Even if they had a "perfect" analyzer, that could tell them all about every atom in the sample, Theranos's test still wouldn't have worked. This is because The

Even if they had a "perfect" analyzer, that could tell them all about every atom in the sample, Theranos's test still wouldn't have worked. This is because Theranos's product wasn't just claiming to look at DNA. It claimed to measure things like cholesterol levels and pregnancy hormones, molecules that are circulating in the blood - all with a pinprick of fluid. If you had a "perfect" analyzer, you would need just one cell to get someone's full genetic code. However, something like blood cholesterol is a statistical average - you need to take enough blood to ensure that the percentage of cholesterol in the sample is reasonably close to the percentage in the patient. It's a population sampling problem (same as how you wouldn't be able to predict a senate election by polling 50 people on who they were going to vote for, even if you could ensure they were 100% truthful with you - it's just not enough people). No tech can get around that.