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23andMe raises $50M, cuts price to $99, sets goal of 1M genotyped customers

blog.23andme.com

101–110 of 245 posts

Re: 23andMe raises $50M, cuts price to $99, sets goal of 1M genotyped customers

#103

I signed up for their service few years ago, honestly didn't get any useful info. My wife has genetic mutation that seriously affects her health, nothing in their profile is even remotely indicating (that we could see). Overall I am pretty disappointed with data I received from their service. For example I supposedly have genes that make me risk for obesity, yet I was most of my life very skinny and in recent years g…

That's not their fault; that's the fault of the state of genetic research. (And of the fact that the heritability of any given trait is not 1.)

Re: 23andMe raises $50M, cuts price to $99, sets goal of 1M genotyped customers

#105
post #18

Will they give my genotype information to FBI or CIA? Will they pay damages if information gets stolen? This is not some passwords or account numbers, this is data about real world which can't be changed.

Why not buy a gift credit card, and not use your actual identity to purchase the registration? They don't appear to require any rigorous proof of identity.

It would be trivial to figure out who you really are once enough relatives sign up.

Re: 23andMe raises $50M, cuts price to $99, sets goal of 1M genotyped customers

#106
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same people who would install driving monitoring devices to lower their auto insurance[1]. Not everyone cares about privacy. [1]: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/25/business/seeking-cheaper-i...

It is not just privacy...how about human rights? "Sorry sir your infant child is not eligible for that heart operation due to the genetic marker we discovered in your profile."

Already illegal: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_Information_Nondiscrimi...

In fact, HIPAA might have already forbidden that. The law wasn't clear but it's entirely moot now.

Re: 23andMe raises $50M, cuts price to $99, sets goal of 1M genotyped customers

#107
post #86
post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this isnt a good solution. Imagine the following scenario. A disease hits with p=0.001. To cure it is Very Expensive. Everyone gets insurance that covers it. Now imagine we have a test, that can predict it with certainty. Very soon only those with positive results will want insurance. The insurance against it will become unprofitable and discontinued.

> Now imagine we have a test, that can predict it with certainty. Very soon only those with positive results will want insurance. The insurance against it will become unprofitable and discontinued. That does leave a time when the risk is still insurable: before the test is conducted. One can imagine it evolving as an additional service that the testing provider may partner with insurance companies to provide. At the…

But since your parents had the test, and they know your parents' results, your probability of having the (genetic) disease is not exactly unknowable by the insurance company.

Re: 23andMe raises $50M, cuts price to $99, sets goal of 1M genotyped customers

#108
post #98
post #80

In other news, 23andMe introduced relative finder not long ago. I hadn't logged on in over 2 years after I did it with a groupon promo, but I had a public profile with my name and city. A half-sister i didn't know i had found me with matching DNA, owns a business 5 blocks away and walked over to meet me (what's the probability of that!?). Found my dad was not my biological dad and i was from the same sperm donor as m…

Are you joking?

[deleted]

Re: 23andMe raises $50M, cuts price to $99, sets goal of 1M genotyped customers

#109
post #98
post #80

In other news, 23andMe introduced relative finder not long ago. I hadn't logged on in over 2 years after I did it with a groupon promo, but I had a public profile with my name and city. A half-sister i didn't know i had found me with matching DNA, owns a business 5 blocks away and walked over to meet me (what's the probability of that!?). Found my dad was not my biological dad and i was from the same sperm donor as m…

Are you joking?

I'm sure that happens a lot; father is sterile so they use artificial insemination and they never let the kid know; is just that OP is one of the few who later found out.

Re: 23andMe raises $50M, cuts price to $99, sets goal of 1M genotyped customers

#110
post #98
post #80

In other news, 23andMe introduced relative finder not long ago. I hadn't logged on in over 2 years after I did it with a groupon promo, but I had a public profile with my name and city. A half-sister i didn't know i had found me with matching DNA, owns a business 5 blocks away and walked over to meet me (what's the probability of that!?). Found my dad was not my biological dad and i was from the same sperm donor as m…

Are you joking?

Ha, no. And my new sister's husband is also happens to be a phd geneticist.
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