Learn more about the impact of your donation at the panel discussion led by Chip Aquadro at Cornell Silicon Valley 2017 and the panel on "Genetics - It's personal" in San Francisco on Tues 3/8/2017. Note the panel I lead is at 3:20 pm Pacific time (so 6:20 pm East coast time). It'll be live streamed and available at:

http://live.alumni.cornell.edu/ (as will the whole event that runs from 1:00–7:00 pm PST).

It'll be archived so you can look at it later too. My panel runs for 40 min.   Feel free to send in questions to us on the panel!  

Here's how:

You may submit questions to our speakers! Use Poll Everywhere on March 7! Here's what you do: 1. Join the CSV17 Poll by sending the text message "CSV17" to 22333 2. You'll receive a message that you've joined the poll. 3. Text your questions throughout the day to 22333!Live remote feeds of questions to us!  Chip

Full schedule:  http://alumni.cornell.edu/csv/csv17/

3:20 p.m.

Faculty-led Panel: Genetics—it's personal!

Featuring: Charles “Chip” Aquadro, Charles A. Alexander Professor of Biological Sciences in the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Cornell, and Director of the Cornell Center for Comparative and Population Genomics Anna Faaborg '03, Research and Disease Community Manager at 23andMe Julie Granka '08, Manager, Personalized Genomics at AncestryDNA Andrew Smolik '09, Product Manager at 23andMe   DNA is all about you—your evolution, ancestral immigration, and genetic profile. Our panelists are dedicated to using DNA for groundbreaking medical research, mapping ancestry and immigration patterns, and engaging students by making the study of genetics personal. This panel will explore the ethics and policies surrounding genetics along with some of the business models and educational applications that are in use today.

I am thrilled to announce that we have just surpassed our crowdfunding goal of $8,500 to support genetic ancestry testing as an educational tool for undergrads enrolled in BioMG1290 Personal Genomics and Medicine for spring 2017!  130 students are pre-enrolled from 29 different majors representing seven undergraduate colleges at Cornell. In the next day or two, I will to start interviewing for the ten undergraduate discussion leaders who will lead small-group discussions every Friday of the many challenges, opportunities, risks, and promise associated with the increased use of genetics in medicine as well as for genetic ancestry inference.

Although we have successfully reached our goal, our campaign is still ongoing for a few more hours. Any additional support will go towards assuring future students have the opportunity to analyze their own genetic ancestry as part of this course, and to help bring guest speakers to campus and the class to bring unique and relevant perspectives and expertise.

Thank you again for your generous support—we couldn’t have done it without you.  And I look forward to sharing in the spring results from the class, including a video of personal reflections on the course and personal ancestry stories from some of the students.

Chip Aquadro

I am very happy to share that as of today (8/29 6pm) we have reached 86% of our goal to raise $8,500 for Genetic Ancestry Testing as a Teaching Tool for Undergrads at Cornell. There’s one day left to help us reach our total of $8,500.

Your support means that any student, any study, can participate.

If you have not already done so, would you join the 71 donors to our project to date (including former students, parents and family of former students, and colleagues and friends at Cornell and elsewhere) and help us reach our goal?

We are so appreciative of gifts that so many of you have already made, so consider forwarding our appeal to friends or family with whom you think this project may resonate. Doing so will allow genetic ancestry testing to be available to all students as part of the non-majors course at Cornell in Personal Genomics and Medicine. The spring 2017 class is already oversubscribed (hit it’s new cap of 130 students even before pre-enrollment was over).

Make a Gift

Thank you for your interest in this effort and any support you can provide.

Best regards,

Chip Aquadro

I am very happy to share that we have reached 70% of our goal to raise $8,500 for Genetic Ancestry Testing as a Teaching Tool for Undergrads at Cornell.

There’s still three days left to help us reach our total of $8,500.

Your support means that any student, any study, can participate.

If you have not already done so, would you join the 60 supporters of our project to date (including former students, parents and family of former students, and colleagues and friends at Cornell and elsewhere) and and help us reach our goal? Doing so will allow genetic ancestry testing to be available to all students as part of the non-majors course at Cornell in Personal Genomics and Medicine. The spring 2017 class is already oversubscribed (hit it’s new cap of 130 students even before pre-enrollment was over).

Make a Gift

Thank you for allowing me to share updates with you this past month, and for your interest in this effort! Donors will receive a short video at the end of the spring semester from students explaining what their results meant to them including the impact on their learning and insights into their personal genetic ancestry.

Best regards,

Chip Aquadro

We are halfway through our campaign and 58% of the way to our goal.  Generous donations from 41 friends, family, faculty, student, and alumnae have raised $4993 of our $8500 goal.  We so appreciate the support.  

Several have asked if I include medically relevant results, carrier status, etc in what the students receive. The answer is no, this class only provides genetic ancestry testing.  I feel that if the students wish to get that additional information, they need to be responsible for purchasing those type of tests themselves,  ideally in consultation with a physician so that they have help interpreting concerning results that they might receive.

The class filled up so fast during pre-enrollment for BioMG 1290 Personal Genomics and Medicine for spring 2017 that only one freshman was able to register. I received so many emails from frustrated students that I raised the cap on the class to 130 students (which filled in a day). With these students plus ten discussion leaders and two graduate TAs, that's 142 genetic ancestry kits.  So every dollar becomes even that more important.  You can magnify the impact of your gift by sharing our project and your enthusiasm for it with your friends and family for whom the project may resonate.

Thank you so much, Chip Aquadro

With the help from 32 generous donors so far, we reached 32% of our goal in the first 7 days! We so appreciate the support.   You can magnify the impact of your gift by sharing our project and your enthusiasm for it with your friends and family for whom the project may resonate.

Pre-enrollment for BioMG 1290 Personal Genomics and Medicine is already at 102 (of the 104 cap) for spring 2017, and pre-enroll is not even over for sophomores and hasn’t even started for freshman!  And it’s freshman who Chip Aquadro particular tries to target for this class. So please spread the word, so that we can raise even more than our initial goal, and increase enrollment (which is capped only because of the currently funds to provide the genetic ancestry testing).