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How To Use 23andMe Irresponsibly (2014)

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Re: How To Use 23andMe Irresponsibly (2014)

#12
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neat! Might as well do both and see how they compare :)

I just plugged my 23andme data into both. Waiting for results. I was thinking of sharing the results, is anyone interested? Is there really any good reason not to? I know people get all uptight about it but I'm not sure why.

i don't have a concrete reason besides personal preference, but it seems like the kind of thing that might become very regrettable for unforeseeable reasons in a decade or two so i would advise against it

Re: How To Use 23andMe Irresponsibly (2014)

#13
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neat! Might as well do both and see how they compare :)

I just plugged my 23andme data into both. Waiting for results. I was thinking of sharing the results, is anyone interested? Is there really any good reason not to? I know people get all uptight about it but I'm not sure why.

I also wondered why people are so freaked out by it, asked around, and came up with these more or less worrying reasons:

http://gleech.org/genes-out

Re: How To Use 23andMe Irresponsibly (2014)

#14

I don't think Mr. Alexander has had this conversation with anyone in bioinformatics, where "SNP" is universally pronounced "snip" and given the preconsonantal indefinite article - "a snip", not "an ess en pee".

Like a lot of stuff that comes out of the rationalists -- autodidacts with a background in stats have decided that reading research papers on their own is a sufficient approach to knowledge, with often pretty messy results.

His actual reading appears to be spot on, which ia fairly impressive, and well nuanced besides with regard to reliability of results in a field not especially meriting respect for its rigor.

Re: How To Use 23andMe Irresponsibly (2014)

#15

Has anyone used 23andme with fake information? If so, how?

Tell a work friend or someone you know causally about 23andme. If they show interest suggest buying the kits together to save on shipping costs. Mention that you have a few friends who would be interested as well and give them the cash for a few kits. Their credit card and address will be linked to the purchase. When the kits arrive sell your extras to different causal friends and register yours with completely fake information from public wifi. 23andme will have your DNA but nothing to link it to your identity.

Re: How To Use 23andMe Irresponsibly (2014)

#16
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neat! Might as well do both and see how they compare :)

I just plugged my 23andme data into both. Waiting for results. I was thinking of sharing the results, is anyone interested? Is there really any good reason not to? I know people get all uptight about it but I'm not sure why.

I did this [1], and so have thousands of others through the Harvard Personal Genome Project and other associated projects. So far, I haven't faced any consequences. If you decide to do so, I encourage you to make your genes accessible to researchers by participating in the Harvard Personal Genome Project [2].

The main risk of sharing your genes is genetic discrimination. It's irreversible to share your genes, so I'd ask yourself: if you were to find out you are a carrier of a genetic disorder, would that change your mind? If so, I wouldn't share your genes publically.

[1] http://genes.howderek.com/ [2] http://personalgenomes.org/

Re: How To Use 23andMe Irresponsibly (2014)

#17
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neat! Might as well do both and see how they compare :)

I just plugged my 23andme data into both. Waiting for results. I was thinking of sharing the results, is anyone interested? Is there really any good reason not to? I know people get all uptight about it but I'm not sure why.

The Holocaust happened fewer than 100 years ago. You don't want to publish such identifying data with humanity still so immature.

It could turn out that you have the "dissident" gene and the government needs to get rid of you to preemptively stop the problems you might cause.

Re: How To Use 23andMe Irresponsibly (2014)

#18
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neat! Might as well do both and see how they compare :)

I just plugged my 23andme data into both. Waiting for results. I was thinking of sharing the results, is anyone interested? Is there really any good reason not to? I know people get all uptight about it but I'm not sure why.

23andme currently offer an Ancestry Service, and a Health + Ancestry Service. Are you using just the Ancestry service here? Anyone know how their Health reports stack up against these 3rd party services?

Re: How To Use 23andMe Irresponsibly (2014)

#19
post #15

Has anyone used 23andme with fake information? If so, how?

Tell a work friend or someone you know causally about 23andme. If they show interest suggest buying the kits together to save on shipping costs. Mention that you have a few friends who would be interested as well and give them the cash for a few kits. Their credit card and address will be linked to the purchase. When the kits arrive sell your extras to different causal friends and register yours with completely fake…

Why the extras?

Re: How To Use 23andMe Irresponsibly (2014)

#20
post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just plugged my 23andme data into both. Waiting for results. I was thinking of sharing the results, is anyone interested? Is there really any good reason not to? I know people get all uptight about it but I'm not sure why.

The Holocaust happened fewer than 100 years ago. You don't want to publish such identifying data with humanity still so immature. It could turn out that you have the "dissident" gene and the government needs to get rid of you to preemptively stop the problems you might cause.

It's funny how different people have different approaches towards dealing with such a potential scenario.

For instance, to some people, preventing others from accessing this information is a mechanism to prevent such a thing from happening in future.

For others, having gun rights or living in a heavily armed society (such as USA) is a better preventative mechanism.

FYI in N Korea dissidents 'genes' are removed from the society, but it's usually done by taking out all the family members of a person committing crime. So I'd say that if govt really wanted to do something, this won't really be a defense.

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