This is huge, it may not look like that but it is. Anyone know if this is legal? I'm pretty sure they already thought out their alibi, but this still could be a really messy subject. I'm also pretty sure that if they were honest about the real business plan behind 23andMe from the beginning, much less than 800,000 people would've spit for them; that's some really low foul play there and definitely 'evil' [1].<p>The reason why this is huge is because DNA (and samples) can be easily and cheaply preserved for relatively long time (which is what they obviously did). Right now, whole genome sequencing is 'apparently' still very expensive but there's not a doubt that it will become ridiculously cheap as time goes on. If 23andMe is completely authorized to do whatever they want with those samples (which I'm pretty sure they do, because I can't think of something more flagrant than selling their data) there's nothing stopping them to sequence all of them when the cost is low enough. What happens next could be the subject for many science fiction novels but it's real. If they do sequence those samples they would have BY FAR the largest amount of genomic information that humanity has ever gathered together; along with capable researchers, this is the kind of thing that could change the fate of our history. And... this tremendous amount of knowledge and power is all going to be in hands of a private business, a business with very dubious ethics and 'very close' to another company that makes it's living taking advantage of every piece of data they can put their hands into. This needs regulation like RIGHT NOW.<p>Also, from the comments:<p>>In essence, 23andMe got you to pay for their startup costs, and now they're looking to make a mint on the personal data you paid to give them.<p>[1] For those who are not aware. 23andMe's founder and CEO is Sergey Brin's SO.
A fearful number of startups seem to be premised on the idea that we will enter a big brother-esque dystopia in exchange for an infographic / collage.<p>I'm not saying they're incorrect, mind you.
"Since 23andMe started in 2006, it's convinced 800,000 customers to hand over their DNA [...] But 23andMe wasn't going to find a big business by selling spit kits at the cut rate of $99."<p>Isn't $80 million USD big?
Got a 23andMe spit-kit about a year ago, and never worked up the comfort with turning over my DNA.<p>It reminded me that the hospital where my first was born was engaged in some sort of genetic research at the time. They requested her DNA and assured me that it wouldn't be used for, say, future health insurance underwriting, etc.<p>What really made me uncomfortable was, not only how the DNA could be used at the current time, but how it might be used in the future, especially given the rapidly-evolving technology. And, it's not only the technology that will evolve, but privacy and other laws that currently limit DNA usage might also change in the future.<p>Of course, it occurs to me that if someone really wanted our DNA, they could capture it in, say, any random blood test, etc. But, it just seems safer, for now, not to "give" it away for questionable value in return.