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23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline

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Re: 23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline

#181

Post by untog »

ab_testing wrote: post #145
zyang wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did it 6/7 years ago because the novelty, and enthusiastically recommended it to family and friends. Now I regret doing it considering how Google and Facebook has abused consumer data. I definitely would not submit my kids to the same fate.

If your kids were born in the United States,the states already has their genetic information. https://www.babysfirsttest.org/newborn-screening/states

That page doesn't say they store it?

In any case, the government having this data and a private, for profit company having this data feels like two quite different things.

Re: 23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline

#182

Post by Paul-ish »

mterrel wrote: post #2

I just wonder what happens to everyone's DNA data as the company faces financial trouble and/or sells itself. That's in addition to any concerns about possible security breaches that might occur.

This is an important question. Ancestry, for example, has been taking on debt to pay dividends at the behest of its majority shareholder.

Re: 23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline

#183

Post by jedberg »

bobthepanda wrote: post #108
throwaway1777 wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

New people are being born all the time. There are many industries based around one time purchases. Think appendix removal or weddings (that one may be more than once for some people)

Gifting someone a thing that could be used as a paternity test at a baby shower would be more than a little rude. And presumably if both parents have already done it why would you need to test the baby?

> And presumably if both parents have already done it why would you need to test the baby?

Before all the privacy concerns, I was considering getting my kids tested, even though my wife and I have both done it.

Mainly so that I could see which genes they picked up from each of us and if they got any new mutations.

Also, a situation that might be somewhat niche -- we had IVF, so it is possible there was a mistake in the clinic and the child wasn't made from us. I read too many stories about IVF clinics where the samples were switched by the employees with their own.

Even more mind blowing, through sheer clerical error, the children that came out of my wife could be mine but not hers!

Given that they look like us we're pretty sure the clinic didn't screw up, and at this point I would keep them regardless, but if I could discover an IVF mistake, the settlement would make for one heck of a college fund.

Re: 23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline

#184

Post by untog »

nradov wrote: post #92
jsgo wrote: post #79

> Wojcicki has theories Think the obvious one is that the results are shared and whether someone is a criminal or not (or will be one in the future), people are not particularly comfortable with sharing to parties they didn't initially trust it to for the purposes they trusted it for. Anecdotally, I bought a 23andme kit (just the genealogy one) but never submitted it because the labeling was to send it to the lab in…

The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) specifically prohibits health insurance companies from denying coverage or setting rates based on such tests.

"move fast and break things"

Re: 23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline

#185

Post by epistasis »

yalogin wrote: post #64

This is a functionality that no one asked for. Why does one need them? Let me ask an extreme question, how different is this from me naming a star after someone for their birthday? I go to some site and print out a certificate that that particular star in a given galaxy is now named Michael. Point is its a novelty thing. If a doctor asks me to get it done for a medical reason, sure. Other wise this is just a curiosit…

23andMe is very open about selling people's data! More people are OK with this than you would think. And without those data sales to third parties, 23andMe would look very different. I hear (rumors only) that their customer acquisition cost is a large percentage of the kit cost, and what's left over could in no way cover running the SNP chip.

The 23andMe SNP chip is not very medically useful, and I can't imagine a doctor recommending anyone use 23andMe unless it's to find relatives to relieve stress about the matter. Doctors will order specialized tests from clinically vetted firms that have medical directors signing reports that put their medical licenses on the line.

All that said, giving people access to their own data is somewhat valuable; and when the company was started no one knew how valuable it would be. Turns out it's mostly only useful for genealogy, at the moment, and unlikely to be useful for much more to individuals.

What people really want to know can not be answered by these tests, for example, what foods a person should eat, how long they will live, what they need to do in order to finally find bliss, etc... There are a several tiny, shady, providers of this information that is in high demand by some consumers, but short supply from the science.

Re: 23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline

#186

Post by thatfrenchguy »

ab_testing wrote: post #145
zyang wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did it 6/7 years ago because the novelty, and enthusiastically recommended it to family and friends. Now I regret doing it considering how Google and Facebook has abused consumer data. I definitely would not submit my kids to the same fate.

If your kids were born in the United States,the states already has their genetic information. https://www.babysfirsttest.org/newborn-screening/states

I trust the government more than a for profit corp for this.

Re: 23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline

#187

Post by reaperducer »

mc32 wrote: post #81
jsgo wrote: post #79

> Wojcicki has theories Think the obvious one is that the results are shared and whether someone is a criminal or not (or will be one in the future), people are not particularly comfortable with sharing to parties they didn't initially trust it to for the purposes they trusted it for. Anecdotally, I bought a 23andme kit (just the genealogy one) but never submitted it because the labeling was to send it to the lab in…

Exactly. Many people naively thought that it was going to be positive. Build your family tree, get better ancestry information. Even finding family relations can be fraught with issues like illegitimate children, sperm donors who thought they’d remain anonymous, secret affairs now outed and then there is the other health data aspect...

On CBS Sunday Morning this past weekend Steve Hartman had a piece about a 23andMe-style test let him know his parents weren't his parents and his family tree is actually a shrub that grew on the wrong side of the tracks.

Being Steve, the story was told in an awww, shucks Ron Howard style with a happy ending, but I found it kind of disturbing.

Re: 23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline

#188

Post by jethro_tell »

reaperducer wrote: post #170
Ohn0 wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, the lucrative appendix removal industry.

Considering the types of cars that surgeons drive, I'd say yes, quite lucrative.

yeah, but what about the appendectomy only doctors, what car do they drive?

Re: 23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline

#189

Post by kshacker »

ianferrel wrote: post #144
war1025 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never seen them push that as a marketing angle. As a 23andMe customer from a couple years ago, it never even occured to me to try re-running the results.

I expect that this is a difficult thing to market, since most people probably don't realize that the thing they did wasn't a "complete" sequence. "Remember the thing we sold you before? Well, it wasn't that great. But now it is. Give us more money?"

In bay area, we call it version 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, 2019, 2020.

Who does not want DNA 2020? I do. [NOT in this case]

Re: 23andMe lays off 100 people as DNA test sales decline

#190

Post by Trias11 »

Stop monetizing me without compensating me.

Stop [ab]using me without my concent.

Be forthcoming and willing to establish win-win relationship with me instead of sneaking out my stuff and monetizing my stuff without disclosing what are you doing with my stuff and without compensating me.

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