my parents the gift of divorce”Submitted 23andMe meets FDA standards, adds back wellness reports as a story · 278 points
HN discussionFrom their open letter: > Any buyer of 23andMe will be required to comply with applicable law with respect to the treatment of customer data. https://blog.23andme.com/articles/open-letter So the buyer is bound by the same terms but they absolutely do get the data ("be part of the assets transferred" as per FreeTaxUSA's terms that we are discussing). Do you have another reference in mind?
Comment linking /articles/open-letter
on “Intuit, Owner of TurboTax, Wins Battle Against America's Taxpayers”Submitted Top Genetic Findings of 2012 as a story · 57 points
HN discussion23andme say this about MTHFR: > Despite lots of research – and lots of buzz – the existing scientific data doesn’t support the vast majority of claims that common MTHFR variants impact human health. https://blog.23andme.com/articles/our-take-on-the-mthfr-gene Is their take on MTHFR out of date?
Comment linking /articles/our-take-on-the-mthfr-gene
on “I built an open source AI tool to find my autoimmune disease”Submitted Evidence that blood type plays a role in COVID-19 as a story · 48 points
HN discussionIt can, but in the negative: http://blog.23andme.com/health-traits/autism-study-reveals-n...
Comment linking /health-traits/autism-study-reveals-no-genetic-associations/
on “23andMe raises $50M, cuts price to $99, sets goal of 1M genotyped customers”Submitted A 23andMe Patent as a story · 46 points
HN discussionI think that's a misleading description. They do identify specific base pairs of your genotype (and you can download this data as a file), the difference is that they only identify a small subset of all base pairs, whereas sequencing identifies all of them. More info: http://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/23andme-moves-into-...
Comment linking /23andme-research/23andme-moves-into-the-world-of-sequencing/
on “Futuristic Predictions That Came True in 2012”Submitted 23andMe Covid-19 Study Findings Published as a story · 13 points
HN discussion> But they did provide secure MFA as an option > So how did 23andme fail so hard here? Literally nothing you've suggested would have prevented this. They made MFA mandatory after getting popped, at the same time they changed their Terms of Service to attempt to evade liability. Why did they wait to get popped? Either negligence or an active decision was made to avoid support costs and engineering time for mandatory…
Comment linking /articles/enhanced-customer-security-at-23andme-with-2-step-verification
on “23andMe tells victims it's their fault that their data was breached”Submitted An Update Regarding The FDA’s Letter to 23andMe as a story · 10 points
HN discussionAnything I can drill into on bipolar. Treatment, outcome and quality of life. I came across this https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/what-patients-say-... in 2013. Most studies are qualitative not quantitative and the data is not released.
Comment linking /23andme-research/what-patients-say-works-for-bipolar-disorder/
on “Ask HN: What medical datasets do you need?”Submitted 23andMe Covid-19 Study Findings Published as a story · 6 points
HN discussionIt's been tried using 23andMe genetic data for over a million people.[1] No one gene seems to have a large effect, “Yet when we analyze the combined effects of many genetic variants, taken together they can predict the length of a person’s formal education as well as demographic factors.” [1] https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/massive-study-on-t...
Comment linking /23andme-research/massive-study-on-the-genetics-of-educational-attainment/
on “'Cancel Culture' Comes to Science?”Submitted Genetic Associations with Long Covid as a story · 4 points
HN discussionConversely I supplement my PCP with a cash pay MD (in a hospital setting with a background from a reputable school) who believes in "wellness" which he views as the flaw in western medicine. Instead of going from sick to ok, he believes we should go from ok to wellness. And he sells mega Vitamin D doses and maybe I'm a sucker but I buy them. Since its cash pay and I absolutely love testing/scanning myself randomly (…
Comment linking /health-traits/what-patients-say-works-for-depression/
on “Ask HN: Courses/resources to improve my self-esteem and believe in myself more?”Submitted 23andMe Provides An Update Regarding FDA’s Review as a story · 3 points
HN discussionWell that is unsettling. In the article you linked it sounds like Ancestry.com was responsible for working with the police. 23andMe seems to have a better track record on privacy and claims to have resisted requests from law enforcement so far. But I agree that it's not ideal that law enforcement can even make these requests. People should be able to check their genetic health and not have to worry about being wrong…
Comment linking /23andme-and-you/23andprivacy-your-data-law-enforcement/
on “23andMe is raising about $200M, led by Sequoia”Submitted Citizen Scientists Look into Nearsightedness as a story · 3 points
HN discussionThe genetic health risk reports were exactly the thing that the FDA snagged them on. If they had one previously, it was not... FDA-approved. https://blog.23andme.com/health-traits/learn-23andmes-new-ge...
Comment linking /health-traits/learn-23andmes-new-genetic-health-risk-reports/
on “23andMe is raising about $200M, led by Sequoia”Submitted Addressing Data Security Concerns as a story · 2 points
HN discussionThere have been quite a few studies popping up recently regarding this and there does appear to be genetic mutations that account for being a "night owl". https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/the-genetics-of-be... DSPD is also seen far more frequently in adolescents.
Comment linking /23andme-research/the-genetics-of-being-a-morning-person/
on “Around 30 percent of children in the U.S. don't get enough sleep: study”Submitted An Update on 23andMe’s Clinical Trial for 23ME-00610 in Patients as a story · 2 points
HN discussionIn this context, this report from 23andMe is interesting....perhaps old news: http://blog.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/5-N8XiOLk...
Comment linking /wp-content/uploads/2015/03/5-N8XiOLkGIgydwX_SS-IQ_23-08_Genetic_Associations_With_Traits1.pdf
on “A metabolic master switch underlying human obesity”Submitted Accessibility and Me as a story · 2 points
HN discussion
