“@Gizmodo: Of course 23andMe's business plan has been to sell your data all along: http://t.co/NBsPL8UWrV pic.twitter.com/TNxPpDqvhP” /cc @aral
— Patrick Heneise (@PatrickHeneise) January 6, 2015
You may remember I wrote about my thoughts about joining up and then a follow up.
Well…. as per the tweet
Today, 23andMe announced what Forbes reports is only the first of ten deals with big biotech companies: Genentech will pay up to $60 million for access to 23andMe’s data to study Parkinson’s. You think 23andMe was about selling fun DNA spit tests for $99 a pop? Nope, it’s been about selling your data all along.
Since 23andMe started in 2006, it’s convinced 800,000 customers to hand over their DNA, one vial of spit at a time. Personal DNA reports are the consumer-facing side of the business, and that’s the one we’re most familiar with. It all seems friendly and fun with a candy-colored logo and quirky reports that include the genetic variant for asparagus pee.
Its not even shocking…
@ShaneHudson @PatrickHeneise @Gizmodo Nope, total shocker that one.
— Aral Balkan (@aral) January 6, 2015
We all (well some of us) knew this was coming. It does make me wonder how far companies such as 23andme will go?
I started listening to Andrew Keen on Triangulation today before leaving for work. I only got 10-15mins through when I found myself agreeing with Andrew on something (and it really hurts me to say so).
He mentioned something about Uber and the value of these services. 23andme I imagine would be added to the example pile too.