23 and Me

23andMe is a genetic testing company that collects DNA samples from consumers and in return sends them ancestral information. The founding of the company would not have arisen if it were not for the Human Genome Project. The techniques used to sequence the human genome are utilized by 23andMe to obtain genetic data in a cost-effective and efficient manner. 23andMe collects spit samples from consumers and sequences the DNA using the same principles as Sanger Sequencing but in a more modern and digitized way. Similar to Sanger Sequencing, chunks of overlapping DNA are analyzed. The sequence is then compared to a reference data set of DNA to find ancestry information. While it may seem like cool to use genetic testing to learn your ancestry, 23andMe raises several ethical concerns. Giving the company your genetic data has been regarded as a violation of privacy because it’s possible for the data to be shared among other corporations such as pharmaceuticals and biotech corporations. Shared genetic data can lead to discrimination from health insurance companies. While there may be laws in place to prevent this, these laws are always susceptible to change. Just like when information leaks on the internet, if genetic data were to be shared, the privacy cannot be taken back. In addition, while 23andMe might have regulations to protect the privacy of consumers to a limited extent, there is no way of knowing what will happen to the genetic data in the future when the owners of the company are not around anymore.