> For several years, 23andMe has worked on demonstrating that its reports are easy to understand and analytically valid...<p>I guess these are different reports, but I know a genetic counsellor who describes 23andMe's carrier screening tests as "the bane of their existence". Those reports seem not-so-easy to understand based on the patients she sees.<p>One problem is that they warn that your offspring are at high risk for some condition, when really "high risk" means 0.5% higher risk than the general population. The other is that they may say you are not a carrier for a certain condition, when they only test for one variant of it, where proper tests will test for multiple variants. They can both scare and soothe irresponsibly.
I'm surprised to see all the fear-mongering in this thread.<p>We leave genetic material behind everywhere we go. 23andme analyzes only a small subset of one's DNA.<p>The most important thing to realize about genetics is that very few health conditions (and even traits) are highly correlated with a specific genotype.<p>Some are, but the reason something like 23andme hasn't revolutionized health is because the correlations for most things are weak. 23andme does a good job of showing just how weak in the results. I'm 52% likely to have the eye color I have even though both parents have that color. I'm the tallest in my generation (in my family) yet my genes are mostly for below average height.<p>Over time, with a lot more data and a lot more correlation analysis with health and behavioral data, there will be more actionable information for the average customer.<p>As it stands, 23andme is useful for the following reasons:<p>- the data is entertaining. It's fun to find out how much neanderthal DNA one has, etc.<p>- the ancestry results are interesting.<p>- the health results make it clear just how little impact genetics has in most aspects of health. Yes there are some big exceptions, but those are a minuscule percentage.<p>By joining 23andme you get a chance to watch the studies unfold and plug in your own data. For a curious, patient person, this offers a great way to make an interesting area of science a bit more salient.
Is there any way to just have your entire genome sequenced and get all the data in a software-friendly format? At that point there could/should be some open source software for analyzing it and finding common or well understood things like this. That way the software could be updated and people could re-run their analysis to look for newly discovered stuff.<p>I think this would be an awesome amount of fun. I for one would be interested in looking for certain gene variants that are not mentioned at all over at 23andMe.
Are they still saying that by submitting a sample to them, that they then own your genome and can sell it to whoever they want? I'd love to get mine sequenced and check it out a bit, but not if they are going to sell it off to a million shady companies whenever they go bankrupt (maybe 50+ years, but still)
...right as the Republicans want to remove some of the protections afforded by GINA. [1]<p>While I'm sure this helps 23andMe's business case, it's a seriously scary time to consider getting your genome sequenced right now.<p>[1]: <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/03/11/employees-who-decline-genetic-testing-could-face-penalities-under-proposed-bill/" rel="nofollow">https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2017/0...</a>
> 23andMe is now the only company authorized by the FDA to provide personal genetic health risk reports without a prescription.<p>Will it be hard for competitors to get this authorization as well?
I think people are forgetting to ask the key question - Cui bono? Who benefits?<p>23andme definitely benefits - all the data they have collected is very valuable, and they intend to sell it to pharmaceutical companies etc.<p>On the other hand, working in genomics, in my opinion the benefit to any one person having their genome tested in this manner is minimal. The simple reason is that most genetic alterations have low penetrance for phenotypes or involve complex interactions.
FDA press release:<p><a href="https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm551185.htm" rel="nofollow">https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/u...</a>
My opinion is that this test is useless at the least and dangerous at the most. It provides information that in almost the totality of the cases no one can correctly interpretate and transform in actionable health advice. Not scientists, not doctors, much less consumers.<p>But it is sold as a cutting edge scientific resource that will improve your life. It wont. Not even increasing the chance that you might avoid something somehow, that's the fallacy.<p>For our level of knowledge regarding causality in biology and genetics, I believe this test is as good as buying your astrological map.
When 23andMe took down their health reports, I reimplemented most of them myself: <a href="https://github.com/cslarsen/arv/" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/cslarsen/arv/</a><p>(I.e., arv is a newer version of the older dna-traits, which includes the actual health reports: <a href="https://github.com/cslarsen/dna-traits/" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/cslarsen/dna-traits/</a>)<p>Just `pip install arv`, `python -m arv --example genome.txt` and you're good to go (it's fast as well, parses in 60-70ms).
Can't wait till the require these for health insurance... Seriously, is there regulation protecting people from "pre-existing conditions" discovered by their genetic analysis?
I found some useful information in my 23andme report regarding poor or undesirable responses to quite a few pharmaceuticals, my phase 1 metabolism is... novel...