23andMe Goes to Washington

We're in DC today because we really wanted to get the word out about both Parkinson's Initiative that we're moving and 23andMe. We now have almost 9,000 individuals with Parkinson's disease who are all on 23andMe, sharing their information, and we're making discoveries. And it's really today about the potential for individuals to have a real voice in research and really make a difference. I find that anytime I spend 10, 15 minutes with someone and I talk to them about what we're doing, it resonates because it could influence them. They could potentially use 23andMe to make a difference in their own lives. So we had Miriam Ali, who is the daughter of Muhammad Ali. I'm here to support 23andMe. They're doing some exciting things with the genetics of Parkinson's. The surveys they're doing, the studies, it's really going to enhance our understanding of the genetics of Parkinson's. And then we had Rich, who is an astronaut, who has been talking about how he flew a mission to space, actually, with Parkinson's disease. I go around the country in various speaking engagements, and I encourage folks, Parkinson's patients, that you've got to find out for sure. If you have the knowledge, you can do something about it. 23andMe plays a role in that. This is going to be a community that keeps growing, and they've made significant progress for us in terms of filling out surveys, teaching us about the environment and how that influences Parkinson's, different things like caffeine, tobacco, all that has that influenced Parkinson's. And there's a whole other area that we're going to be able to delve into in terms of treatments, what's working, what's not working. So I'm pretty excited about this community.