Congratulations are in order for personal genetics company 23andMe and the volunteers who have helped it exceed its goal of enrolling 10,000 people in its Parkinson’s Research Community, now officially the largest cohort of genotyped people with Parkinson’s in the world.

“Having reached this important milestone, the next step for us is to focus on the data that we have collected,” said 23andMe’s Parkinson’s Research Manager Emily Drabant, PhD.  “This is a tremendously rich dataset and we want to learn as much as we can from it.”

According to the 23andMe blog, the company’s research goals include helping answer such scientific questions as:

• The relationship between environmental and genetic factors in the development of Parkinson’s.
• How those with Parkinson’s react differently to treatment so that treatments may be better individually targeted.
• Better understanding the disease and its progression through continuing engagement with community members.

Want to be part of the genetics revolution in Parkinson’s? 23andMe continues to welcome people to participate in its research. The Brin-Wojcicki Foundation, which had pledged to cover the costs for the first 10,000 people with Parkinson’s to enroll, is continuing to make it free for anyone with Parkinson’s to join 23andMe and be part of this research initiative.

(As always, more research participation opportunities, including the 23andMe PD Community and other genetics studies, can be found at Fox Trial Finder.)

23andMe was founded by longtime Michael J. Fox Foundation supporter Anne Wojcicki.