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23andMe licenses its own drug compound to Spanish firm Almirall

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

#31

Post by chrisamiller »

LinuxBender wrote: post #29

Somewhat off topic: Has anyone yet made a device that is entirely self contained and can do a basic analysis of DNA without sending or fetching data from anywhere? In other words, 100% air-gapped and my DNA and data stay on the portable device. If not, approx. how many years until such a device might exist?

Unfortunately, there still is no such thing as "basic" analysis of DNA. :)Ewan Birney has a great quote about this:

Sequencing, analysing and interpreting genomes is ‘routine’ in the same way the US Navy ‘routinely’ lands planes on aircraft carriers. It might happen regularly by well trained crew with the right equipment but it is not an easy thing to do. https://twitter.com/ewanbirney/status/1040144488948281344

That said, an Oxford Nanopore sequencer + a laptop is probably the closest thing to what you want.

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

#32

Post by Beefin »

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…

That makes zero sense, the effort is in deriving insights in producing something tangible - drugs. That's like saying you want a cut from all of Google's revenue because you use their search engine, or you want a cut from any service because they use the analytics from your use to improve their product.

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

#33

Post by pvaldes »

georgyo wrote: post #10
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.

That's a bit of a strawman. I guess people shouldn't donate blood with your line of thinking. It's apparently the same as donating an organ that doesn't replenish itself.

Is a different situation.

The blood that you donate is not taken for making a profit by a private company. Is strongly regulated and do not depends of the income of external investors expecting a profit. At difference of a private company, nobody will buy the goverment tomorrow.

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

#34

Post by Beefin »

LinuxBender wrote: post #29

Somewhat off topic: Has anyone yet made a device that is entirely self contained and can do a basic analysis of DNA without sending or fetching data from anywhere? In other words, 100% air-gapped and my DNA and data stay on the portable device. If not, approx. how many years until such a device might exist?

Not possible. The library of SNPs is too large and growing by the day. Source, I made a gene analyzer: https://github.com/esteininger/Genetic-Report-Tool

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

#35

Post by Hasz »

Beefin wrote: post #32
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…

That makes zero sense, the effort is in deriving insights in producing something tangible - drugs. That's like saying you want a cut from all of Google's revenue because you use their search engine, or you want a cut from any service because they use the analytics from your use to improve their product.

That's exactly what I'm saying. I recognize it's not practical, but that doesn't mean I'm going to change the criterion -- it's also why I chose not to upload data to 23andMe.

In Google and everyone else's case, I would argue it's a bit different. Google remunerates me with the best search engine in the world, excellent free email, etc. Other services improve the product, which I (generally) reap the benefits of.

On the other hand, your genetics are what they are -- I don't believe 23andMe is sending every participant a coupon for this new drug, although I might be wrong. Instead, all you get is a small sample of the 600k SNPs available, some shaky genetic inferences, and tabloid level ethnic data. You give up valuable data with huge upside for analysis of questionable integrity and limited actionability.

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

#36

Post by stanmancan »

dpiers wrote: post #15
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.

My concern in these services is, at what point in the future does your DNA get weaponized against you? When do you get declined for health insurance, or have jacked up premiums, because the insurance company bought a report from 23andMe that says you have a predisposition to expensive disease?

My DNA isn't a secret, but I don't yet feel comfortable voluntarily handing it over to be indexed by a for profit company that has little to no regulation over what they can do with it.

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

#37

Post by [deleted] »

pvaldes wrote: post #26
gpm wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

This information can be easily used to regenerate partially the physical object.

[deleted]

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

#38

Post by georgyo »

pvaldes wrote: post #33
georgyo wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's a bit of a strawman. I guess people shouldn't donate blood with your line of thinking. It's apparently the same as donating an organ that doesn't replenish itself.

Is a different situation. The blood that you donate is not taken for making a profit by a private company. Is strongly regulated and do not depends of the income of external investors expecting a profit. At difference of a private company, nobody will buy the goverment tomorrow.

Wrong, profit is made. It can go to for profit hospitals who charge for it, or at least the service if administrating it.

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

#39

Post by cabaalis »

Analemma_ wrote: post #21
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.

You might start feeling differently when a new test is developed for existing genetic conditions that it turns out you have, and since your DNA is already public suddenly your health insurance premiums quintuple.

At least in the US, doing this would already be illegal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_Information_Nondiscrim...

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