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I work in this space and even I have a hard time seeing 23andMe being profitable.
by sjg007 6y ago
I work in this space and even I have a hard time seeing 23andMe being profitable.
- offtop5 6y agoMonetization of user data. Integration with the Match.com API, 'Sure you want to go out with her, you share 12.5% of your DNA'. Open access to various government agencies, ' You share 47% DNA with this GUY who owes taxes , WHERE IS HE'.
- strofcon 6y agoVery much this. Not to mention, "sorry, <XYZ> Health Insurance won't cover you because you show a slight genetic predisposition toward fingernail cancer. Good luck."
- fennecfoxen 6y agoNotwithstanding that slight predispositions for minor conditions could be priced into an underwriting model without all that much pain — I'm not even sure this sort of exclusion you propose has been legal in the past decade or so.
- Mountain_Skies 6y agoHas this happened anywhere in the US? If you work for an employer with group insurance, how can an insurer reject you or even alter your rates? If you don't work for a company with a group policy, buying off the ACA marketplace also is going to prevent the insurer from implementing these types of restrictions on coverage. Maybe this is something that would go on in the life insurance market but so much of the health insurance marketplace is heavily regulated in terms of writing policies and setting rates, that it doesn't appear that getting your DNA would do much for them.
- astura 6y agoNo, using genetic information as a consideration in health insurance is expressly illegal in the US under GINA.
- mywittyname 6y agoMy parents both submitted their DNA to 23&Me... :smh: My mother is otherwise hyper-privacy sensitive. But I guess the draw of finding out their ancestry was too great. And, surprise-surprise, you can tell exactly where we come from by just looking at us.
- elwell 6y agoWith technological progress, the path towards reaping the benefits and mitigating the risks is difficult.
- gruez 6y ago> Monetization of user data. Integration with the Match.com API, 'Sure you want to go out with her, you share 12.5% of your DNA'. this is confusingly worded. It could be interpreted as > Sure, you [do] want to go out with her or > [Are you] sure you want to go out with her[?] 12.5% DNA match would be a second-cousin, so I'm assuming you meant the latter.
- asdff 6y agoI have a hard time seeing how they won't be. They have name recognition. It's like the kleenex of DNA testing. The SNP chips they use are cheap at scale. They don't need to spend money on innovation, they could continue just running SNP chips priced above cost indefinitely. Consumers don't understand the current technology, they aren't going to start one day clamoring for long read sequencing or anything that requires 23 and me to change anything at all. IMO, it's the perfect cash cow business.