Field notes on your biology
Short reads on how your body works: sleep, coffee, appetite, training, and the genes behind them. We say how strong the evidence is and link every study.
Guides
→Can you find your blood type in your 23andMe raw data? Mostly, yes
The two DNA markers behind A, B, AB and O sit in the raw file you can download from 23andMe. How to look them up in two minutes, and why the plus or minus is the one thing the file cannot tell you.
Should you delete your 23andMe data? Download your file first
23andMe went bankrupt and now belongs to a nonprofit. How to delete your data in 2026, what the company keeps anyway, and the one step to take before you click.
You got your AncestryDNA results. Here's what most people never find out
The ethnicity pie chart is the least interesting thing you paid for. What the percentages actually mean, and the five things worth doing next, including the raw file almost nobody downloads.
Best DNA upload sites in 2026: where to upload your raw DNA data
Where to upload raw DNA data in 2026, by goal: health, relatives or a free first look. What each site costs and does with your file.
Nutrition & taste
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Why lost weight comes back, and how to keep it off
Most weight lost on a diet comes back. The reason is not willpower: the body raises hunger after every kilo lost, for a year or more. Here is why it happens and what helps people keep it off.
Ozempic and your genes: can DNA predict how much you will lose?
On the same weekly shot, one person loses 20 percent of their weight and another loses 4. A study of almost 28,000 people checked if DNA explains it. What really decides the result, and what to do with that.
Do you have a slow metabolism? What the measurements say
Two people of the same size burn almost the same calories at rest, and metabolism does not slow at 30. What really differs between people: appetite, fidgeting, and what a crash diet does. Plus what your DNA adds.
Fitness & sleep
→Your body clock keeps time even when you do not
Sleeping in on Saturday flies your internal clock a few time zones west and back again. What social jetlag is, why the wake time is the anchor, and how late coffee and a nightcap fit in.
The soreness two days later is not lactic acid
Lactate clears within about an hour. The ache peaks at 24 to 72 hours. The 1983 study that broke the link, what actually causes it, and why stretching first does not prevent it.
The genes your tendons are made of
COL5A1 and TNC variants shift how resilient connective tissue tends to be. What a meta-analysis actually shows about soft-tissue injuries, and what a runner should do with a strain lean.
Night owl or early bird: what your genes set, and what they don't
Chronotype is real, partly heritable, and studied in almost 700,000 people. Here is what the clock genes actually move, in minutes, not destiny.
Mind & mood
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Is anxiety genetic? About a third of it, and here is what that means
Anxiety runs in families, and twin studies put genes at roughly a third of the picture. What the big DNA studies found, why there is no single anxiety gene, and what the other two thirds are.
Dopamine is not the pleasure chemical
Two experiments separated wanting from liking and showed the brain pays out on surprise, not on reward. It explains the scroll you do not even enjoy, and why the dopamine detox has it backwards.
Are you a warrior or a worrier? What the COMT gene really says
COMT earned the warrior-or-worrier nickname. What your rs4680 result (GG, AG or AA) really means, what the big studies found, and how to see yours.
AI & privacy
→What is MCP, and how does your AI read your genome?
Set up your Helisoma report once, live via MCP in Claude or ChatGPT, or as an attached report in Gemini or Whoop, and from then on just ask: what does this look like from my DNA's point of view?
Your raw DNA file never leaves your device
Most DNA sites ask you to upload your whole genome file and trust them with it. Helisoma reads it in your browser instead. Here is how, and why.
How to actually use AI with your DNA
AI plus your genetics is genuinely useful when the setup is right. One rule, three steps, and five habits that keep your assistant honest.
Don't paste your raw DNA into ChatGPT
Can ChatGPT analyze your raw DNA? Why pasting the file goes wrong, with numbers, and a safe four-step way to use ChatGPT with your DNA.
Traits & quirks
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One letter in your DNA decides your earwax (yes, really)
ABCC11 is the rare human trait that works like a Mendel textbook: one variant determines wet or dry earwax, and tags along with body odor. The 2006 discovery, the world map, and the deodorant question.
Why you sneeze at the sun (and your friends think you're making it up)
The photic sneeze reflex is real, runs in families, and showed up in one of the first big participant-driven genetic studies. The biology of the ACHOO reflex, with sources.
Brown-eyed parents, blue-eyed baby: how eye color really works
Mostly one switch, plus a committee of modifiers. The genetics of eye color, the myth of the impossible blue-eyed child, and one common ancestor.
How genetics works
→What blood tests should you get in your 30s?
A plain checklist of the blood tests US guidelines recommend in your 30s, how often to get them, which extras are worth it, and what your DNA can add.
Nobody at the table is tasting the same meal
Cilantro that tastes like soap, asparagus that six in ten people cannot smell, and redheads who need more anesthetic. Perception varies between people more than almost anyone assumes.
Chip or full sequence: what your DNA test actually read
Your 23andMe file covers about 0.02 percent of your genome. That is the right 0.02 percent for some questions and the wrong tool for others.
Small leans, not verdicts: how to read a genetics report
Common DNA variants shift your odds by a little, not a lot. A short guide to reading any consumer genetics report, ours included, without scaring yourself.
Curious what your DNA says?
Your browser reads your raw DNA file right on your device, so the file itself never leaves it. Out comes a personalized report you can read yourself or hand to your AI.
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