PROVO, Utah and SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., July 21, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AncestryDNA, an industry leader in consumer genetics, and Calico, a company focused on longevity research and therapeutics, today announced an effort to investigate human heredity of lifespan. Together, they will evaluate anonymized data from millions of public family trees and a growing database of over one million genetic samples. Financial terms have not been disclosed.
AncestryDNA and Calico will work together to analyze and investigate the role of genetics and its influences in families experiencing unusual longevity using Ancestry's proprietary databases, tools and algorithms. Calico will then focus its efforts to develop and commercialize any potential therapeutics that emerge from the analysis.
"On the heels of our AncestryHealth launch and our one million genotyped customers milestone for AncestryDNA, we're excited to announce this collaboration with Calico to research and develop life changing solutions," said Ken Chahine, Executive Vice President and Head of DNA and Health. "We have laid the groundwork for this effort through the combination of an unmatched family history database, one of the fastest growing genetic databases, and a strong and talented team of computer scientists and professional genealogists."
AncestryDNA can provide access to a unique combination of resources that will enable Calico to develop potentially groundbreaking therapeutic solutions. The extensive research period will identify common patterns in longevity and human heredity through pedigree data.
"Our common experience suggests that there may be hereditary factors underlying longevity, but finding the genes responsible using standard techniques has proven elusive," commented David Botstein, Calico's Chief Scientific Officer and member of the US National Academy of Sciences. "This is an extraordinary opportunity to address a fundamental unanswered question in longevity research using high quality human pedigrees."
To learn more about the AncestryDNA, visit www.ancestrydna.com. For more information on Calico, visit www.calicolabs.com.
About AncestryDNA
AncestryDNA is owned and operated by Ancestry.com DNA, LLC, a subsidiary of Ancestry.com, LLC. AncestryDNA uses a simple test to analyze an individual's DNA. AncestryDNA offers the potential of identifying new insights into people's ancient ancestry to help them collaborate with distant cousins and make even more discoveries in their family history. For more information visit www.ancestrydna.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include a variety of factors, some of which are beyond the company's control. In particular, such risks and uncertainties include the company's ability to add tools and features, and provide value to satisfy customer demand. Information concerning additional factors that could cause events or results to differ materially is contained under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for Ancestry.com LLC for the period ended March 31, 2015, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 1, 2015, and in discussions in other of the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing our views as of any subsequent date and we assume no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements.
About Calico Life Sciences
Calico (Calico Life Sciences LLC) is a Google-funded research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies to increase our understanding of the biology that controls lifespan. Calico will use that knowledge to devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives. Visit www.calicolabs.com.