The daily step count needed to reduce the risk of obesity may be largely dependent on genetics, a retrospective cohort study indicates, according to MedPage Today. Among U.S. adults without obesity in the All of Us Research Program, incidence of obesity over a median follow-up of 5.4 years was 13% for those in the lowest quartile of BMI polygenic risk score (PRS), but reached 43% for those in the highest quartile. Higher PRS and lower daily step counts were each independently associated with an increased risk for obesity, reported Evan Brittain, MD, MSc, of Vanderbilt University Medical Cente ..read more

As the sun shined brightly in the Tuesday morning sky, four members of the American Legion Post 13 rifle detail stood at attention. In front of them stood roughly 205 graves, each of them marking a New Mexican veteran, Albuquerque Journal reported. Each grave featured a pearl white tombstone shooting out of the red rocks that surrounded it. Etched in each tombstone were the veteran’s name, rank, the way in which the veteran served, and the date of birth and death. The sound of shifting rocks could be heard as members the New Mexico Department of Veterans Services, Bernalillo County and the pu ..read more

Britain, particularly England and Wales, has a rich legacy of historical documents where we can find traces of our ancestors’ lives, Christina Copland, PHD, Professional Genealogist at Ancestry, wrote. Nonetheless, building your British family tree doesn’t come without challenges. The past 300 years have been a time if increasing migration within Britain. Sometimes, a move was local, to seek a new spouse in a neighboring parish, for example. Other times, whole families moved across the country as new economic opportunities arose and transportation became cheap. Perhaps they even decided to le ..read more

Are you distantly related to the legendary, like the great musical genius Ludwig Van Beethoven? Perhaps you are genetically related to a high-status Viking woman form the 9th century who was buried in an ornate coffin with ornaments made of copper and a comb made form antlers? Maybe you’re linked to an African female Hunter-Gatherer buried with her bow and arrow and an ivory armband or a Caquetio man found with shards of decorated poetry at a site in Curaçao that dates back to before the first colonizers arrived in the Americas. Woven into our DNA is a history thread linking us to our relativ ..read more

In March of 2024, MyHeritage published 707 million historical records in 17 historical record collections from the United States, Australia, Denmark, England, France, Northern Ireland, and Wales. The records include birth and baptism records, marriage and divorce records, death and burial records, census records, immigration and emigration records, passenger lists, and telephone directories. Some of the collections also include images. Search them to discover a family treasure! Australia Newspapers This index of historical, local, and regional national Australian newspapers, periodicals and g ..read more

Business Insider reported on March 6, 2024 – 23andMe Holding Co., a leading human genetics and biopharmaceutical company, released three new genetic reports for 23andMe+ members on breast, colorectal and prostate cancer. The reports are based on statistical models known as polygenetic risk scores (PRS), developed by 23andMe through its proprietary research database. These PRS reports calculate the likelihood of an individual developing one of these cancers, based on thousands of genetic variants associated with the disease. Recent studies show a rise in younger people being diagnosed with can ..read more

The process the California Legislative Black Caucus (CLBC) promised to initiate to pass a package of reparations bills began Feb. 26, on the Assembly floor at the State Capitol with the passage of Assembly Concurrent Resolution (ACR) 135, Antonio Ray Harvey reported for the Sacramento Observer. Authored by Assemblymember Akilah Weber (D-La. Mesa), ACR 135 — or the “Human rights violations and crimes against humanity on African slaves and their descendants” – recognizes the “harms and atrocities committed by representatives of the State of California who promoted, facilitated, enforced and per ..read more

FamilySearch has expanded its free online archives on 22 January 2024 with over 21 million new indexed family history records from all over the world, including 16 million from Russia, and 2.7 million from the Czech Republic. Other significant record expansions occurred in collections for Argentina, Brazil, Columbia, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Gibraltar, Ireland, Mexico, Peru, Spain, Ukraine, the United States and Zimbabwe. Don’t see what you’re looking for this week? Millions of new genealogy records are added each week to make your discoveries easier. While waiting for record exp ..read more

Psychology Today posted interesting information about why we need to talk about genetics. One: DNA is everywhere Today, the number of customers of genetic testing services likely exceeds 60 million people. Genomic data features in all areas of life: They inform clinical diagnoses and disease treatment just as mochas they help ensure the compatibility of reality TV couples (yes, ‘Married at First Sight’ used ‘DNA matching techniques’). Before the rise of Ozempic, ‘personalized nutrition’ based on your DNA was the go-to miracle cure for dietary and weight problems. Two: Genetics are probab ..read more

In February 2024, we published 168 million historical records from 18 historical record collections from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, Czechia, Germany, Peru, and Wales. The records include newspapers, passenger lists, marriage licenses, civil registration of births, electoral registers, and telephone directories. Some of the collections also include images. Search them to discover a family treasure! Australia Newspapers This index of historical local, regional, and national Australian newspapers, periodicals, and gazettes include MyHeritage’s advanced optical cha ..read more