In Search of Giants

Author Colleen Snyder shares her story of discovering unexpected Irish roots through a rare genetic mutation while offering heartfelt reflections on community and belonging.

Colleen Snyder is the co-author of In Search of Giants: The Quest to Find the Genetic Giants of Northern Ireland, which describes her discovery in 2020 that she is the first known person in the U.S. to have the rare Northern Ireland variant of the AIP genetic mutation that caused her gigantism. Knowing that her ancestors came from the area in 1861, Snyder contacted London physician and genetic gigantism researcher Professor Márta Korbonits, who introduced her to co-author Brendan Holland, who shares the same diagnosis. Snyder is from Linden, VA, and has been published in The Washington Post and Destinations magazine.

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