Cece Moore

So that was really fascinating and wonderful.

And we started thousands of surname projects doing that.

But for those of us that were hungry for more, we really wanted to be able to explore those

ancestors in the middle of our tree, not just those lines.

And we started asking some of the scientists, could we use a type of DNA called autosomal DNA, which is auto, like the car, zomal.

And that type of DNA, even women inherit that from their fathers.

So we wouldn't have to test a brother or father or cousin.

We could test our own DNA to learn about our father's side.

You get 50 percent from each of your parents.

You get, on average, 25 percent from each of your grandparents, about 12 and a half percent from each of your great grandparents.

So that seemed really exciting.

But scientists told us back before 2009 that it couldn't be done.

that you could not use autosomal DNA for genealogy because it recombines so quickly.

We were used to using very static type of DNA, type of DNA that mutated very slowly.

But now, asking about autosomal DNA, the traditional belief at that time was that it changes too quickly, and therefore you wouldn't be able to use it in genealogy.

That's right.

So a very groundbreaking company called 23andMe introduced an autosomal-based test for health purposes.

I think most of us have heard of 23andMe now, but back then it was brand new.

Right.

So Anne wanted to democratize our access to our own genetic information, which her purpose was different.