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23andMe licenses its own drug compound to Spanish firm Almirall

bloomberg.com

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Re: 23andMe licenses its own drug compound to Spanish firm Almirall

#11

Post by georgyo »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #2

This is great. I had a 23andMe test done years ago and one of the reasons why I chose to do it was because my genetic data might be helpful for others. I personally don't feel like I 'own' my genetic code and I'm quite happy to let scientists analyze it. However I understand while many people do not feel the same way.

I don't mind reaching being done on my DNA. Where 23andMe crosses lines is let people search the archives that still contain all the PII attached, such as police departments. That is a breach of trust.

Re: 23andMe licenses its own drug compound to Spanish firm Almirall

#12

Post by munchbunny »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #2

This is great. I had a 23andMe test done years ago and one of the reasons why I chose to do it was because my genetic data might be helpful for others. I personally don't feel like I 'own' my genetic code and I'm quite happy to let scientists analyze it. However I understand while many people do not feel the same way.

I personally don't feel like I 'own' my genetic code and I'm quite happy to let scientists analyze it. However I understand while many people do not feel the same way.

I think the usual objection is not about losing ownership of your genetic code, but rather the privacy concerns that come with a company selling (access to) your literal source code to large companies with questionable intentions.

Re: 23andMe licenses its own drug compound to Spanish firm Almirall

#13

Post by Hasz »

What a excellent, albeit strange, model. People pay you to analyze their valuable info, which you then aggregate and use to develop a drug and sell to others. It's almost exactly like trash -- people give you their valuable commodity (pay you to take it, in some cases!), you put it in a pile and then sell the mining rights down the line.

If my data is going to be used to develop drug royalties, I want a % cut. Not a free test, certainly not a test that costs $100. I realize I will never get it, but I can hope.

Drugs, when you analyze the successes, are unfathomably profitable. The R&D is horrifically expensive, but the end product is immensely valuable. 23andMe is in a bit of a race to pick all the easy fruit from the genetic tree to develop into drugs. All the upside, a much easier R&D path compared to the conventional "throw shit at the wall until it sticks" style.

Re: 23andMe licenses its own drug compound to Spanish firm Almirall

#14

Post by pvaldes »

gpm wrote: post #8
pvaldes wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Saying that you do not own your unique genetic code is not much different than saying that your ears, eyes or kidneys are not yours, and might be helpful form others, so anybody could take them. Think about it.

There is a huge difference between physical objects and information.

Is not so easy. A DNA chain is a physical object and information at the same time. If you copy it, you are copying an object that could be used to "make a copy of you", and allowing "random company or people" to pick this info opens the door to several problems. i.e. Imagine that somebody stole your sperm somehow and use it to make a child and blackmail you asking for money each month for 18 years because you are "the father", so pay me. Boris Becker suffered a similar case.

In the same way synthetic fragments of your DNA could be left in a crime scenery. It would be enough to clone only the handful of good parts able to trigger a rape test, and we have machines that could be feed with your public data and programmed to do this. No need to say that this could put you in a jail for the rest of your life, or worse.

You need to protect yourself from a lot of posible evil uses of your unique code, past and future.

Re: 23andMe licenses its own drug compound to Spanish firm Almirall

#15

Post by dpiers »

BitwiseFool wrote: post #2

This is great. I had a 23andMe test done years ago and one of the reasons why I chose to do it was because my genetic data might be helpful for others. I personally don't feel like I 'own' my genetic code and I'm quite happy to let scientists analyze it. However I understand while many people do not feel the same way.

I'm relatively paranoid when it comes to privacy and also did 23andMe for similar reasons.

I stopped thinking of my DNA as a secret when I realized how impossible it is to keep other people from having access to it. Once someone knows it, you cannot change it like a password.

DNA is an anti-secret. You share it everywhere you go and cannot stop. It's no more secret or personal than your shoe size or height.

Re: 23andMe licenses its own drug compound to Spanish firm Almirall

#17

Post by gpm »

pvaldes wrote: post #14
gpm wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a huge difference between physical objects and information.

Is not so easy. A DNA chain is a physical object and information at the same time. If you copy it, you are copying an object that could be used to "make a copy of you", and allowing "random company or people" to pick this info opens the door to several problems. i.e. Imagine that somebody stole your sperm somehow and use it to make a child and blackmail you asking for money each month for 18 years because you are "th…

No one is using the physical objects for their research. They sequenced it (at your request) and are only using the information for research...

Re: 23andMe licenses its own drug compound to Spanish firm Almirall

#18

Post by [deleted] »

georgyo wrote: post #11
BitwiseFool wrote: post #2

This is great. I had a 23andMe test done years ago and one of the reasons why I chose to do it was because my genetic data might be helpful for others. I personally don't feel like I 'own' my genetic code and I'm quite happy to let scientists analyze it. However I understand while many people do not feel the same way.

I don't mind reaching being done on my DNA. Where 23andMe crosses lines is let people search the archives that still contain all the PII attached, such as police departments. That is a breach of trust.

[deleted]

Re: 23andMe licenses its own drug compound to Spanish firm Almirall

#19

Post by no_multitudes »

starpilot wrote: post #7
buboard wrote: post #4

that's great. i wonder if we get special discounts for literally being lab animals

https://www.vocabulary.com/articles/chooseyourwords/figurati...

I think they would qualify as literal lab animals in this case...

"laboratory animals (also referred to as animals) are generally defined as any vertebrate animal (i.e., traditional laboratory animals, agricultural animals, wildlife, and aquatic species) produced for or used in research, testing, or teaching. " https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK54054/

Re: 23andMe licenses its own drug compound to Spanish firm Almirall

#20

Post by toomuchtodo »

Hasz wrote: post #13

What a excellent, albeit strange, model. People pay you to analyze their valuable info, which you then aggregate and use to develop a drug and sell to others. It's almost exactly like trash -- people give you their valuable commodity (pay you to take it, in some cases!), you put it in a pile and then sell the mining rights down the line. If my data is going to be used to develop drug royalties, I want a % cut. Not a…

It's really not that strange. No different than people paying $40k-$130k for Tesla vehicles that send data back with no compensation to help them improve their autonomy efforts, or users of social media products giving their content away for free (Facebook, Insta, Twitter, Reddit) thereby creating the platform's value. Lots of good business to be had taking something of little value and then selling for a greater value in some larger aggregate (which is even as low tech as your local metal recycling business; you want a cut of the revenue from the aircraft your aluminum ends up in?).

The consumer benefit is that it's only $100-200 for a 23andme selective sequence, versus the $1000 for a full sequencing someone like Veritas charges. It's brilliant that 23andme can turn health and ancestry curiosity into a pharma business, and they should be commended for their work.

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